(no subject)

[eatmoreprotein]

It's vaguely drizzly outside, which normally isn't enough to keep myself sequestered away indoors. I don't generally mind the rain or the cold, but today just feels like such a lazy day. In the past, I never indulged in such a mood. Here and now, it's not so bad to just lean into it and give myself the day off. I puttered around all afternoon and now I'm at the kitchen table, coffee gone cold at my side as I lazily flip through photos I've taken recently.

Bittle, however, does not seem on board with the lazy day plan. In fact, he might have sucked up all the energy in the room and that's why I can't find it in myself to do anything. There's something baking in the oven, something cooling on the counter, and Bittle himself is sitting on the couch. Not relaxing, as one might on a sofa, but curled over the coffee table in a way that makes my back ache just to look at him.

The TV hasn't left the home improvement network in days. There are swatches everywhere, scraps of fabric and paint cards litter every available surface of the coffee table. Bittle's laptop is open on top of it all, notepad covered with scribbles resting next to it. I watch as he sends yet another email to Derek about the restaurant, shaking my head in fond exasperation as I stand up and stretch my arms up over my head.

The oven beeps and Bittle's head pops up like a startled prairie dog. He looks momentarily conflicted and I laugh as I head for the kitchen. "I got it, Bits."

I take out the pie and rest it on the cooling rack before turning the oven off and ambling over to the sofa, leaning over the back of it to rest my head on his shoulder. "How's it going?"

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[puckandpie]

Letting out a breath, I let my shoulders relax as Jack hurries into the kitchen, pulling the pie out of good ol' Betsy and setting it out to cool.

"It look done?" I ask him, still holding to very similar shades of red against a swatch of embroidered fabric. At this point they really look just exactly the same and I'm starting to wonder if I'm about to go cross-eyed.

Shoulders slumping, I let out a breath. "Slow. So very, very slow. This is all stuff we covered in a couple classes, but there there's a reason I didn't go to school for interior design." I drop my hands into my lap and lean my head back, allowing my eyes to shut when I feel his soft hair against the side of my face. "Don't get me wrong, I love that Derek trusts me so much with all this, but some part of me almost wishes he didn't."

[eatmoreprotein]

"Looks perfect," I assure him, pressing a kiss to the side of his neck. The dogs are curled up in their beds, and Elvis is sprawled across the other side of the couch. Everyone is being lazy except for Bittle. "He trusts you because he knows you'll do amazing, and he wanted you to make it your own. Which you'll appreciate later, after all the hard work is done."

My hands slide softly down his chest and I kiss his temple before letting go and coming around to the front of the couch get a good look at him. He looks tired and stressed out, and I furrow my brow as I shut his laptop. "Come on, time to take a break."

[puckandpie]

I know Jack's right, of course, that everything will come together eventually and I'll be happy with the result and happy I worked so hard to get every little detail right, but I always kind of thought I'd get a little bit of a break after graduating.

And that's absolutely not what's happened at all.

Jack presses a kiss to the side of my head and I try not to whine when he pulls away, sighing as I look down at all the little notes I've made so far, all the letters sort of blurring together, a mock-up of the dining area in one corner and color after color decorating the entire right side of the screen.

Between one blink and the next, my computer is snapped shut and I startle a little, looking up at Jack's soft, blue eyes.

"Honey, I can't," I protest though it honestly feels a little weak. "I want to have something to show Derek tomorrow morning and I need to make sure absolutely everything is perfect!"

[eatmoreprotein]

"You can," I reply, reaching down to grab one of his feet and pull it up until he's forced onto his back on the couch. My thumbs dig into the ball of his foot and I give it a little tug. "You do have things to show him, mon chou. A break won't kill you."

His toes are so endearingly small, and I glide the pad of my thumb across them before settling his foot down and leaning over him. "Take a break."

Without giving him a chance to respond, I scoop him up in a bridal carry and head towards our bedroom. He looks so tired and I can feel how tight his muscles are, even like this. I bypass our bed and head into the bathroom instead. "How about a bath, eh? Don't answer that. I'm in charge of your break," I say with a grin. "So you're taking a bath."

[puckandpie]

It's hard not to laugh when Jack grabs my foot, sending me toppling back into the couch with my balance thrown completely off. Even laughing, though, I can't help a quiet, pleased groan as Jack digs a thumb into the arch of my foot.

"Goodness," I breathe because it feels amazing and I let myself melt into it, eyes slipping closed.

And then springing open when Jack lets go to instead slip his arms underneath me and lift me straight up off the couch. "Jack!" I instinctively link an arm around his shoulders. "You're ordering me to take a bath?" Frowning a little, I duck down, quietly trying to smell myself. "Are you trying to tell me something, mister?"

[eatmoreprotein]

"You smell fine, Bits," I say with a fond laugh, setting him down onto the edge of the counter so I can turn to the tub. It's a nice sized tub, big enough for me to soak after days where I push myself particularly hard. "I'm trying to tell you to relax. You should listen to your captain."

Steam starts to fill the room after I turn on the water, and I dig through the basket of random bath crap that I'm not entirely sure that I know the origin of. It was just there one day, and I never questioned it. "Bubbles or bath bomb?"

I hold up the two and turn to him. "Les deux? Take your clothes off."

[puckandpie]

Jack hasn't been my actual captain in years now, but it's still kind of fun sometimes to think of him that way. It doesn't hurt anymore to look back on our first few months together, now that I know so much about him and can understand why he treated me the way he did back then.

Plus, some of that time spent as teammates had been really wonderful. The best of my life. There's no question that Jack's leadership made me a better hockey player and even as a captain, he'd been my friend. One of my best friends, even.

And now look at us.

Even so, I arch an eyebrow when he orders me to take my clothes off, eyebrow arched as he digs around in the little basket by the tub. "Awfully bossy," I remark, biting back a grin before I reach back over my shoulder to tug at my t-shirt, pulling it off and carefully folding it before slipping out of my lounge pants. "But let's do bubbles. I don't have the energy to clean out the tub today. Unless you're volunteering," I add with a smirk.

[eatmoreprotein]

"You like it when I'm bossy," I say easily, tossing the bath bomb back in the basket and unscrewing the bubble bath. Sitting on the edge of the tub, I pour some in and turn back, doing my best not to react at the sight of him naked. This is about him relaxing, and that's what I plan to focus on.

"Come here, le beau," I murmur, reaching out to curl a hand around his hip and pull him towards the tub. His skin is winter pale and soft-looking, and I press a quick kiss to his stomach before sliding back and gesturing to the tub. "Voila, your bath. Hop on in and I'll wash your hair."

[puckandpie]

It says something about both the size of our tiny bathroom and Jack's wingspan that he's able to so easily curl an arm around my middle and tug me close and I laugh a little when he presses a kiss to my stomach, the sound melting into something a little like a whine there at the end.

"You're not plannin' on joinin' me then?" I ask him, though I'm already reaching for his shoulder to steady myself as I step in.

[eatmoreprotein]

"I suppose I could be persuaded," I say easily, watching as Bittle climbs into the water. Once he's settled, I make a decision and stand up to undress myself. Steam swirls around the room and I tap his back between his shoulders. "Scoot."

Once he makes some room, I step into the tub behind him and slowly lower myself into the water with my legs splayed on either side of him. He fits snugly between my thighs and I sigh happily, kissing one side of his neck as I lift a wet hand to rub at a knot in his shoulder. "Mm, this is nice."

[puckandpie]

Taking a bath might not have been on my list of things to do today, but the minute I step into the warm, sudsy water, I have to give it to Jack. This was a great idea.

And it's an even better one when I look up to see him slipping out of his clothes to join me.

I make no effort to hide the fact that I'm staring and I grin a little as I scoot forward so he can slide in behind me, relaxing with a low, soft sigh once he's settled. It's not the biggest tub in the world so it's kind of a tight fit, but I'm more than okay with that as I rest back against Jack's warm, broad chest, sighing again when I feel his hands on my lightly kneading my shoulders.

"Mm-hmm," I agree, letting my eyes slip closed. "You keep doin' that and you might have to carry me out of here later."

[eatmoreprotein]

"I'm sure I could manage, itty Bits." My tone is fond and teasing, and I playfully dig my fingers into his side under the water. I lift one leg out of the water and sling it over the edge of the tub to give him a little more room as I pull him more firmly against my chest. If I had thought this out better, I might have lit a candle and turned off the lights. It's still nice, though. The light over the sink doesn't make it too bright, and I close my eyes as I press a soft kiss to his temple. My hands travel up his chest and down his arms, sliding slowly across his skin as I hold onto him. "I could give you a massage later. A real one."

My lips fall open as I smile against the side of his neck. "Maybe even a happy ending, if you're good."

[puckandpie]

"Mmmm," I reply before he's even finished because a massage does sound really really nice. While I never thought bringing a restaurant to life would be easy, I certainly had fully prepared for just how stressful it could really be and I feel like every muscle in my entire body is rigid with tension from the last several months.

The sound melts into a quick gurgle of laughter when Jack whispers against my neck. Who'd have thought I'd ever hear Jack Zimmermann teasing about happy endings of all things?

"That so?" I ask, smirking as I trail my fingers over his legs where they're bracketing me. "Just what do you mean by 'very good' then? I need to know what I'm aimin' for here."

[eatmoreprotein]

"You have to relax and let me take care of you for the rest of the night," I tell him, kissing my way up the side of his neck until I can suck lightly at the lobe of his ear. "No working." I bite softly. "No baking. Just leaving it up to me."

My hands slide down his stomach and down to his thighs, squeezing the insides of them as I suck at the hinge of his jaw. "Now scoot down. Get your hair wet so I can wash it."

[puckandpie]

The brush of Jack's lips against the sensitive skin of my neck sends heat all down my spine, my eyelids fluttering as I fight back a gasp and arch a little instinctively. As tired and sore as I may be, it seems there are some parts of me raring to go if Jack touches me just right.

"Hmm," I reply after a moment, reaching back behind me to hook a hand around the back of his neck. My eyes are still closed. "You realize if I slide down right now, I may not ever come back up again." I mean it partially because the water is warm and relaxing and I may just fall asleep, but the fact that I'll be eye level with Jack's dick plays a part, too. It's awfully distracting.

[eatmoreprotein]

"Mm, that is a concern." His arm comes up and I shiver pleasantly as he touches me, turning my head to nose at the smooth, pale underside of his arm. We both slide down a little, as much as I can in the small space, and I wrap an arm around his middle as he leans back against me. I cup my hand and lift some water to wet his hair, working my fingers through it as my other hand slides down to curl around his hip.

"This was just supposed to be an innocent bath," I murmur, feeling my dick stir a little where it's pressed to the small of his back. "You're a terrible influence, Bittle."

[puckandpie]

I've never been more grateful for the size of our tub than I am right now and I can't help a lazy grin as we both slide down a little, just enough for Jack to wet my hair. Warm water washes down my shoulders in the process, cooling fast enough to make me shiver a little before I peek open an eye and look back at him.

"Says the man who's literally pulled me away from working," I reply, smoothing my hands over his knees where they're still bracketing me. "I don't believe for a minute this wasn't your plan all along."

[eatmoreprotein]

"Hey, I pulled you away because I was concerned for you," I assure him, and that was honestly the reason. He looked so stressed out, so visibly tired, that I had to do something. "If an orgasm is what it takes for you to relax, then so be it."

There's a grin on my face as I squeeze some shampoo into my palm, warming it between my hands before working it into his hair. At the same time, I dig my thumbs into the tight cords of muscle in his neck, lathering and massaging all at once. "As long as you let me do all the work."