Sometimes he calls her kid, and she likes that.

Likes the way his hand shakes a little when he brushes his fingers over her hair, the way his breath shivers out over the skin of her forehead just before he presses a kiss to the top of her head, the way his voice *catches* when he asks her to pass the salt and she leans over, her top falling a little away from her skin then clinging when she rights herself.  The way he pauses when they wrestle for the remote control and he turns his head to breathe in the scent of her hair, then shoves the plastic remote in her hand and bolts.  The way he pretends nothing has happened the following day when they meet in the hall, the way he stares at the curves of her body when she reaches up to fasten a clip in her hair and her t-shirt stretches taut over her chest.

She can feel his eyes on her, and they feel hard and a little hot, like faceted diamonds or no, not diamonds, they're always cool, but maybe glass --  sharp and glittery, transparent to her, even as they turn opaque when someone else enters the room and disrupts them.  Disturbs their peace, their *togetherness*.

And then he tells her he'll see her later, and he adds... Kid, after a brief hesitation.  She holds that word to her breast and cradles it, crushes it till it seeps through her flesh and settles into her bones.  He doesn't have an endearment for anyone but her, and that means something.  She knows it does, and that knowledge makes her smile until she has to bite her lip to contain it.  When she licks away blood, she catches his eye and though his lips quirk downward, she knows he's smiling inwardly.  His eyes tell her that, and so does his soul, even if his mouth doesn't quite articulate it.

She thinks that when he kisses her, *really* kisses her, she'd like him to call her Kid in that shivery, shaky voice that sounds rough and tender at the same time.  And she has to bite down harder to keep the joy in, and his eyes just *sparkle* with understanding at their hidden merriment.  A secret just between them.

He moves over to her from the doorway and asks her if she's okay, and she waits for it, breathless until he takes hold of her shoulders, and he repeats his question, voice almost a snap, only he adds the word this time and she releases her lip and her breath and tells him she's fine.

Just fine, and she knows she's his, forever and always.  Because, well--

He hasn't bothered to name anyone else.
 

~end~