Paying Debts

Who: Danny and Janey
Where: Their place
When: morning

The thing Danny hated most about being detective was getting dressed up every day. At least when he was a beat cop it was easy. He put on his uniform, all the pieces going together and coming in one package hanging in his closet. As a detective he had to remember which tie went with which shirts, which shirts went with which suits and which pair of shoes he was suppose to wear. Half the time he wound up with his sleeve pushed up by the end of the day, tie half undone, but he was supposed to start the day looking respectable. Swearing he undid the tie another time, having tied the knot too short again.

In the kitchen, Janey cracked four eggs into the sizzling skillet. When she could get herself up and ready in a timely fashion, she liked being able to cook her husband a nice breakfast before he went off to work. Especially since she knew if she didn’t, the first thing to pass through his lips would probably be a sip from the flask at mid-morning. And she managed it about seventy-five percent of the time, as long as she’d slept well the night before. Today she wanted to be at the school a little earlier than usual anyways, since she had an exam planned and knew a certain few students who would probably have last-minute questions before class. As she took two plates from the cupboard, she glanced out the window. A smattering of clouds touched the sky, but maybe she could hope for a sunny day.

Still swearing under his breath Danny went off in search of Janey. She managed to tie it right every time, which was pretty pathetic on his part, but he worked with what he had and right now he needed his wife to fix his tie or he was going to say fuck it and not wear one or start drinking before he even left the house. “Babe?” he called, finding her in the kitchen looking out the window which had him quirking a little smile at her.

Janey turned away from the window and Danny was standing in the doorway, looking a bit disheveled. “Good morning, dear,” she said, giving him a smile. “Let me guess.” When she’d reached him, she leaned up for a quick kiss. “You need my help,” she said, pulling away and beginning to straighten his collar.

“Must you say it like that?” Danny asked, letting her tug at the collar for a moment before he settled his hands on her hips and leaned in to kiss her neck, trying to distract her. He didn’t want to deal with work today, not with the ordeal of their commissioner being found dead and another replacement not lined up just yet. No, he didn’t want to deal with any of it. The idea of it made him wish he was drunk, so for now he was trying to distract them both.

Janey turned her head and caught his lips to kiss him again, letting the kiss linger. If only they didn’t both have jobs to get to. It was a nice moment, and she wanted it to last. But she pulled away eventually and said, “You know I’m only teasing. What’s on the lineup for your day?” She twisted the tie expertly into a tight knot, and pulled it tight to his throat.

Danny had leaned into her through the kiss, pulling her close, willing to ignore their jobs for the moment if he could keep her where she was. When she pulled away he pouted, not letting her get too far as she worked on his tie. “Taking you back to bed?”

She couldn’t help but chuckle at his suggestion. It wasn’t a bad idea, really. Maybe morning was the right time for that--by the time they both got home from work, they were always too worn out to do anything but sit and relax. Or, in Janey’s case, catch up on grading.

“Is that a yes?” Danny asked, taking a step backwards and pulling her with him before leaning in to kiss her neck again. His hand around her waist moved to her hips, fingers playing with the fabric of her outfit, trying to find a way under it to get to skin. He had a guess how today would go, it would be one angry phone call after another, one more crime after another. Danny had no desire to rush off to work.

“Maybe,” Janey said, closing her eyes and leaning into him. Part of her couldn’t help but worry, as she always did. So much to do at school, and she’d meant to go in early this morning. But maybe she could put that off for one day. She’d missed her husband lately, and it meant a lot to know he still wanted her. Sometimes she doubted that.

“Maybe?” Danny asked, kissing her neck again before coming up to kiss her mouth. “That’s all I get is maybe?” He missed his wife as well, having been way too busy, too worn out and most of the time too damn drunk to make much use of himself after work. Typically all he did was pass out on the couch until she woke him up to go to bed. But now, he was awake, mostly alert and essentially sober. It was about as good as he got most days.

A faintly acrid smell began tickling Janey’s nostrils, distracting her from enjoying her husband’s attentions. “Damn. Let’s not burn the place down, okay?” She turned away from him and slid the skillet off the burner in one smooth motion, then turned back, eyeing him. “But maybe breakfast can wait.”

For a moment he thought it was over, that whatever they’d had had passed and they’d just fall back into their normal routine, breakfast then a kiss goodbye and they’d be off to their respective jobs. But then Janey was turning back towards him and Danny had her attention again as well as a suggestion that he was quite fond of. “Yes, I think it can wait,” he told her, bringing up one hand to cup her cheek and pull her in for a deeper kiss.

Janey smiled into the kiss and nuzzled her hand against Danny’s hand. At the moment she was feeling more thankful than ever about the fact she’d slept well the previous night; it would have been quite a disappointment had she been too worn out to enjoy her husband’s company. She ran a hand up his chest and tugged on the tie. “Shame I just made such a perfect knot,” she said with a mock sigh.

“It’s okay,” Danny said as he took a step backwards pulling her towards the bedroom. “I’ll let you re-tie it later. You can make it even more perfect.” At least at that point he’d be more willing to wear it.

She let Danny lead her back to the bedroom, without breaking the contact of their bodies pressed together. “I can do that,” she agreed. As they stepped through the door she stepped out of her shoes and shimmied out of her skirt, leaving her in just her slip and her sweater.

Danny grinned as he felt her skirt fall at his feet, already reaching up to tug his tie loose and pull it over his head. He kissed her again, harder this time and his hands traveled across the smooth material of her slip.

As Danny’s hands traced her hips, Janey began unbuttoning his shirt with one hand. “I’ve missed you--a lot,” she said when she could get away from his kiss for long enough to speak.

“You too,” Danny murmured in a deep voice. He started tugging at her sweater, trying to bring it up and over her head. “What is it again that keeps us from doing this all the time?” They used to, at some point when they were younger.

“Mm, I don’t know,” Janey said, lifting her arms to make Danny’s task a bit easier. “Everything else in life is more important, I guess,” and then realized what she’d said. She hoped Danny wouldn’t take that the wrong way, to mean he wasn’t important to her. He was her life, with her students coming in a close but definite second. So why was it they couldn’t find time for each other? How did she rank alongside his job? His dedication to the force, she knew, was unwavering. She understood that, in the same way he understood that she put her heart right out there alongside each of her students, and each time a student left her classroom for the last time, a part of her left with them. Her mother used to tell her she gave her heart away too easily. “Someday you’ll run out of pieces, and then what will you do? You have to think of yourself, too.” Janey didn’t believe human love could be finite, though. She’d learned that with the miscarriages. Even when she thought her entire heart had been shattered, she always managed to find a shred of hope to cling to. It was in that piece of her heart that Danny held, the one she hoped would always be safe.

After her sweater was off Danny pulled off his own shirt, working on his belt and pants before taking her hand and drawing Janey back to the bed. She was right, life did get in the way. His job wasn’t more important than her, but getting to work, doing work and recovering from work had been more important than showing his wife how he felt about her. “Guess you’ll have to let me make it up to you then,” he promised.

“Well, it’s not just you that’s to blame,” Janey conceded. She reached up and stroked one hand back over his hair, down his cheek and chin before pulling his face close to hers. “I guess we both owe each other about equally, wouldn’t you say?”

Danny grinned, closing the last of the distance between them to kiss her hungrily. “I think that’s fair,” he agreed when he finally pulled away. He tugged her back on to the bed with him, rolling so he was propped up over her, able to kiss her still and he did, trailing a line of them down her neck.

Janey leaned her head back against the pillow and closed her eyes, enjoying his kisses. “It’s a deal then?” she murmured. “We pay our debts before we head in to work.”

“Deal,” Danny murmured against her skin. “No one leaves until we’re both completely satisfied.” He moved to kiss her again, letting his work stress fall away and focusing on reminding his wife why he’d married her in the first place.