The no cut a little deeper than it probably should have. But he listened intently to her words. It had nothing to do with him, but it was her. And she was afraid of what would happen if....if what? He bit his lip and he thought it over for a second.

"You're worried about the energy-draining thing, aren't you?" he asked after a moment. "That's why you never lie still after....you know. I understand, but you don't have to let that rule your life."

He looked at her as he bit his lip again, then broke eye contact and looked away for a few moments. "What if we found something else together? Two bedroom, maybe?" He looked at her again, shrugging. "Or I could just drop it, and you can bring it up when you're ready, okay?" He leaned over and kissed her cheek.

As soon as she finished speaking, Lee dropped her eyes back down to her beer bottle, focusing on it as she took a sip. And then he asked the question, and Lee’s eyes slipped closed as she nodded. Of course it was the energy draining thing, what else could it be that she was so worried about?

”Because I have too much energy to be able to say still afterward,” she said, her voice quiet, her eyes still closed. ”I’m not letting it rule my life, I don’t exactly have a choice. I don’t even know what would happen if I take too much energy, and how would either of us know if I’m taking too much if we’re asleep?”

Lee bit her lip again as she finished speaking, but as she heard Jason’s voice again, Lee’s eyes shot up to look at him. ”A two-bedroom?” Lee questioned, confused at first, but quickly catching on to what Jason was thinking and a smile slowly curled the corners of her lips. ”You’d actually be ok with something like that?” She asked, smiling a bit wider when she felt the soft kiss on her cheek. ”I doubt that’s what you had in mind when you asked me.”

He nodded at her words, looking at her thoughtfully. "You may not be letting it rule you, but the neat thing I've learned about mutations is there are generally ways to work with them," he said, her no not really getting to him this time. He knew her motivations after all, her heart.

"Yeah, I'd be up for something like that. We'd share a decent living space, but with our own private rooms to sleep so you don't have to worry about siphoning too much from me," he said softly. He smiled at her question, chuckling a bit. "What I had in mind, was you having somewhere to live that I didn't have to worry about the roof caving in or something. What I had in mind....was somewhere where we could be together. Just the two of us," he murmured softly, leaning in to kissing her again.

Just like when he was trying to talk her into trying a relationship with him, Jason tried to tell her that there were often ways to work around mutations. ”I’m really not sure about that,” Lee said, glancing over at Jason before looking down at her beer again. ”But I’m glad that you talked me into giving this a go. Even if we don’t find a way around it.”

Jason didn’t even seem to hesitate in answering her question. Slowly, Lee’s eyes moved up and over to look at Jason, a small smile crossing her face as he continued to speak. ”Just the two of us…” Lee whispered as she saw Jason leaning closer to her. Leaning into him as they kissed, Lee brought her empty hand up to the back of his neck.

Pulling back finally, Lee just sat and smiled at Jason for a moment. ”I have to say, I do like the idea of just the two of us,” Lee finally whispered. ”And that’s something I never thought I’d even think, never mind say to someone.”

"I'm glad you went along with it," Jason murmured as he leaned into her a bit. "You know, my job has made me quite gifted at finding ways around things," he said with a smile.

When the kiss broke, he leaned his head against her shoulder. Just the two of us. He loved the sound of that. "I like it too. Whatever becomes of all of this...as long as it ends with me and you together, I'm happy," he murmured softly, kissing her cheek.

Jason said that his job had made him good at finding his way around things, around problems and mutations. Though Lee didn’t think that there really was a way around her siphoning, that there wouldn’t be a way that they would ever be able to actually sleep together, there was a part of her that hoped that Jason was right.

But Lee wasn’t able to say anything about that before the kiss. After, it was a whole different conversation, and after setting her beer bottle on the table, leaning her head against Jason’s as her hand reached for one of his. Then Jason was moving, and Lee lifted her head to look at him. Just for him to lean in to kiss her cheek. Lee smiled.

”I don’t know how you do it, but you make me feel optimistic about things I never thought I would be able to,” Lee said with a small smile. Then she leaned in to kiss Jason again. ”Like the idea that the just two of us is an incredibly wonderful idea.”

Jason's gears were turning; in time he'd know more about her mutation, and thus he'd have time to find a way around it. But for now, the two bedroom seemed like a good bet. They could coexist, that he knew; they'd been doing that since they got together.

He relaxed against her, listening as she spoke. He thought carefully, smiling a wide grin as he thought about how his life had changed since they'd met. It was rather amazing, to be honest.

"Everyone needs something to look forward to; to hope for. For me, that was you. I just didn't necessarily realize it the first time I saw you. But now...I wouldn't change anything," he murmured, his voice almost a whisper.

Lee smiled wider as she heard Jason speaking. Beyond not losing her job or being evicted because people found out about her mutation, or worse, Lee hadn’t hoped for much over the last ten years. But now, with Jason, she realized that she was. It was nice.

Pulling her legs up onto the couch, curled up beside her, Lee leaned against Jason, resting her head against his shoulder. The smile still on her face, Lee’s eyes slipped closed and she let out a happy sigh. This was so nice, so relaxing, and part of Lee couldn’t believe that she had missed out on this kind of thing for so long. Then again, she hadn’t known Jason then.

”So,” Lee said after a minute or so of simply sitting there. ”What do you want to do with the rest of our night?”

He too, closed his eyes, enjoying the closeness, just the intimacy of the moment. Curled up on the couch, just the two of them, no worries about anything for the time being. The problem Jay'd left behind would still be waiting when he got home. Whenever that may be. If this moment had lasted forever, Jason wouldn't have complained; it was nice. Perfect, even. Sure the apartment was barely fit to live in, if at all, but...it was still perfect.

Her voice eventually broke the silence, and he smiled as he opened an eye to look at her. "I'm not sure, honestly. All I know is I don't plan on going home tonight," he murmured, wrapping an arm around her to rest on her waist.

Lee's eyes were still closed when she felt Jason's arm wrapping around her just holding her as they sat. Was this what it would be like living together, she wondered, moments like this, just being together? Since Jason was alright with the idea of having separate bedrooms so she didn't have to worry about what might happen if they somehow both managed to fall asleep near each other, Lee was perfectly fine with it.

Then Jason said that he wasn't planning on going home that night, though he didn't know what else to do at that moment. Lee had already known for hours that she wasn't going to be sleeping that night. No, more than that, she had known before she had even gotten to Jason's apartment that she wouldn't be sleeping. But just knowing that he wanted to stay made her feel better. And despite the problems they had had, it had turned out to be a good night.