Athens Marina Chapter One

Jade unlocked the door of the lab, with her coffee balanced in one arm she opened the door carefully, she slipped inside and turned on the lights, flooding the building. Walking over to her beloved 150 gallon saltwater fish tank she was greeted by the most beautiful Achilles Tang, who she loving named Trojan. He brushed up against the side of the glass affectionately when she drew near as if to say hello.

"Hmmm, strange, you always seem to do that," Jade noticed how odd Trojan took to her when she rescued him from the reef as she set her French vanilla coffees on her work bench to fire up her computer. Yawning loudly she shook her head maybe she was just imagining it and he was just trying to get sand off of him. That had to be it.

"Ugh..." Stretching she glanced around the quiet lab. She was always the first one in and the last one to leave, not that she minded, it just made it lonely in the morning. Taking her jacket off she hung it up on the near by coat rack just as her second in command and reef expert Erik walked through the door.

"Morning!" Noticing her wince he held up his hands in apology and went to fire up his own computer. "Chris is gassing up the rig right now, so whenever you are ready boss..."

Jade gave a small nod as she started packing up her gear. She was extremely excited to get out there for the first dive with her new team. See how they would work with her. "I was thinking about the east quad today..." She said hesitantly, just barely above a whisper.

Erik paused in the stuffing of his gear to turn in his swivel chair slowly. Jade, of course was refusing to make eye contact. "Chris will flip and you know it. Those water's are dangerous, Jade. Why do you have to take risk's like that? Do you have something to prove to the newbie's? Because we all know you're crazy if that's what it is!"

Jade turned to look at him and frowned, "Oh come off it, Erik, you know that's not it. I just feel it in my gut. There is something down there and I want to find it. Talk to him. If he doesn't want to go out there today, fine... We'll try again some other day." Jade shrugged her shoulders and resumed packing.

Erik gave her a funny look, it seem just a little to easy how she'd let the subject drop. He'd been with Jade all the way through school up until now it she never let anything go, but he wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth. With his gear packed he swiped a coffee from Jade's stashed and headed for the door.

"Alright boss, I'll go talk to him. You stall for a little but don't get your hopes up." Swing his bag over his shoulder he walked outside the door slamming shut behind him. Jade waited inside for about 10 minutes until she heard the loud horn of the boat. Grab the remainder of her coffees, which at this point was only 2 and headed outside with her packs. Locking the door behind her she hurried to the docks. The look on Chris's face was stern as she boarded and she nodded her head.

"Okay," She said softly, knowing the answer before he said it.

"No, Jade." He reinforced it, sternly, she thought so that he wouldn't talk himself out of it. Jade shrugged her shoulder and stowed her gear down below in the holding area before turning around.

"Okay, Chris. Are you going to get us ready or keep telling me no all day?" Chris huffed and stomped away, a scowl on his face.

The familiar rumble floated over to the boat as Dorian pulled into the marina, parking his bike in his designated spot. The front of his mask looked in their direction, his shoulders moving in a way that said he had sighed. The tension on the deck was obvious even from his distance. He turned his attention back to his bike and turned off the engine, unstraddled the vehicle, and finally pulled off his helmet. How he kept his curly hair from becoming flat under it was anyone's guess. Settling the helmet on his hip he strode over to the boat and waved widely with his free arm, offering them all a cheery smile. "Ahoy!" he called before making his way up the boarding ramp. They didn't look quite ready to depart just yet, so he might as well step by. He took in each face of the small crew before turning his eyes on Jade. "Little early to start arguments isn't it, Jade?" He asked with a small pout, paused, leaned down a bit to her height, and looked at her eyes. "Or... Late? When did you last sleep?"

Jade rolled her eyes gently. "Chris is just a sourpuss, that is not my fault." Sighing heavily she closed her eyes and rubbed them heavily. At his comment about her being tired she quickly looked over her shoulder and caught Erik's eye but he glanced away, pretending to not have heard. Jade shook her head as she turned her attention back to Dorian. "Can we talk about it when there aren't so many eyes and ears?" Brushing a few stray hairs, that had fallen out of her braid, out of her face she met Dorian's eyes. She wasn't sure she should tell him the truth or not. What she really needed was a doctor but she never had the time.

Dorian stared into her eyes a long time, as if he were reading a particularly difficult page in a book, but in the end he did not nod. He did, however, lower his voice and motion for her to step a few paces away from the crew to stand closer to the railing. "Jade you know I hate seeing you wreck yourself," he murmured softly, careful to keep the level of concern on his face concealed from the rest of the people around them. "But more than that, it's not just you that you put at risk going out there like this. It's them, too. I know you are a caring person, so you must understand that. Why do you insist on doing it anyway?"

Jade sighed heavily her eyes tearing up and shook her head. "I have to work, Dorian. If I don't go now I won't ever go out. It's not because I work too much, you... You just don't understand. I'm not doing this to put anyone in dan--" Her voice cracked then. Clearing it gently she turned her head away. She never got emotional, not ever. Her sleepless nights were really taking a tole on her. Getting herself back under control she turned back to him. "Come with us if you're that worried."

"That goes without saying," Dorian replied readily, his expression not cracking in the least. "Wait for me to get my gear-" He pointed a stern finger at her. He might not always act like it, but he was, after all, older and more experienced than her. "Wait," he repeated firmly, then walked around her, practically jogging inside to get his diving equipment, mentally shaking his head. He didn't want to risk it either, but he wanted her to fall asleep and drown even less. At least now she would have a spotter.

"So why didn't he just say that..." Jade mumbled under her breath. It wasn't as if she didn't allow people to join them in the past. Rolling her eyes she turned around and noticed her crew staring at her. "Sooo... Dorian's coming with us guys..." Smiling crookedly she found a place to sit and began nursing the remainder of her coffees which wasn't much. She'd downed 3 of them in less than an hour, Jace would be very unhappy with her if he found out. He'd probably make he run an extra mile or 2 for it. Erik slid onto the bench next to her with a frown on his face.

"What was that all about?"

"Im not at liberty to discuss it." Jade's lips were pursed into a flat line as she stared straight ahead. She wasn't very good at lying and it was taking a serious tole on her these past few days.

"Meaning you're in serious trouble with him... Gotcha. I'll let Chris know we're just about ready to go. You'd better finish that up, you've got bags under your eyes." Before she had time to hit him he was gone. Maybe it was good that Dorian was coming along, her reflexes were extremely slow. When they got back to land she'd set up an appointment with Sebastian.

It was only a few minutes before soft thumping made its way on board. Dorian helped free the boat before talking his bag over to Jade, sliding into the spot next to her like it was made for him. He was quiet as the crew set to work getting them out to sea, only speaking once they were coasting along and the others were leaving them more or less alone for the moment. He sighed, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees, looking out over the semi-calm water. "Sometimes," he said quietly. "I think Fate made a mistake with you, Jade." He watched the water sparkle with reflected sunlight a moment more before he turned his head to look at her. "You should have been born with gills." It was only then that his concern cracked, ever so slightly revealing his charming grin in the corner of his lips.

"Why thank you, I take that as a compliment." Crossing one leg over the other she smiled softly. Glancing out at the water she felt a calmness settle over her now that they weren't touching land. "Much better..." She mumbled softly. "Now, I promise when we get back I'll set up an appointment with Sebastian. Though I doubt there is anything he can do." Jade began going through her routine of undressing, first her shoes, then shirt, then jeans. Underneath she already wore her skin tight diving suit and under that would be her bathing suit. She was usually more comfortable in those than she was actually clothing. Picking up her discarded items she stowed them in a little cubby under her seat.

"I don't think any doctor can cure 'choosing not to sleep'," Damion teased half heartedly as he reached over his head to grab his shirt and pull it off. He folded it and set it on his seat before working on his trousers. "But if it's trouble sleeping, I'm glad you are going. Everything sleeps, Jade. Humans, horses, even dolphins and fish. We're not above our basic instincts." He stepped out of his dropped pants and set them aside too before stretching, left in only his swim shorts. "We're not gods after all." He shrugged and put his clothes in his own cubby before hauling out his own diving suit, carefully pulling it on so it settled correctly. "You want me to accompany you?" He looked up as he put an arm in the sleeve of his suit, giving her a questioning tilt of his head that dropped a curl across his eyes. He took no note of it, his gaze steady on his junior scientist.

"Nope but maybe he could give me a drug strong enough to-." Clearing her throat her cheeks were tinged a bit red. Her guard was always down out here, she'd almost let it slip what was keeping her awake at night, "Besides it's not as if I don't WANT to sleep, Dorian. I'd kill for some sleep right now, figuratively that is." Sighing deeply she shook her head. "Oh more than anything," It came out a bit more sarcastically than she had intended but Erik happened by at that moment and saved.

"Actually no ones ever allowed down with her. It's... kind of her thing." He furrowed his brow as it not sure how to explain. "You'll see on the monitor. It's almost magical to watch while she's down there. Oh by the way we're almost there." With that he headed to the front of the boat to help the rest of the crew. Jade's face was bright red when he walked away.

"Right then..." She finished getting her gear on as Chris slowed the boat down before cutting the engine and lowering the anchor.

"I've seen it before," Dorian said quietly, even though Chris had gone and he knew the man wouldn't hear him. He was looking at Jade anyway. "I already know." With a bit of effort, he managed to move his eyes away, zipped his suit, then gave her a little nod. "Be careful down there, alright? I'll be watching, just in case." He offered her a handsome little smile before he stepped away and walked the boat up to the monitoring area. Dorian wasn't shy, he was rather relaxed with Jade actually, more so than most, but that was different. That was back in the lab, sharing lunch, or walking the marina on tasks. It wasn't out in concerning waters and it wasn't while they were in the middle of a task. He lived a relaxed life, but even he knew when to be serious.

Jade furrowed her eyebrows slightly. He already knew, knew about what, her dreams, could he be talking about her dreams? But how could that be possible... she hadn`t told anyone about them, not even Jace. Shaking her head slightly she stood and made her way over to her divivng ramp. She needed to get focused. Erik stepped up to her and slipped on her fins and smiled. This would be there first dive with coms and they were all excited, live feed AND radio. Never before have they been able to talk to each other while in a dive so it would be interesting. Erik was strapping on her tank, gauge and regulator as she slipped on her gloves and new snorkle/headset unit. It was an awkward setup to put on and Erik help assist her once her gauge was intact.

"Alright, let me do a once over on everything and make sure your headset is working and then you`re good to go." Jade gave him a thumbs up as she tapped her spare tank to make sure it was there and nodded her head, each of them going through the check list together. Everything was there so Erik went and join Dorian. Jade stepped up to the Edge of the boat and waited for Eriks "Dive! Dive! Dive!" Jumped into the water and descended below the boat for their coms check.

---

A familiar--at least to those who frequent the docks--beat-up Cadillac pulled up a short distance from the scientist's ship and parked in its usual spot. Before Tilly was even fully out of her car, the fisher that had called her already ran up and began bombarding her with excuses and rationalizations of what happened to his boat that the scarred woman did not really care about. He barely paused for breath until she held up a single finger and asked: "Which one?" Then the fisherman lead her to the vessel with the broken winch, still talking; while she collected her tools from her car and followed, still not caring.

After spending far too long blubbering in Tilly's ear--at least, in her opinion--the fisherman was finally shooed away by the ever-growing need to do his actual job or risk being fired. He did, after all, have other ships and coworkers to hover over. Satisfied with this turn of events, Tilly tied her hair back and pulled on her welder's mask before setting to work.

When the boat was repaired, Tilly removed the welding mask and--quite reluctantly--waved over the fisherman to inform him. After dealing with more blather and a spot of unwarranted hypocrisy, the woman determined that, yes, they still had her bank information, and, yes, the payment should be in her account by tomorrow afternoon. Deciding the conversation--as one-sided as it was--was over, Tilly returned to her car, replaced her tools in the back, and drove off to BotO Elysium Park.

---

It was hours before the crew returned to the marina, roughly after lunch time if Dorian's stomach was any sort of indicator. He bid everyone a farewell before stepping off the boat. he had thrown his shirt back on but remained in his damp swim shorts, the rest of his items lazily held over his shoulder. He stopped at the end of the boarding ramp to hold a hand out for Jade, even though it was completely unnecessary. Erik had told no sea tale, Jade truly was magnificent under water. She moved nearly as gracefully as the dolphins he was so fond of, almost mermaid like. It was as if she belonged there more than she ever belonged on land and it was a sight to behold on the monitors but his heart ached to watch that way. He much can preferred to be there with her, even if he couldn't hope to keep up. "I'm really excited to share the footage with you, you were an artist with that camera," he told her as she came off the boat. "What species do you think it was?"

Jade gripped tightly to Dorian's hand. Now that they were back on land she was exhausted once again. "Mmm? Oh, um I'm not entirely sure..." She was clearly distracted, as if she had just woken up from not enough sleep.yawning deeply she shook her head. "Come on let's get this back to the lab." She held up her bag of goodies and smiled softly, releasing his hand she led the way down the docks, to cowards the lab. Her eyes burned from lack of sleep, she would have to call Sebastian as soon as she switched her cell phone back on.

Damion frowned, watching her waver, then grinned. With the first few whistled notes of a song, he took the two steps to her and deftly scooped her into his arms princess-style. Ignoring laughter from a couple of the boat's crew behind him that happened too notice, he set about carrying Jade back to their lab, whistling a tune all the while. It wasn't comfortable to spend so long in the water and return to land anyway, plus her exhaustion. That in mind, he carried her happily to their office, only setting her down once he had come to her usual desk chair which he did with great care that she landed gently. "I'll take that," he said before she could get up again and took her bag to put away the equipment.

Jade made to argue with him but really there was no point he would just argue back. Besides, what's position was she in to stop him? Nome that's right. Once I side he plucked her things from her. "Don't forget to put those in the acclimation tank!" Biting down on her bottom lip she turned around to her computer just as a coffee was set down in front of her. "Thanks." Erik waved her off as he walked to the other side of the lab to type up his notes. Jade took a drink of her coffee and she started typing away.

"You know," Damion commented as he returned to his desk near Jade's and sat in his desk chair with an exaggerated groan of exhaustion. "I've been at this longer than you, child. I think I can remember to put things in an acclimation tank." He gave her a haughty look before turning to his own computer to fill in reports and load the video and photo files from the cards to the drive. "Kids these days!" he huffed and threw his hands up a little as if in exasperation before continuing his work. "No respect for their elders..."

Jade was still typing away as Dorian talked from his station. At the mention of the word child her fingers froze momentarily before she beGan clicking away at the keys again. Rolling her eyes at his elders comment she finally laid her hands down. "Dorian, get over yourself, you're only two years older than me. And the only reason I mentioned anything is because it's second nature now with the other guys." She knew he was just joking but she was growing tense and it was wearing on her. Sighing slightly she shook her head. "Look I'm sorry I didn't mean to snap."

"Three," Dorian corrected simply, but didn't turn around. It would seem he was actually annoyed at her, though his tone indicated nothing. "Call Sabastion, Jade." He grabbed his mouse and in two clicks, saved his documents. "I'm going to go get lunch," he announced to almost no one, turned in his chair to stand in such a way he didn't have to look at her, and strode out of the lab, the door closing softly behind him.

Erik cleared his throat from his work bench and glanced over at her. "Ya know... he wasn't being condescending in calling you a child... but he thought you were when you told him how to do his job." Erik shook his head with a sigh. "Sometimes your brilliance astounds me..."

Jade frowned deeply and leaned back in her office chair. Opening her desk drawer she pulled out her cell phone and dialed Sebastian's number and waited for him to pick up to schedule a meeting.

Sabastion would usually pick up on the first ring, but this was a rare moment when it took three rings to answer, meaning only one thing. Sure enough, the voice was rough with sleep when it answered.

"I'm so sorry, midnight shift. How are you doing, Jade?" Despite the doctor's obvious preoccupation from moments before, his concern for his friend was genuine. Jade didn't call him often, but no matter the reason his greeting was almost always identical.

"I'm sorry to have woken you, Sebastian. I wouldnt have called if this wasn't important." Tucking her phone between her cheek and shoulder, Jade began massaging her temples. "I haven't slept more than, probably 8 hours in the past week or more... I don't know what to do. I need sleep. Please is there anything that you can do?"

There was an exhale and some shifting as Sabastion apparently sat up in bed, giving her question some thought before he answered. "I'd need to know more before I could be of any help. Have you changed your eating habits? Your activities or schedule? Have you had undue stress at work or with family? Are you pregnant?" Unlike most people, Sabastion didn't seem to have the same sense of taboo for some questions as others might. He was clinical, but not uncaring. There was another quiet shift as he stood from the bed and headed downstairs. "When you do sleep, are you having some sort of night terrors?"

Jade ticked off all of the questions as no's until he got to the question about night terrors. "Well... I have been having bad nightmares lately. Which... really makes it hard to sleep or not want to go to sleep." Jade sighed heavily as her head pounded painfully in her hands. "If you had them you wouldn't want to shut your eyes either." She felt horrible, she hadn't even told Jace about her dreams yet and now two others already did.

Sabastion hummed thoughtfully. "There are a few things you could try... exercise to tire yourself, being overly exhausted can lead to dreamless sleep. You could also try keeping a journal. Writing down what is on your mind and working through it with your waking mind can help alleviate bad dreams as well. If it was a matter of not feeling tired I could prescribe something but night terrors... that's something else entirely. Is anything going on? Anything troubling you in your day to day life?"

"I usually work out at night... I guess I could workout harder." Jade took a moment to think over his last question. She couldn't really think of anything that would be bothering her. "Aside from these dreams no. You know me I normally don't sweat the small stuff. I've been a little less chipper because of lack of sleep... I've got a few new guys on my team but they are awesome." She hadn't heard from Archer in a while. "Mmm come to think of it... I haven't heard from Archer in a while and that kind of worries me. I guess I just hadn't realized it."

"It is sometimes the things we forget that bothers us the most... It is worth a try I suppose. Perhaps call him, or email him? I'm not sure the best way you get in touch with him. You'll let me know if it helps, right?"

"Of course I will. We'llhave to sit down and have lunch some day and catch up. But for now I'm going to let you get back to sleep. Thanks for all your help. I really appreciate it." With a final goodbye Jade hung up and set down her phone. Frowning she turned to her computer and puller up an email to Archer and began typing away.

Archer,

Hello lovely. Haven't heard from you in a good while and I believe it's been keeping me up at night. I'm worried about you. Get back to me ASAP and let me know that you're okay. Please.

Love your bestie,
Jade

Sighing Jade leaned back slightly, resting her head against her office chair and closed her eyes. Hopefully she would hear from him soon.

A gentle shift of air and the delicious smell of a fresh burger and fries drifted past Jade, followed by a semi-quiet shift of an item on her desk. A moment later the light adjusted and the brush of air was gone as the person stepped away again. Dorian, having finally returned, took up his seat at his own desk. Three or four clicks and he had opened a few video records sent to him from colleagues they wanted him to view. He put on his over the head headphones and, while he watched, he leaned back as far as his chair would allow, enjoying his own steak wrap held safely above the styrofoam container the vendors offered. Something about the way he held himself said he had calmed down, and was only turned away now so as to not bother the others.

Jade sniffed softly and groaned as the pleasurable smell of a burger and fries assaulted her senses. Opening her eyes she smiled softly and shook her head. Grabbing a large sticky note and wrote out a small message. Thank you so much. It smells delicious. Spoke with Sabastion. <3 Slipping from her chair she made her way over to his and gently wrapped her arms around him in a semi hug and stuck the note to his chest before going back to her desk and began munching on her fries and burger. It was super sweet of him to bring her lunch.

Damion reached up reflexively when Jade wrapped her arms around him, his hand resting on her bare arms affectionately. It is because of this that when she moved away he noticed the note. He plucked it from his chest, read it, smiled to himself, then stuck the note to the side of his screen where he could continue to admire it as he went back to assessing the videos sent to him. Jade made his heart feel like it was filling his chest. She was fun and interesting and he liked observing her, he liked being with her. The only thing he didn't like, to be perfectly honest, was how she tended to destroy herself through an apparent lack of self preservation. She threw herself passionately into her work and he could admire that, but it wasn't healthy to do it quite as much as she did, and it wasn't healthy to ignore problems. At least she had Sabastion and the scientist had to admit that man was a better help than he could ever be right now. So knowing she had called him brought him great relief.

Jade finished her lunch and threw her trash away. Jumping down from her chair she went to the acclimation tank and admired the coral and such that they brought back from their dive. Checking the time she untied her bag and carefully took everything out and moved it to the other tank. The fish came to investigate what she was doing which caused her to giggle. Taking her hand out of the tank she shook it off and turned to glanced around the room. Dorian was still facing away from her so she could admire him without worry. He'd placed her note on his computer which cause a soft smile to spread across her lips. Sighing gently she shook her head, turning back to the tank the smile still plastered to her face she went through the routine of introducing new coral into the tank. Though her thoughts were definitely with Dorian.

She was probably halfway done with the tank when arms wound their way around her midriff and a chin rested on her shoulder. Regardless of reaction, Dorian remained calmly holding her 'prisoner'. "You decorated the house so pretty, dear," he teased blandly as he looked over the tank. Then his voice lowered and he added, "What did Sabastion have to say?"

"Bahah!" Jade jumped slightly but stayed securely in Dorian's arms, her heart racing. Placing a hand over her chest she took in a deep breath. "You scared me." Looking up at the tank she smiled softly. "I love this tank... gotta make it look nice." Without thinking she leaned her head back against his chest and smile. "Well he asked me a lot of questions about food and my day to day life and if anything had changed. We finally settled on him wanting me to workout more at night to get a bit exhausted and I haven't heard from Archer in a very long time so deep down he thinks it's been worrying me and I just couldn't tell." Softly, Jade placed her hands on his arms and hugged his arms to her body, she was surprised at how natural it felt and how it caused her heart to race slightly. She'd have to think about that long and hard when he wasn't around to invade her thoughts and personal space.

Dorian hummed thoughtfully, shifting to rest his chin on her head so he wouldn't disturb her position. "Very logical advice, as expected of the good doctor." He spent a moment idly trying to count the number of times Jade had spoken of Archer, but he quickly lost track so he dismissed the thought. "So are you going to try calling Archer or something? Can he even get calls... wherever he is?"

Just then Erik cleared his throat. "I think I'm going to head out for the day. See you both tomorrow..." Patting Dorian awkwardly on the shoulder he hurriedly. Jade had went to move away from Dorian but was caught by his arms. Blushing deeply she waited for Erik to leave before turning her attention back to Dorian. "I emailed him. Though when he'll get it I'm not sure. We tried keeping in touch as much as possible while he was away but it's hard with him being oversees. But we're good friends so we should be okay."

Dorian had briefly released Jade from one of his arms when Erik touched him so as to pat the man's hand when it was on his shoulder, bidding him farewell. When he felt Jade move, he was a little late to release in his surprise, but he did let go to allow her to step away. "I'm sure he'll respond as soon as he can. Have you seen Adela lately? Weren't the three of you close? Maybe she's heard from him lately."

Jade shook her head gently and caught herself frowning when their contact ceased all together. "We haven't had lunch recently I hadn't even thought of that. I'll have to check on that. Thanks." Glancing around the lab she frowned. "WellI'm done with everything for the day do I guess I'll start my walk home. See you tomorrow." Smiling softly she went to her desk to shut down her computer and grab her phone and headed for the door.

"Hey..." Dorian said, just loudly enough to get her attention. He held his hands out welcomingly. "Wanna ride?" He smiled, the gesture open, warm, and genuine. He reached down and dug in his pocket a minute before pulling out his keys. "I've got my bike. I know it's a long walk and if I don't drive you I can't be sure you're not going to pick up more coffee on the way." His sincere smile became more of a teasing grin. "You really should take Sabastion's advice fully. Get some good exercise, really wear yourself out, see if it helps you sleep."

Jade looked at Dorian thoughtfully and smiled. "I would love a ride. Are you done or do you need to finish up your reports? I can wait." Jade smiled at the mention of her coffee intake. "I know I'll work on the coffee... it's gotten pretty bad." At his mention of exercise she blushed softly but moved across the lab towards him and gently took his free hand. "What exactly did you have in mind?" Looking up at him through her eyelashes, the hint of a smile on her lips. She hoped she had read him right and she wasn't making a fool of herself.

For possibly the first time since they had met, Jade saw Dorian blush. And it wasn't a little tinging of his cheeks, no. It flushed across his cheeks and up his ears. He dropped his keys in surprise, looked at them, then looked at Jade and gave her a lopsided smile as he rubbed the back of his head with his now free hand. A nervous little chuckle escaped his lips. "I meant... like.. riding?" he suggested, then seemed to realize what he said and his eyebrows rose quickly. "Horses! I meant horses," he clarified, using that same free hand to hold it up in front of himself as if to defend his words. He crouched quickly and retrieved his keys, standing up once again. Through all of his nerves, his other hand held hers surely, as if it had made the decision to accept whatever she was implying independent of him. He looked over at them, then fingers intertwined, and whatever mental stutter he was dealing with visibly melted away as he stared at them. With a gentle tug, he pulled her to him and wrapped his other arm around her waist, holding his keys in his fist without any chance of hurting her."Come on... I'll take you home..." He may have meant her house, but something in his tone left it open ended which destination he was talking about: hers or his.

Jade raised up and kissed his cheek gently, smiling. "You're very attractive when you blush. I don't think I've ever seen it on you before." Squeezing his hand, Jade led the way to the door and grabbed her jacket. Sadly she released his hand, after digging her keys out of the pocket she tied it around her waist. Considering it for a split second she grabbed for his hand again, she liked how their hands fit together, to her it just felt right, the thousands of tingles that made their way up her arm from the contact. "Ready..." Leading the way outside she turned and locked the door behind them before sticking her keys and phone in her pockets.

Dorian wasn't exactly sure what he did differently this time, but his mind was on full throttle trying to figure it out as he let Jade lead him out of the office. As they got to his bike, he lifted her hand and kissed the back of it fondly, the action lingering a split second longer than was probably necessary, then he forced himself to let go and hand her the helmet while he straddled the bike, adjusted forward to give her room, and start the engine. He was glad for the engine. It somehow felt like it would hide the hammering of his heart in his chest.

Jade smiled fondly at him before placing the helmet on her head. Placing her hands on his shoulders she climbed onto the bike gracefully. Without lifting her hands from his shoulders she slid them down his back and around to wrap around him. Her thighs hugged him tightly as she relaxed against him, trusting him completely. She'd ridden with him only one other time but the sexual tension between them hadn't been quite so strong tightly at the time.


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