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Nomura does not wake to the quiet calm of morning. She does not even wake to the harsh annoyance that is her alarm clock. She wakes to the stench of a sock being dangled in front of her face and the words, “Oh, so you’ve started stealing my socks now?”
She cracks one eye open to appraise Barbara, who’s leaning over her. The doctor grins at her. Ah, so Nomura’s girlfriend is feeling full of herself this morning. Nomura closes her eye again and rolls on her side, away from Barbara.
“I believe that one’s mine,” Nomura mumbles into her pillow.
“No.” Nomura feels the shift in weight as Barbara clambers on the mattress, and then over Nomura herself so she can see the changeling’s face again. “I recognize this sock,” Barbara goes on. “I bought this sock. It’s my sock.” She puts a hand on Nomura’s shoulder, leans in, and whispers in her ear, “so why do you have it?”
Nomura turns her head. She studies the sock. It is true that it’s not her own. Hmm. Her lips twitch up into the slightest of smirks. “Aren’t you forgetting the obvious explanation?” She pauses. “Sweetheart.”
Personally, Nomura isn’t big on pet names, but using them on Barbara has regularly led to the doctor becoming flustered and blushing, which is rather adorable. So, it’s worth making an exception for.
True to form, Barbara’s cheeks turn red. She bites her bottom lip and looks away from Nomura. “I…um…” Barbara begins. She glances at Nomura, but only manages to blush again. Finally, she states, “You’re taking my socks.”
“You sound very certain of yourself for someone who’s wrong.” Nomura pushes herself up to rest on her elbows. “As much as I love having little reminders of you around, I prefer the actual gifts you give me.” She reaches for Barbara’s hands, takes them in her own, and then gently guides the doctor around so, together, they’re facing the shelf where Nomura keeps the stuffed animal of indeterminate species Barbara won for her at a carnival, the seashells they found together on the beach, and the snow globe Barbara brought back for her when she went up to Portland for a medical convention.
Nomura loops an arm around Barbara to rest her hand on the doctor’s opposite hip. She pulls her in close. “Has it occurred to you,” Nomura whispers in Barbara’s ear. “That you’ve spent quite a few nights here recently?” She takes a lock of Barbara’s hair and runs it between her thumb and index finger. “Nights where you’ve taken off your socks.” She kisses Barbara’s cheek.
“Nomura!” Barbara yelps. She squirms, but her surprise quickly subsides. She leans further into Nomura’s embrace, settling her head on the crook of Nomura’s neck and shoulder.
Nomura plants a kiss on top of Barbara’s head. “I love you, but you do have a tendency to be absentminded in the mornings.” She pauses. “And forget your socks.”
“Huh.” Barbara lets the article of clothing in question drop to the floor. “I could have sworn you had something to do with it.” She traces over the back of Nomura’s hand. “Like, say, distract me from getting out of bed to retrieve my socks.”
“Interesting theory, care to explore further?”
Barbara raises an eyebrow. “Trying to convince me to cuddle rather than getting up proves my point, Nomura.”
“Fair enough.” Nomura grins mischievously. “I suppose, it is getting on in the day. We shouldn’t really spend our entire day off comfortably in each other’s company, should we?”
“Nomura.”
“Or, perhaps, we should.” Nomura settles back down. Barbara lies atop her, using her chest as a pillow. Nomura places a hand on the doctor’s back and closes her eyes again.
When they do get up, some hours later, Barbara neglects to retrieve her socks before they leave for lunch at their favorite small cafe.