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Simon was halfway to kicking his shoes off before he remembered that Janine took the carpet out. Not to mention the rubble everywhere. Sue him, he had other thoughts on his mind. He sighed a little, making sure it was mental and not outward. Janine was the least happy with the state of her family home, but she had been so busy getting Abel back on its feet she hadn’t had time to clean up her own place.
He missed it though. Before the rocket launcher attack Janine’s home had been like a sanctuary of Pre Grey Plague time. Like a time capsule, a little bit of normal kept perfectly preserved.
Simon set the key on the ring against the wall to let Janine know he was inside and made his way to the bedroom, happily taking his shoes off then and jumping onto the bed. He made a happy, blissful sound and sank into the numerous pillows Janine. It was much better than sleeping bags on the floor and squeaky cots.
He took a moment to roll over to the nightstand by the bed. Simon pulled open the top drawer, peering in; he wasn’t trying to peek, so to speak, but he pumped his fist in the air when he saw a healthy supply of condoms, then shut the drawer and rolled back over.
He half way dozed, keeping all of his clothes on except for his jacket and shoes; last time he’d stripped to nothing Janine had gotten mad. It’d felt too much like a booty call. They weren’t boyfriend and girlfriend; Janine had made that clear from the beginning. And for now, that was good enough. They didn’t have to talk about their feelings, not when either of them could get chomped by a zombie tomorrow. It was enough just to enjoy what they had.
He heard the door open and he sat up a little, smiling at Janine when she walked into her room.
“How was your day, honey?”
“That’s quite enough of that, Mr. Lauchlan,” Janine said as she climbed onto her bed to plant herself right in his lap, and kissed him.
So, rough day. Simon could fix that. He settled his hands on her hips, a little hum of contentment escaping him when she didn’t bat them away.
They were lazy, slow, content kisses. Simon had asked about her day out of courtesy and habit but now he was actually curious. He wanted to know what sort of day she’d had that had caused this. Most days Janine was rough, riding him for all he was worth. He reached up, taking the band out of her hair, and letting her ponytail out, enjoying the feel of her hair between his hands.
“You could simply ask next time,” Janine said, amused, as she reached back to keep her hair band from being lost, slipping it over her wrist.
“Didn’t want to interrupt,” Simon said, truthfully.
Janine gave a chuckle as she drew back to slip her hands under the hem of his shirt. She began to inch it up, her work hardened fingertips running along his sides. Simon obligingly raised his arms up so she could pull his shirt over his head.
He hesitated for a moment before working at the buttons on her shirt. Janine even let him slip it off from her without a word. She wasn’t wearing another shirt underneath like she usually did.
“Didn’t do your laundry?” Simon asked, only half joking.
“No,” she answered, leaning into him as he unhooked her brassiere and carefully placed it aside. “Been too busy.”
Her knees pressed tight against him as he began to lick at her breasts, his other hand playing with her nipple. Janine’s hands were in his hair, grasping and releasing handfuls of his hair but not so hard that it hurt.
He was growing hard slowly, but it was a good, steady burn. Janine would rut up against his cock now and then, not enough at the risk of getting him off, but just enough to get him going.
Janine ran her hands down past his trousers and pants to grip at his ass, and Simon took it as a sign that his pants needed to come off now. They pulled apart almost simultaneously to finish taking off the rest of their clothes and grab a condom.
Simon was ready to be pushed onto his back, or for Janine to roll them over so he could be on top, but neither happened.
“Just like this,” Janine said in a soft tone, breathless, low enough that even so close he almost didn’t hear her, and Simon didn’t argue as she sank down onto his cock. He waited till she settled and then drew her in closer, sighing in contentment at their closeness.
She didn’t start rocking him; it was more of a gentle rolling of her hips. Simon tried to match her, trying to avoid slamming up into her. She gripped his shoulders as his hands pressed against her thighs and ass. The gentler he was, the more she seemed to take it in.
They were kissing when she broke away, for once not bothering to try to stay quiet as she came. He could feel her orgasm across her whole body, entangled and pressed up as close as they were. He liked it.
She didn’t collapse into him like he’d thought she would. Instead she kept moving, waiting until he had also come.
The most Simon did was dispose of his condom before turning over and pressing right up against Janine again. They were both hot, and sweaty, but that didn’t seem to matter at the moment.
“That was…” Simon trailed off. Words like ‘awesome’ or ‘fantastic’ felt hollow right now. They were the kind of words he’d say after any old romp. But he also felt like he had to talk like he usually did; usually he would have been talking right through, as much as he possibly could.
Janine gave a hum, as if agreeing with him, but she said nothing more, as if that was enough. Simon wrapped his arm around her tighter. Considering they were both apparently content, it probably was, and they drifted off to sleep, still pressed up against one another.
At seven exactly, Simon began to wake up, carefully sitting up and stretching his arms out to avoid smacking Janine right in the face again. Janine was not in anyway shape or form an early riser, and she didn’t take to waking up nicely, especially with an elbow to the face. He hadn’t been kicked out for a week so much as he’d been afraid to come back after that time.
It was a bit of a surprise then to see Janine wide awake. She was sitting on the edge of the bed, a long sleeved shirt hastily thrown on, listening in through her own headset. Simon blinked a few times, and grabbed a pillow, lying back down down to watch her. There was little risk that he could hear from where he was. Janine gave him a small good morning wave but her attention was kept on whatever was being said to her.
Janine was in on all sorts of going ons, so it was probably someone important with something important. Simon didn’t care nor feel ignored. It was kind of nice hooking up with someone who had so much pull in the township. Not that he was planning to use that for anything malicious, or even irritating; it was just nice to know he had an in with someone who could make things happen.
After maybe ten minutes, of which Simon thoroughly enjoyed getting to stretch his legs out while being naked, Janine put the headset down.
“Morning,” Simon said immediately.
“To you as well. I’m afraid I’ll be leaving shortly. You may take the key with you for tonight.”
Simon didn’t answer back for a moment. He was awfully curious about what was going on, but he knew damn well that Janine would never tell him. And anyway there was always something going on.
“Sure thing, Jenny,” he said with a bright smile. She gave him a small smile back then disappeared into her closet to start getting ready.
Simon sank down into the pillows for a moment more, before hopping out to grab his clothes. While he was perfectly welcome to stay for a while yet, and Janine didn’t mind since he wasn’t a snoop, he didn’t much like lazing around when there was so much to do. He wasn’t due for a run today, but there was always something for a physically fit person to do around the township.
As he stood in line for his breakfast he looked around for Jody, who promptly invited him to chop up some firewood. He agreed easily. They burned through wood like nobodies business after all. .
Simon hadn’t realized it at the time, since he was sort of busy being chased by zombies and guiding the surviving members of the Aurora to Abel, on top of the revelation that Runner Eight was alive, but for Janine to leave the comms shack in the smack middle of an an active mission should have been his first clue that something was off. He was on his way to Maxine, for the usual check over for zombie bites and injuries, when Sam called him in through the headset.
“Runner Three? Janine says you uh, well, I’m sure you know what this means because I haven’t got a clue, but she says you won’t need to use the key for today.”
Simon didn’t take much notice because that wasn’t unusual. Janine was a busy woman and the return of Runner Eight was probably something that had to be processed and what not. Okay, so he was a little put out, because good lord she was a stunning woman and he liked the sex. But it was the end of the world and he wasn’t going to throw a hissy fit.
“Right-o, Sam my man.”
“Do I want to know?”
“Classified,” he said, winking even though Sam couldn’t see him.
Sam mumbled something and switched his connection off. Sam wasn’t as well connected as Janine but he did man the headsets; and people weren’t always the best about turning it off, so he had a pretty good idea of what was going on. Or at least he could put two and two together sometimes. Nice that he kept it all to himself though. Simon changed the frequency to Radio Abel and wondered what it would take to bribe Jack and Eugene in regards to the song selection.
Even though Sara knew full well that Abel took a rocket launcher, she was still a little shocked to see how things were different. Of course, with the destruction, they were going to take the chance to move things around and upgrade as well as they could. She sort of missed the old Abel though; it was the home she’d clung to, when she’d been running from zoms, while she had been stuck out at sea, and through her voyage on the Aurora. That the reality didn’t match up with what she’d remembered was disconcerting, to put it mildly.
As she jogged up to Janine’s home, taking advantage of the grace period between curfew and dark to keep from prying eyes, she noted that from the outside it looked the same. Sara knocked on the door; before she’d had a key, but well, she hadn’t had one for a long time now. It had only been a few months, but in apocalypse time when any minute could have been, and almost was her last, things seemed so very long ago.
Janine opened the door, and for a moment, Sara was abruptly sure that she was going to slam it back in her face. But instead she stepped back to let her in, and closed the door behind her exactingly carefully. Janine was still in her everyday work clothes.
“Surprised to see me now?” Sara asked when Janine didn’t invite her further into the house. Sara glanced at the dirt floor, missing the carpet already. Carpet, of all the things she missed. It was always the little things.
“A suspicion, Ms. Smith, nothing more,” Janine said through a stiff jaw.
Sara frowned at the use of her last name. She shrugged and eyed the construction material sitting around the room.
“So. I’ve missed quite a bit, haven’t I? You want to bring me up to speed?”
“The Major-”
“I’ve already been debriefed, if that’s what you’re referring to. And if I recall correctly, you and I used to exchange quite a bit of intel, didn’t we?”
Janine bit her words back and settled for a stony look. She raised her eyebrows at Sara. “If you’ve been debriefed then why are you here?”
Sara didn’t move towards Janine. She was certain that she’d get rebuffed or pushed away.
“You know why,” Sara said in a soft voice. “We-”
“Shut up.” Janine narrowed her eyes and straightened further.
“Why?” Sara took a step forward, daring Janine to make another move. “What aren’t you telling me? I thought you’d be happy-” At that, Janine gave a harsh laugh, but she said nothing more so Sara went on. “We had procedures, rules, regulations to deal with things like this. I couldn’t come back, possibly bitten, during such chaos. I had to leave.”
“Of course you did,” Janine said, icily. “You left. For the sake of Abel. And then you came back.”
She said it like a damnation and it cut like one.
“Abel’s home now,” Sara murmured. She sighed deeply and looked at Janine, a little pleading and in disbelief. “What do you want me to say? I’m sorry for getting bit? For not wanting to bring that back into the township? For not wanting to endanger you like that? I’m not going to apologize for-”
Janine closed her eyes. “That’s not it.”
“Then what is it?” Sara demanded. She ran a hand through her hair and tried to take a breath to calm herself. “What’s wrong?! I’m listening, Janine. Right here, listening!”
“You and I, Ms. Smith,” Janine paused to wet her lips at Sara’s glare to the oblique reference to their relationship. Janine couldn’t seem to stop squirming, which made Sara all the more confused and worried, since she had never seen Janine act like this before. “The relationship we maintained can no longer continue.”
“That seemed pretty obvious, Ms. De Luca,” Sara said, her tone coming out stonier than she had meant.
“It can no longer continue because I’m currently involved with someone else.”
Sara was about to say something, to protest or insist it was a joke when her gaze landed on the familiar keyring on the wall. It was empty, at this hour. For a moment everything seemed really distant.
It had been her key, once. So she could come and be with Janine, away from the prying eyes of the whole township. Privacy was a valuable commodity nowadays. And Janine had been willing to share it with her.
“Oh,” she said dumbly. Janine was pointedly not looking at her, looking off to the side. “Well. I must say, that’s not exactly what I was expecting of you, Janine.”
“Meaning?” Janine asked softly. Sara would have snapped to attention at that but instead she laughed her next words.
“Come on, Janine. You wouldn’t even tell people about us. Not that I’m blaming you, I agreed. I thought it was to keep the runner rumor mill quiet, but I’m guessing that was never the case. Just wanted a quick and quiet shag, did you? Someone you could just take into bed and never give a damn about so you could move onto the next person with ease?”
Janine whipped around to look her in the eye, nearly hissing her words.
“Get out. Right now.”
“No, really, indulge me, Janine. How long did it take you to move on? Was it only a few days-” Before she could finish, Janine punched her, right in the face. Sara stumbled against the door, preemptively wincing, but no more blows came. Instead Janine closed the space between them and grabbed her shirt at the chest, using it to slam her against the door.
“You were dead, and I had to pick the pieces up of my home,” Janine snarled at her. “I had to do it alone! Abel wasn’t dead, and you left, you left me alone. I had to deal with survivors, with a entire township full of panicked and injured people, with those bloody people at New Canton, and you weren’t here.”
Janine didn't loosen her grip but she looked away.
“You were dead, Sara,” she said, her voice thick.
They didn’t speak for a long moment. Sara shifted a little, well aware that Janine’s grip hadn’t lessened.
“Hey,” she said softly, so that Janine would meet her eyes again. “I’m sorry. I didn’t-I just hadn’t thought about this happening. I wish I’d come back sooner, Janine, I do. I didn’t mean to be gone for so long.”
“I know.” And that was the thing. She did know. They both knew it all. That didn’t stop it from being a mess, and they knew that too, they knew it all.
“I’m glad you’re still here though.” Sara smiled, a touch sad. She chanced raising her hand enough to rest it against Janine’s cheek. “It kept me going, you know. Thinking about you here. Never thought I’d be like that, but, it helped.”
Janine’s grip softened.
“Yes. And you were dead.”
Janine kissed her before she could say anything else. Rough and still angry, because Janine didn’t talk about her goddamn problems like an adult. But it was better this way. Sara could feel her anger like this pressed up right against her skin and maybe she didn’t have to say anything in the end, because Janine had always been plain as day to her.
“I’m not dead. Never have been,” Sara said, breathless, but needing to say something.
“Shut up and strip,” Janine demanded, and Sara wanted to laugh because of course that’s what Janine would say. They finally broke apart and Sara had barely taken her shirt off before Janine was on top of her again, forcing her to the ground. Literally. She sat herself down right on Sara’s lap and grabbed her face, forcing her into another kiss, taking her breath away before she could even get it back. But everytime Janine pulled back to take a gasp of air, Sara would push forward, wanting her. Sara was here, she was back, and she wasn’t going to die now that she had Janine back in her arms.
“Oh god,” Sara moaned, digging her fingers into Janine’s hair. “I missed you, you grumpy-oh!”
Janine didn’t give her a chance to even get her trousers or pants off. She forced her hand down and not even the awkward position could get her to stop. Sara’s hips jerked forward as Janine began to roughly finger her clit, to get closer, and Sara grabbed onto Janine’s shoulders, digging her fingers into them.
Sara didn’t bother to stop from moaning; the good thing about Janine’s place was that they had actual walls. Not that Janine cared, the way she was right now. Janine watched her, hungrily devouring every movement, every sound, and the intense focus only heightened it all.
“Janine,” Sara groaned, as Janine stopped to slide her fingers down further, right into Sara’s cunt. She had a vague wish that she’d had time to take her bottoms off, because they were going to be a mess, but the thought quickly left her mind as Janine moved back up to her clit, this time slippery and smooth.
“Very good, Sara,” Janine said, her voice hot and thick. She leaned forward to press a firm kiss to Sara’s neck, and didn’t move away, keeping her lips right up against her skin. Sara could feel every breathe and it made her shiver, made her thrust her hips up harder each time. She could feel Janine smirk, and if she’d been a little more aware she would have seen the almost-pinch to her clit coming. Instead it was a surprise and she shouted, half in pleasure and pain, trying to move away but she was stuck between Janine and the wall.
“Please, please,” Sara began, but before she could really get into a rhythm of begging, Janine kissed her lips to stop her from babbling.
Sara threw her arms around her, clinging tight, groaning and shaking as she came. She stayed like that as her heart slowed down, hyper aware of Janine’s hands rubbing over her back and sides.
She hadn’t allowed herself to think of this. It had been too distant of a dream, too far away to even consider.
“Oh lord almighty,” Sara said in an exhale then drew back to playfully point a finger at Janine. “If we’re doing this again, I demand we do so on a bed. This floor is disgusting.”
“Is it,” Janine said absently, fingers drumming on Sara’s stomach, clearly itching to touch her breasts.
“I’m going to be digging mud out of my bum,” Sara bemoaned. “I don’t know when my next shower will be. Or if the showers still even work.”
“Oh good grief; of course the showers work. It was one of the first things I fixed. I’m not about to have a township full of smelly people,” Janine said, exasperated but friendly.
“I’m serious about the bed,” Sara said as she felt Janine’s thumb under the band of her sports bra.
Janine huffed but got up, pulling her along. She left Sara there leaning against the door, struggling with her half-on trousers, and began heading to her room, stripping off her clothes as she went along. It was downright unfair that she was composed enough to balance taking her pants off and continue walking smoothly.
“Hurry that up,” Janine called out, lightly, probably well aware that Sara was frozen in place, watching.
Sara prayed for endurance to last the night and hitched up her trousers up to veritably run after her.
Simon struggled to balance the two trays of food as he fiddled his key out of his pocket. The mornings hadn’t been cold enough to warrant a sweater, and he’d left his behind, though he sorely missed the pockets. He was pretty sure that these were ladies trousers, because the pocket was so tiny that the key had to be jammed in and then coaxed out.
Jody had explained that women’s clothes tended to be stupid in those matters, happily jamming her hands down the deep pockets of the men’s trousers she was wearing. It wasn’t exactly like they could be picky about their clothing, and there was no way Jody could have proved his were women’s or men’s wear since the wording on the tag had long since been washed off.
And they both agreed his ass looked fantastic in them so it was all a moot point.
Simon set his tray carefully on top of the other to open the door, hurriedly making his way in to place the two safely on the sofa. He put the key on the ring and grabbed the trays again, taking them to the dining room and setting them on the table. The coffee was still warm and he felt it was worth the risk to get Janine up a little early for it.
“Morning, Runner Three.”
Simon turned around and gaped at Sara, staring for a solid, uncomfortable minute. He’d been expecting to face the wrath of early morning Janine, not the unfathomableness that was Runner Eight. Sara watched him right back, though she began smiling after a while at the silence. Of course Eight would find his awkwardness funny.
“...Hi?” Simon offered, unsure of what more to say. Her hair was still messed up from sleep, and she was leaning from behind the counter, a water bottle in hand. He briefly wondered if this was where she’d slept; he hadn’t thought about where she would have spent the night. That wasn’t his job. But then, her old room didn’t exist anymore, obviously.
“Didn’t expect to see you here so bright and early,” she mused, capping the bottle. She had a contemplative look on her face and an odd smile on her face. Simon wondered if it was just that he’d forgotten her; she’d always been kind of shady, hadn’t she? Also, everyone had thought she was dead, so yeah, even though he’d been saved by her, it was still a bit of a shock to see her at all.
“Just bringing Janine a bit of breakfast in bed,” he said, attempting to grin. It probably didn’t come out at strong as he’d intended. Simon had a reputation and Janine had a sterling record, and those two were clashing rather badly right about now.
Sara raised her eyebrows, and fuck, did that make him feel like he’d been caught by the superintendent all over again. It didn’t matter anyway, because just then Sara chirped, ‘Morning!’ and Simon turned around to see Janine coming out of her room.
Janine had clearly just been asleep, half slouching and padding her way over, her robe open enough to reveal she wasn’t wearing anything under, but at seeing Simon, she stood straight up, fully awake. And Simon stared. He couldn’t stop himself because Janine’s hair was down, and the only time he had ever seen it down in all the time that he’d known her was after they had sex. He’d seen her tackle generators and zombies alike with a bouncing pony tail. He barely even noticed the conspicuous nudity.
“I think I’ll go put some pants on, give you two some time to chat,” Sara said, without any tact at all but meaning entirely well. Simon even missed as she passed him by to go into Janine’s room that she was apparently naked under her shirt, he was so busy gaping at Janine.
Janine didn’t say anything. She didn’t even move. Simon laughed nervously and waved, hopefully in the right direction of the food he’d brought in.
“I-I brought you breakfast? I thought...you know....um. I’ve got...a run...it’s not till later, I’ve still...still got some time, I know but...but I thought….but...um. Well, I don’t know what I thought anymore.” Simon said that last bit in a rush in a desperate attempt to stop his stuttering and lowered his eyes. Janine wasn’t saying anything and that just made it all the worse because Janine was never at a loss for words. Janine always had something to snap at or reprimand. She could have been scolding him for entering when they had no plans, for just barging in, for breaking the rules and convincing the kitchen staff to let him take Janine’s food when he had no authority to do so.
Janine shifted, as though she were unfreezing or resuming after a pause. “Thank you,” Janine said, without looking at it. Her voice seemed calm, but it was too robotic to be really called that.
Simon waited for more but nothing came. She was still just staring at him, wide eyed, and then, just like that, Simon didn’t want to hear whatever she said. He didn’t want to know any of this, didn’t want this to be happening.
“I’d better go,” he said, and with that he turned and fled. He didn’t wait for Janine to acknowledge his words, and if she said anything, he was gone before he could hear her. He needed to get out and away from the township and luckily in fifteen to thirty minutes, depending on the zombie outlook outside the walls, he would get to do just that.
“So that’s my rival for your affections,” Sara said the moment Janine returned to her room. She was mostly dressed, all ready for a run, or perhaps a work out, and she was reclining on the bed, expression slightly contemplative. And a touch amused.
Janine wanted to laugh. Or shoot everyone. It was amazing how often those two feelings intersected as of late. She opened the door to her closet and began digging around for something clean. Damn the apocalypse for bringing all of these people into her life.
“I hardly meant to keep Mr. Lauchlan’s identity a secret.” Janine didn’t meet her look though. She cleared her throat, furious at the way it wavered. “I simply meant to tell you rather than have it been surprised on us all.”
She was taking refuge in her closet, she knew, but she didn’t dare just change right in front of Sara at the moment. Feelings and relationship and sex they might have had but there was something piercing about the woman’s stare that she didn’t think she could fight against at the moment. And Janine had plenty to hide that precious few other people deserved to know about.
“He brought you your breakfast. That’s awfully sweet of him.” Sara called out.
It was, and it surprised Janine more than she cared to admit. Especially today of all days.
Simon had been an easy choice in terms of picking someone from the township who suited her desire for the comforts of intimacy without another close attachment such as she and Sara had shared. She slowed down as she buttoned the flannel shirt. They’d grown fond of each other, yes. Even she wasn’t so blind or stubborn as to refute that. But Simon had continued on with dalliances with other residents, and Janine hadn’t allowed herself to have been too bothered. If anything, he’d had to; it would have been too suspicious for him to stop otherwise.
That she had to tell herself that in the first place should have been a warning sign.
Janine stepped out to pick up her hairbrush and she began brushing out her hair harshly. Sara tsked at her and sat up to take it away, plucking the brush from her hand.
“You’ll rip your hair right out of your skull like that,” she said, putting a hand on her shoulder to get her to sit on the bed.
Janine was about to push her hand off but figured they might as well get it out now. Sara had always liked to do this for some odd reason.
“Our relationship was perfectly amiable for the both of us,” she said before Sara could begin.
Sara chuckled as she separated a strand to untangle.
“I don’t blame you, Janine. I’m old and stupid and sometimes, I get weird ideas in my head. It was stupid of me to think you’d be here holding a candlelight vigil for me every night. But it made me feel better.”
Janine frowned at that, not sure what to say in response. She decided to continue on as she was.
“The repairs to the township had- have been going on still. There’s always something to be fixed, of course. New Canton was...generous to take us in, in the immediate aftermath, and they have been invaluable assistance with the repairs of Abel. They may not be our enemy any longer but trust is something that they have not yet earned.”
“What does that have to do with Simon?”
“Because Mr. Lauchlan-”
“Just call him ‘Simon’ already.” Sara rolled her eyes. “If you can have sex with him you can damn well say his name.”
Janine didn’t react for a moment. This was not a conversation she wanted to have. This was not a situation she could have predicted.
“Simon was a solid candidate for a sexual partner.” Janine put as much force as she could into the name, well aware it would probably only make Sara laugh. She didn’t disappoint her. “And only as a sexual partner. It was a stressful time and intercourse has always provided a measure of comfort that I see no reason to abandon even in trying times.”
“If this was just about the ‘intercourse’ you would have bloody well said that from the start.” Sara didn’t sound mad. More like she was just already reverting to the tired tone she took at what she dubbed Janine’s emotional glass wall of absurdity. Janine had never appreciated the phrase. “I’d bet hard money you’ve handled the zombie apocalypse better than you’ve ever handled a relationship.”
“If you call taking a pragmatic approach to adversity-”
“Oh shut up,” Sara said in a joking tone, handing the brush back to her. “You know damn well what I mean. More importantly. Do I look like I’ve been well and truly shagged? First thing I’m going to do is go to Rajit and sign up for showers.”
Janine turned to look her over. “You ought to have said so. I can easily arrange that.”
“The sex or the showers?”
“Both.”
Sara grinned and leaned forward to kiss her cheek.
“I can handle the shower. But seriously, do I look it? We don’t need talk.”
Janine smiled a little, to cover her confusion. She straightened out Sara’s shirt. It was perfectly fine. But it would be awhile before Janine would stop wondering if Sara was truly back or if this was all a hallucination, and tactile touch was helpful in grounding the reality.
“Are we keeping this a secret again, then?” Janine asked.
Sara didn’t answer for a moment. “Old habits, I suppose. It’s just as well. I imagine Three will keep his mouth shut. And you…” Sara trailed off at Janine’s glare. But only for a moment as she then gave her an almost pitying look. “You have some things to figure out.”
Janine slipped her hairband off her wrist and did her hair up instead of answering that.
If there was one thing of the many things he missed after the zombie apocalypse, it was having his own goddamn room. Privacy was a thing of the past and by god, he missed it. He’d had plenty of time on his own right in the aftermath but solitude was not the same. He liked people. Just not constantly.
Sharing tents was a step too far, but what could they do? Housing would take time to build and while he was a runner, sure, there were people ahead of him who needed the walls. Not that it would be anything like in the old days. He’d still have to share anyway.
“Aren’t you supposed to be off by now?” Simon asked Jack who was sorting through the pile of cds and tapes they kept as spares in their tent. Eugene was sitting on the edge of their bed, surreptitiously sneaking unsavory tapes out whenever Jack wasn’t looking. Simon would have told Jack but he definitely saw Eugene take out a copy of something called ‘Lullabylooza’, and so he kept quiet.
“Ready to be rid of us?” Jack laughed as he made no move to hurry up.
“Like anyone could sleep with you making so much noise,” Eugene said as he eyed the bed full of discs and cassettes.
“You really think he’s trying to kick us out so he can sleep?”
“Can we pretend like he is?” Eugene tried to act casually but the tips of his ears were red. Which was really a riot, considering how often those two got it on, and that they had a verbal agreement with Simon on when it was safe for him to enter his own goddamn tent. Roman always stumbled in rather late, way after everyone was sound asleep, so he was spared from the agony of walking in on everyone’s favorite radio host couple. (Simon supposed one had to be more creative with only one leg and god was he never going to get that image out of his brain.)
Jack grinned but didn’t say anything more as he carefully lifted the pile of cases. Eugene was making one last ditch effort to keep ‘Romancing the 60s’ out.
“You going to listen in?” Jack asked Simon, eyes wide open and eager.
“Not a chance in hell,” Simon said with a laugh. No way in fucking hell is going to listen to Eugene and Jack while wanking off. That was just a level of awkward he never wanted to reach. “I get enough of you two during the day.”
Apparently there was some sort of game tournament going on and they were going to stay up alongside, giving updates and commentary and providing music. Or something. Simon didn’t really care, nor did he make any pretence. He had lucked out on getting an evening alone and he was going to enjoy the hell out of it.
It took them awhile yet, probably another forty five minutes or so before they actually left, but Simon didn’t mind. It always took Eugene a while; he was stable and comfortable with his crutches now, but his speed still left a lot to be desired.
Simon sighed and obligingly turned his headset on to listen for a while. Ideally he would have gone to visit Jody, but she was going to play as well, since she didn’t have a run till later in the afternoon. She was determined win. And she’s managed to coerce the best people into going with her, so Simon was shit out of luck in terms of people available at this hour for a romp in the sack.
He had done his teenage years of wanking. He was Simon Lauchlan, dammit.
He tossed about trying to find a comfortable position. Truth was he just didn’t want to think. Sex was good for that. Sex was easy and fun, and since the apocalypse, most people had dropped a lot of the silly ideas about it. No use in a purity ring when a zombie was the one angling for a nibble.
It had seemed so easy. Janine had wanted the comforts of sex without the burdens of a relationship, and he got to keep doing as he liked, so long as he did not contract any kind of disease. And then they’d gone and fucked it up even before Sara had waltzed back into their lives.
Simon jammed his pillow over his eyes. It had hurt to see Janine, to know that she’d fucked someone else. She kept secrets, god, everyone kept secrets nowadays, everyone had always kept secrets. And he’d always respected Janine too much to bother her save for the harmless flirting he did with everyone. He hadn’t noticed, and besides, Sara was always skulking about.
But they’d had a relationship, and Simon was just the guy Janine shagged for stress relief.
Janine and Sara though. He swallowed past a lump in his throat that seemed to be ever present since he had seen them this morning. The more he thought about them, the more he wondered why he hadn’t thought of it sooner. They worked together so well. He could see them, killing zombies and fixing generators, conversing, exchanging intel.
God, they made way too much sense together. He hadn’t thought either of them were into women but it was the apocalypse. Situational sexuality and all. He’d fucked more than one guy who had babbled about never having been with another male before or trying to reassure himself that he wasn’t gay. It was all silly, really. But maybe if he’d seen Janine’s eyes wander at least once, he might have been more prepared.
The image of Janine with a woman made him squirm. He closed his eyes and slipped his hand under the band of his pants. Janine was usually so rough with him. He’d wondered before, playfully and without an iota of seriousness, if that was to keep herself from falling in love with him. But last night she’d been so soft, and he’d just drunk it all in, because he’d been gasping for her without even knowing.
Simon was an excellent liar and sometimes even he could forget that.
Janine with a woman though. Janine and Sara. Was it Sara perhaps, who’d had a lesbian fling in her youth? Did she push Janine down and show her the wicked ways of cunts and breasts? But no, that didn’t seem like Janine; if anything, Janine would have been the one doing the pushing.
“Oh,” he whispered, the word escaping him, allowing himself to touch his cock now, because Janine being underneath a woman, but even nicer was the thought of Janine being in charge.
Janine being soft then rough at alternating turns, completely composed through it all. Janine licking another woman’s nipples, and fingering her pussy, and eating another woman out. Janine naked, her breasts pressed up against another woman’s breasts.
He continued shivering even after he had come. And it took him the better part of an hour before he finally moved his languid limbs, not wanting anyone to come in and see him with his pants barely pushed down.
Simon tossed the ball of yarn in the air; Jody had been delighted to see him juggling but when he’d inevitably dropped them, and one had almost rolled outside into the mud, Jody’s shrieks had convinced him it wasn’t worth trying again. There was a slight drizzle outside, enough to make everything wet and uncomfortable while not actually being as soothing as real rain. He’d waited till he had dried off to lie down on the bed opposite Jody’s.
“What I don’t get is why you tossed off to that,” Jody said, frowning as she sorted through her precious yarn. She held up two types of greens and studied them. Her bed was covered in the stuff, and she’d stopped asking for Simon’s opinion on colors after he’d been serious about including the highlighter yellow.
“That’s what you’re choosing to focus on?” Simon stared at her incredulously. He probably shouldn’t have told her that bit, but he’d just babbled everything out to her, hoping she could be a desperately needed voice of reason in this whole mess.
“I just don’t get it. Is that a guy thing? To wank off at the first thought of two girls going at it?” She didn’t sound disturbed, which was a good thing, at least. He still really should not have told her that.
“Getting a bit off subject here, Four,” Simon said. His voice did not crack nor did he sound like he was desperately pleading with her. “And it wasn’t like I thought of Sara and my cock just sprang up-”
“Do you have to say it like that?!” Jody’s eyes were wide in horror.
Simon took a deep breath and sat up to be able to look at Jody. “I wasn’t thinking about Eight. It was all about Janine; her face, her legs, her bre-”
“Stop talking about people I know like this! How am I supposed to look at Janine in the face if you talk about what she looks like during sex?!” Jody reached over and snatched her yarn back. “No yarn for you.”
“I’m not being a creep! I have a point!”
Jody wrinkled her nose but made a gesture to let him continue.
“I don’t think about Eight like that. It was just all Janine.”
“It’s pretty obvious you like Janine.”
Simon gave her a look. Jody raised her eyebrow at him.
“Don’t give me that. You know what I mean.”
Simon sighed. This was all more relationship stuff than he’d wanted to deal with in the first place. Though it’s not like anyone could have seen Eight coming back from the dead.
“What am I going to do?” he moaned, getting up to pace back and forth. “It was just supposed to be sex! This kind of bullshit doesn’t happen.”
“You mean the starting to like each other part, or the old lover coming back from the dead?”
“You just make it sound like a bad soap opera like that,” Simon said, in what was definitely not whining. Zombie apocalypse, sure, why not. Bad soap opera and a zombie apocalypse was not okay though.
“It sort of does, doesn’t it?” Jody snickered.
“Jooooody,” Simon whined. Definitely a whine this time.
“I don’t know what you want me to say! I guess Janine’s got to decide who she likes better?”
Simon flopped face down back onto the bed. That’s exactly what he was afraid of. And he sort of hated himself for letting it get to that point. His thing with Janine wasn’t supposed to have gotten serious. Somewhere along the line, he forgot about that. Or maybe Sara’s appearance was just making him want Janine more.
At least Janine was probably freaking out too. As much as Janine de Luca ever freaked out about anything.
“There’s one thing you haven’t tried yet though.”
“Well?” Simon asked, lifting his head up to give her a hopeful look.
“It’s a pretty crazy idea.”
“Everything about this is fucking crazy, Clover.”
Jody smiled at him. “Just go talk to her.”
Simon groaned and sank back down. He’d been afraid of that response. Jody reached over to pat his head. It was more comforting that it ought to have been.
“Thanks for listening, I guess,” he muttered, still not getting up.
“It’ll work out, Simon. Might want to give it a try before a zombie gets one of you. That wouldn’t be a very happy ending.”
If Sara got eaten this would be a lot easier. Or if she’d stayed dead. Fuck, that was a shitty thing to think. He really did have feelings for Janine. Simon looked up at Jody, who was smiling encouragingly at him, as if it was written plainly on his face.
“This was easier when it was just sex,” he complained as Jody laughed.
“Don’t trip,” Janine warned absently as she heard the door open. She made no move to get up from the kitchen table.
“Did you know it was me?” Sara asked inquisitively as she obliged, appreciating the warning as she stepped over a dizzying array of tools and screws and wirings that were neatly arranged on the ground.
“Broken necks are rather similar no matter who it belongs to,” Janine said shortly.
Sara raised an eyebrow at the curt tone as she finally reached the chair opposite Janine. It was conspicuously clean, compared to the rest of everywhere else. The other two chairs were also laden with tools.
“You know you can’t put it off forever.”
“If either you or Mr. Lauchlan die during the course of a danger filled mission I might very well be able to,” Janine said.
If it had come from anyone else Sara might have believed it to be a poorly made joke.
“Always looking on the bright side, aren’t you, Janine?” Sara folded her arms on the table and rested her head on them, watching Janine as she inspected the motor for the fan. “You left the door unlocked.”
“There’s hardly a threat of robbery,” Janine said.
Sara gave her that. Everyone knew everyone else in Abel. If something did get stolen from Janine’s house, well, the culprit would be caught pretty quick. And if zombies attacked again there was only so long a simple door would hold them.
“I was just wondering, is all. I have a key but there’s a certain someone else that you could have been expecting who doesn’t have his key anymore.”
Janine didn’t look at her. Though judging by the look on her face it was because she had just finished tightening the last screws on the fan on the table. She set the screwdriver down and reached over to plug it in and test it out.
Sara sighed at the breeze. Janine went to turn it off after a few seconds but Sara gave her a look.
“Leave it on for a minute,” she asked, eyes still closed, enjoying the sensation.
“Electricity does not come as freely as it used to, something that you know quite well-”
“Just a minute.”
Janine let out a disapproving noise but she obliged, and sat back in her chair to enjoy it as well.
“This would be nice to have in your room,” Sara once her minute was up and Janine promptly disconnected it.
“It’s going to the hospital. They need it more,” Janine said.
Sara looked at her.
“And if you wanted to keep it? Could you?”
Janine didn’t bother to grace that with a response. She had been doing that a lot around Sara as of late. Sara pursed her lips but didn’t push it despite how desperately she wanted to.
“So. Haven’t seen Simon around here lately.”
“This matter isn’t up for discussion,” Janine said.
“Oh?”
“There’s nothing to discuss.”
“Really.”
“Yes, Ms. Smith. Really.”
“You’re a stubborn jackass, you know that, right?”
“Such words of endearment.”
Sara watched her for a moment as Janine got up and began to gather her tools up to put them away.
“You know if you don't do something about this, I will.”
“Is that a threat?” Janine didn’t look at her. But Sara felt as if she was glaring at her anyway.
“It isn’t and you are well aware of that.”
“It sounded like one.”
“Ridiculous,” Sara muttered under her breath.
Janine continued putting her tools away though she began to do so much more harshly and carelessly.
“Have you found suitable sleeping accommodations?”
“Spent the whole morning sorting that out,” Sara replied. Everyone was just mostly glad to see that she’d survived, but the facts were that everything that she’d had the first time around had been destroyed, or had been pooled back in the communal use. She had a place to sleep, and a plate of food, so there wasn’t much she was actually complaining about though. Rajit had even offered her a double shower as a welcome gift back, a housewarming gift so to speak, though she was going to save that one for a while yet.
“Good.”
“Suppose I’ve got to sleep there tonight, don’t I?”
“That would be best.”
Sara sighed. “I don’t see why you’ve got to hide this. You’re human too, you know Janine. No one’s going to look at you funny for wanting a bit of companionship-”
“What people think about me personally doesn’t keep me awake at night, Sara.” Janine zipped up a bag and opened a hard shell plastic container, slipping the tools into their correct spots. “I simply wish to keep some things private.”
That could have been a suitable answer. Janine was never that simple though.
“Janine. I don’t mean to rush you, but you can’t exactly keep stringing us both along-”
Janine slammed the case shut and glared at her. Sara put her hands up and leaned back in her chair. “Alright, alright. I get it. You don’t want to talk about it.”
“You said, might I remind you, that I had things to think about. I’m thinking. What I don’t appreciate is your need for an immediate answer. I hardly think that our situation is common, and can be decided on in mere minutes, like you seem to think it can be.”
“How about you talk about it then, like a normal human being? You know. Like people do in a relationship?”
“I hardly see the point in repeating facts, which we both know, over again.”
Sara wanted to throw her hands up. She settled for groaning and sliding down further in her chair. “You’re impossible.”
“Am I.” Janine went over to rest against the table, by Sara. She was looking down at her, as if waiting for her to react first.
“You are,” Sara said, sitting up to take one of her hands. She squeezed it. “Even so I still missed your grumpy face.”
Sara pulled Janine down to kiss her. She didn’t let herself think if this was the last time they could do this. Choices had to made and here they were, in the apocalypse, being as human as they possibly could by procrastinating them.
Simon should have seen this one coming. Sara grinned at him as she stood up from finishing stretching for today’s run. Seriously, he really should have seen this one coming. He should have known and found some way to avoid it, because it was so fucking obvious that this was going to happen.
“Hey, Runner Three,” she said, bright and cheery. As if they weren’t in direct competition for someone’s affections. Affections. Good god he was turning into a teenage girl.
Sam’s voice crackled over their headsets. “Right, so, we’re doing a supply run today here. We’re sending the two of you a bit further than usual, but you’ll still be in range of my scanners.”
“A simple supply run, eh? Sounds good to me.”
Sam and Simon groaned simultaneously.
“Did you have to jinx it? You of all people! I mean, you just got back and-” Sam started up.
“Calm down, Sam.” Sara cut in with a good natured eye roll at Simon. “There’s no such thing as a simple run anyhow. Not when there’s the living dead walking about, ready to eat our guts right out of us.”
“Suppose so,” Sam muttered before calling for the gates to be raised.
Simon and Sara took off, bags empty, ready to fill them up.
“But still, it’s not like luck is rational, you know.” Sam continued.
“Lady Luck is a fickle bitch,” Sara agreed.
Simon didn’t laugh, not even as Sam chuckled. He would have laughed if it had been anyone but Sara.
There was no getting out of this one. He was utterly and completely trapped. His only hope was that zombies could chase them the entire time so that they couldn’t talk. Or that Sara wouldn’t want to talk about her relationship with Janine in front of Sam. That was more likely of the two. Also he didn’t want to wish for zombies, but he couldn’t deny fervently looking for packs for more than just avoidance reasons.
It was on their way back after rummaging through an abandoned gas station that Sam called to them, warning them of a pack approaching. No sooner had they escaped that one when Sam tried to warn them of a couple of shamblers, and they just managed to get out of range.
It seemed like a normal thing until Simon caught Sara smiling to herself.
“Did you plan this?” He couldn’t help giving her an incredulous look.
Sara looked like she would have laughed if she could have spared the air. As it was she smiled so broadly it just made Simon suspect her all the more.
“You flatter me, Runner Three. That I could have planned an impromptu appearance of zombies that would lead us exactly the right distance to be out of the range of the scanners and cams. Gotta say, I’m impressed with myself.”
She made it sound ridiculous. But Simon was sure she had a part in it.
“Seeing as how we’ve got a private moment though.”
Fuck.
“I’m curious how is it that you ended up in Janine’s bed?”
“You make that sound like it’s a bad thing.” Simon said, trying to laugh. What he really wanted to do was bite her head off. Okay, so, maybe he and Janine weren’t going out, like apparently Sara and her had been. But they were adults, they had agreed on this, and who the fuck was she to judge him for it?
The thing was that usually he wouldn’t have even cared. Apocalypse now and all. He was enjoying himself, and he didn’t see the need to worry about judgemental assholes. But the game was different now. Now it wasn’t Sara judging them for behaviour she deemed inappropriate; it was Sara wanting her girlfriend back.
Simon wasn’t sure which of them Janine liked more and the doubt was paralyzing.
“Like I said, curious.”
“She just asked me one day. That’s all,” he said with as much of a shrug as he could manage.
“Huh.”
Simon wrestled with himself for a moment before giving up and just asking. He was pretty curious himself. He felt like this was really something he should have known about. The rumor mill at Abel was healthy, lively, and nosy. Janine de Luca in a relationship with anyone should have pinged someone’s radar. He and Janine had managed to keep things low key since it was just sex. But an actual relationship was a different beast altogether.
“How’d you two end up? I mean, it came as a total shocker to me.”
“Really. I wouldn’t have been able to guess that.” Sara laughed at him and Simon almost didn’t blame her. His expression must have been priceless. But she quieted down right away. “Would it surprise you to learn I went after her? I don’t think she would have thought of me like that if I hadn’t. You know Janine; she’s all business all of the time.”
They stopped for a moment to get their bearings. Simon wasn’t actually too surprised by that. Janine didn’t seem the type interested in relationships. Most people weren’t, nowadays. But he was surprised at the tone in Sara’s voice. It almost sounded like she was jealous of him.
“Guess it hasn’t been easy, to come and sort of find your girlfriend poached,” Simon said.
Sara shrugged. “S’not ideal, no. But even I thought I was a goner. And anyway, just because we can all understand each other doesn’t mean anything's settled. We can’t both be with Janine, after all. She’s got to pick.”
“Yeah,” he muttered.
“She gave me up for dead, Three. Had to get over that. If she does pick you, I’ll have no hard feelings towards you two. Hell, I’ll bless you both. Won’t be happy about it, but I’ll get over it in time.”
Simon didn’t know how to respond to that, but he had to say something. It was hard to match that up with ‘I’ve secretly been hoping you’re still not really here’. Just as he meant to say something the radio came back through.
“Three, Eight? Can you guys hear me? The scanners picked you a bit ago but you’re just stepping into radio territory. Hello?”
“Loud and clear, Sam.” Sara said. She gave Simon a thumbs up. At some point you were too busy escaping death to care about the little details, because he automatically returned the gesture. “We’ve been running and smashing quite a bit. Tell us we’ve only got those three shamblers on our tail and no more hoards?”
“No more hoards,” Sam assured them.
They put down two of the three zombies following them, letting the snipers in the tower take care of the last stubborn one. Sara didn't say anything more, even once they were inside the safety of the township. But Simon knew it was time to face the music.
Simon had told Jack and Eugene that they had two hours to themselves in the tent and then left before he could see the idea of what that meant cross their faces. He knew quite well that they did it in the tent, damn them, but as long as he didn’t think about it, he could keep merrily going about his way.
No matter what happened he was going to go run around the racetrack at the training area for a good hour after anyway. May as well give the happy couple enough time to have a fun go at it.
Simon knocked at Janine’s door, wishing desperately for his key; he felt really conspicuous out on her doorstep at night. Luckily he only had to stand there for a few moments before Sara opened the door. She looked just as unsurprised as he felt at seeing each other here.
“Can I come in?” Simon asked, looking past Sara at Janine.
Sara turned around to also look at Janine. Janine was seated at the table, pen and paper in hand. She sat up a little straighter and put them aside, nodding to them both.
“Yes, do come in, Simon. I believe we’re all overdue for a chat.”
He’d planned to say something intelligent and smooth; that he understood what was going on, that it wasn’t like anyone could have predicted this series of events, that he sympathized with her. Instead what came out was “I don’t want to break up.”
“I don’t see any reason to,” Janine said. Sara was grinning at him, as if delighted by his outburst, but then she took in what Janine said and she frowned. Janine was calmly watching them both. “We’re all adults. The situation is a little odd, but the circumstances were beyond any of our control.”
“What are you saying, Janine? You can’t just have a boyfriend and a girlfriend.” Sara stared at her like she had lost her mind.
“Why not?” Janine asked, maddeningly calm.
“Why-because it’s crazy talk.”
“Is that your only objection? Because people consider the idea ‘crazy’?”
“I don’t think I’d mind.” Simon said.
Sara rubbed at her forehead and looked at them both like they had lost their minds. Simon wasn’t so sure he hadn’t.
“Janine, think this through. What you’re suggesting-”
“What I’m suggesting is entirely reasonable. You and Simon have no quarrel with each other. I hardly expect you’d start now. With the runners’ schedule and work, there are nights when you’ll do nothing more than fall straight into bed asleep. It'll be a simple matter to alternate as needed. Two people coming in and out of the home won’t seem strange, especially as I doubt most people will consider the idea of our arrangement.”
“You’re suggesting polygamy.”
“If that's what you’d like to call it. I see it as a suitable compromise.” Janine hesitated a bit finally before speaking her next words. “I care about you both. I thought you were dead, Sara, and so I moved on. But I see no reason why I should throw Simon under the bus.”
Sara sighed again.
“You’re not worried that Three and I will become bitter rivals over your hand?”
“I could be an fantastic bitter rival, I’ll let you both know,” Simon said.
Janine seemed amused by the suggestion.
“If that should become an issue, we can happily address it in the future.”
“Oh what the hell,” Sara said, seeing at Simon’s easy agreement, shrugging. “I’ll give it a shot. It's not like there are any laws against it anymore, right?
“Excellent,” Janine said, tossing Simon a key. He caught it, checking to see that there was the one still on the hook. “It’s a spare from before. My father had a number made. Luckily we hadn’t been careless with them.”
“Thanks,” Simon said, and went over to kiss Janine. Her eyes went a little wide in surprise, and Sara smirked, as if already well aware of the challenge being set. “You two can have tonight. I’ve got somewhere to be.”
He walked out, slowly and deliberately, waiting until he had locked the door behind him to take off. He needed run his brains out, then find Jody, because he had just entered into the craziest relationship ever and he needed a sympathetic ear.