Craving
Title: Craving
Author: Diane
Pairing: Grant Ward/Skye
Rating: Teen Rated
Disclaimer: I don't own a thing!
Spoilers/Warnings: This takes place a short while after episode 1.11 “The Magical Place”.
Summary: The moment he opened his door the scent of chocolate hit him and he frowned. What the hell? Making his way towards the kitchen area, he found Skye in her sleepwear, her hair pulled up into a messy bun, at the sink cleaning what looked to be a baking sheet. On the counter, he noticed, a plate piled high with squares of chocolate brownies and another with chocolate chip cookies.
Ward stared up at the ceiling of his bunk. While he definitely felt tired, he just couldn't seem to relax enough to fall asleep and despite a vigorous workout a short time ago followed by a hot shower he was still wide awake.
Given the events of the past few days he probably shouldn't be surprised.
Even though Coulson was now safely back on the Bus, his kidnapping and torture had unsettled the entire team with Skye taking it especially hard. He didn't think he would ever forget the devastated expression on her face as she'd exited the room where the older agent had been held. Her eyes had been glassy and he'd noticed the tear stains on her cheeks, and he couldn't remember ever having seen her look so pale.
Rubbing a hand over his face, Ward sighed heavily as he gave up any hope of falling asleep and climbed out of bed, grabbing a clean T-shirt from his closet. Since it was so late and he wasn't expecting anyone else to still be up, he decided against putting on his jeans. He figured he could grab a bottle of something from the bar and have a couple of drinks to settle him before returning to his bunk.
The moment he opened his door the scent of chocolate hit him and he frowned. What the hell? Making his way towards the kitchen area, he found Skye in her sleepwear, her hair pulled up into a messy bun, at the sink cleaning what looked to be a baking sheet. On the counter, he noticed, a plate piled high with squares of chocolate brownies and another with chocolate chip cookies.
“I see you've been busy,” he said, closing the distance between them to stand beside her.
Upon hearing his voice, Skye startled and she paused in what she was doing. Glancing up at him, she said, “I was craving something sweet so since I couldn't sleep I figured I'd kill two birds with one stone and do something productive. I hope I didn't wake you.”
Ward suddenly wished he'd put on pants so he could put his hands into his pockets. “You didn't. Wouldn't it have been easier to have just stolen something from Fitz's candy stash?”
The brunette stared at him. “Are you kidding? He's probably got an alarm rigged to it. You know how protective he is when it comes to his treats.”
“Yeah, you were safer baking your own stash,” he said, flashing her a half-smile which deepened when she smiled back. “It's nice to see you smiling again.” Feeling slightly embarrassed and needing to do something with his hands, he idly scratched the back of his neck.
She didn't know what to say so she just gave a small nod of her head. “These are for everyone,” she said, gesturing to the brownies and cookies. “I mean, I didn't just make them for me.”
“They'll probably last about five minutes once Fitz sees them.”
“Good job I've hidden some away, then,” she told him. Drying her hands, she opened the fridge and picked up a carton of milk. “Can you grab a couple of glasses?”
Ward did as requested, placing two tumblers onto the counter which she subsequently filled with milk. He watched as she selected a brownie from the pile and bit into it, her eyes slowly closing as she savored the gooey chocolate treat.
“Help yourself,” she said after taking a sip of her milk.
He was about to decline but decided against it, especially since he was pretty sure as to the reason behind why his rookie hadn't been able to sleep in the first place. He figured it would be easier to just take one rather than risk upsetting or offending her. Picking up one of the cookies, he took a bite and his eyes widened at how good it tasted.
“You thought it was going to taste like crap, didn't you?” Skye asked, one eyebrow cocked.
“No,” he replied, trying and failing to hide the smirk he felt tugging at the corners of his mouth. “I just didn't expect it to taste this good.”
“Right,” she teased. “I'll have you know that while I may not be the best cook I do know how to bake.”
Finishing off his cookie, Ward reached for a brownie and he was just as impressed after he'd finished the first bite. “How come it's taken you this long to bake anything on the Bus?”
The smile left Skye's face. Shrugging, she turned away and returned to cleaning up the mess she'd made.
“Skye?”
Releasing a heavy sigh, she faced her SO again. “I guess it's something I tend to do when I'm stressed. These past few days have been...”
“Seriously stressful,” he finished for her.
“And that's putting it mildly. I figured keeping myself busy might take my mind off of everything for a little while.”
Eating the rest of his brownie, Ward then took a long drink of his milk. “Thanks for this,” he said, taking his glass over to the sink and washing it; leaving it upside down on the drainer to dry. “I'm, uh, sorry if I disturbed you.”
Skye frowned. “What are you talking about?”
“I don't... I thought maybe you wanted to be alone while you were keeping busy.”
“Are you kidding? The silence was killing me and if it wasn't so late I would've put on some music or something. I was... glad when you showed up.”
“Really?”
“You're not going to let me forget telling you that, are you?”
“No,” he said, chuckling.
She shook her head as she finished clearing up. “So, um, I know we have to be up in a few hours but...”
“But?” he prompted.
“You up for playing some Battleship?”
Ward knew he'd pay the price tomorrow – or later today – when he'd have trouble keeping his eyes open but, like Skye, he still didn't feel much like being alone. “Sure, that sounds good.” He knew he'd done the right thing when the smile she gave him lit up her face.
“I'll go and grab the box,” she told him.
A couple of minutes later, she was back and they settled themselves into their seats and set up the game on the table between them.
“You ready to have your ass handed to you again?” Skye teased.
“Someone thinks a lot of themselves, I see.”
“It's called self-confidence,” she informed him.
“You sure it's not called being over-confident?”
Sitting across from her SO and seeing the amusement in his whiskey-colored eyes at their banter, Skye realized that he had definitely helped to take her mind off of everything that had happened over the course of the past few days and she felt a surge of gratitude towards him for that. However, she was fairly certain that if she brought it up he'd probably just shrug it off so she decided to keep quiet. The guy needed to learn how to take a compliment.
“Skye? You okay?”
“Yeah... yeah, I'm fine. Thanks.”
“So, you ready to find out whether you're right to be confident about beating me?”
Her cocky smile said it all. “Bring it on.”
Fin