Who: Erik Lehnsherr and Judith Grimes What: Judith makes good on her promise When: Sunday morning, around five AM Where: The Lounge Warnings: NSFW, mature content Status: Complete log
Erik hadn’t slept this deeply since the hotel was in New Orleans. Last week, he just didn’t sleep, and this week, no matter how comfortable he was laying with his arms wrapped around Judith, neither of them could sleep soundly in this world. Now, though, exhaustion hit him like a freight train, and he slept through the rest of the day, and all through the night.
When he finally woke up, he realized his position had been shifted at some point. Instead of sitting up, he was laying on his back, with his head on something soft and warm, which took him a few seconds to realize was Judith’s lap. It was hard to tell what time of day it was with how little light came into the lounge from the outside in the first place, but he could tell the sun wasn’t up yet.
He didn’t move yet, except to seek out one of Judith’s hands, curling his fingers around it and bringing it to his lips so he could brush them over the back of her knuckles. He was still fatigued, in his muscles and fogging his thoughts, but he was far better off than before. Hungry and thirsty, but better, and a large part of that was knowing that they were both - but especially that Judith was - safe.
For the better part of the last twelve hours since Erik passed out, those filing into the hotel on the front wave of the biggest Dead herd she’d ever seen made themselves as comfortable as humanly possible, considering. The hotel was still decaying, useless except for shelter, thanks to Erik’s impenetrable wall, but at least there were the huge fireplaces in the lounge, the lobby, and the library. Skylight windows above let some light in, even though they were cracked and severely needed washing. Some other residents had wandered close to Erik, having seen the impossible outside, but Judith shooed them away until sleep finally caught up with her as well, sometime around midnight.
Now the hint of dawn was graying the windows above, and Judith was still out, half curled around Erik’s shoulders with his head propped on her non-injured thigh. She didn’t stir until he did, vaguely aware of the movement of her hand. By the time she felt his breath and lips on her skin, her eyes were open- albeit barely. They glinted faintly in the pale light, peering at him sideways with a small smile.
Erik returned her smile, and gave her knuckles another light kiss. Opening his eyes to her smile, even with the gash on her cheek, would never cease to be his favorite way to wake up. He gave her hand a light squeeze before he sat up, letting out half a groan at the end of an exhale from the stiffness in his body. With the added fatigue from the day before, Erik was feeling his age. He’d be glad when they had their bed back.
“Good morning,” he murmured, shifting so he could face her once he was sitting up. He brushed a few stray pieces of hair back from her face, before he leaned in to press a slow, lazy kiss to her lips.
She let him go as he shifted more vertically, but sprawled on the loveseat in his place, taking the opportunity to stretch out the kinks in her back and neck. The frayed skin on her hip burned with the movement and her cheek was bruised under the butterfly bandages, but the ‘good morning’ and kiss to match that greeted her out of the stretch made them easy to forget.
“Your handiwork is holding up nicely,” she sighed, contentedly (considering the uncomfortable sleep, the rotting hotel, and the army of Dead outside). “You should go see what you saved us from dealing with.”
Erik shook his head, his eyes focused on Judith. Earlier, he’d seen her injuries, but he’d been too tired to get a good look at them. The gash on her cheek wasn’t terrible, but whatever she’d gotten it from had given her a nice bruise to go along with it.
“I’ll look later,” he said, his voice low. “I don’t want to walk that far just yet.”
He hadn’t even stood up off of the loveseat yet. He stayed perched on the edge, sitting sideways so he could watch Judith’s face, leaning over her with his arm propped on the back of the couch.
“How did that happen?” he asked, glancing at her cheek again.
Laying straight for a while was doing her back a lot better, but her own fatigue still hadn’t let go. She closed her eyes and relaxed, ignoring the mild thirst and hunger pulling at her to get up, at least for a while. She opened her eyes again at his question, and exhaled through her nose, tucking her hands behind her head for comfort.
“Long story or short?” she gave him the option. Negan had been fine with the brief explanation, but he knew the world outside like she did, and he knew her affinity to it, now that he had his memories. It might be different for Erik.
“There’s a long story?” he asked, and raised an eyebrow. He trailed his fingers lazily back and forth over one of her thighs, and then briefly scanned over the rest of her body for any obvious wounds. That was when he saw the blood at her hip, and he frowned, just slightly. Obviously, she was okay, but she was still injured. He met her gaze again.
“Give me that one,” he said, letting his hand rest on her uninjured leg.
The short and the long story were actually one, but Judith would have been fine just shortening the tale to a few vague details- but, she could tell by his expression and tone that vague details wouldn’t be enough. She sighed softly through her nose, letting her hand rest on his forearm, just because it was close and she wanted the contact.
“I was headed back to the gas station- after you flew away-” she said pointedly, with a hint of impressed half-smile, teasing him for the effort, but didn’t linger. She could gush about that new detail later. “-and surprised a couple local boys on their motorcycles. Would’ve been happy just passing them by, but they wanted attention. Didn’t believe me when I told them the fuckstorm that was heading their way. One tried to show me who the Big Man was by putting his knife on my face-” Judith’s tone wasn’t just tempered, it was fairly casual- like she were describing a minor inconvenience like a flat tire or over-cooked meal. “I shot him in the leg, then in the face. His partner got one off at me before I dropped him, then I took one of their bikes to make up for the time.”
Erik couldn’t help the smirk at the mention of him flying. He might have had a little bit of a flare for the dramatic (okay, maybe a lot) when it came to his abilities, but only because of the reactions it got from her. Judith was a difficult person to surprise.
He let her tell her story, all the while keeping his eyes on her face, and his hand on her leg. A small part of him was annoyed that he’d let her go back to the gas station on her own, but he reminded himself that they were in her world. This was the sort of thing she was used to. That much was clear by the tone of her voice.
“I saw that,” he said when she was finished. “You certainly left them far worse than they left you.” By now, he was sure they were dead. He gave her leg a gentle squeeze. “Did you get any food or water from the gas station?” He’d been able to ignore the hunger and thirst for all of five minutes, but after doing what felt like the equivalent of running a dozen marathons, it was pushing its way to the front of his thoughts.
Judith’s smile was genuine, and reached her eyes at his calm approval. She hadn’t known Erik for very long, given how attached she’d grown to him, but she did consciously choose to allow herself that luxury for a reason.
“In the bag,” she told him with a little nod toward the pack sitting on the nearby table. There wasn’t much, but it was enough to keep them both sustained for the next few hours.
Erik glanced over towards the table, but before he moved to stand up, he leaned down to kiss Judith again, drawn in by the smile that lit up her face. When he pulled back, he had a smile to match hers.
He stood up from the couch slowly, and stretched his arms up above his head with a groan. His body was sore and tired, still, but at least he didn’t feel like he was going to fall over anymore. He ran a hand through his hair as he went over to the pack on the table, digging through it and pulling out a water bottle and two protein bars. It was better than nothing.
When he came back to the loveseat, he handed Judith one of the bars, and gently nudged her legs so he could sit with them laying across his.
“Have people been able to get over the wall?” he asked as he opened the bottle of water. “I made ladders.”
“I saw that,” she crowed at him, flashing teeth in her grin before using them to open her meal. Shifting her legs sent a small pang of discomfort through her hip, but it settled once she did. Judith dropped her head back against the couch arm and picked off a piece of peanut butter protein, watching him in the dim light. Happy to not have to worry about anything but themselves for now. “I think I’ve hinted at just how impressed I am with that whole Beast out there,” she added, notching a brow at him before actually moving on to his question. “They’ve been trickling in. By the time I settled last night, I think we have most everyone.”
Erik chuckled at the tone in her voice, and took a long drink from the bottle of water. It was fortunate they only had the one day left. If they ate and drank everything they had left now, they still wouldn’t be miserable by the time the hotel reset, hopefully with food and water again.
“Good,” he said, and offered her the bottle of water. Then he ripped his own protein bar open, taking a bite of the chocolate brick. “I feel like I could sleep for at least another ten hours.” Truth be told, if the hotel was back to ‘normal’ the next week, he would probably spend a decent amount of time sleeping just because they could again.
“If you need to, do it,” Judith told him honestly, then sipped at the water. She could easily have downed it, but rationing had been her default even before this week; taking only what she needed was, by now, second nature. “Nobody will bother you.”
The indication was clear in her voice and expression; she wouldn’t let them.
Then she smiled- the kind that had noticeable heat behind it.
“Or were you waiting for me to make good on what I told you before you passed out?”
Erik smirked at her, running the fingers of his free hand lazily back and forth across one of her shins.
“That sounds far more appealing than ten more hours of sleep,” he said, and took another bite of his bar. Regardless of how good it sounded, he was hungry. He glanced around the lounge, then looked down at Judith again. “Should we find somewhere more private?” He couldn’t see anyone else in the room, but it was a public space. Someone could easily walk in.
Although, if Judith had been scaring people away, it was entirely possible that nobody would.
Judith eyed the dim room, focusing more on the open hallway that led out toward the lobby, stairs, kitchen, and pool. Most people were probably still sleeping, given the level of quiet. Many had retired to the ball room or library, where there was more cushy seating and less chance of traffic. Some were still milling about, keeping watch, whatever. But eyeing him afterward drove home the fact that she really didn’t give a flying fuck if someone walked in.
In her mind, it was their own fault.
“C’mon-” she hushed through a mischievous grin, getting to her feet with minimal care for her sore hip. It didn’t slow her down now- it wouldn’t in five minutes, either. She snagged his hand on the way across the lounge, to a deeper set round booth alcoved into the back wall. It wasn’t their bedroom, nor was it very hidden, but it was better than nothing, and it was close.
Erik couldn’t help but grin right back at her, forgetting his food completely, and following her across the lounge. The booth was better than the loveseat, at least, but truth be told, he wasn’t sure how much he cared if someone walked in. He’d lived without privacy for six years, and if Judith wasn’t concerned, then neither was he.
They hadn’t had a moment of privacy at the gas station during the week, but now with the relative privacy of their booth, he couldn’t keep his hands off of her. He was careful to avoid her injured hip, wrapping one arm around her middle so he could pull her down with him as he sat back in the booth, sliding back along the seat and kicking his shoes off in the process.
His other hand made its way into her hair, starting to unravel the crown it was still woven into, as he kissed her, deep and long and slow. He wasn’t in any rush - he didn’t have the energy to be in any rush - and kissing Judith made everything else fade into the background.
It was the same for Judith; if for slightly different reasons. While not necessarily rushed, her kiss felt urgent; it had a hunger all its own that had nothing to do with the growl in her stomach. As he pulled her in and down across his lap and splayed fingers through her hair, she pulled apart the buttons of her overshirt and rolled her shoulders free. It dropped to the ground, followed quickly by the tank-top beneath. Pausing for quick and deep shared breaths between kisses, she started on Erik’s clothes- both of them filthy from the hard week, hot and sweaty, sprayed by road dust and flecks of blood, but none of it mattered.
She didn’t bother fully removing his shirt, only opened the flannel and drove her hands all over him- from chest to shoulders and back, down the ridges of ribs and muscle between them, then ultimately the button and fly of his jeans.
Erik felt the urgency in her kisses, and he could see it in the way she hurried through getting her shirt off. It just made him smirk against her lips, a low groan escaping as her hands roamed over his body. They’d been close during the week, but not like this, and he’d sorely missed it. Added to the peace he felt from finally being safe again, he could finally relax and enjoy himself, practically melting under the touch of her hands.
He brought his kisses from her mouth to her neck when they parted to breathe, unwilling to separate from her for long. They hadn’t showered in a week, but he didn’t care; he kissed his way over her skin, from her neck, along her shoulder and clavicle.
His mouth and breath left cool trails on her skin in the warm, stale air; a trickle of chills rolled down her spine and down her arms, causing her to momentarily fumble with the zipper in her hands, but it all added to the hard pull of need in her chest. She breathed a little more shallow, rolling her hips down on his thighs with complete indifference to the discomfort it caused her injury.
“We should stay quiet,” she breathed, angled up toward the ornate marble ceiling of the alcove to kive him more throat to kiss. “-not sure I can.” The last, with her voice rolled out low through a grin, was more a personal challenge to him.
Erik breathed out half a laugh against her skin, cut off by a groan as she rolled her hips. He wouldn’t have a problem staying relatively quiet, but he heard the challenge in her voice. She didn’t want to stay quiet.
“You’ll have to try your hardest,” he murmured, lifting his hips up off of the bench for a moment so he could get his jeans off. Then he slid his hand from around her middle to her chest, dragging his fingertips over her sternum, before lightly trailing along one of her breasts, rolling her nipple lightly between his thumb and forefinger.
In the heat of the moment, she nearly forgot the fact that her pants weren’t going anywhere until she separated from him, and when the realization dawned, as his touch -the type which she sorely missed over the week- tightened the pull in her gut and shallowed her breathing, she didn’t want to move anywhere but closer.
She caught his mouth in a short, but searing kiss that vibrated with her own hungry groan, making quick work of her own button and zipper before pulling back and off his lap to work them off completely. The movement stung at her hip, but it didn’t show besides a there-and-gone wince. She was back astride his lap in less than ten seconds, framing his face with her hands for another kiss as she did.
Erik let go of her long enough so she could get off of his lap. He watched as Judith worked her jeans off, and took the chance to take off his flannel and t-shirt. By the time he was done, she was on his lap and kissing him again, and he groaned against her lips, being careful not to hit her wounded hip as he wrapped an arm back around her middle, pulling her bare chest flush against his.
The tightness of the booth pushed them closer together, making it so Judith had to stay on top if him so they could fit. As he laid back, he pulled her with him, humming out a moan that got caught in his throat and keeping one arm around her so she wouldn’t fall off.
Even in the tight, somewhat awkward space, she couldn’t keep her hands off him; curtained by her hair, which went everywhere around them until she swooped it hastily to one manageable side, she dug her fingers in his shoulders and grinned, growling hotly against his mouth. Braced by one foot on the floor, she shifted her hips to that now-familiar alignment and wasted no time sinking down on him, her breath catching in open lips against the several-days old beard on his jaw.
Erik let his head fall back as his jaw dropped in a low moan as his grip around her middle tightened, the sudden heat and tightness around him pushing any thoughts about how quiet they should be far from his mind. All he could think about was Judith’s body pressed against his, and her breath against his skin.
“Judith-” he breathed, and then turned his head, catching her lips against his with a groan as he rolled his hips up against hers.
The deep pressure of his grip around her, the way he filled her, and the smoky quality of his voice around her name, all of it pulled her under, like a drug or the best whiskey, burning in her belly and demanding more. She scraped her teeth on his collar bone as her hips shifted back and rolled forward deep; her pace was steady and kept time with her breaths on the hollow of his throat.
Feeling him shift and tense beneath her made it even better; knowing every hitch and tightened grip was her doing spiked the pleasure of intimacy and friction with something just a little more wild, and hungry. She’d told him they should be quiet- but she wanted to see just how much of that control of his she could get him to lose.
Somewhere in the back of his mind, he remembered that they still didn’t have any actual privacy, that they were in a booth rather than a bed, but that became less and less important to him with every roll of Judith’s hips. He threaded his fingers into her mess of hair, feeling every one of her breaths on his skin like fire against his sweat-slicked skin.
They’d only known each other a month, if it was that long, and they’d been together for less time than that, but even still, she knew which buttons to press and what strings to pull to get him to unravel. Their relationship was a game of control, of going back and forth and trying to get the other one to loosen up and let go, and right now, Judith was winning. He managed to catch the next moan that threatened to escape in his throat, and it came out as more of a growl instead, accompanied by his fingers tightening in her hair.
It felt like all of his edges were still frayed, worn out from the day before, and while control normally came second nature to him, he didn’t have the same energy for it. Or maybe he didn’t have the willpower for it, now that he was wrapped up in Judith again, every shift of her hips and press of her fingers into his skin clouding his head and pushing him closer and closer to the edge.
Her breaths were interrupted by indulgent, if quiet moans, especially with the pinch-pull of her hair wrapped around his tightening fingers. She peered up at him from where she kissed and nipped his clavicle, and what she saw lit her blood on fire; the delicious tension in his face, in his breath and the way he moved, all in direct reaction to how she lead him urged her pace to increase.
But first, Judith paused, sliding her hands down his sides to brace on the booth cushion by his ribs for more leverage; then from the deep bend in her spine, she rolled her hips back and forth with determined purpose. “Give me more-” she demanded low, her voice wrapped in heat and huffed breaths from the effort, watching his face by the dim light the whole time.
Erik opened his eyes to the sound of her voice, and caught her gaze, entirely focused and filled with passion that burned like fire. More was the only thing on his mind. He tightened his grip around her middle, anchoring one of feet on the bench so he could thrust his hips upwards with a snap accompanied by a groan.
If he was still tired, it didn’t show; every rock of her hips was met by one of his own, pushing further inside of her, holding her tight against him every few beats so she could feel him deep with the roll of his hips. The next words out of his mouth were German, stuttered out at the end of a breath that cracked into a moan.
The strain was perfect; between her feverish pace, the pull in her shoulders as they supported her, his arm around her back, and the hard movement of him below, it all burned in the backs of her thighs, tightening hard at the sounds he made. She didn’t know what he said- she didn’t need to; the gruff, broken sound of it was enough to pull a groan of approval from the back of her throat.
Her own edge may have been a little further off than the one she goaded Erik toward, but that was fine; Judith wasn’t thinking about anything but him- the way he looked and sounded while lost in her, and otherwise, what he’d done for her, and with her, and all he could do. As he started to fall apart, she couldn’t help but feel like the lover of her own personal god.
Any sense of control was gone. Erik had spent far too much time over the past weeks in complete control, tightly-wound and focused, and for once he was entirely too ready to let go. He managed to muffle the sound he made in a searing kiss that he pulled Judith in for, only half actually kissing her as he went between groaning, and trying to breathe, and his breath getting caught in his throat.
The movement of his hips came to a shuddering stop, his heart pounding hard in his chest and his mind completely blank, except for where it focused on Judith’s body on his. His eyes were closed, and his grip on her was still tight, too completely wrapped up in the pure bliss of it all to let go just yet. He could hardly get his brain to work enough to do much more than breathe, and he was entirely fine with it.
It was raw, messy and jagged, but primal and powerful, and easily one of the hottest things Judith had ever witnessed in her life. She only closed her eyes to drink in the way he battled himself between breaths and gruff cries against her lips, and because the grip he had in her hair had twisted in hard: it hurt, but in a way she certainly didn't mind.
When he fell back, boneless and breathless and beautiful in all his savagery, Judith smiled down at him, unable to stop herself. She showed teeth, scraping her bottom lip, hungrily drinking him in, even if a part of her was wholly satisfied.
“I'm gonna do that to you every day, for the next week,” she promised. “Maybe month.”
Erik snorted out a laugh, smiling as he loosened the grip he had in her hair so he could run his fingers through it instead, his fingertips rubbing over her scalp. He blinked his eyes open, taking in the flush in her cheeks and the smile that lit up her eyes. His own were heavy again, matching the laziness in his smile.
“If I’d known that, I would have ripped a train apart a long time ago,” he said, and chuckled, breathy and tired. He took in a deep breath, letting it out slowly in a sigh that turned into a yawn, turning his head to the side so he didn’t just breathe into her face. “Now I really might sleep for another ten hours.”
Judith’s smirk dug deeply into its favorite cheek, which she laid on her arms after folding them on Erik’s chest. Their bodies were still connected as they settled, with flushes and heavy breaths, but laying on him even in this tight space was the most comfortable she could be right now. Even if someone did walk in- or had earlier. So long as they weren’t interrupted, Judith didn’t care.
“You’ve definitely earned it.” Unclear was whether she meant his last comment or the one before it- the truth was a mixture of both.
Erik hummed, running slow fingers up along her spine, and then back down again. What he’d done felt more like an obligation than anything. He had a mutation for a reason, and why else if not to protect himself and the people in his life? He didn’t say as much, though, content to accept as much praise as Judith wanted to give him, especially when the fatigue still weighed in his muscles and his head. He’d be feeling it for a week.
“Here I thought lifting a submarine was tiring,” he murmured, and then he smirked, glancing down at Judith. “And it sounds like you’re going to prove to be more tiring than carrying a train.” The tone in his voice made it clear that he didn’t mind that at all. Neither did the look in his eyes, or the way he tucked her hair back over her shoulder, working his fingers lazily through her curls.
Judith’s eyebrows lifted so high they moved her head on her arms.
“Submarine?” She knew the word- she even knew what it was, in theory. It triggered vague memories of something she’d seen in a book, once, several years ago. As for her promise of spoiling him so bad he’d be completely exhausted every day this week, she just continued to smile, obviously undeterred. Even before the train, or the flying, she felt an undeniable connection to him that both included, and was partly due to, how amazed she was by him.
Erik looked down at her, and cracked half a grin at the look in her eyes.
“I’ve never told you about that?” But he already knew the answer. He laid his head back again, his fingers still trailing over spine. “It was when I was looking for Shaw. He was in a submarine, near Cuba, trying to turn himself into a nuclear weapon. We were flying above it in a plane. I pulled it out of the ocean and dropped it on the beach.”
That was the day he’d killed Shaw. It was also the day he sent several dozen missiles hurtling towards two fleets of ships, all filled with humans. The only reason he hadn’t was because he’d gotten Charles shot. His fingers paused for a moment, stopped by the thought, before they started up again.
“The train was far more tiring,” he added as an afterthought.
“Yeah, well- it looked it.” Judith had absolutely no idea how big submarines actually were, the picture she remembered wasn’t set against some kind of scale. At least, she didn’t remember one. By the context, however, she figured it was no small task.
The one she’d witnessed today, however, was so far beyond impossible in what she’d known in her life, it would continue to blow her away for a good, long while. The same hands that controlled the demolition and construction of something that big, that fast, were now gently leaving warm trails on her back; the dichotomy was not lost on Judith.
Nor was the subtle shift in his eyes, signals of thoughts he didn’t give voice to. She watched him softly for a few moments, letting him have time to decide whether he would speak them or not, but she wouldn’t dig. She was more than content to just keep flirting, or let him show off with more stories, or just be.
After a few moments, Erik breathed out a quiet sigh through his nose, pushing his thoughts to the side for now. None of it really mattered anymore, anyway, especially not when he had Judith laying on top of him, and the only thing they had to worry about was the fact that someone might walk in on them. Even that wasn’t enough to bother him at the moment.
When he yawned again, though, he realized they probably shouldn’t fall asleep naked in a public space when they were surrounded by people they had to live with.
“We should put some clothes on,” he murmured, but he didn’t make any effort to move towards that goal. “I’ll be glad when we have our room back.” Then they would likely spend more time with their clothes off than on.
Judith watched him yawn with a lazy smile and sense of personal pride, leaning in to catch his lips with her own when he was done.
“Probably.” She made no effort to move, either. The clothes they had were as dirty as they were, heavy with the mix of road-dust, sweat, and splattered gore; hopefully the hotel would decide they could all have some privacy again soon- at the very least. In the last several weeks, Judith had to admit she’d become a bit spoiled to the comforts of this Hell. The last several days had given her a healthy reminder of where she came from.
In that moment, still connected with Erik, she knew she didn’t want to go back.