Chapter Text
Belle was someone that was always in the corner of Jane’s thoughts, one way or another. It would have been odd for someone to occupy her time so much, as she usually moved on once she figured people out, but Belle was someone that she always strayed back to.
She knew exactly why her mind kept wandering back to the purple-blue haired girl. The combination of the manager’s genuine nature and the dichotomy created by a slowly unraveling secret created an appeal so utterly mouthwatering that she couldn’t resist staying away.
The only problem was that she hadn’t planned on catching feelings.
Maybe if she started out with honesty. Said that she was a woman of many faces, skilled in plentiful things and worked as a consultant with PubSec. That her public job was a criminal behavioral analyst, something that she loved to do, but the main thing that she excelled at was infiltration. If she had led with that, maybe they could have had a normal relationship.
But normal people didn’t have multiple identities that they could swap to at the drop of a hat. Normal people didn’t have the ability to dismantle a gang from the inside by analyzing key players and ruffling some feathers. Normal people didn't have a past scrubbed so clean that no traces remained.
She was the furthest thing from normal. How could she have expected anything normal when she didn’t even regret her own abnormality?
Then again, normal people also didn’t own a video store and have a secret double life where they were the number one most wanted proxy.
Not that she was certain that’s who Belle was, innocent until proven guilty of course (unless she had beyond reasonable doubt), but maybe she was being too harsh on herself. Things became all tangled when feelings were involved, it was why Jane preferred to stick to flirting. It got her places, and made people off guard.
Loose lips sink ships, but what Jane wouldn’t give to loosen Belle’s lips herself.
Jane fiddled with her gloves, pulling on the leather to tighten them. Her thoughts were becoming jumbled again.
Belle. What did she really know about the video store manager?
She ran the store with her brother. They often took turns in who managed the store for what day. If that was only it they’d likely still be rather busy, considering the surprising customer base it had, but she’d seen a not insignificant amount of people volunteering to work the counter for short periods of time.
Volunteering to work, without pay. Granted it might have only been for periods where both of the siblings were out, and in conjunction with a bangboo helping out, but people didn’t achieve that unless they were genuinely well liked.
What else…
Belle liked noodles, and hot pot. And coffee. She wasn’t sure initially about that last one until she had tasted Tin Master’s coffee herself. She had a favorite orange striped jacket that looked cute on her, but she preferred more dark colors overall. Despite her orange striped jacket being much brighter than her black and blues, her smile was the brightest thing about her.
It was a genuine smile. A rarity in Jane's line of work. To find someone who cared so much about the small details of life and extended that care to others. Even better was someone who extended it to her.
Belle, the girl who somehow slipped past all of her defenses as she attempted to learn more about the manager. Who let any anxieties melt away as the two watched a corny romance flick. The person who drew Jane's eye subconsciously, finding herself following the girl's figure without realizing it.
Belle, the beauty, was Jane’s safe space. The thought of it scared her. It had crept up on her, like ivy upon masonry. Growing day by day, unnoticeable due to its slow pace, yet had her in a stranglehold before she knew it.
She knew feelings, it was part of her job. She knew how to pluck them and twist them to get exactly what she wanted. How to flirt and slip past people’s guard with ease. She always wrapped her strings around others and had them dance to her tune. It was fun, it was simple, and even if she extended a bit of that flirtatiousness outside of her job than was strictly necessary, no one got hurt.
But Jane could feel the thorns that Belle had upon her. The creeping ivy wrapping itself around her heart. She could feel how perfectly the organ fit in the tangled mess of vines. Beating happily and safely in its confines that was the status quo.
She was afraid that if she pushed any one way or another, the thorns would puncture her, leaking red into the void. That the safe nest she had stumbled upon would bare its fangs and rip out her throat, leaving herself barely standing as she attempted to patch herself up.
Jane had no doubt that she would live. She had faced down entire gangs alone, a single girl wouldn’t- shouldn’t be enough to take her down.
Feelings. One word that somehow perfectly encapsulated everything she did. Her job relied on feelings, on reading people, on knowing what makes them tick. A weapon that she used for her own gain, now pointed at her.
But did she have to go through with this? Could she just play ignorant? All her bravado and determination seemed to be sapped away as the time ticked onward. She could cancel this meeting. It was ten minutes until the meet-up time.
She didn’t even realize she had speed dialed Belle until her phone started to buzz in her hand. Jane felt it ring three times in her grip.
“Jane?” She heard Belle say to her.
The phone buzzed once more, and Jane realized that the voice wasn't coming from the phone.
Jane turned, phone still in hand to see Belle. The manager had her phone in her hand, an unanswered call ringing on the lock screen. She seemed confused.
“Oh. Belle.” Jane said, the reality in front of her forcing out a reply. She silenced the phone in her hand when it buzzed yet again. “You’re early.”
“So are you.” Belle quipped back. There was a tiny little upturn on the corner of her lips, letting her amusement shine through. “Why did you call me just now?”
It was really just a simple question. An innocent, nonchalant question with no ulterior motives. The amusement present on her face leaked through her tone, and that ever present curiosity made itself present from the rising pitch at the end. It was Belle’s voice, through and through. Jane didn’t realize just how much she was looking forward to it until she found that her shoulders were relaxed and her muscles were no longer tensed.
“...I just wanted to hear your voice.” Jane said, her face pulling into a small smile to match Belle’s.
Belle let out a small squeak, an adorable noise that she often made and one that Jane looked forward to every day. “I-I wanted to hear your voice too.” Belle softly admitted, a red blush visible only underneath the subtle streetlight.
Jane let out a breath she didn’t know she was holding. This was how things should be. Not hair-pulling, anxiety-inducing limbo from the crippling grasp that feelings had on her. They could work through this. Whatever Belle had to hide, however certain Jane may be about it, they could get through it.
Belle was a good person.
“That’s good.” Jane replied, for lack of better options. Words, why were they so difficult when it finally came time to talk? Why did they contradictingly flow so freely at the same time? She gestured to the coffee shop near them with a tilt of her head. “How about we grab some coffee and wake ourselves up?”
The manager nodded. “It’s been a long night. I’ll buy.”
Jane raised an eyebrow. “I’m the one who called for the meet up, I’ll pay.”
Belle tutted with a finger. It looked quite silly. “But I have a special discount from living on the same street! You have much to learn Jane! We shop managers all have a network that we feed into!” She said exaggeratingly. It was a clear parody of one of the characters in the movie they watched yesterday.
The behavioral specialist narrowed her eyes. The flat end of her tail softly glided against Belle’s waist as she moved into step with her. She enjoyed the tiny shiver that such an action elicited from the girl before her, as much as she tried to hide it.
“Okay then, shop manager. Buy a coffee for little ol’ me.” She whispered in Belle’s ear, leaning down as she did so.
There was a stark difference in her actions compared to how she was feeling just moments ago, but being with Belle seemed to naturally bring out the happier and more teasing side of her. Most of her worries had ebbed away, and by the time the duo had gotten their coffee from Tin Master, and finished it, she felt ready to tackle the crux of the issue.
But first, she needed to be honest about something.
The two were sitting on a little table behind Tin Master’s coffee shop. The road there opened up to the metro as well as to a park located near sixth street.
Jane had finished her coffee first, allowing her time to just take in the sight of the person before her.
Belle was all dressed up for tonight, five thirty in the morning notwithstanding. Jane knew that Belle took extra care of her appearance around her, nothing outlandish, but clear effort was put into it. Conscious decisions that made her just a bit more cleaner, the lines on her face more sharp. Jane always found Belle as cute as a button, but now she couldn’t help but stare. Her eyes darted from feature to feature like she’s trying to commit every detail to memory. Jane can chart constellations on her face, from the curve of her nose to the roundness of her cheeks. The sharpness of her eyes that gently gave way to the small upturn of her lips. Belle’s head tilted just a bit to finish off the last of her coffee, and Jane can’t help but be enamored by the creamy white of her neck being exposed. The corner of the small outdoor table found itself pushed into the side of Jane’s sternum, and she realized quickly that she had leaned forward as much as she could, anything to get closer to the beauty before her.
Jane’s forced herself to focus when Belle let her finished coffee cup touch the table, her eyes snapping upwards to meet Belle’s own. She uses her tail to gather up the combined cups, depositing them into a nearby trash can behind her with a flip in the air. She doesn’t need to confirm that they landed in the bin, the way Belle’s eyes light up is enough of an indication.
She smirked at her ability to make Belle smile, though it washed away quickly when she realized that she couldn’t delay such a talk anymore. She had to be honest with her, and hope that she’d be honest in return.
“The reason I called you was that I wanted to tell you what I did for work.” Jane said. Her sentence started slowly to gather Belle’s attention, and resumed its normal speed when she knew she had it.
“Oh! Okay.” Belle replied. There was the tiniest bit of tensing from the manager. A reaction so small it would have been imperceptible if it weren’t for the fact that Jane knew her well. “You don’t really talk about it much.”
Jane studied the map she wished to chart before her. She could feel her mind starting to draw conclusions, the separation of her job and who she was outside of it blending together into one. Any normal person would have questioned why she would talk about such a thing at five thirty in the morning. But Belle merely accepted it. As if she knew why now of all times.
Maybe it wasn’t fair to draw such a conclusion. Maybe Belle merely appreciated her and trusted her that much.
Her eyes darted between the constellations once more before she spoke up again. “I work as a criminal behavioral analyst consultant for Public Security.”
Jane could see the exact moment that Belle went as still as death. Her face went unchanged, almost as if her body shut down for a brief moment. Everything but her eyes paused for a moment, before restarting and starting up once more. The entire time Jane could see the lightning fast cogs of her mind processing everything.
“Like-” Belle’s voice cracked. She pretended nothing happened. “-the detective from the movie?”
Jane nodded. “Yeah. Like the detective from the movie.”
There was a miniscule twitch in Belle’s neck, as if she had just swallowed her nerves. “Any particular cases you’re working on? Or can you n-not say?”
Jane leaned back, doing her best to appear non-threatening. The tension was so thick that she could cut it with a knife. Any wrong movement and she felt as if Belle would bolt. That was the last thing she wanted.
“There is one case that I’ve been working on for a while, mostly in downtime between other cases. Though I haven’t had much success until just earlier today.”
“...What did you find out?” Belle said, then quickly scrambled to correct herself. “I-I mean who are you… looking into?”
Jane took a deep breath. She had to do this right. There was a miniscule chance that she wasn’t correct in her assumption of who Belle was, but that was a chance she had to take. She’d apologize if that was the case, but Jane trusted her instincts.
If she played her cards right, she’d finally get confirmation of the mystery behind Belle.
“There’s this legendary proxy on the Inter-Knot. They went into hiding a while back after a false bust on them, but there’d been rumors of them coming back into the scene lately. I was able to confirm this myself when I participated in the search and rescue operations for the newly opened hollow earlier this morning.”
“So that's… W-Who- What’s… the proxy’s name?” Belle asked softly. It was like she wasn’t even aware of how pale she looked, or how she spoke in nothing more than a breathy whisper.
“Phaethon.” Jane revealed. She locked eyes with Belle, those aquamarine orbs pleaded for her not to continue. Jane took the dive anyway. “Belle. I know.”
Belle’s back straightened, her eyes went wide and her hands splayed out onto the table as if ready to push off at any moment. Jane would wager that her feet were tensed, arched and ready to sprint.
She counted the seconds in her head, the seconds of a clock ticking away like sands falling through an hourglass. She counted up until twenty before Belle finally responded.
“I-I don’t…” Belle stuttered out. There was a denial on the tip of her lips, ready to be said yet still unspoken.
Jane let hope flutter in her heart. Was it a sign? That despite her obvious reluctance she was willing to trust her?
“Belle.” Jane spoke softly. “I’m not going to-”
There was a crash, a small bang as a garbage can tipped over behind her. It wasn’t deafeningly loud, but it was shocking enough that Jane startled minutely in surprise, her head whipping around to find the sudden culprit.
It was enough for Belle to jump up and dash away, betrayal clear on her features as she ran off towards the park.
Jane swore as she watched Belle run away. Her first instinct was to chase after her, but she had to figure out what caused the garbage can to move. She turned the corner, her tail ready at her side in the event of any attackers and-
“Meow?”
A black cat stared up at her, innocent and oblivious to the chaos it just caused.
Jane stared for a moment, disbelief coating her features, before she sprinted off into the direction of Belle.
She couldn’t have gone far. Jane was faster than Belle, faster than even seasoned gang members, a simple shop manager shouldn’t be difficult to catch up with.
But then again, Belle was hardly ‘just’ a simple shop manager.
Jane weaved through alleys of apartments, looking desperately for any traces of Belle. If she wasn’t off the job, or if it was a hollow instead, she would have simply scaled a building and looked from the roof. As it was she was chasing miniscule traces of evidence.
Belle knew this area much better than her, and it showed. Sixth street was a small area of winding apartments and full of small unidentifiable alleyways. She could have gone anywhere, and maybe she had even evacuated back to her car. Perhaps she had already driven off into the night, never to be seen again.
No. Her thoughts were straying too far. She wouldn’t do that, and wouldn’t leave her brother. That was another can of worms that needed to be opened, if her brother knew or even was a part of it. She didn’t see how he couldn’t know, but it didn’t matter at this exact moment.
The park, maybe. It was the first obvious choice. It was why she had initially crossed it off. The park, always the obvious choice to evacuate to in a hollow. She already had to think about a family who didn’t go to the park. But they hadn’t been thinking clearly, and perhaps might not be the sharpest either.
Belle on the other hand, might not have been thinking clearly, but her intelligence was razor sharp. Wide open spaces were the first place that hollow evacuation drills taught to everyone in their schooling years.
They weren’t in a hollow. They weren’t even in danger. But it was a good destination to check as any.
Jane sprinted to the park, taking the main route that had her pass by a cement truck. The streets were dead at this time of the night, leaving only Jane and her thoughts.
What if they couldn’t fix this?
What if she had made a mistake bringing the topic up?
What if Belle refused to talk to her again?
She could dwell on such thoughts until the sun came up. The more she sunk into them the more she felt a great gaping maw of dread form beneath her, ready to reach up and swallow her whole until she sunk into the depths of oblivion.
The two of them would be fine. She told herself.
She went over things that she could say to Belle once she found her. Excuses for hiding who she was, explanations to questions she didn’t know, attempts to explain the psychology behind her thought process.
The park was on a hill, isolated from any surrounding apartments. The hill was too steep to build anything except a small outing with a few benches on it. She climbed up the stairs, taking three at a time by virtue of her long legs, and reached the top.
Twilight was beginning to peek through the curtain of night. Small scatterings of pink light painted the horizon, signaling the approaching day.
Belle was there. She was on a bench, her knees were bunched up and she was hugging them. As Jane approached she could hear soft sniffles that had Jane’s heart wrench in guilt.
She caused this, a piece of Jane whispered to her.
“Belle?” Jane spoke softly. As if she spoke too loud, the girl would shatter into a million pieces. She comes around to the front of the bench and crouches in front of the girl.
The blue haired girl sniffled and wiped her eyes.
“Jane.” Belle replied. Her voice sounded watery. “Are you- Are you going to arrest me?”
“No- No I’m not.” Jane did her best to reassure her. “I wouldn’t do that.”
“Why? Isn’t that-” Belle sniffled again. “Isn’t that your job?”
“Belle.” Jane whispered again. Her hands find Belle’s own, and she intertwines their fingers. There’s a hot fire in her chest, something incredibly vulnerable and tender that she only felt with Belle. Jane tilted her head forward, pressing her forehead into Belle’s own, eliciting a soft whimper from the girl. “Yes- No- It is but I’m not going to do that to you.”
Jane found it difficult to find the correct words. Anything that she had thought of on the way to the park seemingly evaporated from the spaces of her mind, leaving her scrambling to put her emotions to coherent sentences.
“I don’t get it.” Belle whispered. “Y-You were just studying me this entire time? Is that why you got close to me?”
Jane’s heart sank. “No- No. I promise you, that’s not what happened.”
Those aquamarine eyes met her own and Jane felt all her defenses splinter into nothing. Fuck. She was going to explain the inner workings of her case to a proxy. A proxy who was practically the Inter-Knot boogeyman.
But that was fine. She trusted Belle. She didn’t do all that work for nothing.
“I came into your store by complete coincidence at first. I was on a job and needed a movie.” Jane explained. “After that… I really just thought there was something about you that drew me in. I wanted to get closer to you. I didn’t even know you were Phaethon until earlier today.”
Belle sniffled. She leaned back, disconnecting the two and wiped at her eyes. She let out a small watery chuckle.
“That’s the same thing with me.” Belle admitted. “There was something about you. Your confidence, how well versed you seemed to be in everything. It was like you had the experience of a million different jobs, and I thought to myself that I wanted to get to know more about you.”
“I remember you asking if my heels could be used as weapons.”
“Can they?”
Jane exhaled a laugh. “Yes. They can.”
“That’s cool.”
That’s cool, Jane mouthed to herself. She supposed the legendary Phaethon would have seen a variety of things that put boots that could be used as weapons to shame. But of course, that line of thought brought the crux of everything back to the forefront of her mind.
She licked her lips. “Can I at least ask… why you got into the proxy business?” Jane asked Belle hesitantly.
“It’s good money.” The constellations on Belle’s face contorted as she scrunched up. “And I can choose who I want to work for. And some people need the help that they aren’t going to get elsewhere.”
Jane smiled. That was exactly what she expected from Belle. An honest answer full of life and love. Even if she was skirting the law with her line of work, it wasn’t as if she was doing it for a bad reason.
It was those small things that enamored Jane the most.
Jane’s thumb traced the back of Belle’s hand. Drawing small little circles on the skin. She enjoyed the tiny pleased noise that it brought out from her, remnants of her emotional high leaking out.
“I figured it was something genuine like that. That’s what I like about you after all.”
“You’re genuine too, Jane. Even if you don’t think so. I like that about you.”
Jane faltered, her smile slipping off her face from surprise. It felt as if she had her soul read like an open book. It was another part of Belle that always snuck up on her. With the knowledge that her intelligence was razor sharp, and she was the legendary proxy Phaethon, it shouldn’t have shocked her.
But Belle always found a way to wiggle into her heart. To sneak past her insecurities and manage to reassure her.
Really, what was she even thinking about earlier? Being ‘normal’? That hardly mattered when they had such a genuine connection.
“Well.” Jane elongated the end of the word in a teasing manner. “I heard of this amazing thing that two people can do if they like each other.”
“Hmm?” Belle picked up on her tone and returned with her own. “And what would that be?”
“There’s this little thing called dating… Maybe we could try it out?” Jane pitched the question steadily, aware of her pulse speeding up just the smallest amount as she did so.
The beauty before her widened her eyes and a wonderful smile blossomed on her lips. Her mouth opened for a second before it closed, confusion crossed her face for a moment before her smile curved into a much more sly one.
“...I thought we've been dating for a while now?” Belle asked innocently.
Jane’s mind froze in place as she tried to process what she just heard.
Were they dating this entire time? Had she misread everything? Surely not. It was her job to be able to recognize these things. Unless she had somehow missed the obvious because she was so caught up in figuring out what Belle’s secret was.
She couldn't have missed it. All they did was meet up a few times a week. Schedule dinner together. Hold hands and watch movies alone. Tease and flirt with each other. Sometimes Jane’s hands would end up combing through Belle's hair, fluttering through the silky strands and enjoying how close they were…
Oh.
Belle's giggles brought Jane out of her thoughts. “You spend a whole lot of time thinking about others but not enough time thinking about yourself.” The blue haired manager chided.
Jane didn't have a good response to that. It was true, after all. “They do say that doctors make the worst patients.”
“I don’t quite think that expression works here, Jane.” Belle gave her a boop on the nose. Jane lazily attempted to nip at the finger, but Belle was too fast.
Jane pulled Belle to her feet, catching the girl with a hug. Her taller stature made her have to lean down just a bit as she cupped the girl’s chin. “I suppose I can finally do something I’ve been wanting to do for a while then.” She whispered into Belle’s ear, giving her the opportunity to pull away if she desired.
“Wait!” Belle spoke up.
Jane stopped in place, a flash of anxiety racing through her. Had she overstepped her boundaries?
“Sunrise is right now!” Belle continued, grabbing Jane’s own face and turning it towards the horizon.
Jane watched as the sky gradually lit up over the quick course of a few minutes. How the hues of pink and yellow painted the rest of the sky and melted into the rest of the blues and oranges. Creating a canvas of beauty right there in front of her. It reminded her of a flower, blooming upon the horizon. Rays of golden sun stretched across the blue like petals blossoming onto the morning light.
How long had it been since she’d seen such a sight? A view so rarely visible due to the height of the buildings and her habit of turning in for the night before any light in the sky made itself known.
Sunrise was a phenomenon that only lasted a handful of minutes, and often had fingers remaining, but she’d etch such a scene into her memory for the rest of her life.
Jane turned back to Belle, who reacted in turn to her movement. Belle’s hands were still adorned upon the Thiren’s face, and those bright aquamarine eyes stared gently at her. They were framed with gold from the sun, highlighting each and every constellation she painted earlier.
She shifted her tail, having it come up and wrap gently around Belle’s waist. She can feel a small giggle rise up within the girl at the sensation, the flat of her tail resting on Belle’s back. It was softly wrapped, enough that Belle could move all she wanted, but with just enough tension that Jane could feel everything about the woman in front of her.
It fulfilled some sort of need within Jane, to have Belle as close as possible. Her hands found themselves lingering downwards, resting upon Belle’s waist. She was still slightly leaned over from earlier.
Something rose up within Jane’s chest. It was a gentle fire that filled her with emotion. A giddy sort of anticipation for what was about to come, completely childish in nature but something she welcomed regardless.
Belle’s mouth dropped open just the tiniest amount, the shine from the natural sunlight catching her lips, drawing Jane’s eyes towards the pink hue. She isn’t sure who leaned in first, but they met somewhere in the middle.
Their lips slot together like a missing piece of a puzzle. All those feelings that had welled up within Jane burst forward in a fit of passion. Belle tastes like Belle and everything she had ever imagined and more. The woman who had been on her mind since Jane had waltzed into that store and the cute little button happily introduced her to the exact film she was looking for.
All the small dates, casual touches, light flirting and teasing led up to this moment. She could feel herself melt into Belle, or maybe Belle was melting into her. Every fiber of her being focused on the connection between the two. She found herself shocked for a brief moment when Belle upped the intensity of the kiss, only to return it twofold as she matched Belle’s fervor.
Her hands don’t roam but they feel. Every single point of contact felt like they had meshed together, simultaneously blending into one pleasurable feeling while also being distinctly different.
One of them let out a pleasurable mewl. Jane isn’t quite sure who it was, but she took it as a sign to stop things there. She didn’t feel like rushing things.
Jane parted first, Belle let out a small whine at the suddenness, but accepted it nonetheless. Her tail uncoils itself from the girl and finds itself a new home in close proximity to her partner.
Belle’s cheeks were a rosy red, and she’s sure that her own are similar. The pink rays of sunlight cascade across her face and make it all the more alluring, tempting Jane to go back in for a second kiss, but she felt the telltale sign of fatigue start to creep up upon her.
They had been out all night, and if Belle woke up anytime similar to her, she'd also be feeling tired. Feelings were strangely exhausting despite the relative lack of physical activity in comparison to what she normally did. Coffee only helped so much.
“As much as I'd love to continue, my dear manager.” Jane teased. “It's getting to be quite early. Early enough that you're going to need to open up shop soon, and for me to take a little rat nap.”
At the reminder of the time, nearly seven in the morning, Belle gasped. “I'm gonna be late opening up!”
Almost as if by second nature, Belle grabbed Jane’s hand and rushed down the park incline. Jane’s taller stature made her stumble a bit before she got her footing, and the two rushed back to the shop.
It would have been quicker if Jane just scooped Belle up in her arms and carried her back, but that could be reserved for a later day.
Belle opened the door to the shop, startling everyone inside. Jane saw a customer (who buys movies at seven in the morning?) as well as Belle’s brother, Wise, at the counter.
The blue haired manager froze. “Oh right. It’s not my day to open.” She said to Jane.
Jane looked between the residents of the room. She tugged on Belle’s hand, still intertwined with her own. “Let’s take this upstairs, then.”
This time, Jane was the one pulling Belle along. The two maneuvered up the stairs, and stepped into Belle’s room. Jane used her tail as an accessory to take her boots off, while Belle simply kicked off her shoes.
The Rat Thiren made herself at home on the couch, and with a little bit of hesitation, Belle did too. Jane wrapped Belle in her arms, feeling right at home with the smaller girl there.
“You’re not much of a morning person, are you?” Belle commented.
“What gave you that idea?” Jane said, using one of her hands to play with Belle’s purple-blue hair.
“What didn’t give me that idea? You’re always out at night and never respond until at least noon.”
Jane chuckled, already feeling sleep starting to take over.
“Hmm… Mornings are a scam. No one’s really awake until noon anyways.”
Belle’s singular note of laughter is like a windchime. There's a certain sense of satisfaction knowing that she could make her laugh with such little effort.
Jane rummaged through her thoughts as Belle grew quiet. The soft rise and fall of her breaths indicated that she had fast fallen asleep. It was a bit of a marvel to experience, seeing someone fall asleep so easily. It usually took her at least half an hour at a minimum.
She wasn't quite sure if she would have ever expected herself to be in a situation like now. She had always put such vulnerable intimacy as something unobtainable. Something that someone like her, who could slip into a million different identities, didn't deserve.
But… somehow Belle convinced her otherwise. That the woman in her arms saw her for everything she was, noticing things about her that made her feel seen. For the person beneath her identity. She wasn't even sure if Belle knew of her influence on Jane.
She wasn't quite sure if the relationship they had would last. At any moment a hollow could open and swallow them whole. Or maybe Jane would need to find a new identity. Or Belle’s identity as Phaethon would get leaked. There were plenty of uncertainties in the future that would normally keep Jane up at night, planning for events that might never come to pass.
And yet- Jane found the gentle embrace of sleep much faster than normal. Any and all worries seemed dull and manageable. Because she was Jane, a criminal behavioral analyst, one of the best in her field. And Belle was Phaethon, the legendary proxy that people could only dream of meeting.
Jane was sure that together they could tackle any challenge.
Her eyelids felt heavy, and Jane let them close.
Aquamarine eyes painted gold with the sunrise were the last thing on her mind.