Stoking The Fire

Chapter Seven

I can't believe I've been here three months already. It seems like just yesterday I was yanking a wiring harness out of a car and getting my ass chewed out for trying to fly solo when I should be asking for help.

Now that I've got all the notes and recording done, I just have to wait for Nick to do whatever it is he can do to create this case and put an end to her shit once and for all. The waiting has been sheer torture, but there's not much else I can do at this point. We both know that a personal case of Me vs Her will never fly, and he would never be able to actually get so deeply involved in it. Now, The Lab Vs Her, on the other hand, with me as a main target and expert witness, that's a completely different story. Or, at least that's the way he put it.

Mentally, I'm doing better than my spicy feral kitten days. His attempts to draw me out with cooking and just being sociable in general has gone a long way in helping me claw my way back from the funk I was in. I'm enjoying music and cooking again. I've started writing and doing my schooling again. Hell, there are even nights now in the last few weeks where we'll curl up on opposite ends of the couch and watch comedy shows.That actually was accidental, I had just ended up quoting a couple of my favorites so much that he ended up throwing up his hands and going 'Okay, I have to know where this comes from!'. It was cute. Damnit.

It's not perfect, though. I do have to police my dancing and my music when he's around, some of the spicier songs are just too tempting to want to do naughty things to. I also find myself wishing he'd make some excuse or gesture for me to get closer to him on the couch, so I could curl up against him or lay my head in his lap or something. But I'm good, I keep things level, I don't make things awkward. Go me!

In fact, he texted me earlier today and asked me if we had everything I would need to make a pizza, because he wanted to curl up with pizza and beer after an extended day and just laugh to unwind. So here I am, making pizza, and waiting for him to get home like a giddy schoolgirl with a wicked crush. I am pissed at myself, though. Three days ago I broke the chain on my tree of life pendant somehow, so I had set it aside near my laptop to see if I could fix it at all, later. I forgot about it until it was almost time for bed though, and when I went to look for it, it was gone. I haven't been able to find it anywhere. I'll replace it eventually, but at this point I feel stupid buying something so trivial as a pendant, when I'm basically living off scraps right now.

I'm just pulling the pizza out of the oven as I hear him pull into the garage, and I smile a bit at my own awesome timing. Yeah, I still got it. I pull plates down out of the cabinet and get the pizza cutter out, turning back to the stove with the cutter in hand as he walks through the door behind me. I hear him set his stuff down on the counter and a bag rustling, then his head pops over my shoulder and eyes the food greedily.

"Man, that looks delicious. I'm starving." he comments, as he steps away to put stuff in the fridge, probably the beer.

"Perfect timing then, hunh?" I comment, as I carefully cut the pizza into six perfect slices. I usually get them very uneven, so this is something I've been practicing for a while to see if I could do it or not.

"Absolutely!" he replies. "I even got your favorite beer. Hold still."

"Even better! Wait hold what?" I ask, and start to turn around, but I'm stopped by his hands bringing a chain around in front of my face, before bringing it down and clasping it in the back. I look down in surprise, was he randomly buying me jewelry?! But no, it was just my pendant, not some diamonds or something. On the other hand, I have my pendant back! I wasn't expecting that either.

"I saw the broken chain sitting next to your laptop the other day, I decided to get it fixed for you as a surprise." he commented, before opening a beer and walking into the living room to get the tv and couch set up. I follow his movements with a confused smile, then finish plating the pizza and bring it over to settle down and get comfy.