Toby came into her hotel room without knocking, using the extra keycard she had given him---so she wouldn't have to listen to his incessant banging every time he had something to tell her.
"You're reading that book... again?" he asked in a disgusted tone of voice, when he saw her stretched out on her bed, propped against her pillows.
CJ looked up, letting her glasses slide down her nose a little bit so she could look over their frames. "Yes, again," she said as she smiled. "Do you have a problem with me appreciating talented writers?"
"CJ, it's a kid's book! A book for people who are under the age of... of... twelve!"
She chuckled. "Toby, I read it for the adult characters... as much as I read it to escape everyday life."
"Who? The nutty old professor?" he inquired. "CJ---"
"Actually, Snape's my favourite," she cut in, grinning a little.
"The... the evil guy?"
She nodded and crossed her legs at her ankles. "Yeah... but I don't think he's evil," she murmured as he approached the bed. "I think... I think he's just misunderstood. And he's one of the few characters that can do what's necessary to beat the bad guy, without feeling guilty." She pushed herself up into a sitting position. "I've always had a weakness for curt, cunning, and caustic men, besides."
"Not to mention for men in intelligence, and this guy's supposedly some sort of double agent," Toby added.
"I do not have a weakness for spies!" she said, laughing a little.
"Oh, yeah? What about our maligned little brothers?" he inquired as he sat down on the edge of the bed, so he could turn his body to face hers. "Did you forget about your ode to them?"
She shook her head. "Nah... but that's not exactly a weakness." She shrugged. "I like how dark he is... how stern. And there should be more of him in these books."
"It's called 'Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire,' not 'Severus Snape and the Goblet of Fire.'"
CJ laughed and shrugged. "Oh well... a girl can dream," she murmured. She smiled and batted her lashes at him; he groaned because they both knew what she was going to do next. "Wanna do me a favour? You could write 'Severus Snape and the Goblet of Fire' for me in your spare time, you know..."
"There are other things I'd rather do in my spare time," he said, scoffing a little.
"But, then, I could appreciate your talent even more," she bargained.
She grinned when she saw Toby's cheeks flush under his beard. He ducked his gaze away from hers and shook his head slightly as he chuckled.
"I don't think I could handle anymore appreciation, Claudia Jean," he said after a moment.
CJ leaned forward and put her hands on his chest. She slid them to his shoulders and then she braced herself as she managed to slide into his lap, straddling him with her long legs.
She pouted. "Too bad," she purred quietly, "because I read the latest draft of the President's speech, and it was very good... it put me in an appreciative mood."
After he lifted his head, she watched the wheels in his head turning and contemplating her words. He swallowed hard and licked his lips; she felt her pace quicken in reaction.
"Yeah?" he asked in a gruff voice.
CJ nodded and lowered one of her hands to toy with the buttons of his shirt. "Feel like being appreciated, Mr. Ziegler?"
"As long as you put that book away," he bargained.
With a grin, CJ tossed the book on the floor and pushed with her hands, so he fell backwards and landed on the bed.
