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“Come on,” she said, holding her hand out in the air. “I’ll rub your neck.”
After a momentary pause, she felt Saff’s arm hook around her hand.“You sure?” she asked, hesitantly. “You seem tired.”
Maddie gave her an appreciative smile as she stepped forward. “I’m sure. Besides, it sort of calms me down before bed, too.”
Saff pulled her forward, leading them slowly through the house.
A door creaked open before Saff muttered, “Stairs.”
They descended side-by-side, and after just a few steps, Maddie could feel the clear drop in temperature. She made a mental note to make sure Saff had enough blankets before she left.
They reached the bottom, and Saff stopped. Then a click, and she blinked as an orb of light appeared somewhere in the top center of the darkness.
“So how is it?” Maddie asked tentatively.
Saff’s arm shrugged beneath her hand. “Not bad.”
Maddie grimaced. “Must be really bad if you didn’t even call it ‘fine’.”
Saff chuckled beside her, and Maddie’s frown instantly morphed into a satisfied smirk.
“Wanna sit?” Saff asked, coughing through the words.
Maddie nodded and walked forward with Saff until her knees hit the edge of the couch. She sat down, her hand skimming over the scratchy surface of the fabric.
“Sure you don’t want to share the bed?” she grumbled in disgust.
Saff let out another cough. “Its fine.”
“Right,” Maddie muttered, removing her palm from the cushion and wiping it against her pants.
She listened to Saff settling in the room. Then, after a few moments, Saff brushed against her legs as she felt her sit on the ground in front of her.
She felt her shifting, and Maddie leaned forward, her hands easily finding her shoulders. Then she gently pulled Saff’s shoulders back to rest between her thighs, trying and utterly failing to ignore the electricity that sparked in her stomach at the contact.
Maddie moved her hands along Saff’s shoulders, kneading her fingers through the tight muscles. Her hands touched Saff’s wet hair, and she gently brushed it to the side, hooking it around to the front of her shoulder.
It reminded her of when they’d crossed the river.
Things had felt so different then, at least to her. But even now, the memory of Saff slipping in the river, her body shaking with fever, set her on edge.
“It's weird,” Saff whispered, breaking Maddie from the unpleasant memory.
“What is?”
“All of it,” Saff exhaled. “How normal everything seems.”
Maddie nodded. She’d felt out of place after only a handful of weeks without a settlement. She couldn’t imagine how it must’ve felt for Saff.
“You never wanted to find a group or settlement to join before?” Maddie asked, slowly trailing her fingers up into Saff’s wet hairline.
Saff was quiet for a few moments, and when she finally spoke, Maddie could hear a change in her voice. “I thought about it. Once.”
The way she spoke reminded her of the morning she’d awoken to Saff yelling in her sleep. And now she recognized what it was.
Vulnerability.
Saff coughed, then cleared her throat.
