Just Imagine...

Slumber Party

The Golden Hour at Harmony Palace was an absolutely magical time of day. The setting sun turned the sea to flames, and there was an inexplicable sense of peace in the air.
Rhys was asleep in his and Gwen's room, still jetlagged from the flight a few days ago. Jay was puttering around, cleaning up and putting the kids to bed.
Gwen found Sam in the upstairs living room, sitting on the floor with her back against one of the couches, a sketchbook on her lap and a pencil in her hand. Manolin the wolf was on the floor next to her and Zephyr the tiger was on the opposite couch, licking her paws and looking for all the world like the queen of the house.
"You could sit on the sofa, you know." Gwen murmured, causing Sam to look up.
"Yeah, I could," Sam murmured, "but Tosh wants me to draw her and I figured getting a lower angle might be more interesting."
"You're going to draw Tosh?" Gwen asked.
"Well yeah," Sam said, "she was admiring herself in the sunlight and I offered and she said yes, but she wanted to change first."
Gwen settled on the couch behind Sam, playing with her soft, golden hair.
"Your hair's getting longer again." She pointed out.
"Thank God." Sam sighed. Having short hair hadn't been easy for her, she was most comfortable with the thick lion's mane she'd used to have. But she was slowly, slowly getting that back.
"Can I braid it?" Gwen begged, "please??"
"If you're chill with me throwing you off the balcony." Sam teased, tapping her eraser on the paper.
Tosh emerged from the hallway then with a single thin blanket wrapped around herself and her hair done up in a neat bun. She had a bouquet of flowers in her right hand.
"I'm ready." She said, then froze when she saw Gwen. "Uhh-"
"I, er, I won't look." Gwen stammered lamely.
"What did you get yourself all dolled up for?" Sam demanded, "I'm not anointing you here! Just drawing you."
"Well it's not every day someone thinks I'm beautiful enough to draw me." Tosh said angrily.
"Tosh, if I could draw you every single day of my life, I would," Sam murmured sincerely, "but I can't. Because if Jay found the drawings he'd probably think I'd gotten obsessed with you have me committed for your safety."
Tosh stared at her for a second, then laughed softly, blushing.
"Thanks, I think." She mumbled.
Gwen busied herself with playing with Sam's hair, trying her hardest not to look up as Tosh unwound the blanket from around her chest and let it drop to her feet. She was actually naked. Toshiko Sato, one of the most cautious people Gwen knew, was about to be depicted in a nude drawing.
Sam watched with a neutral gaze as Tosh walked over to the opposite couch and sat down on the floor, the silk sheet Sam had placed there beneath her and Zephyr still stretched out behind her. Tosh posed elegantly, crossing one leg over the other and holding the bouquet in front of her breasts. She gazed off to the right with a tiny smile on her lips. The lighting in the room turned her skin a honey color and her eyes shone like chocolate pearls.
Sam didn't even feel Gwen's fingers in her hair as she began to draw, a look of intense passion on her face.
"How's your wound?" Sam asked, eyes skimming over the forming scar in the centre of Tosh's stomach. One tiny patch of lighter skin, where the bullet had exited her body. Sam's hand trembled and she forced it still.
"Much better," Tosh murmured, "Owen says it's healing nicely."
"Sure he's seen it a lot." Gwen giggled.
"GWEN!" Tosh exclaimed, grabbing a pillow from the couch behind her and throwing it across the room at her.
"Hey hey, keep still!" Sam chuckled, "I can't draw you if you're moving."
Tosh sighed and settled back into position.
"Where is Owen anyway?" Gwen asked, casually slipping the hair elastic on her wrist into Sam's hair.
"Jack convinced him and Ianto to go down to the beach again," Sam murmured, not noticing a thing, "the water's probably freezing by now but he was still adamant about going for another swim."
"He's such a child!" Tosh giggled.
"PERFECT!" Sam exclaimed.
"Huh?" Tosh asked.
"Do that thing again."
"What thing?"
"When you smiled. Smile again."
"How come?"
"It's the perfect expression for this masterpiece. I wanna show that you're not just a beautiful body, but you're happy too."
Tosh smiled again, this time blushing a little.
"¡Maravillosa!" Sam said, getting back to work.
Tosh seemed to notice what Gwen was doing with Sam's hair and started to giggle again. Both of them were thinking the same thing; Sam would blow a gasket if she realized Gwen was styling her hair. However, Sam didn't notice and instead grinned at Tosh.
"Beautiful!" She exclaimed, "I think I'll call this piece My Laughing Lady, whaddya think, Gwen?"
"Sounds perfect." Gwen murmured, biting her lip and tucking Sam's hair into a neat bun. She left some hair hanging on the right side of her face. It was a pity Sam probably wouldn't like it, if she did the same thing when her hair got longer again it would be rather fitting for her.
"And... done!" Sam said, drawing a final line through her signature, "wanna see?" She asked Tosh as Gwen peeked over Sam's shoulder at the page.
The drawing was absolutely stunning, capturing every curve in Tosh's body and even detailing an incredibly realistic expression of bliss and laughter on her face.
Sam handed the sketchbook to Tosh.
"I look... amazing." She breathed, eyes sparkling.
"Of course you do!" Sam said, then she blushed slightly, "do you... do you like it?"
"I love it! Could I keep it?"
"Oh, absolutely. I was planning to give it to you anyway."
"How much do I owe you?"
"Just a single kiss on the cheek."
Tosh made a face and Sam laughed.
"Really," Tosh said seriously, "you can't just give it away for free."
"But I want to," Sam insisted, "it's a gift, Tosh. It'd be wrong to charge you for it."
Tosh smiled, then leaned over to kiss Sam on the cheek.
"Ah, you went a little over," Sam teased, "here's your change." She moved to kiss Tosh back.
"Sam!" Tosh exclaimed, giggling. Gwen laughed too, falling back on the couch.
"You're out of your bloody mind, Jack!"
The three of them fell silent at Ianto's angry voice from downstairs.
"Oh, shit!" Tosh whispered, before hurrying back to her bedroom to put on clothes before Jack, Ianto, and Owen came upstairs and saw her. Sam snickered.
"I'm freezing my arse off!" Owen complained, "what was your thought process?"
"Obviously there wasn't one!" Jack shot back.
"Oh boy," Sam murmured to Gwen, "get ready."
Gwen laughed as the three men appeared at the top of the stairs - shivering, dripping wet, and wrapped in damp towels.
"Hey Jacksie," Sam said nonchalantly, "how was your swim?"
"There was no swimming," Ianto grumbled, "just retraction."
Gwen burst out laughing at that, unable to stop herself. Sam hopped up from the floor and walked over to a long footstool that doubled as a storage compartment, lifting up the top and pulling out a few thick blankets.
"Here," she said, "wrap yourselves up in these after you change."
"Thanks, Mom." Jack murmured, specifically selecting a blue blanket with tiny airplanes on it. Sam smiled knowingly as he did so - Gwen could tell she'd picked that one for him.
"You think Tosh is decent yet?" Gwen asked in a whisper as Jack, Ianto, and Owen made their way down the hall.
"Oh, fuck!" Sam hissed, slapping her forehead, "I should've told Owen to- why am I having this reaction? Owen has definitely seen Tosh naked by now."
Gwen burst out laughing again, and Sam grinned mischievously. Then Ianto poked his head into the living room again.
"By the way," he murmured, "I like what you've done with your hair, Sam. That's a good look for you."
"Hair?" Sam echoed as he disappeared again, "what about my-? GWEN!" She exclaimed when she saw the look on Gwen's face. She stomped up to the mirror by the kitchen and stiffened in surprise.
"I'm sorry!" Gwen said, following her, "I couldn't resist! If you don't like it I can take it out-"
"No!" Sam cut her off quickly, still looking at herself in the mirror. She softened, smiling shyly. "I-I like it." She murmured, reaching up to touch the little bun.
The others returned a moment later, Gwen and Sam sitting on one couch together with Jack, Owen, and Ianto huddled together on the opposite couch like penguins in a snowstorm. Tosh sat by herself, on a small cushion tied to the ceiling with an intricate pattern of roping, swinging back and fourth with a contented smile.
"This is definitely better than the last time we went camping." Owen muttered after a long silence.
"You call this camping?" Sam demanded with a disbelieving grin, "dear God, Owen, I'm surprised you even go outside here! One night in the rainforest alone and you'd be gone!" She snapped her fingers for emphasis.
"Instead of that, why don't we build a pillow fort?" Gwen suggested.
"Seriously?" Owen sighed.
"Yeah!" Jack exclaimed at the same time, leaping to his feet, "it'll be fun! Just like sleeping in a tent! C'mon Ianto let's do it!"
Ianto rolled his eyes affectionately and Sam gave Gwen a nudge, raising her eyebrows.
Together they constructed a fort out of cushions and blankets that was big enough for all six of them, Sam retrieving some fairy lights from her and Jay's bedroom to decorate.
They spent the night inside it, but Gwen didn't get much sleep. She just lay awake, listening to Jack and Ianto whispering and giggling to each other and Owen grumbling at them to shut up, the sound of Sam's snoring, abruptly cut off as Tosh whacked her over the head with a pillow, which only prompted more giggling, from everyone (except the disoriented Sam) this time.
Gwen couldn't possibly be happier to be here in this moment, there was nowhere else she'd rather be.