Chapter Text
A shadow fell over Misa, whose eyes were still closed, and lingered there. She shifted but refused to move.
“Hey.” Rem pushed at her shoulder. “Misa. Wake up.”
“Mm.” Cracking one eye open, Misa regarded Rem with a wary gaze. “What’s going on?”
“It’s seven,” Rem said. “You need to get out of bed.”
Misa huffed and rolled over, taking the rest of the covers with her until she was just a bundle of fabric. Stupid Rem, trying to disturb her beauty sleep. As she thought all sorts of mean thoughts, Rem sat on the bed and the mattress dipped under her weight. One big hand grasped Misa’s shoulder and shook her again.
“You can’t sleep forever.” Misa hummed in disagreement. “Hey. You promised.”
The tentative and gentle tone of Rem’s voice drew her out from her burrow. With her fingers wrapped around the edge of the comforter, Misa peeked over it to look at her wife. Dressed in her old grey field hockey team hoodie and a pair of tapered black sweats, she sat with legs crossed and her hand still on Misa’s arm.
“You promised you’d go on a run with me,” Rem said.
“Aw, c’mon,” Misa said. “Can’t I sleep in just a teensy bit longer?” She held her thumb and forefinger an inch apart to indicate how small the amount of time she wanted to sleep was. Rem threw her head back and laughed, a deep and throaty noise that made Misa’s heart skip.
“Get up.” She stood and stretched out to her full height. Her hoodie rode up on her waist so Misa had a full view of her lean hips. God, she married someone fit. “You can whine about it to me while we run.”
“I’m only going to jog,” Misa called out after Rem, who was already out of their room. She settled back into the covers and thought about running. Her lip curled. Why did Rem always want to do athletic things together?
“Whatever you want,” Rem yelled back. “But you’re still going to be moving.”
Misa dragged herself into the only exercise clothes she owned and hopped down the hallway still tying her shoe. In the living room, Rem stopped adjusting her eyepatch and looked at Misa. A wide grin broke over her face.
“What?” Misa patted herself down with frantic hands. “Do I have something stuck to me? These pants have too much static. Everything is going to stick to me!”
“No. There’s nothing stuck to you,” Rem said. “You just look cute.”
Pink flushed over Misa’s cheeks and she put her hands on her hips, staring at the ground.
“Well,” she said. “I guess. If you say so.”
Outside, the air was weighed down by the previous night’s rain. Rem hopped from one foot to the other while Misa fiddled with the toggles on her jacket. Her hair, still a little sleep-greasy, was up in a ponytail with her bangs clipped out of her face. She stretched one leg out and leaned into a lunge. It was way too cold to be outside, let alone outside running.
“Are you ready?” Rem leaned over and squeezed Misa’s hand.
“Huh?” She blinked and received an exasperated sigh in response. “Oh, right, right. Yeah, I’m ready. Don’t go too fast, okay?”
“Of course not.”
After two blocks, Misa’s muscles protested. Even at the light jogging pace Rem was clearly struggling to take in order to suit Misa, she still felt like dying. Maybe she needed to get out more often. With how active Rem was, she should be going to the gym all the time with her wife and doing couples workouts. Her face went dreamy at the thought. A couples workout–now that would be romantic! A little fantasy played out in her head of she and Rem doing crunches together wearing matching gym clothes which almost eased the strain of her jogging. Almost.
As they neared a mile, Misa was ready to die. Her legs hurt, her arms hurt and sweat slicked her hair to her face. So unattractive. Meanwhile, Rem looked strong against the grey morning as she took long confident strides. The swish of her short hair cut across her cheeks and Misa almost tripped just staring at her wife’s face.
“Rem,” she whined. “Running is so hard!”
“It’s worth it,” Rem said. “You’ll feel great once we’re done.”
“What? We’re not done yet?”
The time had come for drastic measures. Misa wobbled on her feet, letting a little sway into her step and then dropped to the ground. Huffing out a weak breath, she groaned.
“Misa.” Rem dropped to one knee and turned her over. “Are you alright?”
Alright, Misa thought. Gotta really sell this. C’mon, Amane. You can do this.
“Oh.” She threw her hand over her face. “I feel so weak. My head is spinning.”
A hand covered her’s and pushed it away so her face was open. Wincing, Misa scrunched up her features into a mask of pain. For God’s sake, this had to work. She couldn’t take another minute of jogging. And judging by Rem’s face, she wouldn’t have to.
“Oh no.” Rem’s expression pulled downward in worry. She brushed her fingers through Misa’s hair and leaned over her. “Do you really feel ill?”
“Yeah,” Misa said. “I feel just awful. You’ll probably have to carry me home.”
She was pushing it, she knew. The few seconds of silence after she spoke were some of the longest of Misa’s life and then Rem slipped her arms under her torso. She lifted her up so Misa’s head was cushioned by her bicep.
“Is this okay?” she asked. “You’re not too dizzy, are you?”
“No.” Misa settled into the comfort of her wife’s arms. “You’re so strong, you know that?”
“Mm-hm.”
“How is my wife more badass than me?” Her voice came out whiny but she didn’t mean it like that. Sometimes Misa was just floored that she had someone as solid as Rem who loved her.
“Because your wife actually goes on runs,” Rem said. “And doesn’t pretend to faint halfway through.”
“Hey!“ Misa screeched and slapped Rem on the chest. “I’m not pretending!”
The gentle friction beneath Misa’s head as Rem walked was soothing. Through the clouds, the sun started to show and she squinted up into it’s yellow light. Above her, Rem talked about how she was going to do some work on their kitchen today since they were in the process of remodeling it. Another little fantasy started up in Misa’s head about Rem working under the sink and getting all sweaty.
That’ll be nice, she thought. I’ll try to be awake for that.