RIZZOLI & ISLES

Recreational Activities

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Title: ‘Recreational Activities’

Author: readthesubtext

Rating: I’m getting bolder by the minute

Spoilers: All episodes to date

Genre: Angst / humour / femslash.

Status: One–shot. Complete @ 2,773 words

Pairing: Jane & Maura. Who else?

Disclaimer: The characters don’t belong to me, I just borrow them for my own amusement. ‘Rizzoli & Isles’ is the brainchild of Tess Gerritsen, Janet Tamaro et al, and the property of TNT.

Synopsis: Post–ep for ‘I Kissed A Girl.’ Because you can’t have an episode with a title like that and not deliver the goods ;)

Recreational Activities

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“I can’t believe you got me kicked out of my Yoga class!” Maura hissed, throwing a disgusted look over her shoulder as she stormed towards the locker room. “I’m never inviting you to participate in my recreational activities again.”

“Oh, come on,” Jane protested, barely catching the door before it swung shut in her face, “Buck’s probably just bitter because you didn’t sleep with him.” Her eyes narrowed when she saw Maura’s shoulders stiffen. “You didn’t, right?”

Realising that the locker room was deserted, Maura made no effort to keep her anger in check. “His name is Brock, Jane, and it’s none of your business.”

“Yeah, well, for someone who’s supposed to be all about peace and tranquillity, he sure had a bug up his ass about something.”

“Perhaps because you were acting like a three year old; trying to push me over every time I attempted to follow his instructions.”

“You were the one lying on the mat and laughing your ass off,” Jane reminded her, biting back a grin. “And besides, he said you were welcome to come back. Just not with me. Which is probably exactly what the Fairfields said after you invited me to their memorial dinner,” she surmised with a snort of laughter.

“Obviously it’s beyond you to try and muster an iota of decorum,” Maura muttered, extracting her towel and wash bag from a nearby locker.

“Well, I can sure as hell think of better ways to relax!” Jane raised her eyebrows pointedly and tried to catch Maura’s eye, but when the Doctor showed no signs of relenting, she heaved a weary sigh. “Look, Maura, I’m sorry, but this just isn’t me, OK?”

“No, of course not. Why would you want to channel your energy in a constructive way? It’s far more rewarding to just… grab a beer, shoot some pool and have an arm–wrestling match with your brother, right?”

Jane looked taken aback for a moment, but it didn’t take long for her to mask her wounded expression. “Then why don’t you find some more respectable friends to hang out with?”

“I’m not a pity project, Jane,” Maura said quietly, although she visibly bristled at the Detective’s words. “I was enjoying my class just fine without you.”

“Really? Then why’d you ask me to tag along?” Jane retorted, folding her arms defensively. “You know what I don’t get, Maura? If I’m such an embarrassment, if I’m so riddled with flaws, then why are you always trying to inflict me on every damn guy that crosses our path?”

“Because I want you to be happy!” Maura exclaimed, as though the answer was obvious, “And I never once said that you were an embarrassment, Jane.”

“You didn’t have to. It was written all over your face when you looked inside my closet. Like you expect me to chase down suspects wearing Jimmy Choos or something.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. And besides, how do you think I felt, when you were inciting Frost and Korsak to make fun of me? I tried to explain the rationale behind my behaviour, but you all just laughed at me as though I was – ” Maura’s voice faltered and she abruptly turned her back on her friend, heading towards the shower stalls. “I had enough of that at my ‘fancy French boarding school,’ Jane.”

“Hey.” Jane’s resolve took only seconds to weaken and she quickly closed the distance between them, gently gripping her friend’s bare shoulders. “We were just teasing. Frost and Korsak… well, you heard them. They think you’re endearing. And sexy. Although I’m not entirely sure that’s a good thing, coming from Korsak,” Jane concluded with a rueful grin.

Maura slowly turned around, a spark of merriment beginning to chase the hurt out of her striking jade eyes.

“When he was helping me put together your profile, he told me to describe you as “fine,”” the Doctor teased, drawing the word out for emphasis and wiggling her eyebrows up and down suggestively.

“Ew.” Jane pulled a pitiful face. “You’re not gonna try and set me up with him, are you?”

This time, Maura couldn’t hold back her laughter. “No.”

She studied the Detective’s features, her smile gradually fading into an expression of guarded curiosity.

“What about you?”

“What about me?”

“What do you think of me?”

Jane rolled her eyes. “For God’s sake, Maura. Look, I don’t give a damn what we’re doing, I just like spending time with you, OK? Why else do you think I’ve been spending my Friday nights bending my body in ways nature never intended it to go? I wouldn’t sit here and watch anyone else feeding coins into a hair dryer for half an hour, that much is for sure.”

“But it was never my intention to coerce you into doing things you don’t enjoy,” Maura protested earnestly, “I’m not trying to change you, Jane.”

Jane harrumphed her disbelief, and then affected a high–pitched tone dripping in disdain, “You don’t know how to relax; you wear your shoes and your clothes to bed; you’re bossy. Why don’t you try wearing something pretty, and floral, and feminine for once? I swear to God, you’re worse than my mother.”

Maura’s mouth dropped open, accentuating her affronted expression. “We were going undercover! I just wanted you to dress appropriately, that’s all.”

“Maura, it was a lesbian bar. Unless your plan was to lure in suspects by parading me around half–naked, I’m pretty sure wearing six–inch heels and a dress that barely scraped past my ass would’ve been a sure–fire way to make me look like a duck out of water.”

“Well, I didn’t have any trouble acquiring phone numbers.”

“Yeah, I’ll bet you didn’t.” Jane’s eyes briefly strayed to Maura’s ample chest, but then she caught herself, shaking her head despairingly. “Look, I’m gonna grab a shower. I’ll see you on Monday, OK?”

“But I thought…” Maura stood in the middle of the locker room, looking like a little girl lost, “I thought we were going back to your place to order Chinese?”

Jane stopped in her tracks, heaving a long–suffering sigh. “And I thought you were pissed at me for undermining your boyfriend’s authority?”

Maura rolled her eyes. “He’s not my boyfriend, Jane.”

“So you didn’t sleep with him?”

“No!”

Jane made no attempt to conceal a self–satisfied smirk. “OK, fine. I’ll meet you out back in fifteen minutes.” She pointed emphatically at her colleague, “Fifteen minutes, Maura.”

When Jane strolled into the parking lot after hastily showering and changing, Maura was already waiting for her. The Detective’s expression softened as she took in her friend’s uncharacteristically minimalist appearance. Maura was still clad in her usual immaculate ensemble, but her damp hair was flattened against her make–up free face, eyes lowered self–consciously, and Jane lightly brushed the length of the Doctor’s forearm as she passed her en route to her car.

“You know, you might be all about the finer things in life, Dr Isles, but for what it’s worth, you’re pretty awe–inspiring all on your own.”

Maura simply stared at the Detective for a moment, waiting for the other shoe to drop, but when Jane didn’t nullify her assertion with a sarcastic comment, the Doctor’s cheeks burned almost as brightly as her smile. “Thank you.”

Jane shrugged nonchalantly, although there was no mistaking the tenderness in her expression. “I just call it as I see it. Now come on, let’s get out of here.”

* * * * *

Jane yanked off her boots and carelessly tossed them aside, accepting a glass of red wine from her friend’s outstretched hand before she flopped gracelessly onto her couch. She assumed a prostrate position, curling her free arm behind her head, and then mischievously plonked her sock–clad feet onto Maura’s lap.

“See? I know how to relax,” she stated smugly.

“Jane, stop it!” Maura protested, pushing her friend’s feet aside and bursting into laughter when they were promptly thrust back into her face again.

“You spend all day dissecting dead bodies and my feet gross you out?” Jane demanded in mock outrage, trying to ignore the way her stomach flipped when Maura’s hand came to rest companionably against her knee.

She wiggled her toes obnoxiously – unaware that the Doctor was preparing to reach for her wine glass and lift it to her lips – and watched with a sense of impending horror when the ensuing collision caused the ruby red liquid to slosh over the rim and soak the front of her friend’s perfectly tailored, obscenely expensive dress.

“Shit, I’m sorry.” Jane hastily made a grab for the tissues on her coffee table as Maura jumped to her feet, running towards the kitchen. “I guess you can add clumsy to my apparently never–ending list of faults.”

“Do you have any hydrogen peroxide?” Maura demanded, tugging on her zipper and hastily shimmying out of her soiled dress. When no response was forthcoming, the Doctor whirled around, wondering why her friend appeared to be lost in some kind of stupor, her mouth almost comically agape. She tapped the Detective’s forearm to get her attention. “Jane?”

Jane cleared her throat, dragging her eyes away from the intoxicating vision that was Maura in her lacy purple lingerie. She pressed her lips together in a fruitless attempt to moisten them, and slowly reclaimed the capacity for coherent thought. “Yeah, sure, it’s in the cabinet over there,” she said sarcastically, “Right next to the hydrochloric acid and the formaldehyde.”

Maura rolled her eyes. “Fine. Then get me some salt. And some vinegar.”

“You want fries with that?”

“Jane!”

“OK, OK,” Jane muttered, doing an uncanny imitation of a bull in a china shop as she rifled through her cupboards in an attempt to find the condiments in question. She handed them to her friend blindly, studiously avoiding Maura’s inquisitive gaze.

“So, how many wage packets is it going to take before I can afford to pay your dry cleaning bill?”

“Don’t worry, the stain should come out,” Maura reassured the Detective, carefully blotting at the angry red mark with a damp cloth soaked in vinegar, before pouring a liberal amount of salt onto it to absorb the excess moisture. She turned to regard Jane with a conciliatory expression, only to find her friend staring, transfixed, at the wall behind her.

“Jane?” Maura ventured uncertainly, glancing over her shoulder to see what all the fuss was about, “Can I borrow something to wear while this dries?”

“Uh–huh.” The Detective nodded vigorously, obligingly heading towards her bedroom, and resisted the urge to bury her head in her hands when she heard Maura’s delicate footfalls behind her. She flung open the doors of her closet and gestured for the Doctor to help herself, knowing she couldn’t handle a half–naked Maura hovering over her shoulder right now.

She sank onto her bed instead, taking the opportunity to close her eyes and suck in a calming breath. Feeling like she’d finally regained some sense of equilibrium, she waited for Maura to break the silence… and then waited some more.

“OK, I know the options are limited, but Jesus Christ, Maura, there must be something…” Jane trailed off when she felt the Doctor’s weight settle on the opposite side of the bed, cranking open an eyelid and bursting into laughter when she saw what her friend was wearing.

“I’ve told you before, under no circumstances are you joining our baseball team. So if this is another ploy to try and persuade me to sign you up, it’s not gonna work.”

Maura looked crestfallen for a moment, but quickly perked up when she saw the way Jane was regarding her, eyes brimming with affectionate amusement.

“You know, you never told me if I was your type,” the Doctor reminded her friend with a mischievous glint in her eyes, rolling over to face the Detective, whose easy–going expression suddenly became shuttered.

“Come on, Maura, why do you even care? I mean, you made it more than clear that I’m not yours,” Jane countered with a wry grin, hoping the Doctor couldn’t detect the undercurrent of bitterness as she struggled to keep her tone light. “And you’re physically incapable of lying, so…”

Maura frowned, wondering if she was imagining the disappointment in her friend’s tone, or the fact that Jane’s teasing smile suddenly seemed strained.

“Jane, when I said that you weren’t my type, I didn’t mean – ”

“Look, it’s getting late. Maybe we should do this another time,” Jane interjected hoarsely, sitting up so abruptly the sensation of blood rushing to her head made her feel nauseous.

Maura looked genuinely bewildered by the about–turn of events. “What’s wrong?” she demanded quietly, her hand darting out to clasp her friend’s wrist.

“I just… you don’t have to elaborate, OK? I get it. I have no class, I have no concept of etiquette, I annoy the hell out of you most of the time and you can’t wait to foist me off on some guy so I can quit cramping your style.”

“Is that really what you think?” Maura looked aghast, and the tightening sensation in her chest only intensified when Jane finally turned to face her, her impassive expression belied by the tears she was barely managing to blink back.

“Look, just forget about it, OK? It doesn’t matter.”

“Yes, it does.” Maura gripped the Detective’s shoulders before she had the opportunity to pull away. “Jane, you’re not my type,” she reiterated, holding fast and giving Jane a gentle shake to prolong her attention when she tried to recoil away from her, “I mean, there’s no one else who… I’ve never felt like… I suppose, all things considered, I’d have to conclude… you’re more akin to my ideal,” she eventually babbled, watching Jane’s expression evolve from confusion, to hope, to something resembling dumbstruck wonderment.

“What…. you mean if I was a guy?” Jane ventured tentatively, hardly daring to breathe, even though her heart seemed intent on jack–hammering its way out of her chest.

“No, I mean…” Maura reached out to smooth back her friend’s hair, tucking the unkempt curls behind Jane’s ears to stop them from falling across her face. Her fingers gently grazed the length of the Detective’s cheekbone as she leant forwards, capturing Jane’s lips in a tentative kiss. She whimpered in relief when the brunette immediately intensified the fleeting contact, pulling her into a heated embrace, and Maura clutched the fabric of the Detective’s T–shirt as Jane expertly manoeuvred her into the centre of the bed, using her body weight to ease her into a prostrate position. Maura could only gasp her approval as Jane led flush against her, easing a thigh between her legs, and the Doctor’s eyelids fluttered closed as the Detective proceeded to kiss her with the passionate abandon she had denied men like Jorge for years.

“Now, isn’t this so much better than Yoga?” Jane murmured breathlessly against the Doctor’s mouth, her body convulsing with laughter when Maura pulled back to regard her intently; cheeks flushed and lips swollen.

“Yes,” the Doctor agreed earnestly, “I believe it is.”

Jane’s eyes roved appreciatively over her friend’s stunning countenance, cataloguing every nuance of Maura’s reaction to her touch. Any lingering doubts she had about compromising their friendship faded into obscurity when she saw jade eyes gazing back at her adoringly, trusting her enough to take a leap of faith.

“Jane…” Maura breathed, her voice laden with desire when the Detective’s fingertips skimmed beneath her jersey, stroking her stomach and dipping dangerously close to the waistband of her shorts.

“It’s OK,” Jane ground out huskily, her eyes dark with arousal as she ducked her head to kiss Maura again, slow and deep, fingers caressing the length of the Doctor’s ribcage as their tongues met in a languid duel.

Eventually, they pulled back; eyes’ locking in a wordless exchange as they silently agreed it was too soon to take things any further. Panting, they rolled onto their respective sides of the bed, both a little overwhelmed, but Jane couldn’t control the colossal grin that spread across her features.

“In answer to your question: you, Dr Isles, are so my type,” she announced with enough enthusiasm to make Maura burst into laughter.

“Well, it took you long enough to notice,” the Doctor said petulantly, poking her friend in the ribs.

“Oh, I noticed,” Jane assured her, “I just didn’t think that you… well, that you would…”

“Jane,” Maura interrupted, shuffling across the bed and snuggling against her friend’s side. “Shut up.”

“See, you are so bossy,” the Detective retorted, smiling softly when Maura snaked an arm around her waist. She tilted her head until it was resting on top of the blonde’s, her fingers curling contentedly around her friend’s forearm, and her lips were level with Maura’s ear as she murmured sleepily, “Still… I suppose I could get used to it.”

~ ~ ~