Recovery

Melting

Tim 

Tim stood in line behind Samanta, watching her eye the ice cream case intently but with a faraway expression. She absently brushed her curls from her face as she leaned over the glass, dead set on picking out the best flavor for Urdu. He had the urge to kiss the worry away from her brow as he fought the frown that came over his features.

When he had come home, Samantha had been crying... again. Timothy sighed as she turned to him, offering a wan smile. "Get her the Sinfully Smooth Creamy Cinnamon. I just want vanilla."

Tim's frown deepened. "You only want vanilla?"

She nodded, curls swaying, freckled nose wrinkling a little as she spoke. "I just...don't feel like ice cream, but Urdie wanted me to eat some. So..."

When she trailed off, he pulled her close and kissed her forehead. "It's okay, Sammy. Vanilla it is."

He couldn't help but feel partially responsible for this.

He and Sam had been trying not to be intimate since they'd found Urdu. They'd actively discussed not having sex because they didn't want to make Urdu any more uncomfortable than she already was around them.

It was just that last night, after catching a glimpse of the old Urdu, they both thought things were going to get back on track. It wouldn't happen overnight, of course, but Urdu had even agreed to go check out the Centre and consider teaching people self-defense. It was a tremendous step, and Tim found himself immeasurably proud of the traumatized demon for agreeing to go.

So, when he and Sam had sat on the couch after that movie, they'd been so relaxed, so filled with optimism about the future, that they instinctively started touching each other just like they used to, enjoying the pleasure they could elicit from each other.

When things got heated, they'd moved to the bedroom so that they wouldn't disturb their mate, who had made it very clear she wasn't ready for any sort of romantic intimacy yet. Tim didn't begrudge her for wanting her space. In fact, both he and Sam completely understood it, which is why whenever they couldn't contain themselves any longer, they would always find privacy.

The sex had been something he and Sam needed, enough to take care of their desires, but not enough to completely satiate them. Nevertheless, as he held Sam while she fell asleep, Tim had found himself grinning. Urdu was going to come back to them. It might take years, centuries even, but she was going to come back. She may never be with them romantically again, but that would be fine as long as she would just come home. Her agreeing to fight again was the first step towards that.

Then she'd refused to go to the Centre today.

When she pushed Sam away this morning, the woman had called Tim, bawling over the phone and saying something about how the only thing that had changed between last night and this morning was that they'd had sex while Urdu was there. He had tried to reassure Samantha, tried to tell her, that he was sure it wasn't that that made Urdu crawl deeper into that depression once more, but-

With a soft sigh that pulled Tim from his musing, Sam stood on her toes and he leaned down so that she could kiss him before asking. "Are you sure you got it?"

He nodded. "Yeah. You head back. I'll bring the ice cream."

With a sad yet determined nod, Sam said. "See you at home" before turning and heading to the restroom so that she could flash home without making all the patrons wonder where she had disappeared to.

Tim tried not to worry as he waited a few more minutes before it was his turn to place his order for the two quarts his mates had requested. Ice cream in hand, he wandered outside, waiting until he turned unnoticed down an alleyway before flashing himself to his home using his powers.