inez & darcy | if we just lay here
Apr. 13th, 2024 10:25 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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xp_logs(very backdated) Darcy finally has a chance to catch up with Inez a few weeks after her disaster of a birthday.
Darcy was snuggled with Inez in a tangle of limbs and blankets in her bed, fingers absently twirling and releasing the other woman's blonde locks as she talked. "So yeah. We decided that things weren't working anymore. I think it'll be better in the long term that we stepped all the way back to just coworkers. I'd hate for us to try and be friends and end up saying things that we can't take back and won't forgive instead." She regretted the loss of the friendship most, but then hadn't that always been her worry? That trying would fuck them up? In the end she'd been proven right, not that she was grateful for it. While part of her missed that early, happy intimacy they'd had even with Laurie in the picture... most of her wished she'd kept it to one beautiful night, able to know but choosing their friendship instead. He wasn't the first person she had that regret with. She kinda hoped he would be the last, though. Darcy wasn't sure how many more times she could be dealt this hand before shattering completely, but she was reasonably certain the answer was "not many".
Inez was leaning against Darcy's shoulder, the better to allow her access to her hair, but as she listened she had to resist the urge to switch positions, to take Darcy's head into her lap and play with her hair instead. Pushing that aside, she let her girlfriend continue to explain things until she'd stopped speaking, then she took a deep breath.
"I'm sorry t'hear that, darlin'," she said, truly meaning it. She knew Darcy had already recently gone through one separation, so she could only imagine how it felt to have another similar situation arise again so soon.
"I... I mean it sounds like it went 'bout as well as somethin' as unpleasant as that could go, but that's a cold comfort m'sure," she added with a sigh. She turned and kissed her shoulder, the nearest area she could easily reach in their current entanglement, then leaned back against her warm body. "I'll gladly take whatever time y'think y'can offer, but... yeah, this ain't about me, I know. I just... shit, I don't know what t'say," she finished, off-balance and unsure what else to say or do in the moment. "Is there anythin' else I can do t'help, love?" she asked, since she was struggling to come up with a solution in the moment, as much as she wanted to ease Darcy's pains.
"This is good," Darcy admitted. "Be patient with me while I get used to not juggling so much anymore? I think it will be for the best, eventually. I was always mostly a one-person sort of woman, before things got all tangled up. I used to say I could handle one night stands or relationships, but not that murky grey area. I mean, the woman I dated in college, we had a few guys that were pretty cool about joining in but not trying to split us up or ask for more, right? And those guys weren't just one-nighters, but they were... I dunno, the exception really? And then whatever we're doing, it's just. Easy. Nice. I really like that, even if we've been kinda nebulous about putting any firm labels on it." She shrugged one shoulder, then nuzzled her face into a spot near Inez's ear.
"I'm not asking you to be exclusive. I'm not sure that's going to be fair for me to ever ask someone again, given the things I do on the job. As a job, too. But I like where we're at, and I'd like to keep building on it. Make sure the foundation's nice and firm, so even if we stop having sex in the future we can still be friends. And I can't always tell you everything I do on the job, but you know I do some sex work, and I've also killed people." She let the confession hang in the air. If it was a deal-breaker, better to know before her heart was fully on the line. She didn't want a repeat of January, and even though she wouldn't be able to give Inez all the details or even tell her about the missions sometimes, she could say this.
She did as requested and listened patiently as Darcy spoke. It was a lot to take in, Inez knew, but she also was aware that it was a lot to put out there, to get off of her chest and to reveal it all to the cold light of day. On top of being off-balance with the relationship woes, this made Darcy even more vulnerable, so she chewed her words in her head before letting them slip past her lips, not wanting to make things worse for the other woman.
"It might not come as a surprise t'ya," she started, slowly and evenly, "but I've killed people too. Some in self-defense - most, I reckon," she qualified, "but... some not," she finished, softer than when she'd started. Likewise she'd let that air out before continuing onward. "An' I know y'can't always tell me everythin', but I do trust you t'tell me what y'need to, when y'want to. And likewise, I reckon there's times I'll have t'keep confidences too, which I don't think will be a problem for either of us." She reached out and took her hand, holding it gently and gazing down at the back of it while she continued.
"And... yeah, I like what we have. A lot. Which is definitely more than just friends, so... I wouldn't worry 'bout havin' t'go back t'just bein' that. Because I don't wanna, and I don't think you do either, so... yeah," she said, a clumsy ending but she squeezed Darcy's hand to add to her emphasis, hoping the message was received at any rate.
Darcy squeezed her hand back, pressing her face into Inez's hair with a shuddery breath. "No, I don't want to go back to that either, just–" her voice was a little choked. "I want it to be an option for us, the stepping back. Mostly for you. I'm... not easy to date, I think?" If something about you was the common factor in all of your breakups, then either you had really shitty taste, or you were actually the problem. Right? "I always want more, but. I am good at boundaries, if they're clear." Usually good. She'd always thought she was, at least. It probably depended on who you asked.
Her next breath was more like a sniffle, eyes prickling painfully. "Sorry. Sorry, I'm a very emotional mess right now. I've been trying so hard not to be."
"Shh, hey, s'alright. C'mere, don't worry 'bout it," Inez replied softly, holding her closer and stroking her hair again, slowly and gently. "Y'don't have to try t'be anythin' 'round me, promise. I got you." She squeezed her shoulders in confirmation of her words, leaning down to peck her forehead as she maintained her gentle affections.
"I know that I'm not easy either, an' have a nasty tendency to disappear at times... though so far so good here," she half-joked. It was the longest she'd been in one place in... well, maybe ever for her, if she thought long and hard about it, but Inez didn't particularly want to do that. Not then and there, while she was trying to comfort Darcy, at any rate.
"But right now we don't have t'worry 'bout options, or steppin' back, we can just lay here and just... just be." She frowned in thought for a second. "...that reminds of lyrics to some kinda song, though I swear I'm not tryin' t'be cheesy or nothin'."
♪ Would you lie with me and just forget the world? ♪ She sang the words quietly against Inez's hair, the tone a little rough from her sniffling, then let out a huff of laughter at her comment. "Honey, I dated Douglas for... a long time, and I had a crush on him before that. I just didn't think the feeling was mutual. If–Maybe I should have said no, in hindsight, but... I don't regret the beginning we had, not at all. I just wish the end had been different."
Darcy wiggled a little, eventually settling with her face tucked into the blonde's side. "I disappear too. Missions mostly, because if I'm just networking or doing my job at the Ranch I can tell people roughly where I'll be." And other times... she lets out a sigh. "Sometimes only Kevin knows where I'm going or gone. I get overwhelmed, I need... an escape, have to be gone before I explode. He sends me somewhere and keeps it need to know, and..." her voice went small. "Most people don't notice when I'm close to that, but he always has. Sometimes I think he's the only person that actually sees all of me."
Inez nodded at that, though she couldn't quite keep a frown completely off of her face. "Mm, s'fair, I haven't been the most attentive I 'low," she conceded, trying to keep the smidgeon of hurt she felt out of her voice. Not that Darcy was wrong; Inez knew that she'd known Kevin a lot longer than she had known her, and it was a very different relationship too, but still. It'd stung a little, if only because of her own stubborn pride.
"Sorry, hon, I'm glad you've got someone like that, really," she said, hugging her again and exhaling slowly, telling herself to get a grip and to stop being a butthead. "An' yeah, disappearin' for work is natural, I'm sure it'll happen f'r me too, though I was more thinkin' how I used t'roam all the time, not stayin' in one place for more than a week or two... now I have reasons t'not do that," she clarified, adding another little squeeze as punctuation to the conclusion of her words.
"It's not you, hon. I haven't needed to just go like that since before we met. It's been a near thing a few times, but... even when I've wanted to, it hasn't really been possible." She curved a hand around Inez's cheek. "The farthest I was able to go was a friend's place, and that was necessity as much as anything else. Hard to live round here with the place all torn up and the main elevator smashed when you're barely even cleared for stairs." Darcy's voice was a touch bitter. "But if you're around next time it happens, I can invite you along, unless my going ends up being a mission. Sometimes... " she lets out a sigh. "Kevin has spent decades knowing how people think. How they'll act and react. So sometimes I start getting that thought, and the next thing I know I'm on a plane to who-knows-where, passport in hand and a job or three to do. When I can, I don't mind telling you where. And if I can't... I'll tell Kevin you're one of the people he can give updates to should you ask."
She gave Inez a smile. The list of people who could have those updates needed its own update, because these days the list was significantly smaller than it had once been. "We are close. He's my mentor and primary trainer at work and he's been there for me through a lot. I've come to consider him a close friend as well. He's the first person on the list to inform what's left of my family if something happens to me. Kevin has been my medical proxy since the stuff with Laurie and I..." Darcy pauses for a long moment, trying to choose her words carefully. "I haven't been able to trust that other people would be around and able to handle it, and I didn't want to burden Maya. She's the little sister I never got to have, and I didn't think it was fair to put those decisions on her shoulders when she couldn't even legally have a beer yet. I needed someone I could trust to follow my medical directives and at least be professional even if personal shit had soured between us, and Kevin Sydney is a consummate professional when he needs to be." If things with Inez kept going, she could see adding the woman to the list down the road. But with... everything with Laurie, and her doubts after, and her doubts now that both of the relationships she'd been in when she had so easily handed that permission to Kevin had flared into nothingness with only crumbled friendships left in the wake of all of it... well. Right now she wasn't in a position to offer that to anyone.
The pang of jealousy that had reared its ugly head out of nowhere disappeared again, sated by Darcy's words and her touch, along with a realization that Inez was being irrational. Seeing things that just weren't there, or making them out to be something that they weren't. She smiled in kind, one side of her lips tugging slightly higher than the other, and, when Darcy paused, she leaned in to kiss her, softly.
"Mm... trust is hard t'earn, I know," she admitted, reaching out to run her fingers over one of the brunette's hands. "An' I know I ain't been 'round for a lot of yer life, not like some other people, but... in time, I hope... I want to earn some of it. Just like I wanna let you into my own little word," she admitted, brushing some of her blonde locks out of her eyes with her free hand to better meet Darcy's gaze. "An' I don't care how long it takes, 'cause hon? I ain't goin' nowhere," she finished, her smile widening with that vow.
"Don't make promises you can't keep," she replied quietly, leaning up to press a kiss to the blonde's forehead. "I take promises seriously, so I don't offer them unless I have every intention to honor them. But if we get the chance... I'd like to earn those things with you, too. That firm foundation I mentioned. It... helps a little, I think, that you've been a bounty hunter. I feel like that's the sort of profession that requires some flexibility in thought, about when it's best to take someone dead or alive, the ways, how to track them... not exactly what we do in X-Force, but certainly some similarities."
Darcy slid her fingers into Inez's hair, cradling the woman's face in her hands. "I will do my best to not let our lack of history create ghosts that sleep in our bed and crowd you out. That is... part of what happened with Douglas. Little worries. Little hurts. Every time I turned around I was stepping on some old, painful history of his, and each time my worry grew and the chasm got deeper." Her smile was sad, resigned. "Eventually it was too much to overcome. And then on my birthday..." she trailed off, shaking her head. "I don't want to do that to you, because you're a lovely person. So if you have questions or worries? Ask. Tell me. I'll be as honest as I can, and if it involves other people or missions I can't talk about then I'll tell you that."
"I won't, I promise," Inez replied, unable to catch herself from using the 'p' word again but flashing a coy smile just the same. She did mean it, after all. The smile faded somewhat at the mention of her past but Darcy was right; that line of work lent itself to some moral flexibility, at least if you were going to be able to do it for the long term as she had.
She leaned against her hand, sighing softly. "Little things can add up an' become bigger things, s'true," she admitted. Things like that had a way of snowballing into insurmountable obstacles, and Inez didn't want that to happen to them. "M'kay, I will open up t'you if an' when I feel like somethin's buggin' me," she vowed. "An' y'can do the same with me, yeah?" she reminded her. "I know there's some stuff y'can't divulge or whatever, an' I can't think of any but I might be in th' same boat sometimes... as long as we're both committed, though, we can get through it. Can get through anythin'," she said with renewed conviction. She tilted her head up to lock eyes with Darcy, the smile widening again a smidgeon.
Darcy's thumb rubbed against Inez's cheek as she leaned in for a slow, comfortable kiss. "I can do that," she murmured quietly. "I probably won't ask you for many details because I've gotten so used to OpSec, but if something's bugging you and I can tell I'll ask you for generals. I'm generally a fan of tackling things while they're small problems instead. It hurts less when it doesn't all bottle up until you explode." She curled into Inez with a sigh. "What's your opinion on a nap? I think I made myself too sad to be horny, even with my gorgeous ladyfriend cuddled up with me. A nap might reset me."
"I think a nap sounds absolutely lovely right 'bout now," Inez agreed, wrapping her arms around Darcy tighter. "All that talkin's got me tuckered out," she joked, mostly anyway. "'Sides, we're on the same page now, I reckon, so sleepin' on it is as good a way to settle things as anythin' else... an' as much as I love sexy times with you, sad sex just sounds, well... sad," she chuckled. "So a nap it is, darlin'," she said, pecking Darcy on the cheek as proof. "'M glad we had this talk though."
"Me too," she drowsed as she curled into Inez.
The soft chime of her work email alert had her eyes flaring in the neon indicator of her power at work as Darcy checked the message. "It looks like Kevin's going to be sending me on a series of missions." She grinned wryly at Inez. "Like I said. Knows what I'm going to need sometimes even before I ask. Well. Let's nap a bit, then see about enjoying the last of our time before I leave."
Darcy was snuggled with Inez in a tangle of limbs and blankets in her bed, fingers absently twirling and releasing the other woman's blonde locks as she talked. "So yeah. We decided that things weren't working anymore. I think it'll be better in the long term that we stepped all the way back to just coworkers. I'd hate for us to try and be friends and end up saying things that we can't take back and won't forgive instead." She regretted the loss of the friendship most, but then hadn't that always been her worry? That trying would fuck them up? In the end she'd been proven right, not that she was grateful for it. While part of her missed that early, happy intimacy they'd had even with Laurie in the picture... most of her wished she'd kept it to one beautiful night, able to know but choosing their friendship instead. He wasn't the first person she had that regret with. She kinda hoped he would be the last, though. Darcy wasn't sure how many more times she could be dealt this hand before shattering completely, but she was reasonably certain the answer was "not many".
Inez was leaning against Darcy's shoulder, the better to allow her access to her hair, but as she listened she had to resist the urge to switch positions, to take Darcy's head into her lap and play with her hair instead. Pushing that aside, she let her girlfriend continue to explain things until she'd stopped speaking, then she took a deep breath.
"I'm sorry t'hear that, darlin'," she said, truly meaning it. She knew Darcy had already recently gone through one separation, so she could only imagine how it felt to have another similar situation arise again so soon.
"I... I mean it sounds like it went 'bout as well as somethin' as unpleasant as that could go, but that's a cold comfort m'sure," she added with a sigh. She turned and kissed her shoulder, the nearest area she could easily reach in their current entanglement, then leaned back against her warm body. "I'll gladly take whatever time y'think y'can offer, but... yeah, this ain't about me, I know. I just... shit, I don't know what t'say," she finished, off-balance and unsure what else to say or do in the moment. "Is there anythin' else I can do t'help, love?" she asked, since she was struggling to come up with a solution in the moment, as much as she wanted to ease Darcy's pains.
"This is good," Darcy admitted. "Be patient with me while I get used to not juggling so much anymore? I think it will be for the best, eventually. I was always mostly a one-person sort of woman, before things got all tangled up. I used to say I could handle one night stands or relationships, but not that murky grey area. I mean, the woman I dated in college, we had a few guys that were pretty cool about joining in but not trying to split us up or ask for more, right? And those guys weren't just one-nighters, but they were... I dunno, the exception really? And then whatever we're doing, it's just. Easy. Nice. I really like that, even if we've been kinda nebulous about putting any firm labels on it." She shrugged one shoulder, then nuzzled her face into a spot near Inez's ear.
"I'm not asking you to be exclusive. I'm not sure that's going to be fair for me to ever ask someone again, given the things I do on the job. As a job, too. But I like where we're at, and I'd like to keep building on it. Make sure the foundation's nice and firm, so even if we stop having sex in the future we can still be friends. And I can't always tell you everything I do on the job, but you know I do some sex work, and I've also killed people." She let the confession hang in the air. If it was a deal-breaker, better to know before her heart was fully on the line. She didn't want a repeat of January, and even though she wouldn't be able to give Inez all the details or even tell her about the missions sometimes, she could say this.
She did as requested and listened patiently as Darcy spoke. It was a lot to take in, Inez knew, but she also was aware that it was a lot to put out there, to get off of her chest and to reveal it all to the cold light of day. On top of being off-balance with the relationship woes, this made Darcy even more vulnerable, so she chewed her words in her head before letting them slip past her lips, not wanting to make things worse for the other woman.
"It might not come as a surprise t'ya," she started, slowly and evenly, "but I've killed people too. Some in self-defense - most, I reckon," she qualified, "but... some not," she finished, softer than when she'd started. Likewise she'd let that air out before continuing onward. "An' I know y'can't always tell me everythin', but I do trust you t'tell me what y'need to, when y'want to. And likewise, I reckon there's times I'll have t'keep confidences too, which I don't think will be a problem for either of us." She reached out and took her hand, holding it gently and gazing down at the back of it while she continued.
"And... yeah, I like what we have. A lot. Which is definitely more than just friends, so... I wouldn't worry 'bout havin' t'go back t'just bein' that. Because I don't wanna, and I don't think you do either, so... yeah," she said, a clumsy ending but she squeezed Darcy's hand to add to her emphasis, hoping the message was received at any rate.
Darcy squeezed her hand back, pressing her face into Inez's hair with a shuddery breath. "No, I don't want to go back to that either, just–" her voice was a little choked. "I want it to be an option for us, the stepping back. Mostly for you. I'm... not easy to date, I think?" If something about you was the common factor in all of your breakups, then either you had really shitty taste, or you were actually the problem. Right? "I always want more, but. I am good at boundaries, if they're clear." Usually good. She'd always thought she was, at least. It probably depended on who you asked.
Her next breath was more like a sniffle, eyes prickling painfully. "Sorry. Sorry, I'm a very emotional mess right now. I've been trying so hard not to be."
"Shh, hey, s'alright. C'mere, don't worry 'bout it," Inez replied softly, holding her closer and stroking her hair again, slowly and gently. "Y'don't have to try t'be anythin' 'round me, promise. I got you." She squeezed her shoulders in confirmation of her words, leaning down to peck her forehead as she maintained her gentle affections.
"I know that I'm not easy either, an' have a nasty tendency to disappear at times... though so far so good here," she half-joked. It was the longest she'd been in one place in... well, maybe ever for her, if she thought long and hard about it, but Inez didn't particularly want to do that. Not then and there, while she was trying to comfort Darcy, at any rate.
"But right now we don't have t'worry 'bout options, or steppin' back, we can just lay here and just... just be." She frowned in thought for a second. "...that reminds of lyrics to some kinda song, though I swear I'm not tryin' t'be cheesy or nothin'."
♪ Would you lie with me and just forget the world? ♪ She sang the words quietly against Inez's hair, the tone a little rough from her sniffling, then let out a huff of laughter at her comment. "Honey, I dated Douglas for... a long time, and I had a crush on him before that. I just didn't think the feeling was mutual. If–Maybe I should have said no, in hindsight, but... I don't regret the beginning we had, not at all. I just wish the end had been different."
Darcy wiggled a little, eventually settling with her face tucked into the blonde's side. "I disappear too. Missions mostly, because if I'm just networking or doing my job at the Ranch I can tell people roughly where I'll be." And other times... she lets out a sigh. "Sometimes only Kevin knows where I'm going or gone. I get overwhelmed, I need... an escape, have to be gone before I explode. He sends me somewhere and keeps it need to know, and..." her voice went small. "Most people don't notice when I'm close to that, but he always has. Sometimes I think he's the only person that actually sees all of me."
Inez nodded at that, though she couldn't quite keep a frown completely off of her face. "Mm, s'fair, I haven't been the most attentive I 'low," she conceded, trying to keep the smidgeon of hurt she felt out of her voice. Not that Darcy was wrong; Inez knew that she'd known Kevin a lot longer than she had known her, and it was a very different relationship too, but still. It'd stung a little, if only because of her own stubborn pride.
"Sorry, hon, I'm glad you've got someone like that, really," she said, hugging her again and exhaling slowly, telling herself to get a grip and to stop being a butthead. "An' yeah, disappearin' for work is natural, I'm sure it'll happen f'r me too, though I was more thinkin' how I used t'roam all the time, not stayin' in one place for more than a week or two... now I have reasons t'not do that," she clarified, adding another little squeeze as punctuation to the conclusion of her words.
"It's not you, hon. I haven't needed to just go like that since before we met. It's been a near thing a few times, but... even when I've wanted to, it hasn't really been possible." She curved a hand around Inez's cheek. "The farthest I was able to go was a friend's place, and that was necessity as much as anything else. Hard to live round here with the place all torn up and the main elevator smashed when you're barely even cleared for stairs." Darcy's voice was a touch bitter. "But if you're around next time it happens, I can invite you along, unless my going ends up being a mission. Sometimes... " she lets out a sigh. "Kevin has spent decades knowing how people think. How they'll act and react. So sometimes I start getting that thought, and the next thing I know I'm on a plane to who-knows-where, passport in hand and a job or three to do. When I can, I don't mind telling you where. And if I can't... I'll tell Kevin you're one of the people he can give updates to should you ask."
She gave Inez a smile. The list of people who could have those updates needed its own update, because these days the list was significantly smaller than it had once been. "We are close. He's my mentor and primary trainer at work and he's been there for me through a lot. I've come to consider him a close friend as well. He's the first person on the list to inform what's left of my family if something happens to me. Kevin has been my medical proxy since the stuff with Laurie and I..." Darcy pauses for a long moment, trying to choose her words carefully. "I haven't been able to trust that other people would be around and able to handle it, and I didn't want to burden Maya. She's the little sister I never got to have, and I didn't think it was fair to put those decisions on her shoulders when she couldn't even legally have a beer yet. I needed someone I could trust to follow my medical directives and at least be professional even if personal shit had soured between us, and Kevin Sydney is a consummate professional when he needs to be." If things with Inez kept going, she could see adding the woman to the list down the road. But with... everything with Laurie, and her doubts after, and her doubts now that both of the relationships she'd been in when she had so easily handed that permission to Kevin had flared into nothingness with only crumbled friendships left in the wake of all of it... well. Right now she wasn't in a position to offer that to anyone.
The pang of jealousy that had reared its ugly head out of nowhere disappeared again, sated by Darcy's words and her touch, along with a realization that Inez was being irrational. Seeing things that just weren't there, or making them out to be something that they weren't. She smiled in kind, one side of her lips tugging slightly higher than the other, and, when Darcy paused, she leaned in to kiss her, softly.
"Mm... trust is hard t'earn, I know," she admitted, reaching out to run her fingers over one of the brunette's hands. "An' I know I ain't been 'round for a lot of yer life, not like some other people, but... in time, I hope... I want to earn some of it. Just like I wanna let you into my own little word," she admitted, brushing some of her blonde locks out of her eyes with her free hand to better meet Darcy's gaze. "An' I don't care how long it takes, 'cause hon? I ain't goin' nowhere," she finished, her smile widening with that vow.
"Don't make promises you can't keep," she replied quietly, leaning up to press a kiss to the blonde's forehead. "I take promises seriously, so I don't offer them unless I have every intention to honor them. But if we get the chance... I'd like to earn those things with you, too. That firm foundation I mentioned. It... helps a little, I think, that you've been a bounty hunter. I feel like that's the sort of profession that requires some flexibility in thought, about when it's best to take someone dead or alive, the ways, how to track them... not exactly what we do in X-Force, but certainly some similarities."
Darcy slid her fingers into Inez's hair, cradling the woman's face in her hands. "I will do my best to not let our lack of history create ghosts that sleep in our bed and crowd you out. That is... part of what happened with Douglas. Little worries. Little hurts. Every time I turned around I was stepping on some old, painful history of his, and each time my worry grew and the chasm got deeper." Her smile was sad, resigned. "Eventually it was too much to overcome. And then on my birthday..." she trailed off, shaking her head. "I don't want to do that to you, because you're a lovely person. So if you have questions or worries? Ask. Tell me. I'll be as honest as I can, and if it involves other people or missions I can't talk about then I'll tell you that."
"I won't, I promise," Inez replied, unable to catch herself from using the 'p' word again but flashing a coy smile just the same. She did mean it, after all. The smile faded somewhat at the mention of her past but Darcy was right; that line of work lent itself to some moral flexibility, at least if you were going to be able to do it for the long term as she had.
She leaned against her hand, sighing softly. "Little things can add up an' become bigger things, s'true," she admitted. Things like that had a way of snowballing into insurmountable obstacles, and Inez didn't want that to happen to them. "M'kay, I will open up t'you if an' when I feel like somethin's buggin' me," she vowed. "An' y'can do the same with me, yeah?" she reminded her. "I know there's some stuff y'can't divulge or whatever, an' I can't think of any but I might be in th' same boat sometimes... as long as we're both committed, though, we can get through it. Can get through anythin'," she said with renewed conviction. She tilted her head up to lock eyes with Darcy, the smile widening again a smidgeon.
Darcy's thumb rubbed against Inez's cheek as she leaned in for a slow, comfortable kiss. "I can do that," she murmured quietly. "I probably won't ask you for many details because I've gotten so used to OpSec, but if something's bugging you and I can tell I'll ask you for generals. I'm generally a fan of tackling things while they're small problems instead. It hurts less when it doesn't all bottle up until you explode." She curled into Inez with a sigh. "What's your opinion on a nap? I think I made myself too sad to be horny, even with my gorgeous ladyfriend cuddled up with me. A nap might reset me."
"I think a nap sounds absolutely lovely right 'bout now," Inez agreed, wrapping her arms around Darcy tighter. "All that talkin's got me tuckered out," she joked, mostly anyway. "'Sides, we're on the same page now, I reckon, so sleepin' on it is as good a way to settle things as anythin' else... an' as much as I love sexy times with you, sad sex just sounds, well... sad," she chuckled. "So a nap it is, darlin'," she said, pecking Darcy on the cheek as proof. "'M glad we had this talk though."
"Me too," she drowsed as she curled into Inez.
The soft chime of her work email alert had her eyes flaring in the neon indicator of her power at work as Darcy checked the message. "It looks like Kevin's going to be sending me on a series of missions." She grinned wryly at Inez. "Like I said. Knows what I'm going to need sometimes even before I ask. Well. Let's nap a bit, then see about enjoying the last of our time before I leave."
