Let Me Curl Up Next to Your Fire - Quakerider One-shot
Words: 3,707
Request #7: Daisy slowly appropriates Robbie as her personal space heater
Fluff. Pure Fluff. Mushy Feelings. But, yeah, Fluff.
Read on Ao3: Here
It started the night of their first date …
* * *
“Wow, so is this where you take all the girls on a first date?” Daisy asked, shutting her door to the Charger before walking a few steps closer to the cliff’s edge.
After treating her to dinner at a local East L.A. food truck, Robbie had insisted on showing her something outside the city. They drove for what honestly seemed like forever down small streets then up hillside roads until Robbie pulled them off on to a dark dirt trail. Just when Daisy had been beginning to think this was all some grand ruse so he could murder her and no one would find her body (she honestly needed to stop watching horror movies on Netflix with FitzSimmons), the dark hills had given way to a shimmering cliffside that Robbie had ended up parking his car facing away from.
Daisy peered out over the steep edge and her shrimp taco from earlier squirmed uneasily in her stomach. Thousands of feet below her sat all of Los Angeles in all its glory. It was a chaotic marvel of colors and lights, but from way up here, with only the sounds of chirping crickets and rustling foliage, it was actually kind of peaceful. As if the whole cityscape were like the twinkling stars they outshone up above. She never imagined such a grungy, old city could look so beautiful.
“Nah,” Robbie admitted as he walked up next to her. “Just the ones who are special to me.”
Her stomach did somersaults, but this time it wasn’t because of height vertigo. “Gee, Reyes,” Daisy muttered as heat began to fill her cheeks. “You better watch yourself. Almost sounds like Mr. Broody McBadass cares.”
Robbie laughed and Daisy hated the way her heart grew all warm and fuzzy because of it. He hopped himself up to sit down on the trunk of his Charger then offered her a hand. She accepted it and tried to ignore the fiery tingles of energy that zapped between their closed hands as he helped her sit beside him.
“So, how do you know about this place?” Daisy asked as she shuffled to get more comfortable on the cool, hard metal. It was kind of hard when every inch of her body was so keenly aware of Robbie being so close to her.
Robbie was silent a moment, his eyebrows knitted tight together as he opened his mouth to speak, but hesitated. Did she say something wrong? Daisy bit her lip, wondering if she should start talking about something else when the words slowly started to tumble out of his mouth.
“Eli and I happened to find it one day.”
Oh, she thought. No wonder he didn’t want to tell her right away. Ever since the events of Los Angeles when he had disappeared, Robbie never spoke of his uncle, at least while she was present. It must have been so hard for him to learn about Eli’s true nature, to feel that bitter sting of betrayal rip through his heart. It reminded her of what she went through with her mother, a touchy subject even to this day. Wow, Daisy, great way to bring the mood down.
“I’m sorry I–”
“Don’t. It’s fine, really. Eli and I found this place when he was teaching me how to drive. I took a couple wrong turns and we somehow ended up here. Tío almost lost his shit when he saw how close we were to driving off a cliff.” Robbie chuckled softly, but the humor didn’t reach his eyes. “After that, I would sometimes come out her at night just to get away from it all. To gather my thoughts and try to put things into perspective.”
“Well, it’s … It’s really beautiful up here,” Daisy admitted, knitting her fingers together. “Thanks for bringing me.”
Robbie’s gaze flicked over to her and a tenderness glowed in his eyes as he smiled this time. “I’m glad I could show it to you.”
They both turned back towards the scene below and sat in a comfortable silence as they watched the lights shimmer. Daisy inhaled a deep breath and slowly let it out. Robbie was right. This place was so peaceful, she could see herself spending hours here meditating and just mulling over all the stress and problems of her day. Man, if she only knew about this place when she first came to Los Angeles after ditching S.H.I.E.L.D. Maybe she wouldn't have made so many rash and stupid decisions?
She glanced over at Robbie who was still staring out at the city lights, without a wrinkle on his face and looking the most at ease she had ever seen him in weeks. A smile tugged at the corners of her mouth. Okay, maybe all her decisions back then hadn't been so bad if it led to this.
Suddenly, a brisk marine breeze rushed up the hillside, slamming into her with a crescendo that whipped her dark hair wildly around her face. Daisy shivered as she tugged her arms close to her body. She was wearing a light sweater and jeans, but even in California the winters made the night chilly.
"Here," Robbie said as he unzipped his signature leather jacket.
Daisy opened her mouth to object until her words got caught in her throat when he tugged his jacket off. Ever since she had met Robbie, he was always covered up even in hot L.A. weather. Now here he was sitting next to her in a red short-sleeved t-shirt. Her heart fluttered briefly as she noticed how well-toned his arms were and wondered what it would be like to have them wrapped around her.
"Daisy?" Robbie asked, gesturing his offered out jacket to her. He quirked an eyebrow at her, but he was still wearing a small but kind smile.
A rush of heat flooded her cheeks once more as she mentally shook away whatever the heck those thoughts she had were. "N-no, I couldn't. I mean, look at what you are wearing. You'll freeze!"
Robbie laughed as he shook his head. "Daisy, I literally have a fiery vengeance demon in my body. I'll be fine. Take the jacket. I insist."
Daisy bit the inside of her cheek, but that didn't stop her teeth from rattling. If only she had been smart and brought her own jacket, but she couldn't change the past. She grumbled as she took his jacket from him and shrugged it on. It was a bit too big for her with so much wiggle space and her fingers barely popping out of the sleeves, but that didn't matter because it was warm. So very, very warm like clothes fresh out of the dryer. Almost immediately the chill that had been settling in her body was melted away due to jacket's lingering heat.
Daisy closed her eyes and held the huge jacket close, relishing the warmth it provided. She tried not to notice the way it smelled like Robbie, of fire and smoke with a hint of gasoline and something woodsy or the fact that the smell made her stomach all fluttery as if she just ate a bunch of candy.
When she opened her eyes, her heart jumped into her throat. Robbie was staring at her with a gentle smile and curious glint in his dark brown eyes that caused a shiver to run up her spine.
"What?" She asked, tucking a strand of her short, dark locks behind her ear.
"Nothing, it's just . . ."
The world was suddenly frozen as they sat there just staring at each other. That look in his eyes. It was the one Lincoln had always worn whenever she was around. The look that made her heart beat faster than hummingbird's wings like it was doing right now. Her eyes flicked down to Robbie's lips.
Daisy would be lying if she said she hadn't thought about it. If his lips were as rough as the rest of his exterior or if there was hidden tenderness to them? She hadn't really been sure if she wanted to find out. Until now.
The both scooched closer together and suddenly the world was in motion once more as their lips met warmly for the first time in the cold night.
* * *
. . . But Robbie hadn't realized his mistake . . .
* * *
Robbie sat in the Quinjet flicking his set of keys and tapping his foot repeatedly onto hard, metal floor. He had been asked by S.H.I.E.L.D. to help deal with a potential enhanced threat, but that wasn't why he was antsy. After about two weeks of being apart and barely no contact whatsoever, he was finally going to see Daisy again.
She had been called in to Zephyr One a few weeks prior to run background ops for this mission due to her hacking prowess. What she had told him would be a few days quickly turned out to be much longer. It wouldn't have been that bad if she hadn't been ordered to make zero contact with anybody outside of S.H.I.E.L.D. due to the sensitivity of this certain mission. Robbie being only an enhanced asset and not a full-fledged agent meant he didn't make that short list.
Ever since they had started dating four months ago, he and Daisy had been doing their best to make this long-distance relationship they had due to their different world-saving duties work. It had been going pretty well so far with daily video chats and weekend visits. That was until this mission happened. The past two weeks had been damn near torture for him not being able to see her face or hear her voice.
A resounding clunk rattled through the Quinjet and his body as their small plane made contact with Zephyr One. Robbie waited for the shaking to settle before quickly rising to his feet. This was it.
He strode down the Quinjet's ramp as it was still lowering to the ground and hopped the final distance down. Robbie bounced on the balls of his feet as he waited for the huge exterior doors to slide open. As soon as they did, his heart picked up speed when his eyes instantly met a wonderfully, familiar face.
"Robbie!"
Daisy's delighted cheer filled the space and sent warmth running through his chest. Before he could even respond, she ran up to him and practically pounced on him with the force of a tidal wave into a huge hug.
"Whoa!" Robbie chuckled as he wrapped her in his arms and staggered to keep them both from falling. He gave her a tight hug, breathing in the sweet vanilla scent of her hair that he had missed so much. Robbie set her back down on to the ground, but neither made a move to let go of the other. He sure as Hell wasn't now that he finally got to hold her again.
"Sorry," Daisy murmured softly as she briefly detached one of her arms to brush her hair out of her face. "It's just been so long--"
"It's okay. I missed you, too." Robbie grinned as he bent down and gave her a gentle kiss.
A low wolf-whistle resounded through the room causing Robbie's heart to nearly jump out of his chest. They both dropped their arms around each other and turned to see Mack watching them from the doorway with a coy grin written on his smug face.
"Sorry, there's a debriefing in about ten minutes that you both need to attend. Coulson wanted me to tell you. Alright?" The larger man explained, sending them a wink before heading deeper into the plane. The two agents who had escorted Robbie on the Quinjet also shot them awkward looks as they passed by then followed after him. Now the two were finally alone.
Robbie rubbed the back of his neck as heat rushed to his ears. He had never been a fan of PDA, even in his younger days, but as soon as he had seen Daisy all thoughts of that had just flown out the window. Robbie sighed. It was now only a matter of time before the teasing started. Yo-Yo's was going to be worst, he was certain.
"Sorry," Daisy confessed as she fiddled with one of her hoodie's strings. "I'm pretty sure this is just Mack's way of getting back at me for the time I caught him and Yo-Yo getting handsy at his birthday party."
Robbie smiled as he gently took one of her hands into his own and interlaced their fingers together. "It's okay as long as I have you," he stated, giving her hand a comforting squeeze.
Suddenly, his grin started to waver as he noticed something strangely familiar about her outfit. He narrowed his eyes, trying to figure out why when it hit him.
"Didn't I just buy that exact hoodie a month ago?" He asked with a furrowed brow, gesturing to her dark gray hoodie that was a bit too big for her smaller frame.
Daisy raised her eyebrows as she dropped the string she was toying with and glanced down at herself. She bit her bottom lip and wouldn't meet his gaze. "Maybe . . ."
His eyes widened. "Are you the one stealing all my hoodies?"
Robbie wasn't ashamed to admit that he was a simple guy. All needed to make it through the day was a dark-colored t-shirt, a pair of jeans, his good old pair of Vans, his favorite leather jacket, and sometimes a hoodie. Daisy teased him about it sometimes whenever she was over at his house snooping in his room. She always said it "wasn't appropriate for the Southern California climate," but Robbie didn't care. The look worked just fine for him for the most part.
That is until he had started noticing several of his hooded sweatshirts missing a couple months ago. Robbie had thought he might have just been misplacing them. Maybe one of the guys at work took it because they accidentally thought it was his, or maybe they somehow ended up with Gabe's clothes by mistake? But with the evidently guilty look growing on Daisy's face, he could not believe he hadn't thought of her taking them in the first place.
"Do you know how many replacements I've bought?" Robbie asked with a shake of his head.
"I'm sorry," she murmured with shy glances. "It's just that they are so comfortable and warm, because I swear between you and Coulson with your low thermostats you guys are trying to kill me, and, and--" Daisy hesitated, ducking her head as a small blush spread through her cheeks. ". . . And they smell like you so it's almost like you're with me even when you're not."
Heat rose in Robbie's face and his heart swelled tightly in his chest. He wanted to call her out and tease her as mercilessly as she did to him at times, but, honest to God, he couldn't. Not after her unusually genuine statement and how she looked so adorable standing there being a horribly blushing embarrassed mess. He flexed his jaw. Besides, Daisy looked really, really good in his clothes.
Robbie grinned as he caressed her warm cheek then gently tilted her chin up so she could look at him. Her brown eyes were guarded as they searched his own almost waiting for the ridicule to begin.
"Alright, just save some for me, okay?" He pleaded then planted a tender kiss to her forehead.
Daisy beamed and Robbie decided that giving up all the sweatshirts in the world would be worth it to see her happy.
"We'll see." She winked.
God, this woman was going to be the second death of him.
* * *
. . . Until it was too late.
* * *
Three-hundred e-mails, Daisy grumbled in her head. Who in the heck receives three-hundred freaking e-mails in one day?
She groaned as she sat up on their bed and spat out the hoodie string she had been chewing absentmindedly. Again. Daisy quickly tapped out a reply on her tablet to Agent Makowski's inquiry about the recent checks she made to S.H.I.E.L.D.'s firewall before turning to the next e-mail in her long list.
While she had messages from the U.S. government and other associated organizations, a good chunk of the ones she had been sent were from S.H.I.E.L.D. alone. She knew she wouldn't even be receiving half this number of e-mails if she had remained living at the Playground where all one would have to do is stop by her room if they had question. That was just the price Daisy had to pay for pursuing a relationship.
Her head perked up as she heard the familiar squeak of the front door being opened before quickly slamming shut. She waited then a smile stretched across her face as the sound of keys clattering on the dining room table was followed by the hum of the television being turned on. Robbie was home.
Daisy hastily stood up, tugging the black sweatshirt she was "borrowing" from Robbie down to cover her floral panties before exiting the room with her tablet still in hand. As she entered the living room, she found her boyfriend of nearly a year right where she expected him to be. Robbie lay almost half-sunken right in the middle of the couch with his socks-covered feet on the coffee table and remote in hand as he watched the local late-night news. It's what Robbie did practically every night after he got off work whether that be at Canelo's or with the other guy.
Without saying a word, Daisy walked over and nearly sat on his lap as she joined him on the couch. She dug her bare feet between his legs as she cuddled up against him.
Robbie immediately wrapped an arm around her shoulder and placed a warm kiss on the top of her head. "What's shaking, baby?"
"Not much, hot stuff," Daisy replied, her eyes never leaving the glowing screen of her tablet. She furrowed her brow as she deleted another cat meme Agent Anderson forwarded to her.
"I thought you'd be asleep by now. You look tired, mi cielito. Did I wake you?"
Daisy shook her head, but, at the mere mention of "sleep," a yawn escaped her. "No, it's just these freaking e-mails I have to respond to. Ugh, like Senator McLeary."
"McLeary?" Robbie questioned, wrinkling his nose as if he was at a landfill. "Who the Hell would elect a politician with a name like that?"
She smirked. "Well, the name fits pretty well. He's demanding that I attend another pointless possible amendment meeting for the Sokovia Accords as representative for Inhumans. As if Yo-Yo or Vijay can't attend instead?"
"It's probably because they know you're the best."
"You're cute, but in case you haven't realized yet this means I'm going to miss Gabe coming to visit this weekend from Stanford. And he was just starting to warm up to me and the idea of us together--"
"Hey, Gabe likes you!" Robbie interjected. Daisy glanced up from her tablet and raised one of her eyebrows at him. "I mean, he has a different way of showing it sometimes, but trust me, he likes you, and it's fine if you are gone this weekend. It can be a good old brotherly bonding-type of weekend instead, like the old days."
Daisy nodded her head. That would probably be for the best. Ever since she moved in with Robbie, they were often attached at the hip doing everything together as a couple. Gabe would probably be happier to spend time with just his older brother for a change. She typed out a reply to McLeary's secretary and turned to her next e-mail.
"Maybe I can catch a flight back Sunday and see him before he heads back to college?"
"That's nice, but don't stress about it if you don't, okay? You already have enough on your plate as is." Robbie placed a comforting hand on her knee, but instantly withdrew it as he sharply sucked in air through his teeth. "Damn, girl, you're freezing! Put some pants on or a blanket or something."
"Yeah, but this is why I'm dating you," Daisy countered, digging her bare legs further between his jeans-clothed ones until they were nearly a mess of limbs.
Robbie was a furnace in human form that she desperately latched on to whenever she could. It wasn't her fault wherever she went always seemed too cold and her boyfriend was also so cozy and warm. Sometimes taking his hoodie or jacket was just never enough.
"I knew it," Robbie scoffed, his voice taking on a dramatic, scandalized tone. "You're just using me for my body. Daisy Louise Johnson, how could you?"
A warmth grew in her chest as she snickered wholeheartedly and playfully smacked him on the chest. "Guilty as charged," she stated as she reached her head up and planted a quick kiss on his jaw before snuggling further into his chest.
Her head bounced up and down as soft chuckles cavorted through his chest. Robbie tightened his arm around her and kissed the top of her head once more. "That's why I love you."
Daisy grinned. "I love you more," she murmured almost inaudibly into his t-shirt.
She then returned to her e-mails as Robbie turned his attention back to the news. Robbie's warmth quickly flooded her whole body and like a lazy cat in the Sunday afternoon sun, her eyelids began to droop. Daisy shook her head. She had about a hundred more e-mails she needed to answer, but Robbie was just so comfortable and soft like a big, heated teddy bear. His calm heartbeat echoed through her ear like a soothing lullaby. Despite her best efforts, her tablet eventually slipped through her loose fingers as her eyes fluttered shut.
Daisy knew she would probably receive Hell in the morning in the form of a hundred more passive-aggressive e-mails, but right now she didn't care. She was warm and safe in the arms of the man she loved, and there was no better moment in the world.