Timelined a couple days after Picking the Wrong Pocket
<Jessica> Jess looked up at the latest house as they pulled up outside of it, glancing over at Sebastian. It looked much nicer than the pictures.
<Shaw> "Well, Tony may accuse me of White House envy if we choose this one." He tapped the wheel of the Aston with one finger as he looked at the colonnaded townhome across from them.
<Jessica> "But we know that's not true... and he'd only say that because he's jealous." She leaned to kiss his cheek.
<Shaw> "Yes, but not of the home," he said, turning to catch her lips instead for a brief kiss.
<Jessica> She smiled in the kiss, cupping his cheek with her hand to keep him in it a little longer. Flatterer.
<Shaw> Truth. Sebastian matched her smile as he turned off the car. Eventually, he broke the kiss. "Shall we then?"
<Jessica> "Yes, we should..." She reached for her purse and unclipped her seat belt.
<Shaw> He checked for traffic and jumped out of the car, reaching her door in time to open it with a wink and wry smirk.
<Jessica> She laughed a little, getting out, "Thank you."
<Shaw> "You are most welcome, my dear," he chuckled, closing the door and offering her his arm as the lock clicked and alarm chirped. "Such treatment befits my first lady, after all."
<Jessica> She took his arm, "I'm not calling you 'Mr President'."
<Shaw> This made him laugh aloud as they crossed the street to the white townhouse, set in its row of nineteenth century brick homes. "No, please don't - it might have me wondering what Tony was trying to get up to with my bride."
<Jessica> "I don't think you'd have to wonder that much," she grinned, resting her head briefly on his shoulder as they walked. "He did hit on me once and tried to get me drunk."
<Shaw> "Yes, hardly shocking behaviors for our commander in chief," he said, enjoying the warmth of her beside him and in the back of his mind as they reached the front door.
<Jessica> "I know... but it was fun... much more interesting than I thought it was going to be that evening... and this was before the whole Hope thing happened..." Which was a thing that had caused some serious friction between them.
<Shaw> "Hope is famously volatile, over many things." He was certain she'd react violently to the news of his engagement, if she hadn't already heard. They hadn't spoke about it when he'd given her his penthouse key and free rein over it, after all.
<Jessica> "Yes... and harder on some people than they deserve..." she hugged his arm a little, "But let's not talk about this now."
<Shaw> "No, let's not. I'll be seeing her, and the elder Stark, soon enough." The realtor opened the door, exposing the first view of the foyer with its marble floor and staircase. Perhaps his comparison to the White House was not so far off.
<Jessica> She nodded, turning her attention then to the interior of the building. "Woah..."
<Shaw> The realtor stifled a smile at her reaction and Sebastian raised a brow to the woman, who promptly scuttled off after informing them she would be ready to answer their questions at any time.
<Shaw> Once they were alone again, he bent his head to whisper in her ear. "I quite agree, actually."
<Jessica> She gave a small laugh, leaning into him slightly, "Which way shall we look first?"
<Shaw> "Oh, why not start right here?" He gestured to the sweeping staircase, which seemed to lead to the actual living quarters. The soles of their shoes clicked, echoing through the foyer.
<Jessica> Jess allowed him to lead the way, "At least it'll be nice and cool in the summer..."
<Shaw> "Oh, yes, most definitely, so all the heat can rise up there." He nodded toward the top of the staircase as they climbed, then stopped at the top. "Well, it has a lovely view."
<Jessica> "Oh nice," she smiled, peeking out of the windows herself before looking around, "That is a lot of space to fill with crap."
<Shaw> The bark of his laugh echoed. "It's quite roomy, yes. We could go with a minimalist style, however." Moving to the ridiculous golden harp decoratively placed in front of one of the large windows, he smirked. "More black leather never goes amiss."
<Jessica> Jess couldn't resist brushing her fingers over the strings as she followed him. At least it was in tune.
<Shaw> "I do like the dual fireplaces," he admitted, smiling at her assessment of the harp. This was the third home they'd seen, and by far the most... ornate? "What do you think, love?" he said, turning to her.
<Jessica> "I don't know... it feels too... open? There's too much space...."
<Shaw> "Yes, the gaping foyer likely has something to do with that feeling as well." He opened a built in cabinet and wandered to the kitchen. "It's certainly designed as a showplace."
<Jessica> "I like space, don't get me wrong..." she followed him quickly, "But I'm not so huge on the feeling exposed thing..."
<Shaw> He looked at her curiously. "Exposed?"
<Jessica> "There's nowhere to hide in a place like this..." she chewed her lip, looking down at the floor.
<Shaw> His expression softened and he moved over to curl his arm around her.
<Jessica> She slid her arms around his waist, glad for the comfort of him being near to her, "I know it's not good to think that way... but I can't help it anymore."
<Shaw> "I know." With a sigh, he pulled her closer for a hug and kissed her forehead, mouth lingering close to her skin. "While we're on such an uncomfortable subject, I've also got my qualms about neighbors so close." Turning a bit, he tipped his chin toward the wall. "We could be as much a danger to them as them to us."
<Jessica> Jess nodded, "I'd feel so bad if something happened to someone else because we were targeted by some crazy person..."
<Shaw> As he knew exactly which crazy person she referred, he didn't feel the need to respond beyond an answering nod.
<Jessica> "Shall we look for somewhere that we don't have to share a building with someone else?" she lifted her head to look at him.
<Shaw> "Yes, it seems more practical." He managed a smirk, giving her a squeeze. "That way we won't wake the neighbors."
<Jessica> She grinned at that, "That is a good point too." She leaned up to give him a kiss.
<Shaw> Sebastian's mouth curved in a smile, slanting over hers to tease her by deepening the kiss for a moment. "An excellent one," he said when they broke apart. "Shall we go disappoint the realtor, then?"
<Jessica> She nodded, "Yeah... I probably got her hopes up with my reaction to the place when we came in too...."
<Shaw> "Oh, certainly. If the first lady approves, half the battle is won." His smirk was back and he took her hand to move to the stairs.
<Jessica> Jess laughed, giving his hand a squeeze, "It is a nice place... just too open plan."
<Shaw> "Oh, come now - it's really the harp. Now that's simply a step too far."
<Jessica> [Time Passes]
<Jessica> Jess eyed their seventh house of the day and the small cafe on the corner. At least that was promising and the house looked kind of nice. "That is a tall building..."
<Shaw> As Sebastian had to lean over the wheel and crane his neck to the side to look up to it, he was forced to agree. "It looks like an old church building, and the irony of this is immediately amusing."
<Jessica> She giggled, unclipping her seatbelt, "Shall we go look inside and see if it still looks like one in there?"
<Shaw> "I might find that irresistible. The urge to be sacrilegious is rising," he chuckled, clicking free of his own and making the trip around the car to open her door again.
<Jessica> "What if we have a hovering salesperson like the last place? Would you still try?" She grinned wickedly as she got out of the car.
<Shaw> "Of course, that just makes the challenge more stimulating." Returning the grin, he took her arm to lead her across the street. It was tall - brick, with a white cupola that was definitely once a bell tower. It could still be a bell tower for all he could tell from this angle. Just beneath the tower, there was an old clock. He checked his watch – the time was correct. "It's quite... unique."
<Jessica> "Exhibitionist," Jess gave him a nudge with her elbow, shaking her head in amusement before glancing up to take in the whole building. "I like it, it's pretty."
<Shaw> "Of course. I have every reason to be." He flashed her a smile as they climbed the front steps - stone, but not overly ornamented. They were met by another eager real estate agent. And here we are again.
<Jessica> Maybe if we glare at him long enough he'll go away and let us explore properly? She attempted a small smile for the agent.
<Shaw> He gave her a mental chuckle and caress and made his small talk with the realtor, which had a better than intended effect as the man stepped aside and just let them in.
<Jessica> Jess moved in ahead of him and looked around the room they'd walked into, turning left first to go through the door on that side of her. She looked back through the door, "There's stairs in two places..."
<Shaw> As Sebastian had gone right, he first noticed the elevator next to one of those sets of stairs. Eyebrows up, he pointed to it.
<Jessica> "Well that'll make getting stuff upstairs easier?" She glanced into the room she'd gone in again, "These stairs only go down... those ones go in both directions..."
<Shaw> Rejoining her, he smirked. "Going down, my love?"
<Jessica> She giggled, taking his hand, "You're so bad."
<Shaw> His laugh followed them to the basement, where they found far more space than expected. And a kitchen. "Interesting..."
<Jessica> "Huh..." The kitchen was slightly raised and they'd come down into what was presumably a bedroom as there were closets built in on one of the walls. "This is weird..."
<Shaw> "There's a bathroom... and a wine cellar." The utility room was uninteresting, although he realized this area would make for an excellent workroom with a tad of reconfiguration.
<Jessica> "I already like this place and we've only looked at the basement..." She followed him, peeking into the bathroom down there before heading to the other stairs to go up to the ground level again.
<Shaw> They came back out opposite of where they'd entered and he was amused. Traveling up the stairs to the second floor, he found first one large room he assumed was a bedroom, then another. it was the second that captured his attention as he looked upward. "This place has some fascinating architecture, to be sure."
<Jessica> Jess followed his gaze upwards, "Wow..." she dropped her gaze to the rest of the room, taking in the walk-in closet and the bathroom. "Really like it."
<Shaw> With a mischievous grin in place, he slid his arm around her waist and pointed upward to the wide-open area leading to the next floor. "Take us up, love."
<Jessica> She laughed, wrapping her arms around him, "I think I will." She gently lifted them both into the air and up to the next floor, setting them down again once they were over the floor.
<Shaw> "It's truly remarkable," he said, looking up at the vaulted ceilings and down again over the railing Jessica had just lifted them over. The bedroom just below a perfect office space. Sebastian caught her eye again. "So you really do like it?"
<Jessica> Jess nodded, taking his hand to go to the door at the other end to see what other treasures were on this floor. And then she found the second kitchen. "Oh my God. Two kitchens."
<Shaw> "Oh," he chuckled. "Well, that cinches it, doesn't it?"
<Jessica> "It does! But it has more stairs!" She ignored the stairs however and went up through the gap in the ceiling of the dining area finding another floor, yet more stairs and another hole in the ceiling to venture through, "There's a library up here!" she called down to him.
<Shaw> "Is there?" Her enthusiasm was infectious and he followed the sound of her excited voice to a spiral metal staircase set into the corner of one room. Once at the top, he found her in the library and smiled.
<Jessica> "This place is amazing!" She pointed up to the tower above them and then her phone started ringing.
<Shaw> "It rather is," he admitted with a laugh, climbing the final staircase to the cupola to give her a bit of privacy. The view of Boston was outstanding.
<Jessica> She answered the phone, not recognising the number but quite happy to get the call. She joined Sebastian in the cupola when she was done, hugging him happily, "We have to get this house now."
<Shaw> "Oh?" There was laughter still in his tone when he accepted her hug and held her.
<Jessica> "I got the job. Just now they called me. It's a sign!" She grinned.
<Shaw> "You got a job?" He blinked, once, then twice. "Congratulations, love, that's excellent news - what is it?" While he knew she'd been preoccupied, and had spent several days in the city since his recent return, he hadn't realized she was even looking for a new job.
<Jessica> "Dancing," She smiled, "It's one of the places I interviewed at on Wednesday... why I was in the city."
<Shaw> "Dancing?" he repeated it, tone confused and fighting down the immediate anger.
<Jessica> She nodded, "As an instructor... but they said something about competitions..." she gave a shrug, "I don't think that's for me but the rest is fun." She smiled again, hugging him.
<Shaw> Competitions? "Where is this then?" He returned the hug absently, still lost in thought, but she seemed very happy about the turn of events. Although, she had been happy to get the job at Jack's as well...
<Jessica> "It's at a dance school. It's really nice there, everyone's friendly."
<Shaw> The surprise showed on his face, and then he smiled in realization. "That's wonderful, Jess." He leaned in and gave her a kiss.
<Jessica> She returned the kiss, deepening it and wrapping her arms tighter around him, her happiness filtering over their link.
<Shaw> I'm very happy for you, koibito. Bit of a dream realized. He lost himself in the kiss and their shared emotions, his fingers sliding up into her hair.
<Jessica> I am so happy right now! She slid her hands up into his hair too.
<Shaw> He broke the kiss with a nip to her lower lip, brushing his nose against hers as he pressed their foreheads together. So, this is our new home, yes? His eyes remained locked with hers.
<Jessica> Yes, I think it's perfect. She smiled softly, eyes holding his gaze.