this is the golden age of something Good and Right and Real

no one knows about the words that we whispered

The snow that's been threatening to fall for the past few hours has finally made its appearance, throwing up lacy swirls of white against the windows in Alex and Izzie's bedroom. He watches it in a dreamy, post-coital haze, occasionally taking a break to lean in and breathe in the smell of the crown of his wife's head.

He thinks she's asleep - she's stopped running her fingers in long, lazy strokes up his arm and her breathing has gotten slow and deep - but not a minute later, Izzie makes a pursed-lips, considering sound.

"What?" he asks groggily.

Izzie muses, "I should get some new lingerie."

Well, he's awake now. He shifts his head back slightly so he can gaze down at her. "What? Why?"

"Why do I want to buy slutty lingerie? Are you really asking me this?" She rolls onto her stomach and rests her hand on his chest, propping her chin up to look at him. "Do I need to spell it out for you?"

"Who're you trying to impress?" he jokes. "Is this about that new sales rep at the hospital with the beard and the $5,000 watch he won't stop flashing?"

Izzie sticks her tongue out at him. "Nice."

"I know you're not trying to get me in the sack." He runs his hand down her naked back and brings it to rest on the swell of her ass. "Mission accomplished. Your job is done."

"So, what, you think I should just give up? You're saying you wouldn't appreciate your wife putting in a little effort to seduce you?"

Alex scoffs, wide awake now. "You're joking, right? You think that's the best way to seduce me?"

"Uh, yeah. Straight, cis, red-blooded dude, I think lingerie is the way to go."

"I don't give a crap about lingerie," he retorts.

"Oh, well, excuse me. Enlighten me, Dr. Karev - what's the best way to pique your interest?"

"You really want to know?"

"Really, really."

He slips his arms around her and gently rolls her onto her back. She laughs a little as he nestles her back against the pillows, but stops as he reaches up and smooths her hair back from her face.

"There's a moment," he begins, "on the days you beat me home. After I manage to pry off whatever feral child has wrapped themselves around my leg and track you down, I give you a kiss."

"Oh, that's you who does that?' Izzie teases.

Alex puts a finger over her lips. "Shut up. You made me lose my train of thought. What was I saying?"

"You were talking about when you get home from work, and you find me, and you kiss me hello."

"Right, right. It goes kind of like this." He leans over and kisses her on the mouth, the slowest, barest brush before he sinks into the kiss, all tenderness and the slow stroke of tongues. "And then - well, the kiss ends, right? And there's this moment, where your eyes are all hazy and your head is tilted back, and your mouth is open just a little bit." He draws back, smiles down at her. "Yeah, that look on your face right now, that's exactly it."

"That's it?" Izzie asks, her voice thick as summer heat. "My best move is... my face?"

"Every time you make that face I forget that we're ankle-deep in Magnatiles and dress up clothes. I forget that you have adopted yet another goat after I have asked you repeatedly to stop. I forget that I just spent seventeen hours in surgery and I probably smell as gross as I feel." He skims his hand over her hair and face. "Everything fades away. Everything is perfect. Everything is safe. And then..." He moves down to kiss the spot under her jaw he knows she loves. "You smile at me. And I gotta tell you, Stevens, it knocks me out every. Damn. Time."

Izzie tilts her head up higher to give him easier access. He complies, then trails his mouth down the arch of her neck to her shoulder, her bicep, the center of her chest.

The room around them fades. It's just the two of them in the center of their bed, like a raft floating out into night.

"Screw lingerie," he says against her stomach as he continues down her body. "I'm never not seduced by you."

She shifts her hips, arching her back up to meet him with a long, low sigh. "Good answer," she whispers.

"I thought so. Now. Shut up. I'm a little busy down here."