Chapter Text
It wasn’t supposed to happen the way that it did, or at least, everyone thought things like this weren’t supposed to happen the way that this did. It started out innocently enough, but they both knew that innocence only lasts so long when you’re in a situation like theirs.
The first time it happened, you could almost say it was the booze’s fault, but there’s only so much you can blame on the alcohol.
They had been filming in America for the first time as a whole team. Having spent their entire day out on the beach running around and shooting at hats, they were all absolutely knackered and wanted nothing more than to sit down and relax before the hectic second day tomorrow.
After a quick change into joggers and other variations of comfortable clothing, the four main members of series six’s Team Tardis (a clever nickname Karen had found while doing her usual perusing online, which everyone happily agreed to be called) were now gathered around the coffee table in Arthur and Matt’s shared suite.
Tonight’s main event was a game of blackjack. Drinks in one hand and cards in the other, the bets were getting increasingly extravagant as the night went on. After losing three rounds thanks to two vodka cranberries in her system and her lack of limits with her chips, Karen had backed out of the game. Arthur joined soon after, his eyes beginning to play tricks on him (apparently that nine of hearts was actually a six, and the three of clubs was actually an eight of spades) due to exhaustion, and perhaps a couple ales too.
Alex and Matt were the only ones left, both with intentions of winning the jackpot. One strawberry margarita down and half of another fruity concoction that Karen shook up working its way through her system, Alex had the eight of diamonds and the ten of spades in her hand and the desire to win in her eyes. On the opposite side of the table, Matt was taking a swig of the lager in his hand, the nine of spades and the nine of diamonds in his other, and his eyes equally as set as hers on the piles of chips in front of them.
“You know,” Alex said as she laid her cards face down on table and took a sip of her drink “You’re better off just forfeiting the game now. Save yourself the trouble, and some money.”
“Ha!” Matt laughed, depositing the bottle onto the table and leaning forward for emphasis “Do you take me for someone who’ll just give in that easily, Kingston?”
She raised her eyebrows as a smug grin grew on her face “Not at all Mr Smith! I simply thought that you were a smart enough man to know that it would only be logical to quit while you’re ahead of the game, is all. So,” she placed her drink back on the table and picked up her cards “will I be seeing any white flags soon?”
Chuckling, he answered “You most certainly will be seeing white flags, but they won’t be coming from me, no.” Pausing for emphasis, which earned him an eye roll from just about everyone in the room, he added “Those will all be in your dreams.”
“Will you two just finish the bloody hand already?!” Matt and Alex turned their heads to see Kaz lying on the ground, looking at them with a face that resembled a whinging child who hadn’t ever gotten their way. “Save the flirty, tease-y, growl-y stuff for once we’ve gotten a few hours of sleep. Until then, place your bets and get the sodding game over with!”
Matt and Alex exchanged glances and reached for their chips. Matt had already won three out of the five previous rounds, and Alex had only won the other two, so she knew that her lack of chips and his advantage would most likely wind up with her having to go all in.
She counted her cards – eighteen. Still needed another three for twenty-one. Chances were slim that she’d get that, or even twenty, but she figured it was the last hand, so why not take a risk?
“Hit me.”
Arthur lazily pushed himself away from the recliner behind him and picked up and tossed a card to Alex.
Matt eyed her from the other side of the table, like a savage animal staring down its prey, and played with the cards in his hand. He also had eighteen and his chances were the same as hers for getting blackjack, but with luck on his side for the last three games, he decided it was worth the risk to get another card.
“Hit me.”
Grumbling through his sleepy haze, Arthur raised himself again, tossed Matt and card and sank back down against the plush bottom half of the recliner.
The bets were set at 20 pounds each, and quickly climbed to 60 as they both finished their drinks.
Matt raised his eyes from the cards in his hand “Check, Miss Kingston?”
A smirk on her face and an eyebrow raised, she replied “Check.”
“Ah, so you’re not giving in easily either?” He said, one hand working its way through his stacks of chips “Well, in that case, how many chips you got there?”
Alex gave him a puzzled look but then began to count her chips. Six fives, three tens, a twenty, a fifty, and two hundreds - so, a grand total of three hundred and thirty pounds (half of which more than likely belonged to Karen. Bless.).
“I’ve got three thirty here. Why?” she replied, fiddling with the stack of fives.
“Oh, no reason,” he said nonchalantly, counting some chips in his hand and pushing them into the middle of the table with the rest of their bets “Just making you go all in, is all.”
Alex rolled her eyes. He really was a giant child.
“What was it you said, Alex? Quit while you’re ahead?” She reached around the table and smacked him on the arm, eliciting a small yelp from him, and thus waking up Karen and Arthur too.
Karen rolled over onto her side and whined “Are you two done yet? Can I go sleep now?” Then she sat up and reached for her room key on the small table a few feet from her “Sod it, I’m off. Night, you lot.” And with that, Karen left the room, Matt and Alex to their game, and Arthur to his cushion.
It wasn’t long before Arthur was gone too, only he didn’t make a sound when he left. Opting to just stand up and walk across to where his room was in the suite in his owl kigu, the pair only noticed he was gone when he’d reached his room’s door and told them goodnight.
The second the door closed behind Arthur, their gazes were fixed back on the table in front of them.
“Any last additions to the pot?” Matt added, fiddling with his left over chips.
Alex rolled her eyes “Well I would, but see, some twat made me go all in earlier. So I’m afraid that’s all you’re getting tonight.”
Placing his hand with his other one holding his three cards, he sighed out “Such a polite one, aren’t you?”
“Just show your bloody cards already, Smith.”
Chuckling, he added “Feisty when we’re tired too, I take it?”
“Cards.” She said, after flicking him on the forearm with her free hand.
“Oh, fine. Killjoy.”
With another roll of her eyes, she said “On three, ready? One… two… three.”
They dropped their cards down onto the table - Matt had picked up a 3 of diamonds, giving him blackjack. Alex, on the other hand, had received a two of spades, making her short by one.
“Ha ha! I win!” Matt yelled out, throwing his hands up in the air and pumping his fists ecstatically.
“Damn” Alex muttered under her breath, knowing that his four wins tonight would be carried on with much bragging tomorrow on set, and perhaps longer. Matt most definitely wasn’t a kind winner.
Reaching his arms out in front of him and scooping the chips in his direction, he looked up at Alex and laughed out “Quit while you’re ahead, she said. Will I be seeing any white flags?, she said. In your face, Kingston!”
“Oh, shut up, you giant child.” She chuckled. Yep, this definitely wasn’t going to end for a long, long while.
With a huff, she stood up, and made her way to the door, turning back once to say “I’m off to bed. Goodnight, Matt.”
Before she could leave though, he shot up, “Wait up - You said you had three thirty in chips, and there’s only two eighty here.” Pausing, he later added “Did you cheap out on me, Kingston?”
She turned back around to go and sit opposite of him, curling her legs under her. “I’m positive it was three thirty, I wouldn’t cheap out on you for a silly game of blackjack, Matt.”
He moved out the chips he’d received from her into the middle of the table – six fives, three tens, a twenty, two fifties and one hundred.
“Even with a couple drinks, I’m sure you can count properly. That’s two eighty there, so you owe me another fifty, Kingston.”
She let out a huff, reaching for her wallet on the couch. Opening it, she saw nothing other than her usual cards and some change.
“I’ve got nothing in here, darling, sorry. I could just go to an ATM tomorrow morning, if you don’t mind waiting?”
He was leaning against the back of the other chair, his eyes were fixed on hers now and a smirk was growing on his face.
Raising an eyebrow and quite puzzled as to what he could be thinking, she asked “What’s going on in that mind of yours? I can tell you right now, if it’s anything which involves me losing clothing, it’s a no.”
“No, no, none of that,” he chuckled “I was just thinking that maybe, you know, to make up for that lost money-”
“Just bloody say it already, I’m really tired and would like to go sleep, if you don’t mind.” She interjected, sounding a little annoyed.
“Calm down, you’ll get to sleep eventually.” Sitting up, he added “I was just thinking, maybe, I don’t know, I mean, if you’re okay with it-”
“Matt.”
“Alright, alright. I was thinking, maybe,” He scratched at the back of his neck nervously and shrugged “a kiss could make up for that 50 quid?”
She paused and stared at him, an eyebrow raised in question. Is he serious? Alex thought to herself, slightly taken aback from what Matt had just said.
She contemplated it for a bit - it was only a kiss, and her clothes were more than likely to still be on afterwards. After all, Matt was only a friend. Sure, they’d flirted all the time on set, but that was harmless, so this couldn’t hurt, right?
She decided to go for it.
Nodding, she said “I don’t see why not.”
Perking up a little, he sat up straight and shifted, now seated in Alex’s direction. She sat down across from him, curling her legs under her, and pushed her hair back.
“Shall we?” he said, hands curling into nervous fists at his sides.
He licked his suddenly dry lips and inched forward toward her slowly. His heart was racing now at the thought of kissing her. He’d made his proposition out to be more of a joke, sure that she would say no and insist on paying him tomorrow, but the second she’d said yes, it felt like he’d won the lottery, one he didn’t know he’d bought a ticket for. He and Alex got on amazingly well right from the start, and despite all their flirting, he thought of her as a friend only, but apparently his mind had plans of its own.
She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. There were butterflies in her stomach now, and her heart was beating at a rapid pace that could envy a hummingbird’s, but despite her reassuring herself that he was only a friend and that this meant nothing, they didn’t seem to be slowing at all. She hated to admit it, but she felt like a teenager again, playing “Spin the Bottle” and having landed on the cutest guy in the room.
“I guess we shall.” She added, eyes open and now inching forward to meet him, hands at her side and shaking slightly. She let out the deep breath she’d just taken and licked her lips.
They moved forward slowly, her nose brushing against his cheek and his lips brushing against hers lightly. Moving in closer, he pressed his lips to hers in a sweet, innocent kiss, and both of their eyes fluttered shut. They sat there for a moment before she moved a lightly shaking hand up to his cheek and he moved one to the small of her back, now deepening the kiss into something more passionate. He curled the other hand into her hair as she moved hers to rest on his shoulder.
Slowly, he pulled her towards him and she scooted forward obligingly. He licked at her bottom lip, silently asking for more access, and she opened her mouth with ease. She could taste the lager he’d had, but there was something else there, something that only resonated with Matt. It was like the combination of coffee, those Haribo sweets he always had on him and something else she couldn’t quite put her finger on. She hooked her fingers through the straps of his beater and pulled herself closer to him, letting out a small moan as he slid his tongue over hers.
This was definitely not an “only friends” thing anymore.
She moved to straddle his lap, eliciting a groan from him as he moved the hand on her back lower down to cup her arse and pull her closer. She felt his reaction nudging against her inner thigh through the layers of fabric as she ground herself into his lap, gasping at the rush of it all as she took his lower lip into her mouth and worried it between her teeth.
Oh, tomorrow would be so awkward.
But, like all not-so-great decisions, it was worth it right now.
He moved his hand back up, stroking at the soft skin of her lower back under her t-shirt, making her gasp again as she lowered the hand on his shoulder down to play with the hem of his shirt and the other down to the back of his neck, playing with the tufts of hair there. Letting out a low growl, he licked at the roof of her mouth passionately, tasting the odd combination of fruity concoctions she’d drank earlier. It was like the secret to the universe would be found if he kept kissing her, his hips bucking slightly upwards and hers grinding down lightly into his.
Both of their bodies were set alight in the span of a few moments, electric shocks being sent out from the heat pooling in their bellies all the way to the tips of their toes and the ends of the ears.
So much for just friends.
Alex stroked at the skin of his flat stomach, playing with the waistband of his joggers, eliciting a gasp from him as he curled the hand in her hair even further. She slid her tongue across his hungrily, pulling him up toward her and arching her body into his. Their chests brushed against each other’s and he moved the hand in her hair downward to the hem of her shirt, lifting it up slightly.
Gasping, Alex was the first to break away, backing away from him, all the while breathless and panting from the action before.
Clearly distraught and attempting to gather herself, she stood up and grabbed her wallet and room key off the couch.
“So, um, I guess that would be enough for fifty quid, yeah? I mean, I wouldn’t know or anything, I’ve never used kissing as a substitute for money before, but, erm, yeah.” She was shaking a bit as she padded over to the door to leave.
Drawing in a deep breath to make up for all the previous happenings, Matt straightened up and stood as well. Fumbling with his trousers in a useless attempt to will away the growing bulge under them, he answered, equally nervous, “Yeah, I guess - I mean, I honestly wouldn’t know either but I’m sure that would, um, make up for it, I think.”
Turning around quickly, she said “So, uh, I guess this is goodnight then,” avoiding his gaze all the while.
He avoided looking at her too, shoving his hands which were curling into nervous fists again into his pockets. “Yeah, uh, goodnight Alex.”
And with that, she was out of the suite in the fraction of a second. Her room was only a few doors down, but she stopped outside just outside the door and slumped against the wall, taking several big, deep breaths.
What the hell was that?! She muttered to herself, running a still shaking hand through her hair and dropping down onto the carpet below her.
On the other side of the wall, Matt was just as much a mess as she was. Falling down onto the couch behind him, he leaned forward, one hand running through his hair nervously and the other acting as a perch for his face as he too drew in several deep breaths.
Tomorrow was going to be a very weird day.