Work Text:
She prodded Lori in the ribs with her knee.
“What?” The woman groaned, refusing to open her eyes.
“Move over.” Lori rolled over on her side with the least amount of effort possible. It was more like a flop. Mare laid down heavily behind her, yawning as she reached for the throw blanket draped over the back of the couch. She tossed it lazily over their legs.
“We’re too old for this.” Lori complained.
“Were you planning on moving any time soon?” Mare yawned again, curling an arm under her head and lining her knees up against the back of Lori’s.
“Fuck no.” Lori snorted. “But you’re gonna fall off.”
“I’m not gonna fuckin' fall.”
“Yeah you will.” Lori blindly reached behind her, patting around Mare’s hip and thigh until she found the other woman’s wrist. She pulled Mare’s arm around her waist as if it were a second blanket. Once she was satisfied with that she hitched a leg back, hooked an ankle around Mare’s calf, and pulled her leg forward until she had one of Mare’s thighs slotted between her own. Mare huffed and swore under her breath at all the man-handling, finding herself pulled flush to the other woman’s back. “There.”
“If I wake up with a dead leg, I’m kicking your ass.” She muttered against the back of Lori’s head.
“You’ll be down one leg, I’ll take my chances.” Lori deadpanned. Mare pinched her on the stomach but got comfortable, adjusting the throw pillow under their heads. “You okay?”
“Me? Yeah. M’okay. Are you okay?” Mare was in that place where she was so drowsy she sounded a little drunk. It made Lori laugh a little.
“I’m fucking tired.”
“I know.” Mare said, dropping an unhurried kiss on the back of her neck. “Go back to sleep.” They fell into a peaceful silence for a few minutes. Mare felt her body grow relaxed and heavy. Lori yawned.
“Mare we should go-”
“Oh my god, shut up.”
“- bed, maybe?”
“You’re dead on your feet and if I carry you upstairs it’s gonna be the last thing either one of us do.” Mare sighed, mentally willing Lori to stop talking.
“Oh my god…are we dying?” Lori slurred, alert enough to be horrified by the state of their fatigue. All they had done today was complete a singular cardio workout once all the kids were out of the house with sitters and exes.
“We’re aging.” Mare decided.
“It feels like dying.”
“Kinda.” Mare agreed. “I blame all the babies. We’re in our fucking forties, why do we have so many babies around here?”
Lori laughed, despite the very real and tragic underpinnings of their current reality. They fell quiet for a few minutes, just breathing in sync and listening to the mist outside turn into a rain shower. Lori let go of Mare’s wrist and slid her fingers down until they were stroking the back of the other woman’s hand. Mare hummed and flexed her fingers as Lori traced the scars on the back of her wrist and hand before pressing her fingers all the way down between Mare’s.
“D’you remember Mrs. Ekstein?” Lori asked in a half whisper.
“I’d rather not think about our 10th grade English teacher right now, baby.” Mare groaned.
“She always said her hip hurt when it rained.” Lori continued, as if she hadn’t heard. Her thumb gently traced the length of Mare’s. “Your hand ever hurt?”
“Stop talking.” Mare whispered. Lori pinched one of her knuckles. Waited. Mare cleared her throat. “Sometimes. It’ll lock up. Like your knee used to after layup drills.” Lori snorted. “If I'm dreaming…sometimes I swear I can still feel the bullet.” Mare admitted. Lori abruptly pulled Mare’s hand up so she could leave a kiss on her palm. Mare swore her hand felt tingly as Lori put it down against her chest. She sucked in a breath and nuzzled against Lori’s shoulder, relishing how soft her hair felt against her cheek. She craned her head up to kiss the crook of Lori's neck. Her cheek. Her temple. Her ear. The woman in her arms hummed happily. Mare laid her head back down and sighed. She probably could fall asleep like this after all. Lori’s legs tightened around her thigh. Mare realized her arm was now trapped all the way under Lori’s from mid bicep to fingertip and that the tingles in her hand were definitely from lack of circulation at this point. “Flush as floorboards.” Mare muttered.
“Hmm?”
“Something...just something stupid my Dad used to say.” Mare felt embarrassed all of a sudden.
“About what, baby?”
“How close we were growing up.” Lori squeezed her hand more tightly…then giggled.
“There’s a joke about tongue-in-groove in there somewhere.” Mare rolled her eyes so hard it almost hurt.
“If I wake up with a dead arm, I’m kicking your ass.” She said.
“You aren’t gonna do shit-“ Before Lori could even finish Mare was blowing a raspberry on the side of her neck and aiming for the ticklish spot along her ribs at the same time. “FUCK.”
They both fell off the couch.