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Title: In the Job Description
Author: Jain
Characters: Donna, Harvey
Rating: G
Word count: 786
Summary: Two people, one hotel bed.
Author's notes: Written for![[archiveofourown.org profile]](https://p.dreamwidth.org/b164c54b26e4/-/archiveofourown.org/favicon.ico)
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fandom_stocking.
Permanent link: "In the Job Description" on AO3
"When I bring my assistant with me on a business trip, I generally expect her to make my life easier," Harvey grumbled. "Not steal my bed."
Donna smiled sweetly. "You have a sofa. Alternatively, you have a floor, a bathtub, a nice hotel forty miles away, a couple of cheap motels in this city, or the right hand side of my very large bed. There; I fixed your problem. You're welcome."
He gave her an unimpressed look. "All of your options suck."
"I'd be sorry, except for the part where there are actually a few things not in my job description, and 'knowing the President of the United States's secret travel plans so that I can avoid unexpectedly overbooked hotels' is one of them."
"How about 'taking the sofa so that Harvey can have his bed back'?" Harvey asked sourly.
Donna shook her head with mock regret. "Nope, that's not in my job description, either."
"Of course not." Harvey sighed. "Throw me a pillow?"
"Just one?" Donna asked. "I've got six. This really is a very nice bed, Harvey."
"Fine, I'll take two pillows."
Donna pitched them at him one at a time with unerring aim. "I've got two duvets, as well, but if you want one of them, you'll have to come get it yourself."
Harvey levered himself up off the sofa, suppressing a sigh; it had been a long day of travel, and while the sofa wasn't the most uncomfortable he'd tried, he also wasn't looking forward to sleeping on it. He reached for the top duvet, but Donna put a hand on his wrist, effectively holding him in place. Harvey raised an eyebrow at her.
"Or you could actually accept the invitation that I tucked into my earlier sentence," she said. "I'm not worried about what would happen. I know that neither of us wants more from our relationship."
"How do you know I don't want that?" Harvey asked, genuinely curious. Donna was a beautiful and intelligent woman; he'd never hit on her because he tried not to sexually harass the people who worked for him, but that didn't mean he wouldn't have made a play for her in other circumstances.
"I know you don't want it at least as much as you do want it," Donna corrected herself. "Which, for you, means it's not going to happen. So come on and get in bed, and let's both get a decent night's rest before we have to begin tomorrow's fourteen-hour workday."
It was a compelling argument, and Harvey only considered Donna's offer for a handful of seconds before he said, "Fine. But if you put your cold feet on my shins, I won't be responsible for the consequences." He went to retrieve the pillows from the sofa.
"Harvey," Donna said, smiling. "I've been in this gorgeous, fluffy bed for the past half hour. I'm not the one whose feet are cold."
There was no appropriate response to that, so Harvey remained silent and busied himself with stripping down to boxers and undershirt and socks (because if he brushed his cold feet against her after all that, the mockery would be both fierce and completely justified) and climbing into bed. It actually was as huge as Donna had indicated; there was room for at least one and a half people in the space between them. Donna smiled at him serenely across the expanse of downy white comforter just before she reached a hand over to click off the bedside table lamp.
It was strangely comforting to share a bed with someone even when eighteen inches apart; Harvey could hear the slow inhalation and exhalation of Donna's breaths, feel the warmth radiating from her side of the bed and the occasional movements as she shifted position, and it soothed some animal part of him that remained convinced that it was better not to be alone in the dark.
He was on the verge of sleep when Donna said, "Actually, Harvey? I lied about not wanting more out of our relationship."
Harvey froze, wondering if it were possible to fake sleep so perfectly that Donna couldn't see what he was doing and punish him for it later.
"I want you to get over your ridiculous disdain for Manolo Blahniks and compliment me on them when I get a new pair, just as you do for my other shoes, and I want you to talk to Norma occasionally so that I don't have to smooth things over with her every couple of weeks, and I want you to... You know what? I should just send you a list."
Harvey grinned into the darkness. "Goodnight, Donna."
She yawned audibly and turned over with a muffled thump. "Goodnight, Harvey."
Author: Jain
Characters: Donna, Harvey
Rating: G
Word count: 786
Summary: Two people, one hotel bed.
Author's notes: Written for
fandom_stocking.Permanent link: "In the Job Description" on AO3
"When I bring my assistant with me on a business trip, I generally expect her to make my life easier," Harvey grumbled. "Not steal my bed."
Donna smiled sweetly. "You have a sofa. Alternatively, you have a floor, a bathtub, a nice hotel forty miles away, a couple of cheap motels in this city, or the right hand side of my very large bed. There; I fixed your problem. You're welcome."
He gave her an unimpressed look. "All of your options suck."
"I'd be sorry, except for the part where there are actually a few things not in my job description, and 'knowing the President of the United States's secret travel plans so that I can avoid unexpectedly overbooked hotels' is one of them."
"How about 'taking the sofa so that Harvey can have his bed back'?" Harvey asked sourly.
Donna shook her head with mock regret. "Nope, that's not in my job description, either."
"Of course not." Harvey sighed. "Throw me a pillow?"
"Just one?" Donna asked. "I've got six. This really is a very nice bed, Harvey."
"Fine, I'll take two pillows."
Donna pitched them at him one at a time with unerring aim. "I've got two duvets, as well, but if you want one of them, you'll have to come get it yourself."
Harvey levered himself up off the sofa, suppressing a sigh; it had been a long day of travel, and while the sofa wasn't the most uncomfortable he'd tried, he also wasn't looking forward to sleeping on it. He reached for the top duvet, but Donna put a hand on his wrist, effectively holding him in place. Harvey raised an eyebrow at her.
"Or you could actually accept the invitation that I tucked into my earlier sentence," she said. "I'm not worried about what would happen. I know that neither of us wants more from our relationship."
"How do you know I don't want that?" Harvey asked, genuinely curious. Donna was a beautiful and intelligent woman; he'd never hit on her because he tried not to sexually harass the people who worked for him, but that didn't mean he wouldn't have made a play for her in other circumstances.
"I know you don't want it at least as much as you do want it," Donna corrected herself. "Which, for you, means it's not going to happen. So come on and get in bed, and let's both get a decent night's rest before we have to begin tomorrow's fourteen-hour workday."
It was a compelling argument, and Harvey only considered Donna's offer for a handful of seconds before he said, "Fine. But if you put your cold feet on my shins, I won't be responsible for the consequences." He went to retrieve the pillows from the sofa.
"Harvey," Donna said, smiling. "I've been in this gorgeous, fluffy bed for the past half hour. I'm not the one whose feet are cold."
There was no appropriate response to that, so Harvey remained silent and busied himself with stripping down to boxers and undershirt and socks (because if he brushed his cold feet against her after all that, the mockery would be both fierce and completely justified) and climbing into bed. It actually was as huge as Donna had indicated; there was room for at least one and a half people in the space between them. Donna smiled at him serenely across the expanse of downy white comforter just before she reached a hand over to click off the bedside table lamp.
It was strangely comforting to share a bed with someone even when eighteen inches apart; Harvey could hear the slow inhalation and exhalation of Donna's breaths, feel the warmth radiating from her side of the bed and the occasional movements as she shifted position, and it soothed some animal part of him that remained convinced that it was better not to be alone in the dark.
He was on the verge of sleep when Donna said, "Actually, Harvey? I lied about not wanting more out of our relationship."
Harvey froze, wondering if it were possible to fake sleep so perfectly that Donna couldn't see what he was doing and punish him for it later.
"I want you to get over your ridiculous disdain for Manolo Blahniks and compliment me on them when I get a new pair, just as you do for my other shoes, and I want you to talk to Norma occasionally so that I don't have to smooth things over with her every couple of weeks, and I want you to... You know what? I should just send you a list."
Harvey grinned into the darkness. "Goodnight, Donna."
She yawned audibly and turned over with a muffled thump. "Goodnight, Harvey."
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