Chapter Text
The stickiness of their skin should have been off putting, but they still lay close together, like a vine clinging to a branch, impossible to disentangle. A warm breeze filtered in through the window, hardly comforting in the cloying heat of late summer. August in Philadelphia was sweltering compared to what Audrey was used to. Even so late into the evening it was almost 90⁰ Fahrenheit. She was awake, finding it impossible to sleep through the heat any longer. In the dim light, she could see that their bedside clock read almost two in the morning. Even in her hazy state of waking, Audrey could clearly hear Dale’s soft breaths as they hummed in and out rhythmically, even, deep and slow. To their time, she felt her own body synchronize, in utter harmony with him. She loved to listen to every sound of him; his breaths at nights, the thrum of his heartbeat in his chest, the steady, low throb of his pulse, a gentle sigh in his sleep. Audrey memorized him in the wan light, the way his skin was luminous and pale, and how all his cares melted away, leaving his face open and full of youth and life. He was so serene against the moonlight. She seldom saw him in such a way, for even at his most content, Dale was an active person. His stance when standing still spoke of boundless, yet contained energy, which he used in living life to its fullest, whether that was putting his all into enjoying a cup of coffee, or sprinting after the latest perp. All told, Dale Cooper seemed entirely incapable of doing otherwise. But in sleep, he was at peace. A peace only Audrey got to see.
Tentative of disturbing his rest, Audrey threaded her fingers through his soft hair. They’d showered before bed in an attempt to cool off. It had been futile, considering what had ensued, and he left it to dry by itself, just as she had. It was a rare thing, to touch his hair without the pomade that kept it normally so perfectly coiffed. To do so was a heavenly pleasure. The silken strands of his sable hair were still damp with residual water and light traces of sweat that had developed in the humidity.
As Audrey continued to gaze, she thought back to earlier in the evening, when the muggy heat was pervasive, despite the sun’s lowered position. They’d spoken relatively little throughout the day, mostly sitting amidst the still packed boxes which had arrived the day after they. Canada had been a dream, drifting and listless and utterly perfect. She’d called ahead to home, asking that they pack and send out her other things, considering that they were due in Philadelphia the sixth. The boxes arrived the eighth and the heatwave struck shortly thereafter, leaving the boxes to be emptied at a later date when they weren’t both drenched in sweat from simply existing.
It had been around eight in the evening when she glanced at him from her prone position on his – their, he’d insisted – couch. “Shower?”
“Yes,”
And that had been it. They’d roused themselves languidly from their reclined positions, Audrey losing articles of clothing as she went, heedless of where they dropped. Dale had followed suit, stripping off his undershirt and shucking away his boxers. Not far behind her, he held open the door to the bathroom as she passed through, ever the gentleman, even when they were both nude. She went to the window, through which they could see the sun setting, and threw it open, relishing in what little relief was provided by the soft, warm breeze as it rustled the curtains and her hair gently. For just a moment, Audrey rested her elbows on the sill and let her chin fall onto her knuckles as she looked out across the glistening city, shimmering like a mirage in the heat. Bright and shining, the light glinted off the metal and windows of buildings, bright as sunspots to her eyes. Even the usually bustling sounds of the city were mostly absent as it’s denizens languished in a heat induced daze.
Behind her, Dale turned the faucet, the shower head raining icy droplets down upon him in a refreshing instant of relief. He groaned at the feel of sweat being washed away, turning his face up to the crystal spray, letting it run into his eyes and across his lips. Audrey turned and leaned against the wall, the light from the window framing her silhouette as she gazed at him. Dale was lost utterly in the cool bliss of the shower. The wind came in a short gust again, heat springing to Audrey’s cheeks before she stepped forward, the gauzy curtain catching at her shoulder as she did. Slow, she stepped into the shower and watched him from the new angle, admiring the width of his shoulders, the slight muscles that moved in his back, the angle of his hips… Audrey caught him from behind, arms slinking up his torso, her hands landing on his chest, fingers just brushing his nipples. She laid her cheek on his back, the cool water droplets contrasting with the radiating heat of his skin, and she sighed.
“Audrey,” Her name was the only word spoken in those moments as they stood motionless under the cooling spray. She had released Dale then, and he had turned, allowing her to step into full range of the spray. They shared the water, not particularly focused on getting clean so much as staying wet. A wholly different sort of wet from the sticky, starched drenching of the day. She looked him up and down. Even under the cool water, his skin was flushed beautifully and she felt the coils of desire at the sight of him. Something always reared it’s primal head when Audrey saw him in that way, bare of all his daily armor, of his suit and his professional habits, with strands of wet hair hanging into his eyes, which had darkened during her appraisal of him. She reached her hand down and let it land on his hip and trace down the vee of his waist. A soft noise started at the back of his throat when her nails traced gently down the sensitive flesh of his groin, and her own breath hitched as he reacted to her touch. Dale had reached out for her, grasping her gently at the waist, maneuvering her against the tiles of the wall and pressing into her space, infinitely close but without touching her. She was out of the spray, but the tiles still held a modicum of the damp cool and she relished in the combined feelings as his searing hand palmed at the underside of her thigh, leveraging her weight as he guided her leg to rest on the cut of his hip, half lifting and half sliding her up the wall. His other arm came to rest next to her head to brace both their weight as he shifted them.
Audrey rested a hand on his shoulder to balance herself and leaned her head back to look into his eyes. They were lidded, half with the heat, half, she was sure, with lust, and she itched to kiss him. She refrained, instead choosing to guide her free hand down between them, lightly stroking her fingertips up and down his length. She kept his gaze and saw, rather than heard, the quickening of his breath. Desire pooled within her at his response. The sun had lowered and a burnt orange light had settled in the room, lending it an ethereal glow; it caught on each drop of water, making Dale’s skin glisten as he moved. His forehead was inches away from her own, then, and she abandoned her light, arousing touches in favour of readying herself. As her eyes had fluttered closed, she had felt his lips press to her forehead, a barely there kiss, and then again, first on one eye and then the other. The hand she had on his shoulder clutched a little more tightly and her legs trembled and then she was guiding him into her, slow and languid. His hips barely moved once he was seated fully, resting instead within her as if content to stay there forever. The rhythmic drone of the shower crystallized the moment down infinitesimally, until, when Audrey finally opened her eyes, it seemed like the drops clinging to his lashes took an age to fall, that Dale’s intake of breath lasted and hour, that the fall of water was suspended as it fell, that the world had stopped around them. Even when he finally withdrew from her, almost all the way, it still felt like it had lasted forever. Lazily, they made love, his thrusts like gentle waves, her hitching breath hanging like a misty cloud between them, mingling with his as the sun went down and the heat remained. Her fingers clutched and released with each wave, his still a firm, unwavering pressure on her thigh. With each press of him against her, Audrey felt a new heat, the sensation that she was molten inside, liquefying until she was senseless and overstimulated all at once. Her orgasm came on gradually, slow and long and lingering, for what she imagined was several minutes though it felt far longer, and he followed her, shuddering gently, resting his head in the space above her shoulder. The still cool spray of the water ran down his shoulders and dripped from his hair, pooling slightly in the hollow at her neck as they continued to breath together, riding the aftershocks of release.
Audrey was roused from her thoughts when Dale’s breath changed. Dark lashes fluttered on pale cheeks. Audrey sucked in a breath and held it. All tension eased from his body in that moment. Against her, he was completely boneless, almost dead to the world.
This, this was heaven, she thought. Sticky and hot and uncomfortable, their legs plastered together, their torsos pressing, skin clinging like clay. Both comfort and discomfort coexisted like harmonious blasphemy in the moment and Audrey reveled in it. Another soft noise fell from his lips.
What a blessing, she realized, that they were both alive and safe and laying there, together. Her own heart was thrumming potently in her chest with the weight of her simple epiphanies.
Dale opened his eyes, but remained unmoving. He blinked at her once, and she blinked back at him. Then, beautifully, he smiled. It was a soft, tired smile, still mired in sleep like the sun peaking from without a cloud.
“Audrey?” He questioned, a hint of concern in his voice.
She hummed at him. “I’m fine,” and she was.
“What time is it?” he asked in a whisper. Audrey smiled back, tender.
“Early. Go back to sleep, Dale,”
He blinked again, a rally against the temptation of drifting immediately back into the depths of sleep.
“You’re watching me,” he stated, a bit coyly despite the slumber that clung to his tone. Audrey lifted a hand and brushed at the hair laying on his forehead.
“Maybe,”
A gentle laugh lingered in the air, and there! That was the sun! Even in the moonlight, Audrey felt the radiant warmth of his happiness. The smile remained bright on his face, even as he closed his eyes again. After a moment, his breathing settled into an even rhythm and Audrey thought that be might be asleep when, lashes still soft against his cheek, Dale spoke.
“I love you,”
Audrey lay back onto the mattress, her pillow somewhere on the floor.
“I love you too,” She replied, turning her head to look at him, but he was still once more, the haze of sleep hanging around him like a halo, and Audrey, content, followed him.