#ahria

Julian sighed, grateful to finally be home. Twenty-four-hour shifts were awful and he had little patience for his colleagues at the hospital. He just wanted to take a long bath, have a glass of wine and pass out on his couch. He fished for his keys but when he went to turn them in the lock he realized it was already unlocked. He was confused for a split second before he remembered Ahria had a key. She must have come to clean. How sweet of her.

He gave a small smile to himself as he came inside, closing the door behind him and shucking off his coat, laying it and his bag on the kitchen island, hearing Ahria call his name from the living room. “Julian? Is that you?”  She asked and he couldn’t help the smile that came to his lips. Just hearing her voice made him feel better.

When she came into the kitchen however, he stopped short, his face looking stricken as he took in her appearance. She was wearing one of his button-up shirts and, he was certain, not wearing any pants. “Hey sweetie,” She said snapping him out of it, coming over to him and putting a hand to his cheek gently. “Ah you look so tired,” She said, pausing when he didn’t respond. “Are you all right?” She asked and he realized he had been staring.

“No- ah yes- I mean, I’m fine.” He said, his face flushing and her brows furrowed worriedly. “I just...I wasn’t expecting to see you...Here…in my clothes.” He said, looking down at her. Ahria looked down as well looking a bit sheepish.

“Oh yes, I spilled some stinky cleaning agent on my clothes so I threw them in the wash,” She explained. “I didn’t think you would mind, I just needed to borrow it for a bit while I waited for mine to get clean. I can…change into something else if you don’t want me wearing this…” She said. Julian looked everywhere but at her, his face turning redder and redder.

“No- no it’s fine I was just surprised.” He said and Ahria tilted her head at him before giving a small smile and gently patting his cheek. “Why don’t you go and take a bath, relax a bit while I finish cleaning?” She said. “I ran one for you when you texted me you were coming home.” She assured him, pecking him on the lips gently and patting his chest as he nodded in agreement, before turning to get back to work.

Julian wanted to reach out for her. Take her in his arms and kiss her and hold her but he decided against it at the last possible second, as the idea of a bath was far more tempting at the moment. His sleep-deprived brain was craving warmth, comfort and relaxation. Of course after seeing his beloved in one of his shirts he had his mind on other things…but he swatted the thoughts away and went to the bathroom.

He was greeted by a tub full of warm water, steam rising from it in little wisps, the water swirling with bath salts and the smell of lavender relaxing him almost instantly. Ahria certainly knew how to spoil him, and he smiled to himself as he undressed, sinking his aching, tired body down into the tub, letting out a groan of relief. This was exactly what he needed.

He laid his head back against the lip of the tub, closing his eyes and trying to take a quick cat nap but images of Ahria kept flooding into his vision and he had to dunk water on his head to keep from getting too deep in thought about it. He shivered, letting the water wash over his head and neck, rubbing there as he was sore from leaning over all day. Many of his colleagues were shorter than him so he constantly had to crane his neck and stoop to see what they were looking at, especially on computer screens and microscopes. He felt a knot on the nape of his neck and sighed. He really needed a massage; he had stress built up everywhere.

He was in the bath until he got pruny, even after having washed his hair and self, simply relaxing and enjoying the warmth until it became lukewarm going cold, leaning forward to pull the plug and let the water drain. He got out, drying himself and getting dressed into some clean clothes she’d left out for him as well. Once he got to the shirt he stopped. It was a button-up pajama shirt, blue in color, but Ahrias form in his white one came to his mind.

He left the bathroom without putting it on, going to find her. He couldn’t stop thinking about her. He stopped short again when he got to his room, their room, and saw her on her knees on top of the dresser, cleaning the mirror that hung above it. She turned when she saw him in the mirror, his entire face and the tips of his ears turning pink.

He knew she wasn’t doing it on purpose but she was torturing him.

“Hey, did you enjoy your bath?” She asked, hopping down off the dresser. “I used those bath salts you like; I hope it was as relaxing as the packaging promised.” She teased, going over to him. He could smell the cleaning supplies she’d been using as well as her perfume as she came closer and he couldn’t stop himself. He met her halfway and pulled her to him, kissing her deeply and gripping her tight, his arms firmly around her waist.

Ahria was caught off guard but certainly didn’t mind it, kissing him in return and placing her hands on either side of his face, holding him close. Eventually Julian had to pull away to breathe and he buried his face into her neck, taking in her scent and kissing her there. He sighed in content and Ahria smiled, running a hand through his hair gently, holding him close.

“Aw, did you have a bad day?” She asked teasingly and he groaned.

“I’m never going back to that place I swear.” He assured her as he always did when he came back from a twenty-four-hour shift. “Too many morons, not enough brain cells to go around.” He said against her shoulder, closing his eyes to simply enjoy her embrace. “I’ve missed you…” he said softly.

“I missed you too,” She assured him, resting her head atop his, gently stroking his back. He massaged his fingers into her hips, turning his head to kiss her neck gently again and again, making her giggle. “Juliaaaan, you need to go get dressed,” She said, looking at his half-naked form. “Or finish getting dressed.” She insisted and he looked down at her.

“I can’t, you’re wearing my favorite shirt.” He said and she looked down at the shirt questioningly.

“This one?” She asked seriously. “I pulled it out from the bottom drawer I thought it was an old one…” She mumbled to herself.

“It is an old one but it’s my favorite one now.” He assured her.

“Now? Why now?” She asked in bewilderment and he smiled softly at her.

“Because you’re wearing it.”

Ahria was a more serious woman. True she lived for teasing him but she was a very focused and no-nonsense person when it got down to it. Case in point, it was very difficult to get her flustered or to make her blush. Of course, Julian loved a challenge and was more than happy to try and he had gotten her a few times but very rarely. Today however he was in luck because she blushed brightly, looking away so he wouldn’t see but he had.

“You’re blushing.” He teased in a sing-song way, making her swat at him with her cleaning rag.  

“You!” She said, pulling away from him. “Go put a shirt on!” She insisted but Julian grabbed her, pulling her close to him and fumbling with her buttons making her blush even more and wriggle, trying to get loose. “Julian, let go!”

“Give me my shirt and I will.” He insisted teasingly, blowing raspberries into her neck and making her laugh, her blush getting worse as she tried to wriggle away. He was relentless, holding her tight and not letting her get away an inch which was easy since he was, in her words, “freakishly tall with long limbs”. “Or counter offer, I can take what I have off-” He teased and she smacked him in the head.

“Julian!”

“What? No one’s here you know, it’s just us.”

“Yes but you just worked twenty-four hours in a row, you need sleep not to fool around.” She insisted as he looked up to her from his position nuzzling her neck with a devilish smile.

“Fooling around helps me sleep.” He insisted and she rolled her eyes.

“Julian.” She said flatly and he whined, pouting up at her.

“Won’t you have pity for a poor doctor who just needs some love?” He questioned making her look down at him with an unamused smirk.

“No.” She insisted and he groaned, standing up reluctantly but still holding her close.

“Okay, final offer,” he said as she tried to squirm away, getting her attention as she looked up at him. “I lay down and you lay down with me but I won’t try to get in your…” He said, noting again that she wasn’t wearing any pants. “Well…shirt.” He said, making her blush again and refuse to look at him which only made him grin widely.

 “Just stay with me until I fall asleep…is that a suitable exchange of services?” He asked, his grin turning to a soft smile, rocking her back and forth a bit gently. She rolled her eyes in thought, mulling it over and he leaned down again to smooch her cheek.

“Oh…all right,” She started, poking him in the chest. “But you have to keep your hands to yourself.” She said and he sighed dramatically, sliding his hands from her hips to release her from his grip.