THERE WAS PACING. There were doors slamming. There was an exasperated phone conversation happening in the other room. And, though it was 9:32 AM, Ana was still foolishly holding out hope that she'd be able to sleep in despite the noise.
However, after the second door slam, Ana finally abandoned all optimism in favor of leaving her bed's comforts. Wandering out into the kitchen, she found Jim, partially dressed for work, wearing a shit-eating grin across his face.
Raising an eyebrow at his palpable smugness, Ana approached and asked, "do I even want to know why you look so pleased?" She suddenly regretted allowing the earlier evening's conversation devolve into a distraction of heavy hands and whispered words, because it's irresolute was certainly to blame for her being awoken so dramatically.
However, Jim continued to eat from his bowl of Honey Smacks while chuckling lowly. "Mike won't be coming over. This is the first day in six long, excruciating months that they will not be seeing each other!" He declared proudly around a mouthful of cereal.
"I hope you know that's going to come back to bite you in the ass," Ana warned pointedly before capturing the ceramic bowl from him and proceeding to eat her own spoon full. The taste of soggy puffed wheat hitting her taste buds had Ana gagging lightly, before spitting the offending breakfast food back into its container. A look of disgust claimed Ana's face, followed closely by a look of accusation as she told Jim, "those are revolting, and you're gross for liking them."
Reclaiming what was initially his meal from the woman in front of him, Jim placed the now ruined bowl in the sink while arguing, "they're my favorite, you're just picky." A look of skepticism was all he received in return from Ana. There were thousands of cereals with way more flavor and higher sugar contents, but maybe his affinity for good taste was dying away in his advanced age.
Deciding not to allow Ana's negativity to affect his good mood, Jim pulled her towards him by the hips, so she was resting against his partially exposed chest while his back leaned against the kitchen counter. "I've got to deal with protesters at the mayor's office today, but we're still on for tonight, right?" He questioned, thumbs idly running across the skin revealed beneath her sleep shirt.
Ana's hands had come to rest upon Jim's chest as a means to stabilize herself with the sudden change of position. Tracing her fingers over the metal of his sheriff's badge, she found herself quickly distracted while gliding her fingers deftly over the smooth, shiny surface, focusing on the grooves where the lettering lay.
Noticing her absent gaze and lack of answer, Jim tightened his grip on her hips slightly, attempting to reground her in the conversation he was trying to have.
Quickly shaking her head of the haze, Ana dropped her hand from the badge, in favor of circling her arms around Jim's middle. Giving him a light squeeze to indicate she was now paying attention, she finally responded. "Yep, I'm clocking in at the pool late, but I'll be back tonight for dinner."
This answer seemed to be satisfactory enough because Jim mumbled a quick, "good," and pressed forward, capturing Ana's lips with his own. Leaning into his body entirely, Ana pulled his lower lip in between her own, while her right hand slid up to weave its fingers through the thin hair at the back of his neck. He hummed into her incessant mouth as her knuckles pulled gently at the short strands.
However, before things could progress any further, the pair felt a presence lingering behind them. Drawing apart, Ana turned her head, still held in place by Jim's large hands on her waist, while he, in turn, shifted to look over her shoulder at the teenager who had quietly entered the room. Effectively killing the mood.
"What's up, kid? You need something?" Jim asked politely, though a slight air of smugness had returned to his voice, and question only received a glare in response from the girl. He still hadn't been forgiven for effectively evicting Mike the night prior, and definitely was to blame for whatever he'd done to stop them from seeing each other that day.
Ignoring Hopper entirely, El shifted her eyes to Ana instead, asking, "can you take me to Max's house?"
Turning her head back to Jim, Ana mouthed 'Max's, not Mike's,' which earned a self-satisfied smile from the man. Dropping one last peck to his lips, Ana detached herself from Jim's grasp and assured that she'd drop the girl off on her way to the pool.
After, the family dispatched for what would, unfortunately, not be a nice, normal day in Hawkins.