A few days of gardening work, guard duty, and post-apocalyptic interior decorating later, Rebecca woke to Sam's good-morning kiss. She contentedly lost herself in that hazy bliss, then was abruptly aware of a sharp jab in her side. Naturally, she frowned as she rubbed her bleary eyes and lifted her head. "Hey! What was that for?"

Sam was propped up on an elbow and indignantly glared right back at Rebecca. "You fell back asleep!"

"Well—" Rebecca let out a disgruntled sigh as her head fell back to the pillow. "Next time wait until I wake up a little more or something."

"Hrmph." Sam settled closer again with her own grumble, but nuzzled Rebecca affectionately anyway. "Fine, next time I won't try to rouse you so gently." Beneath the sheets, Sam danced her fingers across Rebecca's abdomen, following the exposed lane between hem and waistband until dangerously near to a ticklish area below her ribs.

Deciding it was best to simply ignore the bait, Rebecca slid her arm around Sam as if the encroachment had been entirely benign. The weather was finally nice enough they didn't inevitably wake up huddled close for warmth anymore — it had been a lovely relief to shed a few layers of blankets and fall asleep with a hand flopped over her head, or half a leg sticking out from under the covers.

That did not detract from her belief that a little bedtime and wakeup snuggling was vital to starting the next day in a good place. It also didn't change the fact that Sam always seemed a little hornier than usual when she was still half asleep. In fact, the less conservative sleepwear accompanying the warmer nights only seemed to encourage her.

Rebecca conceded a few minutes of mildly provocative affection — certainly a pleasant enough way to chase away morning grumpiness for both of them — before eventually swatting Sam's wandering hand away from her leg.

When she pushed herself upright with a smirk, Rufus popped up excitedly from his new bed by the open balcony door, eager for his morning trip outside. Finding supplies to make sliding screen doors for the unfinished apartments late in the prior year was finally paying off a delayed boon. They all seemed to enjoy the breeze, but Rufus especially so, and Rebecca felt much better having him between them and the open door as they slept, even four floors up.

As he loped over, she fumbled out of bed, reached for a pair of sweatpants to tug on, and scoffed quietly at the completely predictable whistle behind her. Somewhere amongst returning Sam's earlier affections, Rebecca had remembered that it was the day Ronnie had agreed they could drive over to the 'homesteads' across from the airfield base. Sam would be getting ample eyefuls to keep her happy when they indulged in the mythical swimming pool.

She shot a little affectionate look back over her shoulder as she ushered Rufus into the hallway. "Think you can get something going for breakfast, and then we can finish packing?" Rebecca still had lingering worries that Sam's exuberance was manufactured, a veneer covering lingering aches. Maybe a shell was a better metaphor. But like a few extra morning smooches, she could leave Sam that grace too, as long as it didn't get to the point it seemed like she was deceiving herself instead of just treading water. Lord knows I've been on both sides of that line plenty of times.

Sam was making a show of pouting as she fixed a wayward tank top strap. But, her expression morphed into a coy smile. "Sure, sugar. Have a nice little stroll with the meathead."

Rebecca let their gazes linger for another moment while she shrugged a hoodie on over her old, familiar t-shirt, then blew Sam a kiss on the way out of the apartment.

**

By the time Sam heard Rebecca's keys in the door, she was flicking water at a pan over the balcony's smaller fire pit. It danced and hissed satisfyingly, so she picked up a waiting bowl from the diminutive glass-topped patio table and ladled a DVD-sized blob of batter into the pan.

If Rebecca hadn't made so much fun of her for using a laser-aimed infrared thermometer to check the pan temperature previously, maybe they wouldn't have to settle for the archaic custom of accepting the first attempt never coming out properly. But, the many benefits of having your own cute non-engineer partner did come with some compromises, and Rufus didn't mind disposing of the inevitable unevenly cooked sacrifice. I suppose Sue can take care of the rodent patrol and Rufus can continue his duties as our garbage disposal and crumb sweeper.

She managed to restrain herself to only the tiniest of pointed smirks as Rebecca stepped onto the balcony and hugged her from behind. Sam leaned into the kiss on her cheek and chuckled at Rebecca's accompanying enthusiasm.

"Oooh, pancakes? You spoil me, Rosie."

"Oh, I know I do." Sam nudged free of her arms to take the bowl back inside, away from any bugs and above canine nose height. "I'm well aware of the kind of appetite you have in the mornings."

Rebecca arched an eyebrow as she passed Sam towards the kitchen, probably to start retrieving dishes or get some tea going, and nodded towards the bedroom. "You're one to talk."

"Pfft. I set that one up for you."

"And you'd have been disappointed if I didn't take advantage of it. Or you."

Sam gestured around with a raised hand. "And, thus, I'm very content with the way this morning is started." She let the flirty note fade out of her voice and nodded at the small mess of measuring cups, eggshells in another mixing bowl, and an open bag of flour on the counter. "Since we'll hopefully get milk that isn't from powdered cows soon, I figured we could dip into a bit of the reconstituted stuff, and hiding it in batter is way better than poured over past-due cereal."

Rebecca eyed the disarray on the counter and fought an amused smile as she put the flour away. "I wish you were as tidy in the kitchen as at a workbench. But, you're feeding me, so I can't bitch too much."

"Food, our common love language since day one, huh?"

"Heh. Yeah." Rebecca looked at her with a warm nostalgic smile, and Sam soaked it right up, also taking a moment to think back to the gradually more frequent happy moments of their early days.

They returned to the balcony just in time for the first pancake to come off the fire, cooling for a while. Soon they sat down to plow through a pair of short stacks, and Rebecca tossed the (apparently literal) throwaway to Rufus like a frisbee as they did, prompting Sam to giggle at them both. She had saved a surprise for the real batch, throwing a fistful of chocolate chips into the bowl while Rebecca wasn't looking. This earned another kiss on her cheek, though she definitely received satisfaction from their presence herself. In the continued absence of maple syrup, she'd started to grow weary of using honey to sweeten up breakfasts.

Whenever meal preparation didn't require both of them, one of the routines they'd settled into was the other tackling the cleanup. Rebecca feigned an exaggerated sigh as she collected their plates and shook her head grimly on her way to the kitchen. Sam replied with a smile that carried a just a hint of apology across the breakfast bar. "Do you want me to help, Remy?"

Rebecca's facade cracked as her stern expression slipped. "Nah, it's alright. I can ride the high from that chocolate for a while."

Sam chuckled under her breath. "Okay. I'll go finish packing then."

Rebecca nodded with another smile, tucking her hair back before turning the sink on. She briefly glanced back up at Sam twice while starting to rinse out their mugs, but didn't shift full attention to her work until Sam started to turn away towards the bedroom.

Sam felt a little flush of tranquility at the sound of her love's tuneless humming as she walked away, and laughed at herself when she realized she was drumming her fingertips on her sternum, near the core of the sensation. She wasn't the one who wore a deeply personal token there and fidgeted with it all the time!

They both kept a pack fully loaded and ready by the bedroom door, but those were for grab-and-go emergencies. With the military base right across the road, and Ronnie's insistence they take the hulking Oshkosh truck and its massive rear cargo area (and literal tons of armor plate and weaponry), their supplies could take on a more leisurely note.

Two gym bags sat half-full on their dressers, and Sam set to topping them off. She changed into 'street clothes', then an extra towel, toiletries, and her sleepwear left just enough room for Rebecca's pajamas in one. She stuffed another towel into the second bag, then searched a dresser for where their bathing suits ended up several months ago. Her fingers eventually hooked a familiar black elastic strap, and it helped guide her to the rest of her prizes.

Her top came up first, a long-lined ruched halter that covered her from collarbone to waist in the front, but left her entire back exposed beneath a network of criss-crossing straps. Those made it a pain in the ass to get on, but did a marvelous job of featuring her tattoo. Not a bad find in the same suburban sporting goods store they found her neoprene wetsuit in.

She chuckled while contemplating how the web-like appearance was so very appropriate given the way it reliably lured Rebecca in. Speaking of, Sam spotted the peach colors of Rebecca's suit in the same geologic layer of clothing, but first dug out her own matching square-cut shorts just to keep everything together.

Rebecca's was a more conventional two-piece with an underwire top and triangular bottom that was definitely more Laura-safe than a certain tropical island outfit. The rash guard she usually paired it with would help too — a snug shirt covered in a blue wave pattern print that blocked UV and, if dry, surprise breezes.

Sam eyed both garment sets speculatively; neither she nor Rebecca had put any thought into stepping on a scale over the winter — or much before that either. Maybe one upside to civilization's demise was the accompanying end of omnipresent appearance expectations purveyed by mass media. Meh. Everything else still fits, these should too.

She loosely folded it all and zipped up the bag, taking it out front along with one armful of their tactical gear. The end of her mouth quirked with amusement as she still heard running water and clinking plates through the hallway. When Rebecca looked up from the sink, Sam clicked her tongue at her in mock dismay.

"Jeez, honey. Taking your time with all that, aren't you?"

Rebecca stuck her tongue out. "Look, I had to do these without the usual pre-scrub from Rufus, okay? No matter how big his puppy eyes get, I'm not giving him chocolate, it's bad for him."

"Hmph. That just means you left some on your plate and didn't really appreciate my efforts." Rebecca's sullen glare was delicious as Sam set her load down on the cleared table, but softened at her approach. "Go, I'll finish up. Get dressed and grab the rest of the stuff, and then we can go check on Nate and the moms." She gently hip-checked Rebecca away from the sink, but glanced up questioningly when she lingered, drying her hands on the nearby dishtowel.

Rebecca was only a few inches away, looking back at Sam with puzzling intensity. She placed a hand on Sam's upper back and waist, gathering her close for a long single kiss, then rested their foreheads together. "Love you, Rosie."

Sam was confused, but enjoyed the affirmation. "Heh. Uh, okay." Her voice came out squeakier than she expected and she felt a bit foolish. "I love you too, sugar. Now scat, go get ready."

Gently snapping the dishtowel at Rebecca's retreating form restored a little bit of Sam's sense of control, and the grin they exchanged stayed on her face until well after Rebecca had disappeared down the hallway.