Chuck vs. The Unresolved Sexual Tension
Title: Chuck vs. The Unresolved Sexual Tension
Author: dotfic
Fandom: Chuck
Rating: PG, het, Sarah/Chuck ust, season one
w/c: 1,400
a/n: Written for ostrich_2008. Prompts: dinosaurs, water balloons. Many thanks to writingpathways for the beta.
So, it was supposed to be a date, the kind of date a couple who's been seeing each other for a while would have. A stay-in, watch movies and cuddle-on-the-couch date, and that was just fine with Chuck, except the thought was a little terrifying. It was a lot easier when he and Sarah went out to some restaurant and there was a whole table between them most of the evening, lots of people around, and lights. Lots of lights. Instead of the half-darkened apartment and Sarah curled next to him on the couch with her feet tucked under her, her arm almost brushing his.
Ellie and Captain Awesome had tactfully made plans to be out for the evening, Ellie beaming a little at Chuck as they went out the door, murmuring to Awesome about how cute Chuck and Sarah were together. (Tactful, they could do. Subtle, not so much).
They got to go out, but Chuck and Sarah, they were staying in.
What was weird was how they were doing this, watching the movie, not turning on the lights. It wasn't as if they could resume the date routine if someone walked in on them. But the date routine, it seemed to be going on anyway.
There was a big bowl of popcorn that Chuck kept between his body and Sarah's. It was easier that way. Keeping his eyes on the TV screen, where a pterodactyl was about to devour the heroes in stop-motion, classic black and white glory, Chuck put his hand in the bowl.
His fingers met Sarah's, greasy with butter. He pulled his hand out sharply, and glanced at Sarah, who gave him a mild, isn't this nice smile.
It was so unfair. If they'd gone out to a movie, finger brushing, that could definitely still happen, but movie theaters had separate seats, with an armrest between them. Unless it was a theater with those really great bucket seats where you could lift the armrest, and then it was kind of like a couch, but he and Sarah had never actually gone to the movies, so it was kind of a moot point.
They seemed to do a lot of movie-watching on his couch, though. There was usually someone around, Ellie in the background doing her thing in the kitchen. Usually it was Morgan wedged between Chuck and Sarah. But a lot of TV watching time, and Sarah liked to curl up a little when she watched. The tension draining out of her shoulders until she looked like that cute, unattainable, popular girl in high school, the one who was actually nice to the geeks even if she was a cheerleader, instead of someone who could kill you with a two-fingered pinch.
Sarah shifted, and stretched out so her jean-covered legs stretched out next to Chuck's, their sock-covered feet next to each other on the coffee table. Her foot, right next to his. Chuck suddenly found it difficult to breathe. He checked the bowl before going in for more popcorn, because he wasn't sure he could take another finger-brush, not with her right next to him, curled up on the couch.
If he moved his left foot an inch, he could touch her right foot.
The bandage on his cheek itched. He reached up to scratch at it. Souvenir of the afternoon when he'd dived to keep the water balloon filled with a highly toxic agent from hitting the floor of the mall. He had no idea what he'd been thinking. He hadn't been thinking, and for his trouble he'd landed in a clump of potted palms, scraping up his face and getting a bruise the size of an orange on his left shoulder.
Even Casey had seemed impressed - maybe. It was difficult to tell with Casey.
Sarah, though…as they walked through the sliding doors into the sunlight, Sarah had turned to him and said, Wow, Chuck. That was amazing, before she patched up his bleeding cheek.
Amazing. He was amazing. Sarah Walker, or whatever her real name was, thought he was amazing.
Right now his amazing foot was right next to her unbelievably amazing foot, and Sarah was seeing King Kong for the first time (how could she not have seen King Kong? That was just crazy) and if he turned his head he could, maybe, be nose to nose with her, breathe in her scent, kiss her.
Chuck kept his eyes front, on the TV screen.
~*~
She liked his nose.
It was funny, Sarah had never really been a nose girl, but she really liked Chuck Bartowski's nose.
There were all kinds of details about Chuck she'd noted and mentally filed away. Body language, like the way he shoved his hands in his pockets and hunched his shoulders, or the way he talked with his hands a lot. Physical details like the hair on his arms, the shape of his eyebrows.
People went into different categories, after a rapid-fire assessment. Civilian. Public servant. Local law enforcement. Acceptable collateral damage. Ally. Enemy. Threat level: non-existent. Threat level: medium. Threat level: high.
There was no liking or not liking about it.
But she liked Chuck's nose.
Sarah let her back sink into the softness of the Bartowski's couch, breathing in the scent of popcorn, Chuck's deodorant (Degree Ultra-dry), the lingering traces of the banana bread Ellie had baked earlier in the day and had left out on a plate under a towel for them to eat.
This felt good, she felt almost safe. This, sitting on a couch next to Chuck watching a really cheesy old movie that Chuck insisted was a seminal masterpiece of Western culture, not having to be dressed up with a knife strapped to her thigh, or even out in public to be playing a role, always playing a role.
This, right now, Sarah was still playing a role, but less than she had to do when anyone else was around. She was also just sitting on a couch next to Chuck, not pretending to be his girlfriend. Wondering what it'd feel like to trace her fingers along the hair on his arms, to kiss him, thinking how easy it'd be to seduce him. She could, just like that.
Seduce the intersect.
Lately, Sarah had been losing track of which role she had to play with him more often: the girl who was kissing him in a regular basis, or the girl who never thought of doing that with him, never, not once let it enter her thinking, the girl who would never ever notice his nose as anything other than an identifying detail.
On the screen, the dinosaur and the giant gorilla fought. The Sarah who was Chuck's girlfriend in front of other people talked about how she was just indulging him, letting him pick the movie this time, but the Sarah who sat next to Chuck when they were alone enjoyed the flickering fantasy of it, the way she enjoyed the fresh-baked bread smell and being able to put her feet up and not be anything except the girl who would never, ever think about making out with Chuck Bartowski.
She reached her hand into the popcorn bowl and her fingers brushed against his. The contact was a shot of warmth up her arm. He pulled away immediately, and she saw him look at her as if checking to see if she'd noticed anything, if she'd felt it and Sarah gave him the blandest smile she could, to keep things easy and comfortable.
Chuck reached up to scratch at the bandage on his face, and Sarah remembered how startling the streaks of blood had been. It didn't fit at all. She'd dragged him back to the Weinerlicious after the incident, and her fingers had shook, just a little, as she'd taken her emergency first aid supplies out of their hiding place.
Needing to move before her leg went to sleep, Sarah stretched out her legs, propped her sock-covered feet on the coffee table so they rested near to Chuck's.
This bubble of easy and comfortable, she could hang on to it at least as long as the movie lasted. Jeans and socks and an old movie and popcorn and Chuck, who made her heart beat a little faster when she was standing still and was also was the most comforting person she'd ever known.
This feeling of safe, false and temporary as it was, she could also hang onto that for a little while too.
Sarah poked Chuck's foot with her big toe. He twitched, looked at her, deer-in-the-headlights for a moment before he poked her back with his toe.
His foot made a tactical retreat. Sarah slouched, reached for another handful of popcorn when she saw him reaching for some, and pretended she didn't want to make out with Chuck Bartowski, had never even thought about it.
He really did have a cute nose.
~end
Author: dotfic
Fandom: Chuck
Rating: PG, het, Sarah/Chuck ust, season one
w/c: 1,400
a/n: Written for ostrich_2008. Prompts: dinosaurs, water balloons. Many thanks to writingpathways for the beta.
So, it was supposed to be a date, the kind of date a couple who's been seeing each other for a while would have. A stay-in, watch movies and cuddle-on-the-couch date, and that was just fine with Chuck, except the thought was a little terrifying. It was a lot easier when he and Sarah went out to some restaurant and there was a whole table between them most of the evening, lots of people around, and lights. Lots of lights. Instead of the half-darkened apartment and Sarah curled next to him on the couch with her feet tucked under her, her arm almost brushing his.
Ellie and Captain Awesome had tactfully made plans to be out for the evening, Ellie beaming a little at Chuck as they went out the door, murmuring to Awesome about how cute Chuck and Sarah were together. (Tactful, they could do. Subtle, not so much).
They got to go out, but Chuck and Sarah, they were staying in.
What was weird was how they were doing this, watching the movie, not turning on the lights. It wasn't as if they could resume the date routine if someone walked in on them. But the date routine, it seemed to be going on anyway.
There was a big bowl of popcorn that Chuck kept between his body and Sarah's. It was easier that way. Keeping his eyes on the TV screen, where a pterodactyl was about to devour the heroes in stop-motion, classic black and white glory, Chuck put his hand in the bowl.
His fingers met Sarah's, greasy with butter. He pulled his hand out sharply, and glanced at Sarah, who gave him a mild, isn't this nice smile.
It was so unfair. If they'd gone out to a movie, finger brushing, that could definitely still happen, but movie theaters had separate seats, with an armrest between them. Unless it was a theater with those really great bucket seats where you could lift the armrest, and then it was kind of like a couch, but he and Sarah had never actually gone to the movies, so it was kind of a moot point.
They seemed to do a lot of movie-watching on his couch, though. There was usually someone around, Ellie in the background doing her thing in the kitchen. Usually it was Morgan wedged between Chuck and Sarah. But a lot of TV watching time, and Sarah liked to curl up a little when she watched. The tension draining out of her shoulders until she looked like that cute, unattainable, popular girl in high school, the one who was actually nice to the geeks even if she was a cheerleader, instead of someone who could kill you with a two-fingered pinch.
Sarah shifted, and stretched out so her jean-covered legs stretched out next to Chuck's, their sock-covered feet next to each other on the coffee table. Her foot, right next to his. Chuck suddenly found it difficult to breathe. He checked the bowl before going in for more popcorn, because he wasn't sure he could take another finger-brush, not with her right next to him, curled up on the couch.
If he moved his left foot an inch, he could touch her right foot.
The bandage on his cheek itched. He reached up to scratch at it. Souvenir of the afternoon when he'd dived to keep the water balloon filled with a highly toxic agent from hitting the floor of the mall. He had no idea what he'd been thinking. He hadn't been thinking, and for his trouble he'd landed in a clump of potted palms, scraping up his face and getting a bruise the size of an orange on his left shoulder.
Even Casey had seemed impressed - maybe. It was difficult to tell with Casey.
Sarah, though…as they walked through the sliding doors into the sunlight, Sarah had turned to him and said, Wow, Chuck. That was amazing, before she patched up his bleeding cheek.
Amazing. He was amazing. Sarah Walker, or whatever her real name was, thought he was amazing.
Right now his amazing foot was right next to her unbelievably amazing foot, and Sarah was seeing King Kong for the first time (how could she not have seen King Kong? That was just crazy) and if he turned his head he could, maybe, be nose to nose with her, breathe in her scent, kiss her.
Chuck kept his eyes front, on the TV screen.
~*~
She liked his nose.
It was funny, Sarah had never really been a nose girl, but she really liked Chuck Bartowski's nose.
There were all kinds of details about Chuck she'd noted and mentally filed away. Body language, like the way he shoved his hands in his pockets and hunched his shoulders, or the way he talked with his hands a lot. Physical details like the hair on his arms, the shape of his eyebrows.
People went into different categories, after a rapid-fire assessment. Civilian. Public servant. Local law enforcement. Acceptable collateral damage. Ally. Enemy. Threat level: non-existent. Threat level: medium. Threat level: high.
There was no liking or not liking about it.
But she liked Chuck's nose.
Sarah let her back sink into the softness of the Bartowski's couch, breathing in the scent of popcorn, Chuck's deodorant (Degree Ultra-dry), the lingering traces of the banana bread Ellie had baked earlier in the day and had left out on a plate under a towel for them to eat.
This felt good, she felt almost safe. This, sitting on a couch next to Chuck watching a really cheesy old movie that Chuck insisted was a seminal masterpiece of Western culture, not having to be dressed up with a knife strapped to her thigh, or even out in public to be playing a role, always playing a role.
This, right now, Sarah was still playing a role, but less than she had to do when anyone else was around. She was also just sitting on a couch next to Chuck, not pretending to be his girlfriend. Wondering what it'd feel like to trace her fingers along the hair on his arms, to kiss him, thinking how easy it'd be to seduce him. She could, just like that.
Seduce the intersect.
Lately, Sarah had been losing track of which role she had to play with him more often: the girl who was kissing him in a regular basis, or the girl who never thought of doing that with him, never, not once let it enter her thinking, the girl who would never ever notice his nose as anything other than an identifying detail.
On the screen, the dinosaur and the giant gorilla fought. The Sarah who was Chuck's girlfriend in front of other people talked about how she was just indulging him, letting him pick the movie this time, but the Sarah who sat next to Chuck when they were alone enjoyed the flickering fantasy of it, the way she enjoyed the fresh-baked bread smell and being able to put her feet up and not be anything except the girl who would never, ever think about making out with Chuck Bartowski.
She reached her hand into the popcorn bowl and her fingers brushed against his. The contact was a shot of warmth up her arm. He pulled away immediately, and she saw him look at her as if checking to see if she'd noticed anything, if she'd felt it and Sarah gave him the blandest smile she could, to keep things easy and comfortable.
Chuck reached up to scratch at the bandage on his face, and Sarah remembered how startling the streaks of blood had been. It didn't fit at all. She'd dragged him back to the Weinerlicious after the incident, and her fingers had shook, just a little, as she'd taken her emergency first aid supplies out of their hiding place.
Needing to move before her leg went to sleep, Sarah stretched out her legs, propped her sock-covered feet on the coffee table so they rested near to Chuck's.
This bubble of easy and comfortable, she could hang on to it at least as long as the movie lasted. Jeans and socks and an old movie and popcorn and Chuck, who made her heart beat a little faster when she was standing still and was also was the most comforting person she'd ever known.
This feeling of safe, false and temporary as it was, she could also hang onto that for a little while too.
Sarah poked Chuck's foot with her big toe. He twitched, looked at her, deer-in-the-headlights for a moment before he poked her back with his toe.
His foot made a tactical retreat. Sarah slouched, reached for another handful of popcorn when she saw him reaching for some, and pretended she didn't want to make out with Chuck Bartowski, had never even thought about it.
He really did have a cute nose.
~end