It's Becoming Crystal Clear (Jasper x Reader)

Chapter 18: The Calm

You awoke the next morning to find everything exactly as it was when you went to sleep. You were lying on your side with your arms wrapped around Jasper, who was lying on her back, holding you close with one arm while Pinky lay comfortably on her broad chest. You drew a deep breath in and stretched your arms up towards the ceiling. Seeing you were awake, Pinky's small tail began thumping excitedly and his ears perked up, but he didn't lift his head up. The little pup was just too sleepy and too comfy. You suspected he might have a favourite, but you didn't take it too personally. You gave him a little scratch behind the ears, earning an even more enthusiastic wagging of the tail.

Turning your attention to the sleeping giant, you couldn't help smiling at the sight of her resting peacefully beside you. You felt like the luckiest human alive. You sat up, allowing some of the warmth to escape from beneath the blankets, replaced with a chill far beyond what you would expect from a summer morning. Jasper obviously felt it too. She opened her eyes, sighing and stretching exactly like you had done. Feeling the surface underneath of him shifting, Pinky leapt down and trotted out of the room. You leaned over and gave her a peck on the cheek.

"Good morning," you whispered. She gazed softly at you, then pulled you back down, holding you against her.

"I love you," she whispered in a slightly drowsy-sounding voice. This was hardly news, and yet you still felt your heart jump. Placing a hand on the back of your head, she brought your faces together and kissed you deeply. You shuddered, feeling a warmth in the back of your neck creep down to spread to your entire body. Almost instinctively, you reached up to massage her shoulders. When she failed to suppress a soft moan, you turned as red as a sunburnt communist. You pulled back, burying your face into the side of her neck, kissing her there and receiving a deep chuckle in response.

Before things could get too PG-13, you were distracted by a gust of unseasonably cold wind blowing in through the open window. Ruffling Jasper's hair playfully, you sat up.

"I'd better close the windows. It's chilly this morning!"

"If you stay here you'll be warm."

"Tempting, but I have to take Pinky out to do his business anyway. I don't want a repeat of last night," you explained. At about nine o'clock last night, you had been less than pleased to discover a surprisingly large pile of puppy poop on the stairs. Not that you could hold it against Pinky that he wasn't properly trained, and he was a fast learner.

Once you were dressed, the windows were shut, and Pinky was attended to, you flicked on the morning news while you made breakfast.

"Thanks Raoul. And again, citizens of Beach City are strongly advised to shelter in place as meteorologists predict Hurricane Elsa will deviate from its previously calculated path. As of now, Elsa remains a Category 4, although as it heads over the warmer waters of the area, it's likely that it will achieve Category 5 wind speeds," a reporter was explaining. "I think a lot of us at home only noticed when it cooled down overnight!"

You heard Jasper coming down the stairs.

"We're supposed to get some bad weather," you called over your shoulder. "We should probably go into town to get some supplies, just in case it gets really bad."

When you were just about ready to head out, you remembered that you ought to wear a sweater, which gave you an idea.

"Wait here," you told Jasper before running upstairs. "Okay, now put your arms up and close your eyes," you told her as you came back down. The extent of the transformation she'd undergone in the past few days was highlighted by the fact that she obeyed without offering the slightest protest. "Umm, can you maybe bend down a bit?"