Who: John and Sam When: A couple of days post-tether Where: His place What: Relationship talk Rating/Warnings: Low/None Status: Complete
Sam was extremely glad the tether incident was over with, not that Elijah hadn’t been nice but she was just glad to be on her own again. She wasn’t used to having someone around all the time, especially since Lizzie had moved out.
She decided once they realised they were free once more that she would visit John, so bottle of wine in hand and pastries from Baxter’s she headed over and knocked on his door.
John heard the knock on the door and finished typing the last couple of words in his document. He then rushed over to the door and answered it, smiling at Sam on the other side. “Hey there, come on in,” he told her. The apartment wasn’t looking its greatest, admittedly. His desk looked like a filing cabinet had vomited all over it and John knew that somewhere under the paperwork was at least one bowl of cereal, but since Sharon had left after the weirdness of the last week he’d been working hard on some of his more...out there theories. It was what he did in times of stress or upset.
“Hey, I’m not disturbing you am I?” she asked as she entered the house, looking around and raising an eyebrow slightly, “You were obviously in the middle of tidying up” she added wryly. Before stepping forward to hug him, “You alright?” she asked him softly.
"No, not at all," John smiled as she hugged him. "Just got carried away with this wormhole theory I've got buzzin' round in my head. I'm ok, thanks. You? You brought wine? You're my favourite," he grinned, trying to deflect the conversation from himself.
Sam understood getting carried away with theories, especially the ones from the dreams. “I brought wine and Baxter’s pastries” she smiled at him brandishing the items, “Conditional of you telling me how you really are” she added knowingly. She hadn’t been his friend all through university without knowing when he was trying to avoid a subject.
"You drive a hard bargain, Sam," John teased, taking the offered goods from her and heading into the kitchen. "It's not like anyone can turn down pastries from Baxter's," he said, pulling out a plate to put the pastries on and glasses for the wine.
“I know. I’m a big cheater” Sam replied, opening the bag and placing the pastries onto the plates before pushing the wine towards him to open, “But I know your weaknesses and I’m not afraid to exploit them in the name of helping”
John chuckled at that, taking the wine and finding the corkscrew. Undoing the bottle, he poured two glasses out for them, handing one to Sam before picking up one of the plates and heading back into the front room. “I really do apologise about that,” he gestured to the desk in the corner. He sat down, and placed his glass on a coaster on the coffee table. “But you know what it’s like. Once you start you just can’t stop,” he shrugged.
Sam took the wine and picked up another plate before following John into the living room, “Oh don’t worry about that. I’m probably the best person to understand” she said, sitting down and tucking her legs under her. Sipping her wine before she asked, “So what’s wrong? Sharon?”
John sighed heavily, trust Sam to hit the nail on the head. “Of course Sharon,” he sat back on the couch, his head on the back of the cushion as he stared up at the ceiling. “This weird....pairing thing that happened last week was just...great and frustrating and….great,” he gave a little, slightly manic laugh.
“Have you told her? How you feel I mean?” Sam asked, watching as John spoke, “Or even asked her out on a date? A proper date and not because you have to be around each other because of some invisible force” she clarified.
“We’ve been out a couple of times. Drinking, dancing, never really specified it as a date though,” John shrugged. “I kissed her too, did I tell you that? Yeah...I think I made her uncomfortable so I backed off after that,” he admitted. “Should have just stuck with being a gentlemen like grandma always said,” he shook his head and sat forward to take a sip of his drink.
Drinking and dancing sounded like a date to her but she didn't say so. "What makes you think she was uncomfortable?" Sam asked, "She didn't kiss back?" Because Sam had to wonder what was wrong with this woman, John was a catch. "I can't ever imagine you not being a gentleman" she added.
“Pretty much by the way she looked like a deer in headlights,” John sighed again. “I was being a gentleman, but then we’d had a bit to drink, we were dancing really close and having a good time and I just...she just looked so damn beautiful,” he sat back on the couch, wine in hand. “I should have just kept it together,” he shook his head.
“Maybe she was just surprised?” Sam suggested, “It doesn’t have to be a bad reaction. John, it’s hardly like you attacked her. You are a gentleman, one of the best” she assured him.
"Oh she was definitely surprised," John gave a little laugh. "Nah, I'm going to give her the space and time to decide on her own. I can do that," he sighed. "I can be her friend." He said to convince himself more than anything else. "Or die of frustration," he joked.
“No dying. Not on my watch” Sam admonished, “But time and space might be a good thing. Absence makes the heart grow fonder right?” she said reaching out to pat his leg.
“Yeah, I suppose,” John turned his head on the back of the sofa to look at her with a soft smile. “What about you? How was your...friend?” he asked.
"Oh he was okay. A lawyer. We got along fine. Both of us got a fair amount of work done actually" she smiled.
"Trust you to be tethered to someone who has as unhealthy addiction to work as you do," John grinned as he teased her. "So was it all work? Any play?" He winked. "Did you wake up in bed with him?"
“Hey! It’s not an unhealthy addiction, I’m perfectly healthy” she protested before laughing, “I did wake up in bed with him but there was no play of that kind” she told him.
“Sam, I remember your college days. It was unhealthy,” John laughed as he pointed out. “Why didn’t you get some play in? Was he horrifically ugly?”
“Hey, I had plenty of fun too” Sam defended herself, “Not at all. He was very nice. It’s just an awkward situation” she shrugged.
“Yeah, you and your calculator,” John teased, trying to move out of the way for any poking he might receive in retribution. “I suppose, but you should have tried something. Unless of course...is he gay?”
Sam frowned when he moved, poking was the least of his worries she was going in for fully fledged tickling now. “John he was not gay. We didn’t jump each other because neither of us was interested. Honestly, you make it sound like I’m a weirdo for not trying to” she told him moving quickly and tickling his side.
John laughed as she tickled him, trying to keep his wine from spilling out of the glass in his hand as she did. “Ok, ok, I give in! Mostly coz I don’t want wine stains on the couch!” he told her, still chuckling. It felt good to laugh after thinking about everything with Sharon. “So you going to stay in contact? It’s a pretty unusual experience you’ve shared,” he shrugged, leaning forward to pick up a pastry from the table.
“Mostly because you know I’d win” Sam corrected him with a grin and a wink. Glad he was smiling again, “Maybe. Casual acquaintances I guess” she shrugged before following suit and eating a pastry too.
“What? You’re scary! What can I say! Especially knowing you’re this military bad ass in your Dreams,” John chuckled. “Casual acquaintances? I suppose there are worse ways of ending that kind of experience,” he shrugged. “But he was a nice guy? Wasn’t an ass to you or anything?” he asked, munching on the pastry.
“I wonder if those skills have transferred over?” she mused, “Be pretty cool if I could kick ass now” she grinned. “We got along fine, he was a nice guy, not an ass there just wasn’t any kind of spark you know?”
John looked at her after she talked about the skills transferring over. “Hmm...nah, I reckon you’d be more of a crack shot than a hand to hand fighter,” he told her after considering. “Fair enough. Have you met anyone since you’ve been here?”
“Well it’s the military so I’d need a grounding in everything” she said, though he was right she thought she’d be better with weapons than hand to hand. “Romantically? No” she shook her head, “I work, I run and I visit Lizzie and you” She sounded boring but she was content.
“You thought about trying it out? Finding a sparring partner or going to a shooting range?” John asked, taking another bite out of his pastry. “There was only one work in that list. I’m sure there should have been at least ten more,” he teased.
“Not really but maybe I should” she said thoughtfully before rolling her eyes at him. “I work at the office and at home. Sometimes at the coffee shop or Stark Industries. I’m not listing them all”
“You should, you never know, maybe it’ll help you in the real world. I hear a lot of people gain skills that they never thought they could have had otherwise,” John shrugged, shoving more pastry in his mouth.
He had a point, and it would give her something in her life that wasn't work. "Well luckily for you speed eating pastries is already a skill you possess" she teased, "One less to gain from the dreams"
“Yeah,” John talked with his mouth still full of pastry. “One less thing to learn. More time to focus on equations and getting over girls who don’t feel the same way,” he smiled over at her, crumbs from the pastry on his chin.
Sam gave him a sympathetic smile before she ruffled his hair then grabbed a tissue to wipe the crumbs off his chin, “Equations are good for that, as are friends with wine and pastries” she said clinking her glass against his. They’d be okay, they had each other at least.