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Eventually, the laughter subsided into a sigh. Five sank back into the corduroy sofa cushions in Janine’s living room, thoroughly exhausted by joy. Sam settled himself further with his head on her lap, one hand winding around her leg to rest familiarly over one crossed knee. Five told herself the burning warmth at her cheeks was coming from the fireplace across from them, crackling a little too energetically than was probably practical. The aural embodiment of warmth made an excellent counterpoint to the rain softly shushing against the farmhouse’s metal roof and the slowing breathing as Five and Sam leaned into the moment of rest together.
Silence draped over them both like a fleece blanket, warm and familiar. Five watched Sam’s eyes drift closed, watching the slight shift of the shadow of his eyelashes in the firelight. She tried to match her breathing to his while also holding herself completely still, fearful of breaking the moment’s spell.
Eventually, Sam shifted, shimmying his shoulders to nestle more firmly against Five. He reached up with his other arm, delicately winding it across her shoulders and reaching for the nape of her neck with long, gentle fingers ghosting over the remaining tension there. She breathed in deeply, deliberately focusing on the curled smell of woodsmoke drifting across the room and not the blush rising across her cheeks.
“’Y’okay?” he murmured, one soft brown eye opening to study her reaction.
Five leaned down to kiss him once, slowly enough he wouldn’t move his hand away. “Perfect,” she breathed as she sat back up, leaning into the lingering touch. Sam’s cheeks were adorably rosy, and she pretended it was all from the bottle of wine they’d shared earlier, a rare reward from Janine after a particularly fraught week of missions.
One corner of Sam’s mouth quirked up in a satisfied smile. Five settled again, drowsily watching the flickering fireplace. A sort of twinkling caught her eye, and a thought drifted across her mind that made her giggle deviously. One of the dozens of feathers scattered around them was catching the light from the flames, turning it into a cozy fairy light. Now that’d she’d noticed one, the great fluffy mess they’d made suddenly crowded in on Five’s awareness, along with a kind of remorseless guilt.
“Janine’s never gonna let us hang in her again, y’know,” she murmured to Sam. He looked like he had fallen asleep, but Five knew he hadn’t. “Goose-down pillows are probably an unsustainable luxury in this day and age.”
“Aww,” Sam pretended to pout, lazily opening his eyes to meet Five’s. “I mean, it’s a shame, ‘cos it’s so cozy in here. But you know what? I think if she’d heard how adorable you were when I got you right in the face—”
Five suppressed an embarrassingly girlish giggle of being flustered and flattered. She shook her head, delighted at the skimming friction it caused against the hand still cupping the back of her neck. “If your pillow fighting doesn’t get us banned, this fire I built will—”
“You started it!” Sam protested with a grin, gazing straight up at his favorite runner by miles. “The fire and the pillow fight. So really, if we get kicked out, it’s your fault.”
“’Zat so?” Five asked with a devious smirk. “Goodness, would you ever forgive me for getting us cast out from the only functionally cozy space in the post-apocalyptic world?”
“I don’t know.” Sam reached up further, threading his hand through her hair to nudge her down for another kiss. “Lemme think about it for a bit.”
Scattered feathers and dancing fire forgotten, Five and Sam drifted off into their own place of perfect contentment. The night was long, and they had all the time and love in the world with which to fill it.