The busier the better

[sablinovia]

Once she and John had returned from Africa, Silver was thrown back into the thick of things. And she got cranky very quickly when she learned Lorna had brought Uncle Morty back on board in her absence. It also galled Silver that her father supported the move and questioned why Mortimer had been dismissed in the first place. Added onto this her time

Comments

[clericpreston]

Guilt was a fantastic motivator. When they returned from Africa, John had spent a great deal of his time trying to work through the backlog their absence had caused. It was more or less his fault, since the trip had been his idea. And he hated the thought of being a cause of trouble for her or her company. Especially since he knew her father was always watching and critiquing her

[sablinovia]

Silver had only paused long enough to bind her wound out of the first aid kit. She stepped into her office with a bloody sleeve. And a slight amount of shock at John sitting there. She hadn't really expected that.

She had to take a mental pause to not automatically sarcastic with him. "Hello, John," she said evenly.

She crossed over to her desk. Smooth. Easy. Today was just a bad day. She could handle this.

[clericpreston]

Hmmm. He was in more trouble than he thought. Great. "Hey."

He waited until she was seated at her desk before he reached across and placed the file of reports in front of her. There were hard copies and a disk of the actual files. He knew she liked backups of everything.

[sablinovia]

"Those your recent mission reports?" she asked needlessly. She almost grimaced. She rubbed her temples for a moment. It helped her ignore the throbbing arm.

"I trust you handled everything in an exemplary fashion and have nothing but success to report."

She wanted to stab the formality, but it was there to keep her from becoming a total wreck. It was not John's fault or the vacation's fault she was this way. It was just about everything else's fault.

[clericpreston]

He noted her shaky start. He couldn't attribute it to the minor injury she had, so it must have been linked to him and this conversation. He wanted to sigh again, but didn't. He held her hand in his and braced her at the bend of her elbow with his other hand. Fortunately, there were short cuts to her room

[sablinovia]

Well, that was a lot of information all at once. She sat quietly and focused on what he was saying. It would be easier than teetering off into mini-hysterics. Because she had pushed and made him uncomfortable. And that never boded well for her.

Though that was pushed to the back of her mind as she quietly took in what had been left out of his personnel file. Why could one man be so frustrating and endearing at the same time?

"Oh." She said. It felt paltry next to all of his explanation. If it came to a choice of pushing John or keeping him, Silver would choose the latter. "I... apologize. I didn't mean to make you so uncomfortable."

Considering her annoyance had been minor in comparison.

[clericpreston]

John felt like his skull was rattling. That had been unspeakably uncomfortable and strangely calming at the same time. He suspected that must be what 'scream therapy' felt like. He took a deep breath and released it in a sigh. Somehow, he had managed to not really help things even with all that. Words. He hated them, sometimes.

"I didn't say any of this to make you feel bad or shut you up or whatever you may be thinking." Because, at this point, he had no idea. "I want you to understand why I don't know what to do to keep a relationship alive. That is what scares me. Not you or anything you have or haven't done. When I have held back in a relationship, it made problems. When I have laid myself bare, the relationships ended."

"Will that happen with us? I hope with everything that I am that it doesn't. And I would do anything to make sure of that. But, I don't know what to do. I'm open to suggestion..." He spread his hands wide in a helpless gesture.

[sablinovia]

"I know why you were telling me this. It was an explanation. Which made everything about your past clearer." She glanced down at her hands. Normally calm and placid, she couldn't stop wringing them softly. The last time she had been like this, she had married Basil. Thankfully, she was a bit less impetuous at this time.

"I don't want this relationship to end. I want to be with you, John. And I need you to be the man I know you are. Not the one you think was dumped by one lover. Or the man dumped by the other lover. I want you to trust that I won't be disgusted by the man I love. Since you are the one person I trust more than any other."

Some days, Silver hated words, too. Because she wasn't sure if she was saying anything right.

[clericpreston]

He was a puddle of John. Any tension that had been there was now melted away under her careful hands. The butt massage perplexed him still, but that was alright.

"Much better," he murmured and then finally opened his eyes. He smiled when she stretched out on top of him. That was nice and relaxing, too. Having her close was always comforting. "Thank you."

[sablinovia]

Silver wasn't perplexed by the butt massage. She was happy when she got her hands on John's ass. She might have still had some knots in her muscles, but she would make John take care of it later.

"Good," she purred. "You're welcome."

She brushed her hands up and down his sides.

[clericpreston]

He would take care of her! Just as soon as he could get his body to move again. She had turned him into comfy goo. It would take a few minutes to congeal.

"Mmmmm..." Her hands were still on him and that was a very nice sensation. "As soon as I can move again, I'll repay the kind favor."

[sablinovia]

She had no reason to stop caressing him. So she wouldn't. He was the best balm for a bad day. She nuzzled and kissed his neck and shoulder.

"No rush," she murmured. "I can stay on top of you for awhile."

[clericpreston]

"Would I?" He chuckled softly in her ear and nibbled the earlobe. He knew with one hundred percent certainty that he would. But, it was fun to tease a little. Not may people got to see Silver's playful side. He enjoyed it when he could coax it out.

He wiggled against her. "You sure?"

[sablinovia]

"Mmh." John was slowly driving her insane. Those nibbles were getting her there. She tried to figure a way to flip over without flinging her lover halfway across the room. Her mind was coming up blank due to his teasing.

"Positive," she breathed.

[clericpreston]

"Hmmm... well, if you say so." He grinned as he pushed himself up on hands and knees. She had room to move if she did it quickly. He wasn't going to stay this far away from her body unless he absolutely had to.

[sablinovia]

Once she felt his weight start to lessen against her body, she started the impetus to roll over. She was on her back once his arms and legs hit their full extent. Her arms immediately went to wrap around his neck.

"Mine," she declared with a grin as she pulled him back down.