Joanna let a smile curl on her lips, and glanced down to him. "You comfortable?" She asked softly, before playing with his hair. Twirling it around her finger, running them through it, whatever. She really liked it, it looked good on him. Still feeling drowsy, her playing came down to just running her fingers through his hair. Slowly, and carefully.
Tilting her head back, she shut her eyes just laying there. Everything was perfect, as of the moment. Things were quiet, and peaceful, while she sat here with Kasiya, the last person she would expect to be relaxed with. Though he was about the only one. The only other person she felt calm with, was her Uncle Tom. A single, early 30s year old man. He was sweet, and good-natured man, always with his arms open for Joanna to come to. Even when they were both younger, he was always there for her. She never saw him as as uncle, just the nice older brother she never had.
He closed one eye as he looked up at her, a small smile on his lips. "Very." His other eye closed, and he leaned his head into her touch. It was oddly comforting, feeling her fingers running through his hair. It's been a very long time since he's received any sort of comfort from anyone, intentional or not. But now wasn't the time to dwell on that. Now, he simply could relax in the moment.
Or not.
His eyes opened quickly when an added weight landed on his stomach, and his smile curved up even more when he spotted that odd coloring of the kitten's eye. It purred and squeaked a greeting, then padded its way up to his chest and curled up happily, purring like a car's motor. "He really needs a name, or I'm just going to end up calling him Cat," Kas said, running a gentle finger down the tiny creature's back.
Cracking open her eyes, she looked to the little thing and smiled softly. "I was always bad at coming up with names." She told him, her voice sounding groggy. Her petting him ceased, though she kept her fingers in his hair. She began to hum softly, to an unnamed tune. "What if you named him Inigo?" She suggested, a slight smirk on her lips.
"It's a pretty cool name." She tempted, reaching over to scratch the kitten's head. His fur was soft, and the purring was calming. It could send almost anyone to sleep. Which, if it wasn't for Joanna's strong will to stay awake, she might have fallen asleep. Though she was oddly determined to stay awake. Maybe she was scared it was a dream, and he would disappear. Maybe it was a dream.
"Hmmm…" Kas hummed as he thought about it, then tipped his head back as far as it would go and closed his eyes again. "Sounds good." Without even looking at her, he reached over and lightly poked her stomach. "Get some shut-eye, shortcake. You need it." After a moment of thought, he added softly, "I'm not going anywhere." He knew that she needed to go to work at some point in the day, but he also knew that she needed sleep. She sounded tired, and she had looked tired in the morning, and Redore didn't help matters in the slightest either.
He knew it wasn't a dream only because of one glaring fact—he was too scared to even dream of something like this, and the swirling confusion of emotions could never be replicated by his brain. If it had been a dream, he wouldn't have felt anything, because that's the way he's always felt about people after everything. Nothing. But he's finally realized that he actually liked Joanna more than just a friend. A flicker of amusement went through him. 'If the bet was still on, we both would've lost.'
Looking down at him, she tried to keep from smiling. A pout resting on her thin lips. "But I don't want to sleep. I want to stay here with you. Besides, the tireder I am, the easier I'll sleep tonight." She defended, crossing her arms over her chest. "I can just chug a pot of coffee, I'll be fine." She nodded, determined not to let him make her go to sleep. For some odd reason that is.
"I promise I'll be alright." She hummed, holding her breath for a moment. Before letting it out slowly, she puffed up her cheeks looking down to him. She knew she probably looked ridiculous, but it helped her stay awake.
He cracked open an eye to look up at her, arching a brow in a knowing manner. He wasn't buying it. Again, he reached up to poke her, but it was her puffed-up cheek instead of her stomach. "Shortcake," he said, opening his other eye to level his look on her, the one that made it clear he wasn't going to take no as an answer.
His hand stayed up by her face, moving just enough to curiously brush his fingers over her chin. How had things ended up like this? How had he started developing these fingers towards Joanna? All of this was such a mystery, but he was willing to wait it out for the ending. He was willing to trust in this changing relationship to not hurt him along the way; he was willing to trust her to not abandon him now that he's getting closer to her. His hand dropped back down to rest on his stomach, right next to the kitten—Inigo.
Letting out the puff of breath, she grinned down to him. "See? I'm fine." Joanna chirped unfolding her legs from underneath him. Her legs had fallen asleep, so she wiggled them to get rid of the tingling feeling. "Sorry, my leg fell asleep- shoot…" She muttered, biting her lip. It was stupid, but she assumed he would use that as an illogical reason she should go take a nap.
Though a slight smile was still on her lips. It always was, especially with Kasiya around now. It made her too happy not to smile. Her stomach felt fluttery, and her heart felt odd. Was this real love?
He rolled his eyes, then pinned his now narrowed gaze onto her. "Joanna. Sleep. I'll wake you up when you need me to." He wouldn't back down until she relented. He'd simply keep bugging her, delaying his desired nap until she finally got her much-needed one. "You're not going to convince me you don't need any."
Careful of the kitten, he crossed his arms over his chest and stared up at Joanna. His feelings were still confusing, mostly due to the foreign nature of them and this kind of relationship with someone. He wouldn't go so far as to call it love, but he certainly liked her a lot. Only time would tell how that would develop.
A light sigh escaped her lips, and she let her smile drop. Her eyes felt increasingly heavy, and she knew she needed to rest. But something was keeping her from doing so. No, not Kasiya's insisting, she just couldn't make herself sleep. "I really don't know if I can Kas, I just… you know when you get so tired, that you just aren't? That's how I'm feeling." She mumbled, before going to play with his hair once more.
She studied his face once again, mindlessly. Her thoughts were empty, as she took in his features. She was positive she knew his face-him, well enough to describe accurately. It was an odd thing, but she was positive she could do it. As she studied his face, she came back to his lips. With the snakebite piercings, she couldn't help wanting to kiss him once more.
Kas kept his eyes narrowed on Joanna's face, though now it was more contemplative than demanding. He hummed and chewed on his bottom lip as he thought about what he could do to help her. He knew what she was talking about, being so tired you couldn't fall asleep. Now he just wanted to figure out what would help her actually fall asleep.
His one hand absentmindedly came up to run his fingers up and down her arm as he thought. He didn't know what to do. Maybe letting her use the bed? So that she was more comfortable? He looked up at the ceiling again. Here he was, worrying about Joanna, something he's never even considered himself doing. But he wanted to repay her for everything she's done, even if she hadn't knowingly done it—like her staying.
Tilting her head back, she shut her eyes to tear her gaze away from his addicting lips. Being honest, she was completely exhausted. "I don't know what to do besides sit here. I have so much going through my mind, I feel this odd energy buzz coursing through me." She muttered, stretching out on the sofa. A yawn escaped her lips, but she couldn't care less as of the moment.
"I think I might also be emotionally drained, because of… everything." She whispered, mindlessly twirling her finger through his hair. "Your brother, us. Everything." She mumbled, rubbing her face. Everything was seeming foggy, and loopy, as she just sat there thinking. "What do you think? Is that logical?"
He continued to look up at the ceiling, even as he answered her. "It's logical and reasonable," he said, then let out a breath and grabbed the kitten as he sat up. "C'mon," he said, then got off the couch and turned around to face Joanna. A flicker of a smirk went over his lips right before he bent down and scooped her up into his arms. "I want a nap, you're tired, and the bed is more comfortable."
Barely giving her time to react, he carried her the short distance from the couch to the bed and gently set her down over the soft covers. He pressed his palms into the mattress on either side of her, leaning over slightly with his touseled hair—totally not her doing—falling into his black eyes. He didn't follow just yet, giving her space and a chance to say no. He simply figured they'd both be more comfortable on the bed than the couch, sleeping or no.
She had held to him tight, out of her sheer surprise. Once she was sitting on the bed, she bit her lower lip, starring into his dark eyes. "I- you just mean napping right? Not… sleeping together?" She asked, slipping her arms around his neck. She had it in her brain that they were still in this competition, though she knew they weren't. Her brain, just instantly went to mistrusting a person's intentions.
It was a light hold, her arms around his neck. Just slung over his shoulders, so she could have a reason to be closer to him. Without getting too close. Noting he looked really hot at the current moment, she moved her glance to his lips to distract herself. Though it didn't do much good. As she could only think about wanting to press her own against his.
He rolled his eyes but didn't move as he stared blankly at her. "I'm not interested in sleeping, shortcake. So yes, just a nap." He caught her gaze dropping down, and he had a good guess as to what she was looking at. His lips curved up into a small smirk, and he lightly bit down on one of his snakebites to both try and hide the smirk and subtly tease her.
With her arms around him, he wasn't about to complain. He was starting to like this sort of contact with her, the closeness she seemed to want with him. And as per usual, he obliged her without a thought. It was almost a natural thing for him, to give Joanna what she wanted—within reason. He didn't quite understand it, but he didn't want to fry his brain trying to understand emotions. He's concluded that they're too complicated.
"That's what I thought." She hummed, glancing back up to his eyes. Her green, ones were glancing him up and down, always coming back to his eyes. Everything about him was seemingly captivating to her. She just couldn't get enough of him. Though, most days she just wished he would go away because she had too much of him.
Right now, that wasn't the case. She knew she could have him, and wasn't sure what to do with him, as all she wanted was more of him. There was nothing she wanted more, besides knowing he was going to stick by her side for a while. "I'll give it a shot, but there's no guarantee I'll really sleep." She whispered, pulling away from him and sliding back onto the soft bed.
Kas tilted his head to the side as Joanna pulled back, then acted without thinking again. He shifted his weight to his one hand as he lifted his other hand and cupped her cheek. His lips pressed against her forehead for a second, then he pulled away to move to the other side of the bed. "That's fine, just as long as you don't completely give up on attempting to," he said.
He flopped onto the bed with a sigh, rolling onto his side almost immediately. He was looking in the general direction of Joanna, though he wasn't really looking at her. He was just making sure she didn't slip away when he was getting tired and unable to stop her.
A smile formed on her lips, and she flopped back looking up to the ceiling mindlessly. "You know, I think I like this." Whispering, she turned her face to him. Her eyes were tired, but the rest of her looked happily awake. A second yawn slipped from her lips, and she stretched out on the bed. 'Man… this is comfortable…' She noted to herself, looking back up to the ceiling.
"The whole, becoming better friends I mean. It's nice. I like it." She whispered, knowing that wasn't exactly the right word to use. But what other word? Lovers was too… outlandish. She didn't like that word, as she didn't think it fit with what they were. But friends wasn't right either. "What's a better word for us? That isn't friends." She asked him, still looking upwards.
Kas flicked his eyes over to the pillow he was laying his head on, then scowled and reached up to grab it and toss it onto the floor. He had been planning on checking out once he got his stuff, but now that Joanna was here and the whole roller coaster of emotions that just happened, a nap sounded amazing right about now. Plus, he could show her that he was serious when he said he wasn't interested in taking her to bed while also staying near her. Just her presence was soothing.
"Hmm…" he hummed, curling an arm beneath his head and looking over at her. "I don't know. Friends doesn't seem to fit anymore, but I don't think…" 'I don't think we're quite at the dating stage.' He groaned childishly and rolled onto his back, rubbing his hands over his face. "Ugh, why does this have to be complicated?" he complained, though it was clear he wasn't completely serious with his complaints. It was better complicated than ruined.
"It doesn't have to be, we just made it that way." She laughed, scooting over closer to him. There was a gap between the two of them, but it wasn't as big as it had been. A soft smile was on her lips, as she lay there looking him over. "I don't even know what you would call us… I don't think there's been anyone as strange as the two of us."
Joanna scrolled through her mental vocabulary, trying to come up with a word. Though her brain came blank. Nothing came up, so she just sat there with a blank expression. Taking in a deep breath, she shut her eyes and relaxed. The bed was rather comfortable, and she was tired. Maybe she could fall asleep, but if she did, was that the best idea? It would mess up her already screwed over sleep schedule. "How expanded is your vocabulary?"
Kas looked over at her when she got closer, and didn't look away when she spoke. He briefly looked off to the side, however, when she asked him her question. "I speak two languages, but I don't think either one of them has a real word for this." He opened his mouth as his eyes fell back onto her face, then closed it and debated on his next words. "Do we have to put a label on it? At least right now?" he asked, then shrugged and said, "We could always say relationship. It's vague and can represent anything, really."
It's not that he was ashamed of his strange relationship with Joanna, but he didn't want to fuss over the details. He was more of a go-with-the-flow kind of guy, and apparently that applied to weird relationships. He rolled back onto his side, unintentionally closing the gap between the two by a little bit more.
She listened to his words carefully, watching him just the same. "I mean, that's true. There's no need to put specific labels. Other people might though, so I was trying to avoid that problem." She shrugged, spreading out on the sheets even more.
Joanna stretched, and began to hum softly. 'Sleep wouldn't be a bad thing… would it? What's the harm in a twenty minute nap?' She wondered to herself, feeling herself grow more and more tired. She was starting to slip off into a sleep, rolling over into a more comfortable position. Her face was inches from his now, but she didn't take much notice because of her closed eyes. Everything was starting to drone off, going hazy and foggy. Her thoughts were stopped, so everything was a mindless act from here.
"Though maybe one day… we'll have to…" She muttered, sliding her hand over to take his. "But not now."
He watched her with a soft smile, noticing how she seemed to be slipping into sleep faster than she was earlier. Maybe now she can get some rest and free from worry concerning whatever she likely had going through her head. "Maybe," he murmured, taking her hand in his and studying her face for some time. "Get some sleep, shortcake." He moved his head just enough to plant a tender kiss to her forehead. "You deserve it."
Despite his words, he remained awake for the time being, his eyes on Joanna's face. His fingers trailed up and down the back of her hand. Maybe sometime in the future, they'd be surer of where they stood in their relationship. Maybe sometime in the future, he wouldn't be so confused as to how he felt about Joanna. Maybe sometime in the future, he'd still be at her place, living life, finally free of his brother.
((yeah. To when they wake up? Or later?))
(Maybe wake up, because we can work off of that.)(I'll go ahead and type out a response if you're cool with that.)
Joanna blinked a few times, trying to wake herself from the hazy sleep she was in. Everything seemed… dark, and warm. Rolling over, she cringed as the setting sunlight hit her face. Immediately she turned her face away from the window, and only now realized how close she had been to Kasiya. His arms were slightly resting on her hips to hold her close, and he looked to have fallen asleep rather peacefully. Yawning, she rubbed her bright eyes, and looked down to the peaceful Kasiya. 'I should probably wake him up…'
With puckered lips, she decided to wait and carefully moved his arms from around her. Sitting up, she stretched before sliding off the bed. She was still tired, but not about to go back to sleep. She felt more rested than she had from the night before, and she wasn't exactly sure why. What was a short power nap to a full 8 hours of sleep? Walking into the living room, she saw the small kitten curled up on the floor outside of his bedroom asleep. Smiling, she bent down to pick him up, and carried Inigo into the room. "Hey Mr. let's go get Kasi up." She told the half asleep kitten, before turning back around and going over to the bed. Plopping the small thing down, she crawled on the bed over top of him, and hugged around his waist. "Come on, time to get up Kasi." She whispered, kissing his cheek.
Kas groaned sleepily in protest to being woken up, throwing an arm over his face as if that would do anything. He could feel Joanna's weight over him and her arms around his waist, but he decided that he didn't want to push her away. After a moment of the childish game of 'I'm still asleep', as well as throwing a mental hissy fit, he cracked open an eye and looked up at his assailant. "That's a new nickname," he said groggily, almost huskily, with the usual Arabic accent slipping through.
Waking up with Joanna clinging to him and kissing his cheek was different, and it took him a bit, initially, to remember what happened before his nap. But once he did, he was relaxed and happy. It was a good different, one that he wouldn't be opposed of should it ever happen sometime again. Though he doubted it would, at least in the near future.
She had begun to trace his back muscles, and wrinkles in his shirt. "I liked it, so I think it will stay." She hummed, burying her face into the fabric covering his back. He was warm, still, and calming in his sleepy state. She was still tracing his skin, but not as articulated as before. Now she was only swirling her finger, in a spiraling manner.
The whole scene would be rather odd to anyone who had known the two. Joanna holding him close, after years of just trying to get him away, and him always close but never this close. Truth was, anyone she had called her friend always told her to just tell him to get lost, but something always stopped her from telling him to book it. Something always tugging at her, making her not really wanting him to leave. And she thanked the heavens above she hadn't told him to leave. Otherwise she wouldn't have had someone to run to when she needed it.
"Mmm…" He smiled, hand finding hers around his waist and lacing his fingers with hers. "I'll allow it." But only for her, he decided. Only Joanna. He's never been one to be picky about his nicknames, but for some reason, the one that she came up with for him would be the exception. He sucked in a deep and tired breath, then slowly let it out as he felt the comfort of her willingly holding onto him and tracing his back.
His eyes sparkled some when a thought came to his head, and another smile bloomed over his lips. "So much for getting up," he murmured, "All that happened was that you came back." His other hand lightly slid up and down her arm.
