Jasmine sighed, getting into the truck with Orion, staring out the window as he drove them back into town, down to the cafe. She hardly paid attention when they came to a stop. He had to place a hand on her shoulder to get her attention.

Orion: “Jasmine . . .”

Jasmine: “What . . . ?”

    He smiled weakly, nodding out his window at the building across the street.

Orion: “We’re at the cafe . . .”

    She glanced and nodded, sliding out of the truck and heading in with Orion, waving at Jimmy as the pair walked past, unlocking the staircase and walking up. When she got to the rooftop, she paused before sitting down. He sat across from her, taking her hand.

Orion: “Are you feeling okay, Jasmine . . . ?”

Jasmine: “Just . . . Thinking . . .”

    She kept her gaze down, and he squeezed her hand gently, causing her eyes to flick up to his face.

Orion: “What’s on your mind, Jasmine . . . ?”

    She sighed, closing her eyes briefly before letting her eyes stray up to the sky.

Jasmine: “I . . . I think I took something very serious for granted for too long . . .”

    He frowned as she sighed, green eyes softening as they wavered.

Jasmine: “Akane’s a good man . . . And I . . . apparently he had some . . . suspicions about his past . . . and they included me . . . And so I wonder how much it must have hurt to see me date all those men . . . And to see me with you . . . Or the letters . . . How much did I hurt him over all these years . . . ? And now . . . I may have lost him . . . Even if it’s just as a friend . . . Have I driven him away . . . ?”

    She knew she was rambling, but she couldn’t help herself. The words were just rolling out of her mouth a they slipped into her mind. It bothered her that Akane had gone from hinting that he thought she was his wife years ago . . . to kissing another woman. She respected his right to have relationships, but the drastic change made her wonder if she’d done something horrible that had driven him off. Was she that horrible to be around . . . ?

    Orion sighed, sliding his hand over her cheek slowly.

Orion: “Jazz . . . What did he say to you earlier . . . ?”

    She shook her head, doing her best to shake off the feeling that Akane was just going to . . . forget about her . . . After all these years, was that even possible? Surely not . . . They’d been through so much . . . Including a few attempts on her life.

Jasmine: “He just had some suspicions about the past . . . Ones that he doesn’t seem to care a whole lot about anymore . . .”

    She sighed, shaking her head again.

Jasmine: “I’m sorry. I’m just . . . A little out of it right now, I guess. I’m not trying to obsess.”

    Orion smiled weakly, nodding.

Orion: “Good . . . Because Jimmy’s been waiting to take our order . . .”

    Jasmine blinked, looking up to her right. When had Jimmy come up?

Jasmine: “S-Sorry . . . I’ll just have the usual, Hon . . .”

Orion: “Whatever you’ll recommend, James.”

    Jimmy nodded, scratching a few things onto the notepad before disappearing back down the stairwell. Jasmine looked down, letting a hand slide through her hair.

Jasmine: “I’m sorry. I just . . . Never thought I’d lose Akane . . . In any way . . .”

Orion: “Who says you’re losing him?”

    She looked up at him, tossing the question through her mind. No one said she was . . . But she just felt like he was suddenly out of her reach . . . And for the longest time, he was a support beam. Maybe not emotionally, he wasn’t built that way, but if something was wrong . . . physically, he was there. Logical and prompt.

Jasmine: “No one, I guess . . . He just suddenly feels so far out of reach . . .”

    She sighed, shrugging.

Jasmine: “I’ll get over it. I’m sure it’ll be fine . . . He’ll always be my . . . friend . . . however weird that sounds . . . Considering how many tense moments we’ve had . . . But he’s a good man . . . Always has been, always will be . . . Sorry. We should talk about something normal and not . . . this . . .”

    He gave a small smile, kissing her cheek.

Orion: “I’m sure Harley would love to see you again, Jazz. He took quite well to you, even before you walked in on me . . .”

    She smiled weakly, nodding.

Jasmine: “That’d be nice . . .”

    He gave a curt nod, leaning over the table, a hand on the nape of her neck, pulling her closer gently, his lips pressing gently to hers in the center. She relaxed, letting her lips part as she eased into the kiss, being swept into the feel of his lips against hers . . . It wasn’t even so much the physical feel as it was just the feel of him . . . his energy . . . melding into hers . . .

Jasmine: “Stay with me . . .”

    She whispered against his lips between breaths, eyes fluttering open just barely to glimpse him. A soft smile crossed his lips as he edged closer to her around the rim of the table. He got close, lips a fraction of an inch from her ear when he whispered back to her, sliding his hand down to her spine.

Orion: “That was the plan . . .”

    He stood straight as he kissed her, a hand under her jaw as she kissed him back, standing from her chair. Slowly, he backed into the wall, pulling her along, just enjoying the feel of her so close. So willingly close . . . And just as absorbed in the moment as he was . . . It made him smile that she wanted him just as bad as he wanted her . . .

    After all those years of fascination, he never imagined this . . . That he would have the woman he’d only dreamed of before . . . And she would be as into the relationship as he was . . . Something just always . . . clicked, when she was right there in front of him. The shade of her eyes . . . Struck a chord . . .

    He was so caught up in the moment, in the passion, that he let it sweep him away. They slipped back into the stairwell, in the dark empty space, and would later expect that Jimmy had never made his presence known, but had had a minor intrusion early on, causing him to leave them until they called. Which was nearly half an hour later . . . When they again sat out at the table, looking slightly frazzled.

Jasmine: “We . . .  Shouldn’t have done that . . . We could’ve been caught . . . And that would’ve made all the tabloids if words got out . . .”

    Orion smiled gently, taking her hand.

Orion: “Are you saying you regret it . . . ?”

    She looked up at him, examining his face for a moment before answering.

Jasmine: “No . . . Not at all, actually . . . I just . . . I’m saying it wasn’t the wisest decision . . . And . . . Why’d you do it? You seem like such a gentleman . . . Such a sweet, restrained man . . .”

    His smile grew a little, eyes soft.

Orion: “Because I pined for you . . . and it made you happy . . . Why not in those circumstances . . . ?”

    She laughed softly. Somehow, his answer didn’t surprise her . . .

Jasmine: “You’re very sweet . . . Though now I question if you actually have restraint . . .”

    He kissed her cheek gently.

Orion: “If I was losing my self control, you’d know it, Jasmine . . . Trust me . . .”

~~~

    It had been a quiet ride over to his apartment, and Harley was eager to bound over to the elevator doors as they opened, nearly knocking Orion over in his path to Jasmine, nose sniffing over her clothes. The same ones she’d worn that morning when they’d left. Of course, now she figured she smelled like all sorts of things now . . .

    She smiled as she walked into the place, sitting down on the couch cautiously, Orion and Harley close behind her, the Bernese Mountain Dog carrying a tennis ball in his mouth eagerly. Orion chuckled, looking down at the large furry beast.

Orion: “He wants you to play with him.”

    She raised an eyebrow at him curiously.

Jasmine: “Why me?”

    He smiled, turning his eyes to her.

Orion: “Because you haven’t played fetch with him yet. You’ve shown up twice now and haven’t played with him. He feels . . . cheated.”

    Jasmine laughed softly.

Jasmine: “If Thunder and Dancer knew, they’d be the ones feeling cheated.”

    With a smile, Orion took her hand and led her to the nearly bare room, Harley instinctively dropping the tennis ball at her feet, tail brushing across the smooth floor, watching her intently. She took it with a small smile, tossing it in the air a bit too high, so when Harley jumped, it went right past his jaws to the wall, the dog sliding across the floor as he chased it, only to have it rebound, rolling back towards the pair.

    Orion chuckled, watching as Harley finally got a hold of it, clamping his teeth down, chewing the material like gum a few times before dropping it again. Orion picked it up, rolling the damp ball through his hand.

Orion: “Try something a little more like this, Jazz . . .”

    He bounced it past Harley on the floor, onto the wall, and it swung perfectly into an arc, right into the jumping dog’s mouth. He swung his tail happily, returning the ball to them in an instant. Jasmine smiled, nodding, taking the ball and imitating the bounce Orion had demonstrated, not quite perfect, but close enough by dog standards.

    They kept at it, though a few times she threw the ball into the seam where the wall and floor met on the opposite side of the room, causing the ball to lose momentum and spin out against the smooth tile. Harley obliged, fetching the ball regardless of it’s position.

    A few small kisses interrupted the progress of their game of fetch, at which Harley would almost always bark irritatedly if a member of the involved party still held his ball. Half an hour later, the sun was beginning to set outside, the fading light visible on the carpet from the door to the modified ‘fetch room’. Jasmine glanced at it and back at Orion with a small sigh.

Jasmine: “I really should go. I’m sure Akane will be worried. It was nice to see you, Orion . . . It really was . . . And I hope I can see you again soon . . . But I . . .”

    He gripped her wrist gently, lifting her hand to his lips, pressing them to her skin.

Orion: “You said you want me to stay with you . . . And I want you to stay with me . . . Just spend one more night with me . . . Can you do me that favor . . . ?”

    She pressed her lips together, looking away, wondering if that would be very wise . . . She questioned if any of her ideas had been wise with this man . . . And yet she regretted none of them . . .

Jasmine: “I shouldn’t . . .”

Orion: “Then let’s play a quick game.”

    She blinked, letting her gaze fall back on him, just a moment before he pulled her wrist so she slid into his arms, planting a gentle kiss to her forehead.

Jasmine: “What game is that . . .?”

    She asked softly, resting a hand against his chest, near his shoulder. He smiled gently.

Orion: “Let’s let the radio decide . . . Obviously you don’t want to go . . . But you feel obligated . . . So let’s let the radio decide whether or not you really are.”

    She let a small smile creep over her lips.

Jasmine: “All right . . . I’ll play your silly game . . .”

    He grinned, scooping her up into her arms before taking her out to the living room, near the large glass window that encompassed the wall, setting her down on the couch before turning on a small radio on the coffee table. She laughed softly as he sat down.

Jasmine: “One . . . I DO have legs you know. Fully functional ones. Two, how does this go, exactly?”

    He leaned over and kissed her cheek, turning up the volume. It was a commercial on now.

Orion: “It goes like this . . . Depending on the first song we hear that could theoretically apply to our situation . . . We go based off that. So . . . say it’s something like . . . ‘Come Home’ . . . Well, that could be interpreted two ways . . . Couldn’t it . . . ?”

    He glanced at her curiously and she nodded, offering him a small smile.

Jasmine: “It could . . .”

    He smiled in return, looking back up at the ceiling.

Orion: “So . . . That was a bad example then . . . Um . . . Say it’s something like . . . A break-up song about the girl leaving the guy and whatever. Then . . . well, that would probably interpreted as a cue for you to go home, I guess . . . But again, it could go two ways . . . Anyway, you’ll know it when you hear it. It’ll be your heart that tells you when it comes on . . .”

    She nodded gently, closing her eyes, sitting there with him for a while. Commercials came, songs went, but none of them really stuck out . . . Jasmine sighed, shaking her head. She was ready to give up and just go home.

    She stood up, walking past him, towards the door. He watched her sadly.

Orion: “Jasmine . . . ?”

Jasmine: “I-I’m sorry, Orion . . . But none of them are really sticking out . . . We’ve been sitting here for forty-five minutes, it’s dark out and I just . . . If none of the songs are sticking out, couldn’t that be a sign of it’s own . . . ?”

    Orion nodded, turning up the volume as a new song began to play.

Orion: “Just give it one more shot . . . One more, that’s all I ask . . . And then you can go home and I won’t give you any grief over it. I promise.”

    The tune struck a few chords in her and she turned to him slowly, listening.

Jasmine: “I love this song . . . How did you . . . ?”

    She whispered before the lyrics had even begun; he shrugged with a soft smile.

“Clocks marching at the double time,

Every dollar has become a dime,

Hearts breaking at the speed of sound,

Falling down, all around,

Bombs lighting up the eastern sky,

The backroom deals and the bottom lines,

The Earth's shaking, but we don't know why,

A million fires, oceans rise,

I leave it all when I feel you near,

What I'm saying is I need you here,

Even though love never seems to last,

If you think we’ve got a chance,”

    He walked closer to her, taking her hands, mouthing the words as they came through the speakers on the radio.

“Stay awhile,

Oh you got to stay awhile,

These days are wild,

So baby, won't you stay awhile,”

Jasmine: “Take me home . . .”

    She whispered, closing her eyes, and Orion kissed her cheek.

Orion: “Are you certain?”

    She nodded against him, pulling him close, and the song still rang to their ears as it continued, fainter but nonetheless present.

“Drop the needle on the belle brigade,

We slow dance till the moonlight fades,

Tell me now that you'll never leave,

Always stay, here with me,

Keep me safe from the circus show,

The bullshit and the blowing smoke,

The knife hidden under every sleeve,

Stab your back, watch you bleed,

They’re gonna tell you what you wanna hear,

Like: I can make you a star next year,

Well, if New York city's lights are so bright,

How come so many people cry tonight,

Stay awhile,

Oh you got to stay awhile,

These days are wild,

So baby, won't you stay awhile,

Let your hair fall around your face,

I would kill just to keep you safe,

Put your body next to mine,

Just let go, and close your eyes,

I shiver when I feel your skin,

Like a sinner who's been forgiven,

Go on, baby, shine your light,

Cause no one's gonna find us here tonight,

Stay awhile,

Oh you got to stay awhile,

These days are wild,

So baby, won't you stay awhile.”

    That night, Jasmine fell fast asleep with Orion’s arms wrapped around her, the shades drawn across the window that led into the top story bedroom, both of them physically calm. Unfortunately, that didn’t last through the Plane during the night.