system of a down | jonathan daviss

ix. late mornings.

chapter nine . . . late mornings.
─────────────────────────

real life!

AVALON AWOKE THE FOLLOWING DAY with a set of muscular arms encasing her body, the radiant rays of sun beaming through the blinds of her hotel room. Her nostrils filled with the delicate scent of vanilla cologne as her cheek was pressed against his smooth and carved chest. Jonathan Daviss had a damn tight grip. His right arm was wrapped around her upper back, while his left was draped over her waist, hand planted just above her midriff, holding her steadily in place. Lifting her head from his chest, Avalon's eyes darted around the room, eyes landing on the alarm clock beside her bed which read 7:30 AM.

"Shit." She muttered, blinking away the sleep that clouded her vision. "JD." She whispered, lifting her hand slowly to poke him in the nose. He let out a sigh, shifting slightly below her body, but he didn't wake up. "JD." She repeated, poking him once more. This time however, his did wake up. His eyes opened heavily, blinking quickly to adjust to the light of the room.

"Hey." He greeted, voice hoarse with drowsiness.

"Hi." She replied back, a faint smile dancing upon her lips. Her eyes shifted down to his chest a moment, then up to his Adam's apple, then back to his eyes, "We have to be on set in thirty."

"Fuck, man." He groaned, "You think they'd be mad if we showed up late?"

"Probably." She faintly raised her eyebrows.

"I, uh-" JD began, but paused himself abruptly as he became aware of his arms enveloping Avalon's body, locking her into place on top of him. "Sorry. I don't remember kidnapping you last night." He released his grip, and suddenly Avalon felt cold without his arms inclosing her.

"I don't either." She let out a breathy laugh, rolling off of him. She laid atop the linen sheets for a moment before sitting up and running a hand down her face groggily. "I'm guessing you need to get stuff from your place still."

"Yeah." He replied, still laying down comfortably in the bed eyes following her around the room as she gathered her toiletries and clothes to get ready.

"I'll get ready quick and drive you over." Avalon offered, but that was really the only option beside calling an Uber. Jonathan's car was still on set seeing as they drove back to Avalon's hotel together. The original plan included Avalon driving him back to set the night before, but that hadn't happened. Clearly.

"Alright thanks." He said appreciatively, reaching for his phone which was laid on top of the nightstand. Although Avalon was now in the bathroom, Jonathan spoke again seeing as the door was wide open as she brushed her teeth and washed her face, "I guess we're going to be late anyway."

"I guess so." Avalon shrugged, although it sort of felt like she was talking to herself.

The duo elapsed into silence, but it wasn't awkward by any means. Avalon continued getting ready while JD mindlessly scrolled through Instagram and answered his overnight notifications. Once Avalon had gotten changed and packed her bag, the two strolled downstairs and hopped into her rental, starting their short journey to Jonathan's hotel.

"You wanna be on aux?" Avalon proposed, handing JD the auxiliary cord. He wasted no time plugging it in and attaching it to his phone. Seconds later, Holy Mountains by System of a Down emitted from the radio. "No way." Avalon gasped, reaching over to turn up the volume.

With the windows rolled down, warm breezes danced across their skin as they sang along blithely. Luckily, there wasn't any form of traffic so they were able to fly down the road uninterrupted. As the song hummed to an end, the two's harmonic laughter could be heard as they pull to a street light. Avalon turned to her side, catching JD already gazing unsubtly at her. Her lips upturned into a involuntary smile, matching the one etched along JD's face. She batted her eyelashes as her cheeks boiled sheepishly.

"I'm putting in a song request." Avalon began, turning off her blinker as they made a left onto the road where Jonathan's hotel was.

"Which is?" Jonathan chuckled, once again turning to look at her with his highly contagious smile.

Avalon felt his eyes piercing into the side of her face, but she resisted the urge to look back, although a grin found its way back onto her face, "Art School Girl by Stone Temple Pilots."

"Yes ma'am." He responded, beginning to type the song title into his spotify search.

Avalon pulled into the parking spot beside Jonathan's as he instructed her to do. The two sat listening to the song until the end, although they were late, they seemed to be in no sort of urgent state. At least they were late together.

After the song Jonathan hopped out of the car and practically ran inside to get ready. He came back roughly ten minutes later, out of breathe with a grin on his face, again. God, he was adorable. "Work time." He greeted cheerfully.

It was a good thing they weren't far away from set, because being any later than they already were would've been catastrophic. Thankfully, the time they were late was supposed to be spent getting ready and such so they didn't take away from film time.

"Where have you two been?" Jennifer was the first person they met with as they walked in. She seemed angry, confused, and happy all at once. It was rather strange.

"Sorry, we slept in." Avalon apologized, "I brought you Twizzlers." Avalon presented her with a faux smile, retrieving the pack from her purse, using the knowledge of her director's love for candy working out in her favor. There goes her pastime snack, however.

"Don't let it happen again." Jennifer pointed between the couple, both nodding their heads eagerly.

"It won't happen again, we promise." Avalon saluted her as she stalked off to set.

"Sorry!" Jonathan called after the woman, she turned to look for a moment before twisting around without another word.

The two began to laugh hysterically.

. . .

AUTHOR'S NOTE ## my babies are so cute. and omg let's talk ab how good good jd looked on the kelly clarkson show?? his smile is genuinely one of my favorite things ever. and don't get me started on how good he looked at the obx 3 premiere 🤭 ugh i'm in love. anywayyyy, thanks for reading, i love you all <33

-ani!