Night of the horse (log/finished)
Backdated to the night of this. Is also a little tiny bit naughty.
Charlie’s house was huge. Charlie’s house was huge enough for a horse to roam around on the inside of it. Freely. Without knocking things over or making it so that you couldn’t get from one room to the other easily. For a long moment, she’d just watched the horse in awe. It was really one thing to hear about it, and another to see it happening in person. There was a horse. Inside.
Jake had willingly taken the opportunity to have the apartment to himself, so he and Lucy-Belle were nowhere to be seen. She would have loved to spend the evening with her roommate, as she didn’t get to see him all that much lately, but she also understood that it was nice to have quiet time with the one that you loved.
She and Charlie had a nice dinner. He cooked for her, and they sat in his kitchen eating it. There was talk, of course. Their conversation flowing like nothing else in the world could. Once you knew how somebody’s brain worked because you’d had their brain for a while, communication was astoundingly easy.
At bedtime, which ended up being a lot later than she normally would have gone to sleep, Charlie showed her to the room she was going to stay in and left her to it. Jennifer got cozy in the bed and managed to get an hour’s worth of sleep before she was awake again. Wide awake. She didn’t know if it was a sound that had woken her or just a natural thing. But she realized that she wanted a snack.
Quietly, Jennifer got up and snuck down the stairs, not bothering with pants to cover what the tank top she was wearing didn’t, because she didn’t think she’d be down there long enough to get caught. At the bottom of the stairs though, Jennifer spotted what might have woken her up. The horse. He had his nose in a bowl of fruit and seemed to be musing about which to pick. She watched it choose a pear and smiled.
There had been one thing that she’d wanted to do all evening that seemed odd to ask Charlie for, and that was to ride the horse. Jennifer decided that right now was a good opportunity for that, since her partner was asleep and she and the horse were here alone. She approached calmly and ran her hand down the long neck and through the mane. She spoke to the horse quietly to let him get to know her. When she was sure that he trusted her, Jennifer snuck around to the side and used a kitchen stool to boost herself up.
Never in her life had she ridden a horse, and it was a little frightening - but in an exhilarating way. Jennifer intended to only ride once around the kitchen. Or maybe just sit here if the horse decided it didn’t want to go anywhere - she didn’t have anything to guide him with after all - and then she’d grab a banana or something and head back upstairs.
---
Jennifer wasn’t the only one who wasn’t sleeping. Charlie didn’t sleep as much as some people thought. Or maybe he slept exactly as other people thought, not much at all. He didn’t ride the horse, talk to it but not ride it. He had had some interesting conversations with the horse, and one day, he was certain the horse was going to say something back - he’d just not had anything of importance to say yet.
Tonight though, Charlie had considered sneaking out for a little personal time with a few gals who kept him company. He didn’t want to bring anyone home, but he didn’t want to be alone. For as strange as he could be, he didn’t want to wake up Jennifer either.
The detective headed down the stairs, dressed in jeans, a tee, and leather jacket - casual but all designer label. He paused at the bottom step at what he saw; he had wondered when it would happen, when someone would actually ride the horse in the house.
----
Jennifer didn’t even notice Charlie standing there until the horse moseyed around the island in the center of the kitchen and turned her around to face the stairs. And there he was. While riding the horse, there’d been a big ridiculous smile over her lips. Maybe it shouldn’t have been as much fun as she thought it was, but not only was she riding a horse for the first time, she was doing it in somebody’s kitchen. That smile fell away and Jennifer blushed, hiding her face in her hands.
“Oh god, Charlie.”
She felt like she’d been caught doing something really bad.
---
“I knew it’d happen, but I didn’t expect you to be the one. Then again, you do have that rebellious streak you try to hide.” Charlie smiled. He hadn’t moved from his spot near the stairs. He just took a lean against the banister and watched.
“You don’t look bad up there. Ted probably wouldn’t like it, law suits and the fact that he doesn’t see the horse as a horse. Not sure what he sees it as, a dog, horse. Great Dane? Can you see a horse as something other than a horse and still say it’s a horse?” His smile wasn’t the normal zen peaceful one. It was more akin to what he’d been about to go out and do, hunt for a little fun. Of course, it could be the lighting, or lack there of.
“Comfortable? You might get a rash if you stay up there too long. Horse hair.” He didn’t stretch or turn to get a look at what she might or might not be wearing. He didn’t even make more of a comment on it.
----
“I was just going to ride him around the kitchen once.” Jen said, “I thought you were asleep and wouldn’t ever know.”
He had a point about the horse hair. Especially since she wasn’t wearing any pants. The horse had continued to move while they spoke to one another, and now she was in full view of the door. Urging the animal to a less conspicuous spot to hide her lack of clothing while she got down seemed silly at this point.
Of course, she was also a little too far away from the stool to use it.
“I don’t know how to get down.” Jennifer admitted after taking a moment to look at the floor. The counter was a foot or so away, which didn’t seem like a lot, but from up on the horse it looked too far and dangerous to attempt to slide over the gap.
---
“How did you get up?” Charlie still hadn’t moved from his spot. He just leaned there against the banister, cruelly watching her try to figure out how to get out of her predicament. It was cute in a way. “Just do the opposite.”
He actually smirked; he was teasing, and she didn’t have to wait long for him to take the first step in her and the horse’s direction. The horse didn’t care where Charlie went; Charlie was just another piece of furniture, or the guy with the carrot hair. They coexisted easily enough. The detective was probably one of the easiest people to live with once one got over the zennish way of thinking/life. He’d yet to achieve zen. He was very zen adjacent.
“I would have known. He would have told me.” That would seem important to say, that he had been ridden. Charlie could see the horse gruffing about it, as the horse didn’t get much of that treatment in the house.
The ginger cop stood now at the horse’s head. His hand softly patted and rubbed the horse’s nose and then neck. “I’ll help you down if you want.”
---
“I can’t!” Jennifer pointed at the stool that was on the other side of the room from where she was now. “I used that.”
She glanced around again, hoping that she’d missed some key item of furniture that she would be able to use to rescue herself from this situation. Then she considered flinging her leg over and just jumping down, or turning on her belly and sliding down, but both options left her thinking about how little clothing she was currently in and how that clothing might ride up.
Finally, Jennifer gave up. She needed help.
“Fine. Come help me. I feel ridiculous on this horse with you watching.”
---
“You look good on him.” Charlie knew he’d said it before, but he wanted to make sure she knew he meant it. He didn’t mind the horse being ridden; the horse was a horse. It hadn’t been wild and free, and it wasn’t exactly wild and free here. There was once Charlie had opened the door to let it out, but the horse was happy with his inside domain. It seemed to like that it could do whatever business it wanted, and save for that strange time it didn’t know how long ago, no one made a fuss.
“I was going out to find some fun. This is more so. I get to see you in your pjs.” He smiled up at her, rounding the horse so that he could help his partner down. He lifted his hands up to Jennifer, an almost mischievous smile on his lips.
“I’m ready when you are.” The way he was going to help her down, meant that she’d have to practically slide down his body to get to the floor. Nothing like close quarters.
----
Her pjs. Jennifer looked down at her bare legs, the tight tank top that covered her upper half and not much else. Oh, how she wished that she had decided to put on pants before coming down stairs. It wouldn’t have taken that long. And she’d have pants on now if she had.
She swung her leg over and leaned to put her hands on Charlie’s shoulders. Using the horse’s body as an anchor to keep her from outright falling on top of her partner, Jennifer slid down. The horse, of course, decided to move back around the island and to where the stool was after she was gone from his back.
A little voice inside said that the horse and Charlie really did speak to one another, and now they were in cahoots, arranging the best way for her to be in a compromising situation. That same little voice said that they’d somehow arranged for her to find the horse in the middle of the night, that it was all a setup. She knew the voice wasn’t right, but it was hard to discount it at the moment.
“Thank you.” She said, looking up slightly at her partner. They’d been this close only once before, and she couldn't help thinking about that right now. Jennifer noticed that his hands were still in their place, too.
---
The detective didn’t say anything as the horse ambled away. He didn’t laugh, which was probably a very good thing. He just smiled as she slid down and stood by him. His fingers softly kneaded where they rested at her hips.
“You don’t wear much to sleep in.” He wasn’t stepping away, not letting go. He wasn’t leering, or pushing her back to the counter. He didn’t move more than his hands. A finger might have nudged her shirt out of the way to brush along bare skin, but it didn’t get more TV-M rated than that.
“I sleep in the nude.” His tone was matter of fact, as if he were sharing a bit of information she might like to know. “Unless I don’t. Sometimes I sleep in my clothes. Or in pjs.”
----
“No.” She shook her head. “I like to have nothing around me but the covers...”
And other things, she supposed, if she wasn’t the only one in the bed. But she couldn’t finish the thought, with how close they were to one another right now. It was no longer a matter of embarrassment now that she was off the horse. It was more a matter of unsure of what she should say, or do, at this point.
While he hadn’t moved away, neither had she, and this time there wasn’t a door stopping her from doing so.
“So you just let the chips fall where they may.” She did smile a tiny bit then. “The only time I don’t plan out my sleepwear is when there’s been too much alcohol involved. Or if there’s something else stopping me.”
---
“It works better when I don’t plan that sort of thing.” Charlie had planned a good bit in his life, but he was also working on letting things come and go as they happened. He had to let go, which wasn’t easy. Another finger slid over her skin, dancing along the top edge of her sole undergarment.
“What would stop you from planning?” The horse came around to see how the plan was working. Perhaps it was really something they’d set up, but the detective wouldn’t. Would he? He’d been trying to play somewhat by the book, right? The horse managed to behind his only rider, as of late, and nudge her closer.
----
Goosebumps raised along Jen’s arms at the graze of finger on her flesh. She couldn’t stop it, and she couldn’t hide it, so she didn’t try.
“Outside influences. Like...” Jen was suddenly pushed from behind, and she had just enough sense to realize that it was the horse. But now she was even closer to Charlie than she had been. Her face near his shirt, taking in the way that he smelled. Feeling his breath along her face. “other people.” She finished the statement she’d been trying to make, but it didn’t come out as casual as it would have been before.
She found herself torn, much like she had the night of the pastry shop. On the one hand, there were the feelings she was a little confused about, on the other, Charlie had clearly stated the rules he knew about the police department. That had to mean something, didn’t it? What was she supposed to do? Especially without somebody to call and work her frustrations out with.
----
“I see. Does that happen much?” Charlie’d seemed ready for the horsey nudge, and perhaps if he had known there was a thought that he was working with the horse, he might have said something about it. But, he might not have. It was happening no matter way. His fingertips dug for a moment into her hips before pulling away. He waited just long enough to make sure she’d stand on her own, to his credit anyway.
“I could stay home if you’d like. We could play Parcheesi.” He hadn’t stepped too far away. He was giving her a little breathing room. Very little breathing room, as if he were trying to decide if he wanted the rules or not. He had broken them in the past, hadn’t he? The horse, on the other hand, nudged the rider again.
“She’ll move if she wants to. There are more pears.” And with that, the horse whinnied and returned to the bowl.
----
“Sometimes.” Jennifer admitted. It had happened more than a few times with Dean. But not lately. She felt like she didn’t want to say that part, though. She didn’t want Charlie to think that she was in dire need of that kind of situation. Not because she wanted him to think her well satisfied or whatever, but because if something did happen next, she didn’t want him to think that he was a fallback.
And, she was deciding, her feelings were not quite so confused. She knew what they were. Maybe she didn’t want to admit it fully. Maybe because he was her partner. But she knew exactly what they were. Had, too, when he’d pinned her against her apartment door.
“If you want to stay... but I would hate to ruin your fun.”
Jennifer was just catching her breath from their closeness when she was nudged into it again. Now she was certain that he and the horse were conspiring. Especially after it turned and wandered back to the fruit after Charlie saying so. She would be willing to swear on anything that she’d seen the animal shrug.
This time, though, her own hands went stray. One planted against his chest to steady her while the other found his arm. He was warm, her mind absurdly noted.
---
“I think this is fun.” Charlie smiled at her. “The horse is having fun. He really likes pears.” As if to punctuate what the detective was saying, the horse crunched rather loudly. It certainly did seem to like what it was munching. Charlie motioned to the horse; he’d told her so, hadn’t he?
“You might like them. Well, not those. They’re very horsey by now, but I am sure I’ve got more. Or we could have apples. We could go for a swim.” He hadn’t moved her hands. He didn’t see any reason why he should.
“You don’t even have to change.” He laughed softly. “I can get out of this. You could help.” He actually winked at her.
----
She and the horse were going to have a talk later.
“Swimming?” Jennifer vaguely recalled him mentioning something about him having a pool. She hadn’t gotten to see it yet, and it also seemed like a great way to move things away from the horse. Not to mention, get Charlie to stay and get him out of what he was wearing.
Maybe then he’d be more apt to define for her how he felt about the rule he’d quoted in her direction. Maybe then, she’d know better how she should be acting, or reacting.
She smiled back at him, and began to push his jacket off his shoulders, her hands sliding up his body rather than pulling away from it first.
“Let’s swim.”
---
Charlie bit his bottom lip, looking down at her. It was probably exactly what he wanted. The horse munched again, as if it didn’t want to be forgotten. Charlie ignored it. He let the jacket fall. He was actually nudging out of his shoes to help out. He laughed softly.
“Swimming.” The jacket would stay where it was. The shoes would stay where they were as he stepped to the side to leave them behind. He didn’t do more than that for the moment. He stepped completely away from her and turned to turn on the pool’s lights. It was almost magical; the pool really shouldn’t be so close to the orchard. Charlie liked having his trees, or the trees right there. Now and then he guessed someone came along to fish the fallen fruit out.
He stared out at the water, smiling a little. He could see her in the reflection, and she really was beautiful.
---
Now she didn’t care about what she was wearing. Though, the tank was fairly thin and the effect of water on it was going to be interesting, she wasn’t thinking about it at all. She watched Charlie a moment before going over to the door to the back yard and looking out at the pool and the trees.
It should have been strange to see an orchard so close to the house, and by the pool, but she couldn’t help but think it was one of the most beautiful arrangements she’d ever seen. It left the impression of being in some storybook grotto. Finally, she opened the door and stepped into the mild night air. She took a moment to not think about anything at all and just breathe in the scent of the fruit still on the trees. She’d never smelled that before. Tonight was one of many firsts, she guessed. Jennifer moved toward the edge and dipped her toe in, not surprised to discover it warm. Heated, likely, she thought.
Instead of continuing to help Charlie with his clothes, she decided to let him do so on his own terms, and slid into the water. Heated like this, it was almost like silk over her body. She plunged herself under and slicked back her hair as she surfaced again, looking around to see where her partner might have ended up.
---
Charlie didn’t say anything. He just watched her, and remembering where she was from, he hoped that this gave her something to lighten the heaviness. She always had that feeling of heavy. Perhaps that was why he felt a connection with her; he had a heaviness of his own. They seemed suited in that way.
Watching her just a little longer before he started walking out. He smiled slightly as she moved; it was certainly pleasing to see. He stood at the edge of the pool for a little while longer. He couldn’t decide.
“Do you like it?” He actually looked concerned she might not. He wanted her to be happy. She deserved to be happy after all.
----
“It’s lovely.” Jennifer looked behind her at the trees. “I’m guessing it’s not actually like this back where you’re from. But I like the orchard being right there. I feel like I’m swimming in a secret pond.”
It was warmer than a pond, though, she was sure. She knew about hot springs, and that those were usually like sitting in a jacuzzi or a really hot bath. This was not like either one. This was a pleasant warm, just a little warmer than the night air around them, which caused more goosebumps on the flesh that was exposed to it as she moved.
“So are you coming in? Or am I swimming alone now?” She couldn’t help but note that Charlie had stopped this process of undress. Not that she minded swimming alone. Now that she was in here, it would take a good deal of convincing to get her out before she really wanted to. In fact, she might have been slowly scanning the area to try to devise a way in when Charlie wasn’t home. Not that he wouldn’t know if she did, likely. Not with that damned horse around.
It was moments like these where it was hard to dislike being in the City. It gave so much. It had been hard to get used to, of course, and there were the small things she didn’t understand - like Godzilla or the Joker - but nowhere else would she have been able to meet a man who had a horse living in his house and a grove of fruit trees out by his pool. Nor would she have met Batman. Or Dinah, or any of the other great friends she’d made.
Jennifer eyed the horse as it moved past the back door, attempting to send mental communication that it was in deep trouble, even if things here did turn out well.
---
“You look like a mermaid.” There was a pause. “With legs.” Charlie actually smirked, or was it more a boyish grin. He returned to the undressing. It wasn’t done slowly to tantalize, but he wasn’t exactly paying attention to the undressing either. He was distracted by her. Not in the all too creepy way.
“He can’t lock us out.” Charlie meant the horse. “He hasn’t discovered how to do it...yet.” The detective had managed the pants, tossing them to the side. The shirt came next, so he was standing at the pool’s edge in socks and boxers. “Socks on or off?”
---
“That’s not a mermaid, by definition.” Jen laughed.
When he spoke of the horse, she looked at it again. It didn’t seem to be paying any attention to her or Charlie anymore, but that really meant nothing, didn’t it. Clearly it had spent far too much time with the detective and was taking on some of his qualities.
She had no doubt that eventually, the animal would know how to work locks and levers, and be able to trot around town as it pleased, shoving people into other people and stealing fruit from dumbfounded fruit merchants.
“Off!” She laughed again. She had watched him undress, more out of the corner of her eye than directly. “I would never let you live it down if you swam in your socks.”
---
“But, what if I want my feet to stay cottony?” Charlie looked down at his still socked feet, just a little wriggle of toes at her, or perhaps at himself. “They’re really good socks. They cost someone over fifteen a pair.” He nodded. He didn’t know who paid for the bills. The money was in Ted’s name, but Charlie could use the accounts. Or he had money somewhere else. He didn’t even know if he was on the City’s payroll. He simply lived as he wanted, and he’d change should he need to.
“Farewell, socks. The mermaid who isn’t a mermaid says you have to go.” He sounded almost heartbroken. He sat down there still on the pool’s edge and pulled the socks off. Rather than setting the cottony and expensive socks aside, he laid first one then the other on the water to let them float or sink. Whichever cottony, expensive socks did in pools.
With his socks off, he slid into the water, but he didn’t move closer to her, not yet. Instead, he slipped under the water, drenching himself. Soon he came back up a little closer. His boxers came around the same time, only nearer to the spot he’d entered the water.
“I like to swim naked too.” As if that explained it all.
----
Jennifer smiled, watching one sock and the second sock as they took on water, then sunk to their doom at the pool floor. She didn’t think that they would last long in the chemicals used to keep the pool clean.
She then watched Charlie’s boxers rise to the surface.
“I can see that.” Almost, she almost made a comment about him liking to do many things naked, but she saw exactly what kind of bear trap that was and kept herself from it. Not to mention that it was stating the obvious.
Feeling bad for the socks, Jennifer retrieved them with her toes and brought them back above the water. She also rescued the underpants, and flung all clothing items out of the water to land in a wet ball a few feet from the edge of the pool.
As an added bonus, she ducked under the water herself, spending a good long while below, and when she came back up, Jennifer tossed her own bits of clothing onto the pile. If he could skinny dip without shame, she could too.
---
“I do not like having sex in pools.” Perhaps some might think that was random. Charlie hadn’t removed all his clothes as a come on; he really did like swimming naked. He liked it even more when there was a beautiful not mermaid swimming with him. He smiled at her, getting closer.
“The water isn’t as forgiving as you’d think. I do like you in my pool naked, though.” More truth. Charlie did like the truth. He touched her stomach under the water, fingertips at first, then palm. “I like touching you naked in my pool.” His eyes didn’t watch his hand. They were on her face.
“Do you think the rules apply here?” His hand stopped moving; it had turned slightly, his fingers pointing toward the pool floor. It was an earnest question. “If the City can break the rules of physics, do the rules of professional conduct exist? Are all rules meant to be broken when that is the reality?”
----
“I’ve never done it to know one way or the other.” She wasn’t sure that she cared to try, honestly. It seemed like it would be uncomfortable on her end at the best, and logistically difficult and more at worst.
She stayed quiet while Charlie told her what he liked, only speaking when he asked a question directly.
“I think at this point I don’t give a fuck about rules.”
Jennifer moved into his hand, encouraging him further. She draped an arm over Charlie’s shoulder, wrapping her hand around to the back of his head. She really didn’t care about rules anymore, and damn what he’d said before. Acting on what she’d been churning around in her head for a while now, Jennifer only hesitated a little bit before leaning in to kiss him.
---
Charlie didn’t push her away. The hand that had rested against her stomach, slid round to the small of her back. He pulled her close. Not giving a fuck seemed very much okay with the detective. The kiss was met eagerly with a hunger that didn’t threaten to push things too quickly. It was the sort of hunger wishing to be sated through the savoring rather than simply devouring.
Being in water, the ginger - definitely ginger - man was able to lift her with little effort. He softly carefully guided her to the side of the pool, a slight ledge was there for sitting. He set her on it and continued the kissing. His hands now free to explore the body he’d only come to know through clothes and watching it in motion, at work and somewhat at play.
----
Jen was a little surprised at how much relief she felt after the initial kiss. And more when he continued and maneuvered them into a place where things would be simplified. It was like a too-tight garment being flung off after a night that had run overlong. Or a soothing ointment placed on a burn.
Despite what was going on in their world at the moment, outside of this house, she found herself lost in the pool with her partner.