FF: In Honor of the Occasion J/D PG-13
Mar. 12th, 2007 10:07 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
caz963Disclaimers: I own nothing, I’m making nothing… these wonderful characters were created by Aaron Sorkin and belong to Sorkin, Wells and NBC. I’m just taking them out for a spin and will return when I’ve finished with them. Although I might need to hang on to Josh for a while …
Being anally retentive about that sort of thing, I proofed it myself, so any mistakes are mine!
Category/Pairing: J/D – clichéd, sappy fluff.
Spoilers: Post series, so pretty much everything.
Rating: PG-13
A/N: Well, it’s been a year since Josh and Donna ‘shippers the world over exploded with delight as our favourite couple finally got to kiss the hell out of each other and start down the road to relieving some of that UST, which they certainly appear to have done with gusto later on!
I couldn’t let the date pass without doing something to commemorate it – and this is it.
A/N 2: YOOOOOGE thanks to![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
coloneljack on this one – as usual she helps me to see the wood for the trees, and to my erstwhile partner-in-crime, quaggy_mire for cheering me on.
In Honor of the Occasion
Josh walked quietly back into the darkened bedroom and bent down to switch on the lamp on the bedside table, squinting slightly as its gentle glow took the place of the small shaft of gray autumn morning light that had been filtering through a chink in the drapes. The still-sleeping occupant of the bed sighed softly and burrowed a little deeper under the covers, but didn’t wake, so he took the opportunity afforded him to just look at her. Taking in the sweep of her lashes against her cheek, the small lines around her mouth, relaxed in sleep, the stark contrast of her pale skin against the dark sheets, he felt a familiar, visceral tug at the pit of his stomach. She’d been sleeping beside him for almost a year now, yet there were still times when he felt as though that hadn’t been nearly enough time for him to accustom himself to the sight of her, lying contentedly in his bed.
Smiling to himself, Josh wondered idly if he’d ever get used to it as he slid gently back into bed behind her. Snuggling up to her, he propped his head up on one hand and draped his other arm across her waist.
Most mornings, they woke more or less together. They were both conditioned by years of early mornings to come-to quickly and begin the day, but on those rare occasions when he woke first, he was content to just lie there and watch her sleep.
The fact that he could actually lie in bed without feeling like he should be somewhere else or doing something else wasn’t lost on him. But then, he reflected, he’d never had such a good reason for not flying out of bed as soon as he woke up. Now there were mornings when they’d make love, mornings when they’d lie together and talk, mornings when they’d snuggle together and listen to the news, and mornings when they’d just lie there quietly in each other’s arms… it didn’t matter to him what they did, but spending this time together at the beginning of the day had become an important little ritual for both of them after Donna had moved in last year.
Although of course, there were times when that ritual had to be abandoned; times when because of the jobs they did, one, or both of them had to be away. And he had to admit, he didn’t like it at all. They both knew it was an occupational hazard and he guessed it had worked out fairly well so far in that when they had been away from each other, it had been for a night or two at most. But this past ten days without Donna had been the longest they’d been apart since - well, since she’d quit working for him almost two years ago. It was ridiculous, Josh thought, just how necessary her presence had become. Not just in his bed, but in his – their – home. Although now he came to think of it, she’d been more or less a necessity to him for much longer than the past year – he’d just been too scared and too stupid to admit it before.
Josh sighed and looked at the clock. Almost seven-thirty. He’d specifically asked Margaret keep his morning as free as possible but still, he’d have to go in at some point before lunch. And although he knew Donna didn’t have anything on her schedule until later in the day, she’d made him promise not to let her sleep in too long.
Leaning forward, he brushed a couple of strands of hair from her face and kissed her cheek.
“Donna…”
She sighed softly, but didn’t open her eyes.
Josh ran a hand lightly up and down her arm and moved his mouth to her neck.
“Donna…”
“Mmmmpf,” she muttered into her pillow and turned over, throwing her leg over his thigh as she snuggled into his chest and pulled the bedcovers up around her ears.
Josh chuckled and pulled the covers down slightly so that he could nuzzle her bare shoulder. Donna sighed again, and he glanced at her to see a smile twitching at the corner of her mouth, although her eyes were still closed.
“’morning, sleepyhead,” he whispered as he kissed his way along her shoulder, feeling her move her arm so that she could slide her fingers into the hair at the back of his neck, then across his cheek as she stretched and turned onto her back.
“...time is it?”
“Seven-thirty.”
He smiled as Donna’s eyes flew open in consternation. “I’ll be late.”
“For what? I think the jet-lag has addled your brain - you don’t have to go in till later.”
She groaned and flopped back onto the pillow. “Next time I come up with a plan for the First Lady to make a whistle-stop tour of the Far East, please talk me out of it?”
“When have I ever been able to talk you out of anything?” Josh grinned.
“There has to be a first time for everything.”
Leaning down, he dropped a gentle kiss on her lips. “True. I’m told I can be quite persuasive when I want to be.”
“Who told you that?”
“Some woman who succumbed to my many and various charms.”
“And you believed her?”
Unable to resist it, he kissed her again. “She clearly had good taste.”
“Either that or she was just sex-starved.”
“That was a possibility, too…” Josh ran a hand across Donna’s cotton-covered stomach, down and over the curve of her hip until he reached the bare skin of her thigh, beginning to trace a pattern there with the tips of his fingers. He heard her sigh appreciatively and felt her inch closer to him as she worked one hand up under his t-shirt and started scratching lightly up and down his back. Moving his hand from her thigh, he worked it up under her top, letting it rest lightly on her warm, smooth skin. He’d missed this… of course they’d spoken while she’d been away, every day, but much as he loved talking to her, it was no substitute for being able to feel her, soft and inviting under his hands.
Josh nuzzled her neck and gently kissed his way up to her jaw. “I already made the coffee,” he whispered, as he felt Donna stretch and heard her make a contented sound at the back of her throat. The grin she shot back at him was seductive and playful all at once. “Still not bringing you any.”
“Can’t blame a guy for trying,” he said throatily, kissing the corner of her mouth.
“You think you’d have learned by now.”
Josh couldn’t help the contented sigh that escaped him as he felt Donna slide her fingers back into his hair and pull him closer so that she could brush her mouth lightly against his.
He pulled back a little and shrugged. “Hope springs eternal.”
They’d played this game for years – although now of course the rules had changed in a very pleasant way; the verbal foreplay turned physical more often than not and given that she’d been away for ten days, he was certainly hoping that was the way things were headed.
Judging by the look on her face, Donna was thinking the same thing.
She moaned softly as Josh moved his hand back down and around to the back of her thigh and inched it up under the hem of her shorts.
“But in honor of the occasion,” he said, dipping his head so that he could press a series of soft, open-mouthed kisses along her collarbone, “I brought you some.”
Donna was finding it increasingly hard to concentrate, but nonetheless registered what he’d said and glanced over at the bedside table to see steam rising from the mug sitting on the table by the lamp.
“Thank – wait.” Donna put her hand under Josh’s chin and tilted his head so she could frown at him properly. “What are you talking about?”
He arched an eyebrow and looked at her expectantly.
Donna groaned. “Another anniversary?”
“I told you; I’m a man of occasion.”
“You told me that six years ago!”
Josh stifled a noise and tried, without success, to look innocent as Donna pushed herself herself further up onto the pillows. “What?”
“The lady doth protest too much, methinks.”
She narrowed her eyes at him. “Maybe, but unlike you, I don’t remember the date you actually said it!”
Josh moved onto his side and propped his head up on one hand. “Yes you do.” He looked smug. “It was our anniversary.”
“Which one?”
“Donna -”
She shook her head and heaved an exaggerated sigh - although in reality, Josh’s insistence on making a thing out of what he considered important dates throughout their history was one of those insanely sweet things he did that never failed to disarm her completely. This was the man who for the most of the last decade had consistently and vociferously claimed that such trivial details as when to eat, when to sleep, where his keys and all manner of other things were to be found – were inconsequential minutiae and that the need to remember them would interfere with his ability to focus his considerable intellect on bigger and better things. Donna would roll her eyes as she waited for the punchline, which was usually accompanied by an irrepressible grin – That’s why I have you.
But despite his protestations, he nonetheless remembered the date Donna had talked herself into a job, the date she’d left, the date she’d come back, the date she’d – well some dates she’d rather he could forget, but she knew him too well to think he ever would. But still, she’d been amazed to learn, over the past year, just how much Josh knew about her. Not just that her favorite color was pink, or that she liked strawberry cream cheese on her bagel in the morning – but that she’d fallen out of a tree and broken her arm when she was five; that she’d made the finals of the Wisconsin School Music Association competition at thirteen; that the first boy she’d really kissed had been Robert Wilkins – but he’d been a bit grabby so she hadn’t kissed him again.
She didn’t even remember telling Josh some of those things. She supposed, that on one of their many late nights working over the years, when they’d become too tired to work any more and had drifted off into more general conversation (or ‘talking trivia’ as Josh had termed it) she must have mentioned them. She honestly couldn’t recall. But Josh did. And she couldn’t deny that it was adorable.
But she wasn’t ready to let him know that right now. Despite the fact that the smug grin on his face and the way he was absently stroking his palm up and down her side were driving her half-insane with wanting him, she wasn’t done playing this little game just yet..
“Okay…” she told herself to focus - cleared her throat and started checking off on her fingers. “Your birthday was before I left.”
“It was, and may I just say, your choice of, um, gift was really -”
“Oh, wipe that smirk off your face -”
“What? I was just thinking about what happened after I -” he grinned wolfishly, “unwrapped you -”
“You really are predictable.”
He shrugged. “Just one of the many things you love about me.”
Donna couldn’t help it. Looking at Josh lying next to her, relaxed and happy, she felt a rush of affection that warmed her from head to toe. She smiled at him and said simply, “Yes,” and could see from his expression that she’d thrown him. They weren’t the type of couple who were prone to expressing their affection for each other verbally – which made it mean more when they did – but they both showed it in any number of small ways every day. If they were in the same meeting, Josh would cross the room to stand or sit with her. If Josh had a particularly full day (and she knew it surprised and touched him that she was familiar with his schedule even though it had stopped being her job years ago) Donna would make a point of calling or dropping by just to say hello – it was, as it had always been, the little things that attested to the depth of feeling between them.
She ran her hand over his cheek, still rough with stubble, before sitting up and reaching over to pick up her coffee. “And it’s not my birthday till next week.”
“No.”
“So,” she looked at Josh over the rim of her mug. “This ‘occasion’ … it’s not February now, right?”
“No.”
“Or April?”
“Last time I checked, you hadn’t turned into Rip van Winkle.”
“Luckily for you – people would start giving you funny looks if you were living with an old guy with a beard.”
“I don’t know, I think Toby and I would make a cute couple.”
“If you could keep from killing each other.”
Josh blinked. “The rare valid point.”
“My point,” Donna went on, putting her mug back on the table, “is that our anniversaries, as you term them, are in February and April – and now it’s October.”
“Well?”
“So where are my flowers?”
Josh turned onto his back and folded his arms behind his head. “I think I can do better than that, this time.”
“I’m counting on it.” Donna fought back a grin. “Is this going to become a habit?”
He smirked. “It depends how often there’s a momentous development in our relationship.”
“So I take it we’re going to be celebrating something other than an election victory next month?”
“Probably.”
She shook her head fondly and settled herself into his side as Josh wrapped both his arms round her and pulled her closer, resting his cheek on her hair.
“You had this tight pink sweater on, and came bowling into my room going on about polling numbers -”
She stopped stroking her hand up and down his forearm. “You remember what I was wearing?”
“It was very, uh… fetching. And did I mention tight?”
Donna sniggered. “You looked cute in that baggy shirt and those boxers.”
“Oh, so it’s okay for you to remember what I had on…”
She moved her head from under his so that she could look up at him. “Josh, you were half-naked – of course I remember!”
He chuckled and ran a hand over his face. “It was, like five am, and I’d gotten to bed around three – so I was a little punchy - and you came in and threw yourself at me!”
Donna propped herself up on her elbow and eased one of her legs over his. “You might remember the date, but your recall of the actual events is somewhat hazy. You kissed me.”
Josh’s only reply was a lopsided grin.
Donna grinned back, cheekily. “It took you long enough.”
“Hey!” Josh wrapped his arms back around her and pulled her on top of him. “I got there in the end, didn’t I?”
“You did.” Donna’s smile faded as she brushed the tips of her fingers across his face, feeling herself flush with heat at the expression in his eyes – so similar to the one she’d seen that morning a year ago and now, many times since. She traced the line of his cheekbone, his jaw, brushing her thumb along his bottom lip before she leaned down to kiss him, feeling his arms enfold her tightly as he rolled them onto their sides. His lips on hers were soft and wet; one hand was wandering over the skin of her back under her top, then down to her thigh, encouraging her to hook her leg over his hip. Donna moaned and ruffled the hair at the back of his neck with one hand, pulling up his t-shirt with the other. When Josh broke away briefly to tug it over his head and throw it across the room somewhere, Donna rolled onto her back and quickly pulled him down, delighting in the feeling of his weight on top of her. Running her hands eagerly over his warm, bare skin, she began to explore the contours of his body - now so familiar to her; the sensitive spot on his right side that made him shiver, the well-toned muscles in his back and shoulders, the dip at the base of his spine…
When they eventually parted they were tangled up in the bedclothes and each other, chests rising and falling rapidly as they tried to catch their breath.
Josh reached up to kiss her forehead then leaned his against it and closed his eyes, his breathing still a little uneven.
“Thank God President Santos didn’t barge in five minutes later than he did that day. Who knows what he’d have seen!”
“What do you mean?”
“Well,” Josh pulled back to look at her. “We both know where that kiss was headed, right?”
“You might think so -”
“Oh,” he drawled confidently in that tone of voice that never failed to send what felt like a bolt of lightning through her. “I know so.”
“You do?”
“Yes.”
“You think, after one kiss I was about to let you ..?”
“Remind me again,” he said, a cocky grin on his face, “who was it that tried to give me the key to her hotel room that night?”
Donna quirked an eyebrow. “I didn’t try,” she said, “I gave you the key. It’s not my fault you didn’t get to it fast enough.”
The grin vanished and his eyebrows shot up. “I was just – stunned at the implications.”
Donna couldn’t help but be touched by that admission. “It’s okay – I was stunned, too. It’s not the sort of thing I’d ever done before.
“Given a guy the key to your hotel room?”
“Yes.”
“Just me, then”.
“Yes. And here, I thought you couldn’t look any more smug than you did a few minutes ago, but now it looks as though I was wrong, so stop it.”
He tried – unsuccessfully - to wipe the smirk off his face. “If it’s any consolation, it’s not the sort of thing that usually happens to me, either.”
“Really?”
“Nah – women generally just drag me into the nearest closet.”
“They do?”
“You should know.”
Donna ran her foot up and down the back of his leg and shot him a suggestive look. “I bet they never dragged you there to talk policy.”
“No, oddly. You were the first. But you really should try it again sometime – it was pretty hot.”
“If I’d known you had a closet fetish, I might have done it before.”
“Really?”
“You’ll never know.”
Josh laughed and dropped his head to the crook of her neck.
“You know,” Donna said a moment later, her fingers playing with the hair at the nape of his neck, “you never told me why you didn’t just come up and knock that night.”
He lifted his head and moved on to his side. “I did – President Santos called me into a meeting about -”
“You told me that.” Donna rolled over to face him. “But you could have come up after.”
“I -” he swallowed nervously. “We didn’t finish until late - I thought you’d be asleep. Or mad at me.”
“I wasn’t mad at you, Josh. I was… put out, maybe, but I knew it wasn’t a ‘no’ – it was just a ‘not right now’."
“It’s just – it was so – It was important.” He ran a hand lightly up and down her arm. “You were important – and when we actually – I wanted it to be, I don’t know – I wanted it to be more than something we did between campaign stops.”
“Josh; that’s really -”
“What?”
She shook her head and smiled at him. “You’re racking up the sensitive boyfriend points right now…”
“Do I get a reward?”
“Oh, I think that could be arranged,” she said in a sultry voice, as she pushed him on to his back and leaned down to kiss him. “I could always,” she breathed into his ear, “bring you coffee.”
“I’m not sure that’ll cut it, this time.”
“If you remember,” Donna moved her lips to his neck and began to kiss her way down to his collarbone. “The last time I offered to get you coffee, you’d earned it.”
He chuckled. “Earned it?”
“Definitely.”
“So you’re saying you could be persuaded to bring me some if I make myself useful?”
Donna sat back and sighed exasperatedly. “Josh, that sounds like you’re offering to clean the bathroom.”
He began to undo the buttons on her top. “Would that work?”
“No.”
Finished with the buttons, Josh slid his hands around her waist underneath the top, moving them slowly up her body so that he could ease it all the way off.
“I’ll have to think of something else, then.”
Donna felt her breathing hitch as he began to sweep his hands confidently over her bare skin. “You do that, while I – Josh!”
He was grinning at her, looking very pleased with himself. “Looks like I thought of something.”
“Oh, God,” she gasped as Josh rolled them over and began to trace a pattern of gentle kisses down her neck, across her collarbone, her chest - and down…
“… that’s so much better than flowers!”
End.
Being anally retentive about that sort of thing, I proofed it myself, so any mistakes are mine!
Category/Pairing: J/D – clichéd, sappy fluff.
Spoilers: Post series, so pretty much everything.
Rating: PG-13
A/N: Well, it’s been a year since Josh and Donna ‘shippers the world over exploded with delight as our favourite couple finally got to kiss the hell out of each other and start down the road to relieving some of that UST, which they certainly appear to have done with gusto later on!
I couldn’t let the date pass without doing something to commemorate it – and this is it.
A/N 2: YOOOOOGE thanks to
coloneljack on this one – as usual she helps me to see the wood for the trees, and to my erstwhile partner-in-crime, quaggy_mire for cheering me on.In Honor of the Occasion
Josh walked quietly back into the darkened bedroom and bent down to switch on the lamp on the bedside table, squinting slightly as its gentle glow took the place of the small shaft of gray autumn morning light that had been filtering through a chink in the drapes. The still-sleeping occupant of the bed sighed softly and burrowed a little deeper under the covers, but didn’t wake, so he took the opportunity afforded him to just look at her. Taking in the sweep of her lashes against her cheek, the small lines around her mouth, relaxed in sleep, the stark contrast of her pale skin against the dark sheets, he felt a familiar, visceral tug at the pit of his stomach. She’d been sleeping beside him for almost a year now, yet there were still times when he felt as though that hadn’t been nearly enough time for him to accustom himself to the sight of her, lying contentedly in his bed.
Smiling to himself, Josh wondered idly if he’d ever get used to it as he slid gently back into bed behind her. Snuggling up to her, he propped his head up on one hand and draped his other arm across her waist.
Most mornings, they woke more or less together. They were both conditioned by years of early mornings to come-to quickly and begin the day, but on those rare occasions when he woke first, he was content to just lie there and watch her sleep.
The fact that he could actually lie in bed without feeling like he should be somewhere else or doing something else wasn’t lost on him. But then, he reflected, he’d never had such a good reason for not flying out of bed as soon as he woke up. Now there were mornings when they’d make love, mornings when they’d lie together and talk, mornings when they’d snuggle together and listen to the news, and mornings when they’d just lie there quietly in each other’s arms… it didn’t matter to him what they did, but spending this time together at the beginning of the day had become an important little ritual for both of them after Donna had moved in last year.
Although of course, there were times when that ritual had to be abandoned; times when because of the jobs they did, one, or both of them had to be away. And he had to admit, he didn’t like it at all. They both knew it was an occupational hazard and he guessed it had worked out fairly well so far in that when they had been away from each other, it had been for a night or two at most. But this past ten days without Donna had been the longest they’d been apart since - well, since she’d quit working for him almost two years ago. It was ridiculous, Josh thought, just how necessary her presence had become. Not just in his bed, but in his – their – home. Although now he came to think of it, she’d been more or less a necessity to him for much longer than the past year – he’d just been too scared and too stupid to admit it before.
Josh sighed and looked at the clock. Almost seven-thirty. He’d specifically asked Margaret keep his morning as free as possible but still, he’d have to go in at some point before lunch. And although he knew Donna didn’t have anything on her schedule until later in the day, she’d made him promise not to let her sleep in too long.
Leaning forward, he brushed a couple of strands of hair from her face and kissed her cheek.
“Donna…”
She sighed softly, but didn’t open her eyes.
Josh ran a hand lightly up and down her arm and moved his mouth to her neck.
“Donna…”
“Mmmmpf,” she muttered into her pillow and turned over, throwing her leg over his thigh as she snuggled into his chest and pulled the bedcovers up around her ears.
Josh chuckled and pulled the covers down slightly so that he could nuzzle her bare shoulder. Donna sighed again, and he glanced at her to see a smile twitching at the corner of her mouth, although her eyes were still closed.
“’morning, sleepyhead,” he whispered as he kissed his way along her shoulder, feeling her move her arm so that she could slide her fingers into the hair at the back of his neck, then across his cheek as she stretched and turned onto her back.
“...time is it?”
“Seven-thirty.”
He smiled as Donna’s eyes flew open in consternation. “I’ll be late.”
“For what? I think the jet-lag has addled your brain - you don’t have to go in till later.”
She groaned and flopped back onto the pillow. “Next time I come up with a plan for the First Lady to make a whistle-stop tour of the Far East, please talk me out of it?”
“When have I ever been able to talk you out of anything?” Josh grinned.
“There has to be a first time for everything.”
Leaning down, he dropped a gentle kiss on her lips. “True. I’m told I can be quite persuasive when I want to be.”
“Who told you that?”
“Some woman who succumbed to my many and various charms.”
“And you believed her?”
Unable to resist it, he kissed her again. “She clearly had good taste.”
“Either that or she was just sex-starved.”
“That was a possibility, too…” Josh ran a hand across Donna’s cotton-covered stomach, down and over the curve of her hip until he reached the bare skin of her thigh, beginning to trace a pattern there with the tips of his fingers. He heard her sigh appreciatively and felt her inch closer to him as she worked one hand up under his t-shirt and started scratching lightly up and down his back. Moving his hand from her thigh, he worked it up under her top, letting it rest lightly on her warm, smooth skin. He’d missed this… of course they’d spoken while she’d been away, every day, but much as he loved talking to her, it was no substitute for being able to feel her, soft and inviting under his hands.
Josh nuzzled her neck and gently kissed his way up to her jaw. “I already made the coffee,” he whispered, as he felt Donna stretch and heard her make a contented sound at the back of her throat. The grin she shot back at him was seductive and playful all at once. “Still not bringing you any.”
“Can’t blame a guy for trying,” he said throatily, kissing the corner of her mouth.
“You think you’d have learned by now.”
Josh couldn’t help the contented sigh that escaped him as he felt Donna slide her fingers back into his hair and pull him closer so that she could brush her mouth lightly against his.
He pulled back a little and shrugged. “Hope springs eternal.”
They’d played this game for years – although now of course the rules had changed in a very pleasant way; the verbal foreplay turned physical more often than not and given that she’d been away for ten days, he was certainly hoping that was the way things were headed.
Judging by the look on her face, Donna was thinking the same thing.
She moaned softly as Josh moved his hand back down and around to the back of her thigh and inched it up under the hem of her shorts.
“But in honor of the occasion,” he said, dipping his head so that he could press a series of soft, open-mouthed kisses along her collarbone, “I brought you some.”
Donna was finding it increasingly hard to concentrate, but nonetheless registered what he’d said and glanced over at the bedside table to see steam rising from the mug sitting on the table by the lamp.
“Thank – wait.” Donna put her hand under Josh’s chin and tilted his head so she could frown at him properly. “What are you talking about?”
He arched an eyebrow and looked at her expectantly.
Donna groaned. “Another anniversary?”
“I told you; I’m a man of occasion.”
“You told me that six years ago!”
Josh stifled a noise and tried, without success, to look innocent as Donna pushed herself herself further up onto the pillows. “What?”
“The lady doth protest too much, methinks.”
She narrowed her eyes at him. “Maybe, but unlike you, I don’t remember the date you actually said it!”
Josh moved onto his side and propped his head up on one hand. “Yes you do.” He looked smug. “It was our anniversary.”
“Which one?”
“Donna -”
She shook her head and heaved an exaggerated sigh - although in reality, Josh’s insistence on making a thing out of what he considered important dates throughout their history was one of those insanely sweet things he did that never failed to disarm her completely. This was the man who for the most of the last decade had consistently and vociferously claimed that such trivial details as when to eat, when to sleep, where his keys and all manner of other things were to be found – were inconsequential minutiae and that the need to remember them would interfere with his ability to focus his considerable intellect on bigger and better things. Donna would roll her eyes as she waited for the punchline, which was usually accompanied by an irrepressible grin – That’s why I have you.
But despite his protestations, he nonetheless remembered the date Donna had talked herself into a job, the date she’d left, the date she’d come back, the date she’d – well some dates she’d rather he could forget, but she knew him too well to think he ever would. But still, she’d been amazed to learn, over the past year, just how much Josh knew about her. Not just that her favorite color was pink, or that she liked strawberry cream cheese on her bagel in the morning – but that she’d fallen out of a tree and broken her arm when she was five; that she’d made the finals of the Wisconsin School Music Association competition at thirteen; that the first boy she’d really kissed had been Robert Wilkins – but he’d been a bit grabby so she hadn’t kissed him again.
She didn’t even remember telling Josh some of those things. She supposed, that on one of their many late nights working over the years, when they’d become too tired to work any more and had drifted off into more general conversation (or ‘talking trivia’ as Josh had termed it) she must have mentioned them. She honestly couldn’t recall. But Josh did. And she couldn’t deny that it was adorable.
But she wasn’t ready to let him know that right now. Despite the fact that the smug grin on his face and the way he was absently stroking his palm up and down her side were driving her half-insane with wanting him, she wasn’t done playing this little game just yet..
“Okay…” she told herself to focus - cleared her throat and started checking off on her fingers. “Your birthday was before I left.”
“It was, and may I just say, your choice of, um, gift was really -”
“Oh, wipe that smirk off your face -”
“What? I was just thinking about what happened after I -” he grinned wolfishly, “unwrapped you -”
“You really are predictable.”
He shrugged. “Just one of the many things you love about me.”
Donna couldn’t help it. Looking at Josh lying next to her, relaxed and happy, she felt a rush of affection that warmed her from head to toe. She smiled at him and said simply, “Yes,” and could see from his expression that she’d thrown him. They weren’t the type of couple who were prone to expressing their affection for each other verbally – which made it mean more when they did – but they both showed it in any number of small ways every day. If they were in the same meeting, Josh would cross the room to stand or sit with her. If Josh had a particularly full day (and she knew it surprised and touched him that she was familiar with his schedule even though it had stopped being her job years ago) Donna would make a point of calling or dropping by just to say hello – it was, as it had always been, the little things that attested to the depth of feeling between them.
She ran her hand over his cheek, still rough with stubble, before sitting up and reaching over to pick up her coffee. “And it’s not my birthday till next week.”
“No.”
“So,” she looked at Josh over the rim of her mug. “This ‘occasion’ … it’s not February now, right?”
“No.”
“Or April?”
“Last time I checked, you hadn’t turned into Rip van Winkle.”
“Luckily for you – people would start giving you funny looks if you were living with an old guy with a beard.”
“I don’t know, I think Toby and I would make a cute couple.”
“If you could keep from killing each other.”
Josh blinked. “The rare valid point.”
“My point,” Donna went on, putting her mug back on the table, “is that our anniversaries, as you term them, are in February and April – and now it’s October.”
“Well?”
“So where are my flowers?”
Josh turned onto his back and folded his arms behind his head. “I think I can do better than that, this time.”
“I’m counting on it.” Donna fought back a grin. “Is this going to become a habit?”
He smirked. “It depends how often there’s a momentous development in our relationship.”
“So I take it we’re going to be celebrating something other than an election victory next month?”
“Probably.”
She shook her head fondly and settled herself into his side as Josh wrapped both his arms round her and pulled her closer, resting his cheek on her hair.
“You had this tight pink sweater on, and came bowling into my room going on about polling numbers -”
She stopped stroking her hand up and down his forearm. “You remember what I was wearing?”
“It was very, uh… fetching. And did I mention tight?”
Donna sniggered. “You looked cute in that baggy shirt and those boxers.”
“Oh, so it’s okay for you to remember what I had on…”
She moved her head from under his so that she could look up at him. “Josh, you were half-naked – of course I remember!”
He chuckled and ran a hand over his face. “It was, like five am, and I’d gotten to bed around three – so I was a little punchy - and you came in and threw yourself at me!”
Donna propped herself up on her elbow and eased one of her legs over his. “You might remember the date, but your recall of the actual events is somewhat hazy. You kissed me.”
Josh’s only reply was a lopsided grin.
Donna grinned back, cheekily. “It took you long enough.”
“Hey!” Josh wrapped his arms back around her and pulled her on top of him. “I got there in the end, didn’t I?”
“You did.” Donna’s smile faded as she brushed the tips of her fingers across his face, feeling herself flush with heat at the expression in his eyes – so similar to the one she’d seen that morning a year ago and now, many times since. She traced the line of his cheekbone, his jaw, brushing her thumb along his bottom lip before she leaned down to kiss him, feeling his arms enfold her tightly as he rolled them onto their sides. His lips on hers were soft and wet; one hand was wandering over the skin of her back under her top, then down to her thigh, encouraging her to hook her leg over his hip. Donna moaned and ruffled the hair at the back of his neck with one hand, pulling up his t-shirt with the other. When Josh broke away briefly to tug it over his head and throw it across the room somewhere, Donna rolled onto her back and quickly pulled him down, delighting in the feeling of his weight on top of her. Running her hands eagerly over his warm, bare skin, she began to explore the contours of his body - now so familiar to her; the sensitive spot on his right side that made him shiver, the well-toned muscles in his back and shoulders, the dip at the base of his spine…
When they eventually parted they were tangled up in the bedclothes and each other, chests rising and falling rapidly as they tried to catch their breath.
Josh reached up to kiss her forehead then leaned his against it and closed his eyes, his breathing still a little uneven.
“Thank God President Santos didn’t barge in five minutes later than he did that day. Who knows what he’d have seen!”
“What do you mean?”
“Well,” Josh pulled back to look at her. “We both know where that kiss was headed, right?”
“You might think so -”
“Oh,” he drawled confidently in that tone of voice that never failed to send what felt like a bolt of lightning through her. “I know so.”
“You do?”
“Yes.”
“You think, after one kiss I was about to let you ..?”
“Remind me again,” he said, a cocky grin on his face, “who was it that tried to give me the key to her hotel room that night?”
Donna quirked an eyebrow. “I didn’t try,” she said, “I gave you the key. It’s not my fault you didn’t get to it fast enough.”
The grin vanished and his eyebrows shot up. “I was just – stunned at the implications.”
Donna couldn’t help but be touched by that admission. “It’s okay – I was stunned, too. It’s not the sort of thing I’d ever done before.
“Given a guy the key to your hotel room?”
“Yes.”
“Just me, then”.
“Yes. And here, I thought you couldn’t look any more smug than you did a few minutes ago, but now it looks as though I was wrong, so stop it.”
He tried – unsuccessfully - to wipe the smirk off his face. “If it’s any consolation, it’s not the sort of thing that usually happens to me, either.”
“Really?”
“Nah – women generally just drag me into the nearest closet.”
“They do?”
“You should know.”
Donna ran her foot up and down the back of his leg and shot him a suggestive look. “I bet they never dragged you there to talk policy.”
“No, oddly. You were the first. But you really should try it again sometime – it was pretty hot.”
“If I’d known you had a closet fetish, I might have done it before.”
“Really?”
“You’ll never know.”
Josh laughed and dropped his head to the crook of her neck.
“You know,” Donna said a moment later, her fingers playing with the hair at the nape of his neck, “you never told me why you didn’t just come up and knock that night.”
He lifted his head and moved on to his side. “I did – President Santos called me into a meeting about -”
“You told me that.” Donna rolled over to face him. “But you could have come up after.”
“I -” he swallowed nervously. “We didn’t finish until late - I thought you’d be asleep. Or mad at me.”
“I wasn’t mad at you, Josh. I was… put out, maybe, but I knew it wasn’t a ‘no’ – it was just a ‘not right now’."
“It’s just – it was so – It was important.” He ran a hand lightly up and down her arm. “You were important – and when we actually – I wanted it to be, I don’t know – I wanted it to be more than something we did between campaign stops.”
“Josh; that’s really -”
“What?”
She shook her head and smiled at him. “You’re racking up the sensitive boyfriend points right now…”
“Do I get a reward?”
“Oh, I think that could be arranged,” she said in a sultry voice, as she pushed him on to his back and leaned down to kiss him. “I could always,” she breathed into his ear, “bring you coffee.”
“I’m not sure that’ll cut it, this time.”
“If you remember,” Donna moved her lips to his neck and began to kiss her way down to his collarbone. “The last time I offered to get you coffee, you’d earned it.”
He chuckled. “Earned it?”
“Definitely.”
“So you’re saying you could be persuaded to bring me some if I make myself useful?”
Donna sat back and sighed exasperatedly. “Josh, that sounds like you’re offering to clean the bathroom.”
He began to undo the buttons on her top. “Would that work?”
“No.”
Finished with the buttons, Josh slid his hands around her waist underneath the top, moving them slowly up her body so that he could ease it all the way off.
“I’ll have to think of something else, then.”
Donna felt her breathing hitch as he began to sweep his hands confidently over her bare skin. “You do that, while I – Josh!”
He was grinning at her, looking very pleased with himself. “Looks like I thought of something.”
“Oh, God,” she gasped as Josh rolled them over and began to trace a pattern of gentle kisses down her neck, across her collarbone, her chest - and down…
“… that’s so much better than flowers!”
End.
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no subject
Date: 2007-03-12 01:00 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-03-12 01:55 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-03-12 01:02 pm (UTC)Kind of like this fic!
I know I said it earlier, but I simply must say it again- this is wonderful! A little bit of fluff is the perfect way to mark an anniversary.
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Date: 2007-03-12 01:56 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-03-12 01:15 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-03-12 01:56 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-03-12 01:39 pm (UTC)Oh, how I miss them!
This was excellent. I love the little touches that are always so in character like Josh laughed and dropped his head to the crook of her neck.
A perfect pick-me-up. And now, in honor of the occasion, I need to go watch that opening clip about 30 times.
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Date: 2007-03-12 01:58 pm (UTC)Thing is, with those little bits and pieces like the one you mention - we never actually saw him do that, but you just know it's what he'd do.
Anyway, I'm glad you liked it - go watch the clip and don't break the DVD player!
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Date: 2007-03-12 01:41 pm (UTC)I opened my email this morning and saw a fic from the Yahell groups and was all, "OOH! New fic from Caz! Finally, some decent fic!" And then I realized it didn't say caZ but caM. Which was ok, I suppose, but dissapointing. And then I opened up LJ...
This was so very cute and adorable and perfect. I love how he missed her and how they just picked up so perfectly with the banter and the kissing. Extremely sweet and the perfect way to start the day and week after my previous disappointment. Thanks! :)
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Date: 2007-03-12 02:04 pm (UTC)I'm glad you liked this, and I'm totally flattered by the fact that you'd think like that about a piece of my fic! *sniffle*
I always thought that once Josh and Donna had gotten over their initial awkwardness about the fact that they were actually "together" they would fall back naturally into the teasing and flirtiness. My husband and I still throw innuendo at each other after 16 years, so there's no reason to think Josh and Donna wouldn't do the same!
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Date: 2007-03-12 03:03 pm (UTC)Blimey! Is it only a year? It seems so much longer. But I have to say this is possibly one of the best anniversary fics I've ever read. Definitley better than flowers :-)
Now I have to get my brain into gear and start work on Application of Number lesson plans. Or perhaps I should just read this again, or watch a snippet of "The Cold".
Jolly well done!
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Date: 2007-03-12 06:04 pm (UTC)Glad you liked it.
(no subject)
From:no subject
Date: 2007-03-12 03:09 pm (UTC)Emma
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Date: 2007-03-12 06:05 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-03-12 04:29 pm (UTC)Great Anniversary present!
With a lot of bad fic out there, I love readind the really good stuff.
I don't have this on tape or DVD yet, otherwise I'd be watching it right now!
Great job, caz
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Date: 2007-03-12 06:08 pm (UTC)I wish we'd seen a bit of "settled together" Josh and Donna too, but then I guess the fact we didn't means we can write about it instead. I think, after they'd gotten over the initial shock of actually being together, they'd have fallen back into the teasing and flirtatiousness - it's not something you just stop!
Thanks for reading. :)
no subject
Date: 2007-03-12 05:18 pm (UTC)I've been hoping for a new fic from you...you mentioned you were working on one...and this just made my Monday so much better.
I love how you nail the voices, but, just as importantly, you take your time with the conversation, the touches, the pauses... it's so spot-on and really wonderful to read.
This also marks the anniversary of my obsession with reading fanfic, so thanks so much for fic worthy of a bookmark!
no subject
Date: 2007-03-12 06:11 pm (UTC)I've got one or two ideas bubbling away... and another Studio 60 fic on the go - I don't get as much time to write as I used to, so I've slowed down a bit, but there will be more at some point!
Thanks for reading.
oh, and I forgot to add...
From:Re: oh, and I forgot to add...
From:Re: oh, and I forgot to add...
From: (Anonymous) - Date: 2007-03-12 07:03 pm (UTC) - Expandoh honestly, I'm such a bad typist
From:Re: oh honestly, I'm such a bad typist
From:no subject
Date: 2007-03-12 06:08 pm (UTC)How wonderful. You know I've been grouchy about the lack of good fic, and this really hit the spot. Very them, and of course very fitting for the date!
no subject
Date: 2007-03-12 06:15 pm (UTC)Thanks for reading - I'm glad you liked it and that it seemed like "them" - it means a lot to know that you think I got the voices right.
I've got a couple of ideas bubbling and another S60 fic on the go, so there will be more at some point!
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Date: 2007-03-12 07:06 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-03-12 07:32 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-03-12 08:20 pm (UTC)i especially love the fact that they're in bed together THE WHOLE TIME. Heehee, good stuff!
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Date: 2007-03-12 08:57 pm (UTC)Hee! I was wondering when someone was going to notice that!
Glad you liked it.
(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:no subject
Date: 2007-03-12 11:16 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-03-12 11:22 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-03-12 11:30 pm (UTC)Happy Anniversary, Caz!!
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Date: 2007-03-12 11:34 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-03-13 12:56 am (UTC)So very sweet. I just wish we would have seen a little more of them as a settled couple instead of that brief (but silent) moment from “Tomorrow”. I really missed the banter. And your story/dialog seemed true to the characters we all loved to watch on tv.
I loved Donna’s thoughts about how Josh remembered the little things. Of course he remembered those things… those are the things that make him like her. Sweet Josh is probably my favorite. He may appear to be gruff on the outside, but underneath he really is a softy to those he cares about.
Lastly…I LOVED this: “I don’t know, I think Toby and I would make a cute couple.”
“If you could keep from killing each other.”
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Date: 2007-03-13 01:12 pm (UTC)I wish we'd seen more of them "settled" - hell, I wish they'd actually spoken a couple of words to each other in Tomorrow - can't believe I'm still bitter about that, but I am!
And yes, well, sweet!Josh is quite something, isn't he? Completely devoted to the people he really cares about - it's one of the reasons we love him. *sigh*
Anyway, thanks for reading - I'm glad you liked it.
no subject
Date: 2007-03-13 01:02 am (UTC)Oh thank you!!!!!
You never cease to amaze me- whether you're writing fluff or angst (or smut), you always manage to capture Josh and Donna so perfectly well that I can just see and hear them both in my head like it's another WW ep, a deleted scene or something.
And this was definitely the perfect way to celebrate the occasion!!! (Oh, happy day!) ;-D Absolutely love it!!! Especially the coffee thing and the mention of how Josh remembers all these little things about Donna and their relationship even though he never had time to remember 'little things' like where his keys were or what his next meeting was. ;-) So very Josh!
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Date: 2007-03-13 01:15 pm (UTC)Glad you liked it.
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Date: 2007-03-13 01:28 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-03-13 01:16 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-03-13 08:21 pm (UTC)You just made my day.
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Date: 2007-03-13 08:28 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-03-14 11:13 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-03-14 11:02 pm (UTC)Glad you enjoyed it.
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Date: 2007-03-15 04:42 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-03-15 07:46 pm (UTC)LOVED IT!!!!!
Date: 2007-03-15 06:13 pm (UTC)Re: LOVED IT!!!!!
Date: 2007-03-15 07:47 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-03-19 05:53 pm (UTC)Do you mind if I talk to you about something privately? My e-mail address is nicestkidintown at livejournal.com. Thanks! :)
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Date: 2007-03-19 06:00 pm (UTC)I miss it too - I can't believe it's been nearly a year since it ended.
(I've emailed you!)
!!!
Date: 2007-03-20 03:00 pm (UTC)Re: !!!
Date: 2007-03-20 05:12 pm (UTC)Anyway, glad you found this in the end - thanks for reading!
Re: !!!
From:no subject
Date: 2007-04-05 03:46 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-04-05 05:28 pm (UTC)And yeah, I don't go to Yahell at all these days, other than to post stuff. I should really have a look so I can have a badfic rant... :)
(no subject)
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