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Nina spritzed herself in her favorite perfume, a nice floral scent that wasn't too strong before she put on her leather jacket. She was leaving to check in on her favorite band, Strayz, but more importantly, she was going to check in on her favorite person, Stu. She promised herself that she wasn't going to fall head over heels for the man but more often than not her thoughts were preoccupied by the keyboardist. It had gotten to the point where she had thought about getting a picture of him and setting it to her cellphone's wallpaper but she wasn't going to fool herself. This wasn't a relationship that had a happy ending with a white picket fence. She was all too aware of Stu's girlfriend and the sexual tension that festered between Stu and Murdoc. Was she a horrible person for still dating a man who had a girlfriend? Possibly but it takes two to tango and he was just as bad at continuing it. She took one last look at herself in the mirror and then headed out the door.
"I'm not the one that left the sardines in the microwave!"
"Who fucking else would, Murdoc?!"
Nina was already familiar with them so she had let herself in but she was not expecting to walk into a shouting match between Noodle and Murdoc. It took no genius to figure out there was a not-so-grand relationship between the two, to put it lightly. Nina looked around and saw that Russel was sitting at the kitchen table reading a book. She stared at him, unsure whether to continue walking in or wait, but he looked at her, nodded, and then returned to his book. Nina let out a breath that she didn't realize she had been holding and continued onto Stu's room. She peeked inside and saw that he was asleep with his beanie covering his face.
Okay, she told herself she wouldn't set him as her cellphone wallpaper but having a picture of him was different. She took her cell phone out of her pocket and snapped a picture before putting it back in her pocket. She'll have to look back at it when she leaves.
Stepping inside she took her shoes off and then went to sit on the bed. She watched his chest slowly rise and fall while his fingers twitched in his sleep. Nina smiled fondly at him. In a way it would be a crime to disturb him and what reason did she have to need to wake him up and have him listen to Murdoc and Noodle yelling at each other? She laid down on her side and reached a hand out to twirl and untwirl blue hair around her finger. A smile slowly spread across Stu's face. Nina chuckled.
"Good morning, sleepyhead."
"Hey there, Nina," Stu said, his voice cracking with tiredness. He took his beanie off his face and rolled onto Nina, making her lay on her back and causing her to laugh. He buried his face into her chest. "You smell nice."
Despite his voice being muffled Nina understood him. She ran her hand through his hair, working out any knots she came along the way, "Thanks. Hey, you wanna get out of here for a bit? At least to give Murdoc and Noodle time to finish their screaming match."
Stu looked up at her with a lazy smile, "That sounds wonderful."
They agreed to leave, but neither of them made a move. Stu was content to use Nina's chest as a pillow, and Nina was just as content to be used as one, idly running her fingers through blue hair. The screaming from the others started to sound distant, and her hand moved further down to rest on Stu's back. The last thing she heard was Stu's snores before she, too, fell asleep.
Nina immediately woke up to the feeling of something wet on her chest. If she could she would have jumped up but instead, she flailed her arms. When she remembered where she was and who was on top of her she stopped and sighed. Of course, Stu would drool on her favorite dress (all her dresses were her favorite but that was not the point). She didn't have to lift her head to know that Stu was still asleep as she could hear him snoring away. She sighed and massaged the top of his scalp with her fingers. On second thought there was no reason for her to have come. It wasn't as if the band was busy right now since they had finished their tour so her expertise wasn't needed. All she did was make sure good things were being said about the band, handle questions brought towards them, and work on promoting the band. She couldn't play dumb with herself as she knew exactly why she was there.
She was in too deep for Stu.
Nina sighed. That was exactly what she had told herself she wouldn't do and now look at her. She had a slobbered dress to show for it. A part of her wanted to yank on Stu's hair just to get some frustration out but what would that do? Instead, she stopped playing with his hair and shook his shoulder.
"Hey, I wanna get up. I'll make you a cup of tea."
Stu lifted his head and looked around with a confused expression before looking at Nina and leaning forward to give her a quick peck on the lips. "Didn't know I fell asleep."
"Yeah, and you also drooled on me."
Stu chuckled, rolled off her, and moved to stand up, "Girls rule an' boys drool."
Nina moved to stand up, walked over next to him, and playfully shoved him, "Shut up."
Stu playfully shoved Nina back as they walked out of the room and to the kitchen. She checked her cellphone and it showed that it was now late afternoon. She didn't know why she had to know the time as it wasn't like she had anything planned today. She grabbed the electric kettle, filled it with water, and turned it on before setting to work on making coffee. Despite not having any plans for today Nina did hope that she and Stu could go out and try a new restaurant that she had been keeping an eye on. Maybe that, browse a record shop, and then back at Stu's place. She turned around and was about to speak but noticed that Stu was nodding off as he sat at the table.
"Hey, Stu, you okay?"
"Huh? Oh, yeah, yeah. Just didn't sleep well last night."
"Oh, you wanna sleep at my place?" The moment the words escaped her Nina regretted asking.
"Sure, love," Stu mumbled before placing his arms on the table for his head to rest on and shutting his eyes.
Nina watched him for a few seconds, wondering if this was all just really him not getting a good night's sleep, before going back to prepare Stu's tea and her coffee. When she finished she brought the mugs over to the table, setting Stu's in front of him. She listened to his quiet snores as she drank her coffee. Now that the place was quiet it was easy to hear the small noises, such as the typing from Noodle's room, the flipping of the channels from Murdoc watching television, and the beats coming from Russel's drums. It was at moments like these that she understood the coziness of the shelter and, for a moment, thought about how it would be if she lived here.
That was crazy of her. She had a perfectly good home that she worked her ass off for and three cats. This place was perfect for one cat but not four.
She reached over and shook Stu's shoulder, earning her some grunts. "Your tea's getting cold. Maybe it'll help you wake up."
Stu lifted his head, rubbing at his eye with one hand while the other grabbed his mug, and took a gulp. They sat in silence as they drank their tea and coffee. She watched Stu and noticed how prominent his eyebags were and how pale he looked. Sure he was always pale but now he looked ghostly white. It crossed Nina's mind if Stu was getting sick. When they finished their drinks they got up, took their mugs to the sink, and then made their way out of the shelter. When they got into the car Nina started it and began the drive to her place. She turned on the radio to the classical music station and let the soft melodies fill the silence. Soon Stu's snores mingled in with the music and to most people this would be annoying but not to Nina. She had grown used to Stu's snoring that if she didn't hear him snore in his sleep she would have thought that something was wrong.
When she pulled into her driveway she shut the car off and reached over to shake Stu's shoulder, causing him to jump and look around nervously. She quickly drew her hand back.
"Sorry for startling you. We're here."
"Oh! Oh, okay. Wow, never been to your place. Looks nice."
Nina couldn't help but feel prideful. "Thank you. Wait until the kitties see you though I think Avocado will run from you."
They got out of the car, headed inside, and Nina took her shoes off to place on the shoe mat. Stu watched her and followed in action before following Nina to her room. Her room was decorated with framed band posters and a screwed-in shelf contained all her CDs. Stu looked at her bed and had to try not to laugh as he saw that all three of her cats were lounging in the middle. He reached forward to pet one, but it was as if the cats could sense a new person as they all woke up and scattered, causing Stu to let out his laughter. Nina was trying not to laugh but was failing as she came over and wrapped an arm around Stu.
"You scared my babies, meanie!"
"Not my fault they're scaredy-cats."
Nina hummed as she looked up at Stu, admiring the grin on his face. It didn't take long for Stu to look down at her. They stared at each other for a moment before Stu leaned down to kiss her forehead before he nuzzled the top of her head. "Your hair smells nice."
Nina closed her eyes and let herself embrace the warm feeling she was getting, "Thanks. It's nothing fancy."
Stu took a deep breath and then exhaled, tickling Nina's scalp, "Still smells good."
This moment would have been perfect were it not for Stu yawning reminding her why he was here. Taking her leather jacket off she tossed it at the foot of her bed and then pulled away. "Alright, get into bed sleepyhead. I've got some stuff I need to do around the house so---"
"Ninaaaa, come on, stay with me," Stu whined, "How do you expect me to fall asleep in a new place."
She paused to consider it. On one hand, he had a point but on the other, he so easily fell asleep in her car and he should be used to traveling and sleeping in hotels. She shook her head, "I'll only be gone for about an hour. If you fall asleep hey you're asleep. If you don't then you can work on getting acquainted with my bed."
Stu pouted at her but moved to get under the blanket, leaving space for Nina, and closed his eyes. Nina watched him for a few seconds before going over to him and leaning down to kiss him on his cheek, earning her a pleased hum, before she left the room.
"That takes care of the daily chores!" Nina proclaimed as she stretched her arms above her head. Ever since she had bought her house she had told herself that she would keep it looking decent and smelling good. With three cats fur and cat food from them being messy eaters were bound to get everywhere so she had to be diligent in sweeping and once she started sweeping she had to mop because is a floor really clean if it's not mopped? From there all her chores just fall into place and before she knows it the sun has gone down. She so badly wanted to lay down and couldn't wait to get into bed with her cats, and for the first time, Stu. She walked to her bedroom and stood at the doorway. Stu was lying on his side, an arm tucked underneath his head while the other one lay across the open space next to him, quietly snoring. Laying on top of him in the curve of his hip Butters looked back at her while Sushi lay at the bottom of his feet asleep. She smiled fondly at this sight and were it not needing the flash on her phone she would have taken a picture. Nina walked in and went to her dresser where she opened it, took off her clothes and threw them in her dirty hamper, and grabbed her tie-dye sunny-side-up egg oversized shirt to wear to bed. She slowly eased her way into bed, lifting Stu's arm and placing it across herself when she lay down on her back. She closed her eyes but soon felt shifting next to her and then long legs over hers and a body pressed up against her. She opened her eyes and looked beside her to see that Stu was resting his forehead on her shoulder. A soft smile spread across her face.
"Good night, Stu."
"Night, Nina," Stu breathed out before falling back to sleep.
She didn't need to be officially in a relationship with Stu. If she could have more moments like this then she was perfectly happy.