“I still find myself falling asleep with you on my mind,” Ruth admitted, swallowing back an unexpected lump lodged in her throat, “I just keep seeing you, you know? Out there all alone, waiting and waiting for us to come back.”
“And I did, Ruth,” Melanie whispered, gently reminding her with her touch, too, as she reached out and hugged her tightly.
“Thank god for that,” Ruth exhaled shakily and laughed a little, “If you hadn’t, I’m not sure what I would’ve done.”
“You could survive without me,” Melanie insisted as she pulled back.
“No,” Ruth shook her head, “No, I really couldn’t. None of us could.”
Melanie deliberated for a moment, before deciding to lean in and kiss the other woman’s forehead.
Ruth stared at her in confusion afterwards and asked, “And what was that for?”
Melanie shook her head a little, smiling shyly, “No reason. But I’m here, and I’m not planning on going anywhere.”
“Thank god for that,” Ruth breathed.
Melanie wasn’t entirely surprised when the other woman kissed her.
She wasn’t entirely surprised that she kissed her back, either.
Anya is live and ready to show you everything. Watch her strip, dance, and perform exclusive shows just for you. Interact in real-time and make your fantasies come true.
✓ Live Streaming✓ Interactive Chat✓ Private Shows✓ HD Quality✓ Free Actions
Free to watch • No registration required • HD streaming
Bennett gently ran his fingers up and down Melanie’s spine. She sighed, burrowing her face closer into the crook of his neck, draped over him in her bunk while they cooled down.
“You’ll find your way back to me,” he murmured into the silence, “I know you will.”
She stiffened against him; his rhythm against her back faltered and then quickly resumed, relaxing her once more. She wasn’t sure if he’d intended to reassure her or him, but when he said it… she could almost believe him.
She inhaled the scent of him and sighed into his skin, “I love the optimism.”
He chuckled softly, the reverberations of it against her making her smile and kiss his skin. It was the closest either of them had ever gotten to saying I love you, but neither of them commented on it, or said that phrase.
Instead, they drifted into silence, Ben’s fingers on her spine absently tracing shapes now, too— hearts, mostly, but some circles, and one time what she could’ve sworn was an infinity symbol.
She closed her eyes, and memorized the feeling— the feeling of being so genuinely loved that the exact words weren’t necessary.
Anya is live and ready to show you everything. Watch her strip, dance, and perform exclusive shows just for you. Interact in real-time and make your fantasies come true.
✓ Live Streaming✓ Interactive Chat✓ Private Shows✓ HD Quality✓ Free Actions
Free to watch • No registration required • HD streaming
"You don't have to act like you're okay" with Melanie and Bennett
From here.
The first anniversary of departure was rough on everybody. Melanie spent the entire day in a daze, unable to bring herself to do more than run on autopilot. The few who were celebrating made her vaguely nauseous; she wasn’t sure how anyone could be happy about the end of the world. Then again, they’d survived a year, and almost three full revolutions-more than what she’d allowed herself to hope for.
She sat at her desk, staring blankly at a pile of reports. There was no way in hell that she was going to manage to sleep tonight, but Bennett had taken one look at her and refused to vacate the helm. And so now she sat, nursing her second glass of whiskey, trying to comprehend system reports through the fog of grief that had filled her since that morning. He had been gracious enough not to comment when she’d come in for a refill.
The knock on her door startled her, and for a moment she debated responding or not. She knew if she didn’t that he wouldn’t hold it against her, but she was curious what he wanted.
“Come in,” she told him, and he did.
There was concern on his face as he stood in front of her. She sighed, sure that she was in for a lecture about bad habits.
Instead, he said, “You don’t have to act like you’re okay.”
“Ben,” she stated, his name a warning to drop it.
He didn’t, “You don’t have to talk to me about it either, but we’re on an okay enough stretch of track if you want to spend an hour or so with another human being. We don’t have to talk at all, if that’s better for you. But I hate the idea of you being alone in here.”
Guilt settled in her belly at her earlier exasperation, and her voice was soft when she relented, “If you can agree to drinking and not talking, I’d be okay with that.”
“Deal,” Bennett’s mouth quirked up a bit, “But I’m stopping after one. Someone needs to drive the train.”
Melanie nodded, “Go get a drink then.”
He did. They ended up talking a little-though not about anything serious, or related to departure. But nevertheless, it was nice to not feel so lonely; she hadn’t fully realized just how alone she’d felt until then.
Melanie paced around her cramped, messy quarters like a caged animal; Bennett stood with his back against the map on her wall, arms folded over his chest, a concerned frown on his face. She’d left the engine in a daze, clearly overwhelmed; he’d needed to make sure that she was okay. She stopped suddenly, turning and considering him for a moment.
“Did you need something?” she asked, shifting back to the woman who kept them all alive.
He shook his head, then shrugged, “I just wanted to make sure you’re doing alright.”
She snorted, “You don’t need to worry about me.”
“Someone has to,” he insisted, and they both fell silent at that-it felt more like an admission than either of them were comfortable with.
“Look,” she sighed, “I appreciate it. But you really don’t have to, Ben.”
He made his way to her, slowly, and only spoke when he was directly in front of her, “Mel…”
She didn’t let him say anything else, acting on impulse instead and wrapping her arms around him. He stiffened, startled, and then relaxed, cautiously returning the hug. His hand rubbed awkward circles into her back; she closed her eyes and burrowed her face further into his chest.
“I don’t want to screw this up,” she whispered after a little while; he knew that she was talking about the train.
“Look at me, Mel,” Bennett murmured, and when she did he continued, “You are doing your best to keep us all alive, okay? You’re the only person I believe in to do that.”
Melanie nodded, after assessing how serious he was, “I appreciate that. But can we just… not talk about it, for a bit?”
“Of course,” he didn’t hesitate to reply.
She sat on her bed, he on her desk chair, and they found other things to talk about, until Melanie felt less lonely and as relaxed as she could ever feel aboard Snowpiercer.
“Oh, no,” Melanie’s eyes widened as she shook her head, “Sorry, but no.”
“Melanie, please,” Layton dropped what he was holding onto the engine floor, “You’re my only hope.”
Javi and Bennett exchanged glances, silently debating whether or not to get involved in whatever the hell was happening.
“Just because I had a kid doesn’t mean that I know anything about that,” she gestured wildly to the standard issue crib set Snowpiercer had given him, its parts scattered about haphazardly now, “Oh no. I took one look at the instructions on how to build Allie’s, and conveniently forgot to set it up until I was ready to pop and someone else had to do it for me. No.”
Bennett took one look at the desperation on Layton’s face and tentatively offered, “I can try my hand at it, if you’d like.”
Layton shot him a relieved look, “Yes. Please, yes.”
Bennett nodded, getting up and making his way cautiously to the pile, wondering how the hell it was meant to be assembled into anything resembling a crib.
~
At some point, Javi had joined Bennett and Layton on the floor. Melanie alternated between watching out the helm’s window and turning the chair to watch the others, an amused expression on her face every time she did so.
“You could give us a hand you know,” Bennett said at one point, meeting her eyes.
She smirked, “I’m good here.”
“You just like watching us suffer,” Javi grumbled.
“Hey,” she put up her hands placatingly, “The three of you seem to have this, but if I’m wrong about that…”
“Someone should probably be driving the train,” Layton chimed in in an attempt to keep the peace; the other men glared at him.
Melanie, delighted, shot him an approving smile, “Thank you for that.”
“At least help us carry it back to his quarters later,” Javi begged as she turned to face the window again.
“I’ll see if my schedule’s clear,” she retorted without looking back at them.
Bennett caught Javi’s eye and they exchanged a look, Layton glancing between them for a moment trying to understand what was being said. Before he could ask, however, Bennett was standing. He watched the lanky man put a finger to his mouth to preemptively shush him; when satisfied that Layton would be quiet, Bennett slowly crept up behind Melanie.
He leaned down, whispering something in her ear and jumping back when she flew out of her skin at the unexpected sound. Layton and Javi watched for a moment as she turned her chair around and she and Bennett got lost in some sort of play argument, laughing more than shouting.
“Damn,” Layton chuckled, shaking his head a little in disbelief as he returned to the task at hand.
“What?” Javi’s brow furrowed.
“Are they always like this? I didn’t know that she could laugh that much,” Layton looked at the people in question again, nodding slightly to indicate what he meant. Though Javi and Layton couldn’t hear what was being said at the helm, it was clear that they were having fun.
“Oh,” Javi shrugged, “Yeah, I guess.”
“Must be annoying sometimes,” Layton tried.
“Here, give me that,” Javi mumbled absently, waiting for Layton to hand him the requested part before answering, “Sometimes, yeah, it really is. They’re kind of idiots.”
Layton snorted, “Not sure that she’d take too kindly to being called that.”
Javi smiled for a moment, a barely perceptible thing, “She’s alright with it. They’re idiots, but they’re my idiots. Don’t you dare tell them that I said that, or I’ll throw you into compost.”
“No,” Javi shook his head, and then met his eyes, “But that’s not always a bad thing.”
“It isn’t,” Layton agreed; he surveyed their handiwork and blinked in surprise, “Hey, are we actually done?”
“Huh,” Javi blinked, “We are.”
“Damn,” Layton grinned, “You got skills.”
“Thanks,” Javi smiled back, “Sometimes, being a complete nerd comes in handy.”
“I’ll say,” Layton looked at him proudly.
Javi, about to speak, was cut off by the other two people in the room, oblivious to their triumph and on a collision course with what they’d built. He yelled, “Hey, watch it! Otherwise Layton and I will goof off while you put it back together.”
“Sorry,” Melanie grinned sheepishly, out of breath. They’d stopped so short she’d ended up smacking into Bennett, who had reached back for her hand to steady her. He let go under the unimpressed gazes of Javi and Layton.
“Well since you didn’t break it, you can help Layton take it back to his place. I’m done. I have the train,” Javi told them, standing.
“I got it,” Melanie told Bennett before he could even think to speak, and looked at Layton, “Ready?”
“Yeah,” he nodded, standing too, “Thanks.”
“Sure,” she replied easily.
They took opposite ends of the relatively compact piece of furniture and lifted, awkwardly shuffling out of the engine. Bennett took his usual seat. When Layton and Melanie had disappeared, Javi turned around. They looked at each other for a while.
Then, they laughed at the absurdity of the situation.
