Work Text:
He was halfway through his train of thought when she opened the door. He’d been working through a strategy all day, and he was nearing a final plan. Leaning out from where she stood at the hotel vanity, she pulled the handle, knowing it was him by the erratic knock and the mumbling coming from the other side of the door.
He was immediately pacing the length of his room, his tie long gone and his collar unbuttoned, sleeves rolled up and hair as messy as she’d ever seen it. He was almost in a trance, taking louder and faster as he worked through the issue on his mind. His flow of conversation was peppered with her occasional words of agreement as needed.
Her ability to challenge his mindset always made him better. It’s why he’d found himself knocking on the door to her room at 11:45 after a long day of campaigning.
She remained where she was, standing in the hotel bathroom with the door open, clad in pajama shorts and a well worn Wisconsin Badgers sweatshirt, as she removed her eye makeup and washed her face.
It was only when he reached a possible flaw in his plan that she spoke up, offering a new perspective to help him navigate the waters.
“But why can’t it be a tax write off?” She asked
“Because the-“ he stopped, blinking slowly as he stared at her.
“Because the what?” She asked, neatly folding a hand towel and placing it on the vanity counter before rubbing in some hand lotion.
“You smell nice.” It came tumbling out before he could stop himself. “What- what is that?”
“Thanks,” she smiled casually. “It’s calming lavender aromatherapy lotion. It helps you unwind and get some sleep. Do you want to try some?”
“No.” He made a face. “I’ll smell all girly.”
“Suit yourself,” she shrugged. “Anyway. Tax credits.”
“Right.” He took a beat to regain his bearings. “Tax credits won’t work. It’s not a big enough incentive. We have to motivate people to get on board in the first place.”
He flopped down unceremoniously on top of the duvet covering the king sized bed in her room, crossing his hands behind his head on the pillows and diving into a few intricacies of the early childhood education funding plan he was formulating in his head.
He was halfway through his explanation of the impacts of early reading programs when she heard him begin to snore lightly. She peeked out from where she was brushing her teeth with the door open to see him completely peaceful on the left side of the hotel bed. Though he usually worked himself up over things like this, she was certain he hadn’t seen more than 3 consecutive hours of sleep in over a week.
She neatly pulled back the covers, fluffing her pillow and setting her alarm clock for the following morning.
She reached over him and clicked off the lamp, causing Josh to stir slightly in his sleep as he made himself comfortable next to her without fully waking. She neatly folded her hands under her cheek and closed her eyes, peacefully fading off to sleep across from him.
They’d pick up their conversation in the morning.