Hell's Book of Random One-shots

A Quiet Night In - Unspecified Ship

The town was closing down for the night, the only places open being restaurants and convenient stores, but even some of those were mere minutes away from closing shop until the next day.

Lights were being turned off and children put to bed for school the next day, doors were locked and the chaos of the roads were settling down aside from the occasional night shift worker or late night shopper made their final run.

The world was falling into peace.

All but one room in a house nestled in a row on a street like many others.

The windows were all black and everything looked settled except for one room which was illuminated by a tall lamp in one corner, sitting behind the arm of a couch.

The only sound was that of a light tapping of keyboards, the occasional hushed snicker coming out from one of the two lying together beneath the lamp's light, ankles crossed and back pressed to chest.

"You'll love this one," one said quietly, grinning like the Cheshire cat.

Only a quiet hum of curiosity was the response, their attention mostly on adjusting the blanket that was nestled over the two as it slipped away each time their partner moved.

"How have you not run out of things by now?" They asked, looking over the top of their partner's head to try and guess what to anticipate merely by the title. Not that they had succeeded so far, somehow titles like 'Mario on a bike' and 'Michael Jackson in the freezer' had flummoxed them.

"I like to laugh, so I watch a lot of meme videos and keep the best ones in mind," was the reply with a nonchalant shrug.

"Who knew you were such a pleasant soul behind closed doors?" They laughed, burying their nose into the crook of the partner's neck, to which there was a long gasp of offence as they continued scrolling for the video they were searching for.

"Excuse me, I'm always a pleasant soul."

After a playful scoff and an unhidden smile, a new video was loaded and put into full screen.

They watched the video, that was closer to a clip of a couple of seconds, and waited to see if their favourite part of the night would happen with this one.

Every now and then, when a video hit the right spot and made them laugh particularly hard, their partner would drop their head back and laugh with unabashed glee, burying their face into a mop of hair while the giggler would pull their legs up to curl in just a little.

Then, after settling back down, they would straighten up and entwine their ankles once again, sometimes giving a couple of rubs to a calf or foot sole before settling down again.

It wasn't much, but to see the one they adored in such pure glee made their stomach flutter.

It was also something that they wouldn't point out, lest their little spoon start focusing on the subconscious habit and try to correct it.

Their nose wrinkled as a mass of strands flew back, as expected, and brushed against their skin light enough to make it tickle, making them smile widely at the delight of their partner as they openly guffawed.

They smiled widely, giving their partner a squeeze as they laughed along, burying their face further into the mass of hair that they already could barely see through.

Once they had both settled down, they pressed a kiss to the top of their partner's head and gently tapped above their thigh.

"Sorry to ruin the moment, but I need a drink."

"Aww man, I'm comfy though."

"I know, I am too but I'd rather not die of thirst."

"Bit dramatic," was said in a baritone mocking tone before the blanket was thrown away from the front and their partner unwound their legs to sit up and have a large stretch.

They by to the end of the couch and stood up, having a stretch for themselves and then turned to the kitchen.

Behind them, they could hear another bout of light tapping and they eagerly anticipated whatever would be next.

Maybe this time they would be the little spoon and could suffocate their partner with their hair for a change.

After they had grabbed a glass, they set it down on the counter and moved to the fridge, just managing to pull it open before hearing a yell of; "Hey!" from the other room.

With a long sigh, they closed the fridge door and poked their head into the other room, both of them knowing that any request wouldn't be heard from the other room otherwise.

Peering inside, they found that their partner had shuffled into the corner of the couch, the laptop resting on the back of the cushions as they sat with their legs propped in a way that made it easy for another person to settle between them, the blanket tucked beside their propped up knee and ready to be slung over once they were comfortable again.

An unheard tune was being tapped on the propped knee, but they were confident that they could hazard a guess as to which song was going through their head and there was a high chance they would be correct.

Once making eye contact, they were given a heart-warming smile, one of a true winner.

"Mind grabbing some snacks on your return trip?"

"Sure, the usual?"

"You know it."

They returned the smile with an accompanying nod and stepped back into the kitchen, already eagerly anticipating returning to the couch for the night to continue.