black magic woman ; ikaris

𝙚𝙡𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙣

Dane was pacing back and forth in his office. Downstairs, he could hear voices mixing together, conversation about what the next course of action would be. Yet his sister and Ikaris weren't there. It was still early, he was sure they were still asleep, but it felt wrong not to have them there. But while the voices downstairs continued to talk, the voices upstairs, the ones in the box, were whispering louder and louder. Ignoring them only did so much, he needed to get it out of his house, out of his life. He had an idea, but he needed his sister's help. He pulled his phone from his pocket and went to shut the office door, muffling the voices downstairs as he dialed River's number. The phone rang a few times, then went right to voicemail.

"River..." he groaned, hanging up and dialing again. Voicemail. Another dial. Voicemail. Fourth time's the charm...

Ikaris groaned as music played nearby, then stopped. His eyes opened slowly, and he blinked up at the ceiling, then glanced beside him. River was still fast asleep, her mop of blonde hair keeping her face from view. Since the music was gone, he rolled onto his side so his chest could press against her back, and he let his fingers trail along her stomach. As he leaned down to kiss behind her ear, the music started up again, and he groaned.

"All these interruptions..." he murmured, rolling back over as she stirred beside him.

"Wha's goin' on?" she mumbled, brushing her hair from her face.

"Music keeps playing," he said, pushing himself into a sitting position to look around. "Think it's your phone."

"My—Oh shit, that's Dane," she said, rolling onto her side and grabbing her phone from her nightstand. She answered on the last ring, and the room fell silent.

"River?" he asked softly, but she held up one finger to keep him quiet.

"Uh huh, uh huh. Right, let's say... an hour? Yes, I can be ready then, you're so doubtful. All right, see you soon, love you, bye." River pulled the phone away from her ear and hung up, groaning as she rolled onto her back again.

"What'd you get us into now?" Ikaris asked.

"Well, when you ask like that, I feel less inclined to tell you, mister," she said, pulling the covers back and stretching her arms over her head.

"Well," he said, mimicking her tone, "will you at least tell me what that god awful song was coming from your phone?"

"Love Shack. It's been Dane's ringtone for years."

"Dare I ask?"

"Drunken karaoke."

"Ah."

The two got up from bed and went into the bathroom, with Ikaris going to start the shower while River grabbed their toothbrushes. Humming quietly, she wet the brushes at the sink and squeezed toothpaste onto them both, handing him one as he came up to stand behind her. Wrapping one arm around her waist, he kissed the top of her head before starting to brush his teeth. She smiled and followed suit, leaning against him with her head against his shoulder. She could feel his thumb brushing over her skin, and the air was getting comfortably warmer with the steam. He let go of her for a second, leaning down to spit into the sink and rinse out his mouth. River did the same once he was done, and she looked at herself in the mirror, running her fingers through her hair.

"Something wrong?" Ikaris asked, pulling the shower door open a bit.

"Oh no, just thinking about going red for a bit. A simple glamour charm would do the trick, with no damage to my real hair. I could go back to blonde at any time," she said.

"You'd look stunning either way, dove." He smiled and held out his hand, which she took with a small smile.

"Aw. Well, I won't do anything right away, but it's being thought about," she said, stepping into the shower after him.