nifties | I'm way too young to lie here forever⭐️

I'm way too young to lie here forever⭐️

John is doing that creepy thing again where he wakes up long before Zari (if he ever slept) and watches her sleep later into the morning. One slightly rough hand smooths its way up and down her arm as he waits patiently for her to come to, leaning up against the headboard and trying to calculate how much time they have before someone crashes in here to get them to breakfast and then to some broken part of history. Since coming back from their vacation, they haven't spent much quality time one-on-one between the team and each of their day jobs. Not to mention him getting Astra settled and everything that's going on there. It only makes the time they do have more precious, though, and moments like this seem all the more surreal.

"Shall I compare thee to a Summer's day?" he murmurs in his gravely tone that comes from too many years of cigarettes and booze. "Thou art more lovely and more temperate. Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May, and Summer's lease hath all too short a date." He's realizing as he recites the poem how long it's actually been in real-world time since the Romeo and Juliet debut. That kiss... The back of his hand travels over her cheek gently, thinking it unfair that as a timetraveler he can't make this moment last forever.

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His past life is difficult to follow on a good day, which is perhaps why he doesn't always volunteer the information. He used to be afraid of Zari judging him, too, but now that couldn't be any more of a non-issue.

"No, no," he says with a snort, craning his neck so he can look up at her. It's a good view. "Nothing like babysitting Gary. Jasper was... an incredibly talented clairvoyant. When we first met, I was jealous of how easy it came to him. How natural. I always had to work hard at magic, and you've seen me; still doesn't go my way half the time."

It's a bit dramatic at this stage of his life. She hasn't seen him in his truly reckless days. Now he has something to lose and is all the more cautious because of it - because of her.

"Did you get a look at the map?" He noticed she cleaned up his mess so surely she snuck a peak while she was over there. "It's what Jasper used to find our next mission. Not as sexy as Gideon, perhaps." A fond smile curves his lips. "There were others we would call on when the situation called for it. Ritchie, Chas, even Natalie, sometimes..."

He doubts they'll see her in the mirror, but he still glances back up at it just in time to see a halting image. Zed is passed out exactly where Zari is, her mess of curls spilling over the back of the couch. She almost looks peaceful, but then John is walking in and reading the scene, realizing that Gaz must have used her ability against her. He wakes her up, his eyes red-rimmed and serious. In the present, John looks away, but Zari might catch the relieved embrace they share in the mirror.

"Then after I unearthed this place, to fight the rising darkness... Zed took Jasper's place at the scrying map. I thought it would be Liv who did it, but instead the universe sent me Zed. And I roped Chas into helping, of course."

Zari smiles softly at the admission. She definitely remembers the choice words she had for every failed spell while Behrad was gone. He's done some amazing things, but it's never easy or flawless. She nods to the affirmative to the question. It's hard to miss while picking up the place. She gives it another look from across the room even with the limited light. It's actually a sweet thing to picture. John had a whole other team once, a different life. She can even see little Astra poking around while her mother tries to save the day. Her heart aches for the woman once again.

She pulls herself out of it just in time to catch sight of the scene of Zed and John. With any other boyfriend she might have been jealous. This is sweet. Zari can't tear her eyes away from it. She really feels like he's pulling her into the fold. It's the best anniversary gift she could ever hope to receive.

"Is that her? Zed?" It helps to have a face finally. Zari is positive it must be her.

"Yeah... yeah, that's her," he admits, running a hand through his hair and hopelessly mussing it even more. John takes a big gulp of his tea before leaning back against the couch so he can face Zari again, not sure how she's reading this whole scene. It helps that she doesn't seem upset or particularly put out by his whole dramatic... thing. She never is though, is she? It still amazes him, every time, and slowly a dumb smile takes up where his pensive scrunch had been. "I didn't actually intend this to be a walk down memory lane."

"She is insanely gorgeous. You are so lucky I didn't meet her first." Zari teases, winking to drive it home. She finally glances back at him in time for that dumb smile. Now it's her turn to be a little pensive. "Probably not, but no complaints here. I never get to see your world unless it's actively trying to murder me or our friends. This is a nice."

He snorts as she lays it on thick, scooting closer so he can reach out for her leg, rubbing her calf with cool fingers.

"Out of my league, right?" John shakes his head, trying to internalize that for all the booze running through his bloodstream. Maybe that's what tonight is really about: believing the obvious. "Zari, you are my world."

"I think you're used to that." Zari needles as she drinks her tea. She can already feel a sugar high coming. That is definitely enough doughnuts for one day. She frowns at the coldness of his fingers, but doesn't knock him off. That does feel nice. "Oh come on. You're sure it's not spooky books, weird friends, and the whole light show?" She leans over a little to accommodate his position on the floor. "All I've got are soon to be cold legs."

He sets his own cup aside on the floor so he can wrap his other hand around her leg, her body heat raising his temperature better than the warmth of the fire could.

"You're the one with 7 million bffs," he reminds her, swooping in to place a chilly kiss into her kneecap. He wants to come up with a better comeback to keep their banter going, but he realizes something and it lifts off his tongue before he can hold it back - damn Scotch. "I'd give it all up for you. Leave it all behind." His eyes alight on hers, heart beating fast against his ribcage. It feels bigger than any admission he's made before, fingertips gently digging into the muscle as he nervously awaits her reply.

"51 million." Zari corrects automatically as the chill hits her skin. It pimples into goose flesh. She still doesn't wave him off. Her endurance is a thing of beauty after a lifetime of plucking, waxing, starving, etc. to build the perfect look. Honestly, there's no mild inconvenience for John that isn't worth suffering.

She wants to joke about it until he makes things real. Zari's eyes widen because she believes him. Zari swallows nervously, hand reaching down to smooth out that mess of hair. "I'd never ask you to do that." She promises softly. "You don't have to cut off parts of yourself just to be with me. I want everything... even the weird and spooky stuff." A small smile returns to her lips. Her heart can't stop racing at the very thought of someone being willing to give so much. No one ever has.

A small, selfish part of Zari wants to take him up on that just for the thrill of being valued.

His lips curve at the correction, the flickering lighting making the expression appear sinister even as he rests his chin on her knee and looks up at her like some lost puppy. The way she pets his hair only cements the image, never mind that he lets her.

"I know you wouldn't," he admits slowly like there are marbles in his mouth and he has to be very careful about each word he speaks. His heart feels like it will burst when that smile hits him and he suddenly wishes they were anywhere but in front of this mirror. "But you could, that's what I'm saying."

He blows out a breath, one hand running a tickling touch up to the crease under her knee while the other reaches out for help. He plays the part of the pitiable being all too well, especially from the floor.

"Come on. I owe you a pedicure, remember?" John's surprised he does, honestly. He still needs her help to actually stand so as usual, the ball is in Zari's proverbial court.

It amazes her how he can be so helpless sometimes. Isn't John supposed to be their heavy-hitter? Zari lets out a breathe of a laugh as his touch creeps upward. "I could a lot of things to you." Zari points out without bothering to hide how smug she is about it. That quip is her only hesitation. She soon is taking his hand, standing just enough to support his weight as she guides him to his feet.

"Like order you to get a move on. I want my pedicure now." Is that even what she originally wanted? Well Zari intends to get it now.

His other hand hikes just a little bit higher before she manages to get him up and he leans against her unabashedly, if only to prove her right.

"Anything." It used to scare him, now it's just exciting. He pushes for a slightly sloppy kiss, as if he needs it as motivation to carry through his promise. Smiling stupidly, he laces their fingers and neatly side-steps his mug on the way towards the stairs. Maybe he wasn't so helpless after all. "Fair warning, I have no idea the state of this bathroom."

Zari tosses a suspicious look his way. She sees that!! "Con artist." She accuses with no heat. His antics endlessly charm her. She presses a quick kiss to his cheek in case there was any doubt. Her nose soon wrinkles at the admission. "I hope you're ready to clean then. I'm not that kind of girlfriend." She's an organizer, not a cleaner. Isn't that what they have Nate and Ava for?

"And what makes you think I am that kind of girlfriend?" he challenges with an eye-roll as he leads them down the dark corridor. In a lot of ways, this place is creepier than Astra's house, despite not actually being haunted. "I should probably explain something about this place. It shows you what you're ready to see..."

As they pass a doorway cracked open, thunder and lightning crash just beyond, at first the rain inside the room sounds like it's coming from outside, but John toes open the door with his boot so she can see the stormy forest, lifting his eyebrows before continuing down the hall.

"I think she's cross with me for ditching her for the Waverider."

"Are we going to have to be responsible and clean together?" She actually shudders at the thought. Zari sticks close to him the further she goes. She's not easily spooked, but it is legit creepy in here. The rain forest door does nothing to convince her otherwise. She stares in, clearly tempted to go inside before letting John lead her away. "So what? We're ready to see a stormy forest because the house is jealous of Gidget?"

She shakes her head. "Not going to lie this place is crazy. Gidget should be worried."

"Don't get carried away," he warns her, moving past far too many doors for what looks like such a small house from the outside. Finally, a surprisingly luxurious, if somewhat outdated bathroom appears and John ducks inside with Zari in tow. "Looks like I remembered to clean up that goat's blood after all."

It sounds like a joke, but it's really not. Despite being the drunk one, he helps her to sit on the closed toilet while he turns on lights and starts the tub, letting it run brown for a few seconds before it goes clear and he adjusts for temperature. He stands up straight again to start going through the linen closet, looking for specific supplies.

"One always has a place in their heart for his first love. Gideon understands that."

He emerges with a wink, a towel and some lavender bath salts.

"What? Was I not supposed to be impressed by the actual forest room complete with weather effects and never ending space? I am about to steal this place from whoever has it in 2044." Zari jokes... except not. She is a little tempted okay. She could film so many things here!!

Zari does a double take at his joke. She hopes he is kidding because he is totally on his own for that in the future. Zari decides to keep that to herself since they are in the clear. She sits with one leg cross over the other, dress smoothed out over her legs as she watches him work like an actual princess. She looks around the room as if appraising its value... and isn't she? before they land on John. This joke gets a fond eye roll.

"Relax, babe. Only one of your later loves is here." She tosses her hair back to emphasize which one it is. "You better have some comfy clothes for me to borrow by the way. Only one of us like to wander around naked here." No, she didn't bring anything. It's part of her diabolical plan to steal his sweat pants and t-shirts.

"If it's Liv maybe she'll let you film here." Yes, he knew why she was saying that. He spares her another eye roll since he's still grateful he doesn't have to face the other woman alone, and admittedly, Zari makes a better first impression than mostly everyone else he knows. He kneels by her feet with a sly little smile, rolling up his sleeves before reaching in to stop up the tub then fill it with the purple crystals. "That sounds like a lose-lose for me, doesn't it?"

As in: losing his clothes and not having her walk around naked. He'll never understand, in general, why people wear clothes when they don't absolutely need to anyway.

"I'll see what's left behind when I'm done... worshipping you." He's laying it on thick tonight, as if that were in question. He very carefully removes her shoes next, deliberately taking his time with the act and skimming his rough palms along her soles.

Zari smiles big at the mention of Liv. She already knows she is going to love this woman. John is soon distracting her with such a pretty visual. She smiles as he kneels, barely able to wait for the attention he'll soon lavish on her. "It is lose-lose. I told you I was a cruel mistress."

She might have to do something for him since she isn't nearly as mean as she claims to be. One brow quirks up at the choice of words. John is laying it on thick. It'd be a lie to say she doesn't love every second of it. Her toes flex as he frees her feet from those heels. Zari smiles reflexively at the feel of his hand on soft flesh. It soon turns into a soft laugh even after biting her lip.

"Is this a bad time to tell you I'm ticklish?" She shoots him an apologetic look. Very sexy, she knows.

"That doesn't mean I believed you," he points out. She's never actively mean to him anymore unless he wants her to be, which is a separate thing entirely. He knows too for all the big talk, she still has a small opinion of herself. Anything he can do to inflate that, he won't hesitate to do. He smiles at her reaction, testing to see how firm he has to be before she no longer squirms in his hands. For him, it's fun, but he tries not to take it too far. The way she looks at him makes something break in his chest despite its simplicity and he's quick to dismiss her worries. "Exactly right time."

John helps her to dunk her feet in the luxuriously warm water, still steadily filling up the tub, and leans over to rub gently from ankle to calf, making sure no part of her legs feels neglected.

"How's that?" he asks softly, biting into his own lip as his voice tellingly dips into a lower register just from touching her.

She smiles at the reassurance. It is their little secret what an insecure mess she is. Ava knows she's lonely. He really gets to peek back behind the curtain at the girl who desperately wants to be loved completely by someone.

Zari sighs heavily once her feet hit the water. The temperature is perfect. The smell that wafts up sets her at ease. His touch is the best part of all, of course. A familiar surge of electricity shoots through her once he reaches her calf. Zari dismisses it in favor of the simple pleasure of being taken care of.

"That's heavenly." One hand moves from its resting place on her thigh to stroke his cheek with the back of her hand, knuckles grazing the bone. "You really know how to take care of me." She smiles fondly at John, eyes filled to the brim with love. This is one of those times she thinks she loves him a little too much. She can barely stand it.

He finds where she's holding the most tension as he always does, like he has a sixth sense for pain, and digs in as gently as he can to break it up. John easily gets lost in the massage until he feels her hand alight softly on his cheek bone. He smiles, turning into the touch and pressing a kiss against her fingers.

"That's my job, silly." The way she looks at him is almost too much to take, but he forces himself not to look away until he absolutely has to. "Besides, if I don't fill in the gaps, Leslay will be making seven figures before you know it."

Not that she wouldn't deserve it, of course, but John loves all he can do to pamper her, especially when it's this simple. Most people might look at someone like Zari and assume she's terribly high-maintenance. And well, she is, but never when it counts. Any small gesture he can offer her seems to get through to her one hundred fold.

It is like he has a talent for finding those all her aches and working them out. Her eyes flutter shut at the kiss, lashes tickling her cheek before Zari meets his gaze. It's funny how easy it comes to him; loving her. Sometimes Zari forgets how desperately she craved what he so freely gives her now until moments like this. It actually hurts her chest a little.

"You're right. I pay her any more she'll be able to retire. Good help is hard to find, you know." Really. He is stuck with Gary. She drops her hand to stand distracting John, letting it rest on his shoulder which surely less distracting. Probably. It is hard to stop touching him sometimes.

John has always been a guy who loves big, but until recently it was always something to hold close to the vest. Clearly, that didn't keep anyone alive or in his orbit. Maybe an old dog can learn some new tricks after all.

Satisfied that she's good and warmed up by the time her hand settles onto his shoulder, he picks up her foot with both hands, bringing it just up past the surface so the chill should hit her pleasantly and holding on so he can stroke a tickling finger down the center of her most delicate, sensitive skin. His lips lift at the way she jerks, but he doesn't torture her, instead digging both thumbs in to soothe the area and beginning the arduous task of working each and every knot out one by one.

Belatedly, he weighs in on the issue she voiced, as unserious as he knows it to be. "Yeah well, you get what you pay for, hmm?" And he's not giving Gary Green a salary any time soon, so he'll put up with the man's shenanigans - to a point.

She shoots a glare his way that quickly fades once John starts the massage. Her eyes are fluttering shut again, sighing contently. Even with years of training, her feet still kill her every time the heels come on. This is exactly what she needed today. "I do pay well." Zari confirms a beat later. Not that it was ever in doubt. She'd be a billionaire if she were as scummy as her peers about paying people. Zari prides herself on her ability to take care of all her employees since they were as close as she could get to family for the longest time.

"You know I told my team about you before my fans. Not any of the details, but I had to explain why I wasn't getting myself another piece of arm candy. They actually wanted me to get engaged to my last boyfriend. I came back to work and they had a list of men waiting that were more marriage material than the last guy. I thought my parents put them up to it for a hot minute there." She laughs gently, eyes opening back up to catch his reaction. "Can you imagine? I love them, but that was never going to happen. I draw the line at fake engagements." Minus the obvious exception she made when they needed the ring.

He's about to counter with something suggestive when she starts telling him about her staff and his jaw softly clicks shut to listen without pausing in his attentions. He has wondered how this has gone internally within her operation because he knows how important her image is. After he made the mistake of assuming she could have a fake contracted boyfriend without interfering with their relationship, admittedly with some naivety, he's steered clear of the conversation. He knows firsthand how difficult it can be to think of yourself as a victim, and he never wants Zari to think he feels that way about her. The strength of his hands diminishes some as he thinks, his touch becoming unintentionally more ticklish the less focus he gives to his task. Especially considering the scotch is making it rather hard for him to feel his own extremities right now as it is.

"But a fake boyfriend was okay?" he teases, tickling her a little bit on purpose now once he realizes the effect it's having before moving to her other foot with a chuckle. "I have to admit, it's a creative solution. Sorry to throw a wrench into your plans."

His eyes crash back up into hers and it takes his breath away this time, like it's truly hitting him for the first time what all she's given up for this - for them. And that was before she even knew they would be something; that they would last an entire year in this haphazard out-of-time relationship. John swallows dryly, feeling more than foolish and not for the first time when it comes to matters of the heart.

"I think I'd marry you... I mean, if we could, obviously." It tumbles out, easily dismissed as the ramblings of a drunkard, but his deep expression belies the truth he speaks.

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