Written by Six de los Reyes for #RCReadathon2020 Prompt and Pairing, Please! Challenge. Phylle and Dax are characters from Field Guide : Love and Other Natural Disasters (Talking Nerdy Book 2) and may or may not appear in other de los Reyes lab nerd books near you.
Prompt: 365247 by DAY6
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“How is it still raining?” Phylle asked, shifting over to lie on her stomach. “It was raining when we went to sleep and now we’ve woken up it’s still raining.”
Dax rolled over to Phylle’s side of the bed, throwing an arm around her waist and pulling her closer until her back was flush against his chest and he fit his knees behind her knees. Boom. Spooning. “Go back to sleep. You can sleep another eight hours if you want to.”
“It’s 4:30 in the morning.” Phylle wiggled in his embrace and tried to swim away. “I’m wide awake.”
He nuzzled the back of her shoulder. “Then go back to sleep.”
“I’m too awake.” Phylle squirmed in his arms but he held onto her tight and tangled his legs around hers. “You’re prickly,” she whined. “Your face is prickly.”
And Phylle was ticklish. It was a very specific location and it made him feel like he’d finally unlocked one secret of the universe. Perhaps the greatest discovery since dirt. “Didn’t shave.”
“Yeah, exactly. You’re like a giant cactus. I’m trapped in a giant cactus bear trap.” She feigned struggle. Dax knew she was faking it because had Phylle truly been using her strength against him, he’d have a black eye, probably two, a few bruised internal organs, and one less limb. Because Phylle was super strong and Dax was not one to forget that.
“You like it when I don’t shave.” If his voice came out a little growly, it was because he was feeling bold. A move that paid off with the little shiver he got in response. “Go to sleep.”
“Ugh. Fine. Move over.” Phylle tried, and failed, to untangle herself in his arms. Dax liked to think she wasn’t really trying that hard because secretly she liked it. “You be the little spoon.”
“Nope. Too late.” He tightened his arms around her and breathed her in. Phylle smelled like the ocean. If the ocean also smelled a little minty fresh. “Spoon docking sequence has already been locked and completed.”
“What the fuck, how are you such a nerd? A cheesy nerd. I did not sign up for this. Stop hanging out with my friends at In Lab. They’re bad influences.”
“Shush,” he whispered behind the shell of her ear. “It’s okay to feel small. I got you. Go back to sleep. I swear, Phylle Paiton. You are impossible. Let me love you. Come on. You can do it. You’ve been through hell and high water, you can stand to be the little spoon for a little while longer. Suffer through it. Do it for science. The survival of the planet depends on it.”
She groaned, and though he couldn’t see her face Dax just knew she was rolling her eyes. “Okay, but you’re wearing too many clothes.”
“It’s cold,” was what he said but he was not at all opposed to the idea of far less clothes and cuddling in the same sentence.
“You get naked to get warm is the point I’m making. Unless you have any qualms about naked cuddle time.”
The rush of arms and legs and getting lost in the maze of their sheets was a familiar scene, one navigated with ease and familiarity. Dax settled Phylle back in his arms, cradling her against his chest as he would his most treasured. She tensed then, shutting him out for just a split second.
He pressed his lips between her eyes. “I know you hate it, but being the little spoon isn’t always a bad thing. I know you’d rather feel big and strong and I don’t want to take that away from you, but when you’re with me like this I want you to know that it’s okay. You’re safe with me.”
“Why would you say something like that? That’s awful. That’s terrible. Take it back.”
He laughed as she buried her face in his chest. “You don’t have to be ashamed of having feelings other than anger and more anger. Being soft isn’t a bad thing. And I don’t want you to feel like you can’t be soft with me.”
“I know,” she said, finally, voice small. “I know that. I’m working on it.”
“Hey, we have time,” he muttered, pressing another kiss on her cheek. “We also have champorado and how many streaming services is it now?”
Phylle propped her chin up his chest and pressed herself closer to him. Her skin was warm and her gaze was hot. “You know what else we have?”
He should know better than to ask, what with that glint in her eyes. Or maybe that naughty look was exactly why he asked,“What else do we have?”
“Condoms. We have, like, a full box.”
He laughed into her kiss, rolling her over and pinning her down on the bed. “I’m trying to trap you in cuddles and you’re being uncooperative.”
“No,” she teased. “I’m giving you a chance to tire me out so you can put me to sleep.”
Challenge accepted?
“You know what else would be totally cool?” Phylle asked somewhere between the kisses and the touches and her nails dragging down his back.
“What?”
“We could totally skip work today.” A gasp. A moan. A noise complaint from the neighbors probably later in the day. “Do it like the cool kids.”
“It’s a Sunday.”
“Shhh. Don’t ruin it.”
End
Note: Again Jay was gladly used with her consent. She tried to be profesh while putting this down. It was not easy. I hope you enjoyed reading.
#RCReadathon2020 Prompt and Pairing, Please! Challenge thread this way and here too for more ficlets of your Romanceclass faves.
