Alien Ch. 6

Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler.

~Albert Einstein

Shayera woke up on John's side of the bed, warm even with the covers pushed down around her waist. It was early and the light shuttering across the bed was soft. This was her favorite time of day, when everything seemed so quiet and still. The only noise she could hear was John moving around in the kitchen. She mustered the energy to roll out of bed to investigate.

Shayera stretched her back and arms as she spoke. "I was hoping that you were going to wake me up when you got up. I can't believe I overslept again and missed another sunrise."

"You looked so tranquil and comfortable. I figured I would let you sleep in." He replied, turning to face her as he continued stirring the eggs on the stove.

"You're making breakfast?" Normally they would just grab something quick during the mornings like cereal or toast and go on their way.

"Yeah," He smiled at her and gestures at the table. "It was going to be breakfast in bed but some Thanagarian just had to wake up."

She sat down and giggled. "Sorry John."

"I thought about us spending the day together," He casually mentioned and she looked intrigued. "I mean neither of us have monitor duty, the Guardians didn't request me for anything, and if the League needs us, they can call us on our comm links."

"True," She said, twirling a loose strand of hair around her finger. "Does that mean that you have a plan for the day and evening?"

"Maybe," He replied with a smirk as he pushed the eggs onto the plate. "Just how you like them."

"Scrambled with hot sauce, sour cream, ketchup, and that cheese from the can?" Shayera asked as he brought the plate over.

"As disgusting as it is," John gave the plate a look and she smiled at him as he set it in front of her.

"Thanks," She said, watching him carefully. She reached over to grab her fork, hunger winning over curiosity. "Aren't you going to eat?"

He threw a quick grin over his shoulder. "I already did."

"Didn't feel like waiting huh?" She asked as she ate. Just as she swallowed, a sudden wave of nausea hit and it took everything she had not to vomit right then and there. "You know I really appreciate the thought but I'm not that hungry after all. I'm just going to go get dressed."

"You feeling ok?"

She looked back at him and smiled. "Yeah I'm fine, don't worry."

They walked to the laundromat a couple blocks away. John still in his pajamas. Shayera was still unable to get used to the strangeness of it. Wandering down the street in clothes that were still sleep-warm, dirty laundry literally on display for all to see. She had pulled on a pair of workout shorts and grabbed one of John's t-shirts that she had modified for her to wear. He promised her after the trip to the laundromat, they were going to do something enjoyable.

Shayera stopped as they walked past the park. They passed it all the time but she never gave it any attention until now. She watched as a group of five kids were playing basketball. Her hand started to raise to her stomach but she stopped herself. She knew that she couldn't keep doing this every time she got pangs of maternal feelings.

John had stopped walking and looked back at her. He knew something was definitely up. He wasn't receiving a bad vibe though. Whatever it was made Shayera look radiant. He figured it must have been the way the sunlight was shining down on her at that very moment.

She turned her head to see John staring at her. "Sorry." She began to walk again.

"Don't worry about it." He reassured her. "Saw something that got your interest?"

She shrugged and tried to sound as nonchalant as ever. "You could say that. Nothing fascinating though."

Shayera decided to come back another time. She wanted to inspect the place on her own.

It was hot in the laundromat, they could tell as soon as they walked in. They were the only people there, much to her relief. She preferred it when they were alone and it was just the two of them.

Shayera took notice that some of the machines were already running with clothes in them. She never really understood why people would just leave their laundry there. As if there's no chance of someone taking it. Maybe she just didn't have enough faith in people.

Shayera stretched her arms over her head, feeling her shorts slip down on her hips and knew that in a few months she would miss that feeling. She was really going to have to get a grip on herself.

"Shay," John took her hand and she slightly jumped. "You're spacing out like earlier. Seriously, are you ok?"

"Yeah just thinking about what Bruce said the other day." She lied. He held her gaze and she sighed. "No more spacing out, I promise."

"Alright, if you say so." He decided to let it go. Obviously she didn't want to talk about whatever was on her mind.

They stood in silence. It wasn't an uncomfortable silence, really, but Shayera still felt like she needed to fill the empty space between them.

"I've always wondered what it would be like to be trapped in a dryer," Shayera said, glancing over her shoulder at the row of dryers against the wall. "You'd die, right?"

"I guess so," John replied, pausing briefly to examine the tag on one of her shirts. "I don't think I've ever even considered it. Though someone who's claustrophobic, like you, would think about it more than I would."

"It seems a little morbid to me," She conceded, leaning her body against his and resting her head on his shoulder. "Even if it wasn't on, though, the feeling of being trapped would be pretty unbelievable."

"Do they have safety latches? Just encase? They have them on the inside of car trunks now."

"That's rather bizarre." Shayera snickered. "That must mean that people are stupid enough to get locked in trunks often enough for it to be considered a problem."

"Or we're just paranoid," John pointed out, looking down at her and shrugging.

"That's probably it, everyone's just so jaded and cynical these days." She sighed dramatically, earning a laugh from John, and making her grin.

"Coming from you..." He started and then just smiled at her for a few seconds. "You know, we should go to the park for lunch after we're done. You looked like you wanted to go there before"

"Maybe," She replied. She decided already she was still going to go there alone one day. "I don't know about the food part, I'm just feeling a little off today."

"You're not hungry at all? You didn't even eat breakfast." As long as he knew her, John had never seen or heard of Shayera being sick. So he was beginning to worry a little.

"I think it's the stress over the marriage license and the citizenship mess." She said, hoping that he would believe her and let it go. "I just feel kinda down and my stomach is a little unsettled. Nothing food related sounds appealing."

"Do you have a fever? Stay still so I can feel." She grabbed his hand as he reached towards her forehead.

"No, I don't have a fever." Shayera replied and glanced up at him.

"After you came back from Bruce's and all of yesterday, you acted like a kid whose puppy died. Now you're saying that you aren't feeling good. You know that you can talk to me about anything."

Yeah right. She thought of her conversation with Bruce and her reminiscing about her past. Go on tell him you're a mass murderer, you killed a child, and that you're pregnant. That'll go over real smooth. Instead she faked a smile. "I know. Really though, it's nothing big so don't worry. I'm just not that hungry. We'll go and get you something to eat if you want."

Picnics for one really were never fun, and besides, John wasn't in the mood to eat alone but he decided to let her be. He sighed, "Alright."

She started to wander around the laundromat, listening to the sounds of the machines rattling, over and over. She was on her third round when John called to her. "Wanna go grab a coffee?"

Caffeine, she knew, was one of the worst things she could have but it was the only thing she could keep down. "Yeah, sure, why not? We probably have an hour to kill."