"Blah, blah, just sounds like more of a challenge to me..." Rae mused, turning her head to glance at him. It may take her years... but she would win this battle. How? She had no idea. But she would. "Mark my words. Those cheeks will be pink and I will be the cause... even if I have to ask your brother for ammunition."
A smirk crossed Rae's face. "It can be an Indestructibubble. Also an adaptabubble. A retractable plexiglas shield for when you're on land and plastic for when you're moving across the water..." she trailed off, laughing and shaking her head. "And this is what Rae's sleepless mind comes up with at three in the morning when she's sleep deprived. Feel free to call me an idiot."
"The whole building thanks you," she winked, nudging him lightly with her hip once more.
Sometimes it was easy to pretend that she wasn't ninety-five percent sure that she was falling in love with Eli. Sometimes, she could keep on trucking. But when a mere dash of his tongue between his lips grabbed her attention so fully? Well... it became a little more difficult. She laughed once, awkwardly, and then looked up at him with a shy smile on her face. "Don't want to be the stereotypical post-apocalyptic crazy," she joked.
She nodded her head. "Right," she agreed, ducking her head in shame of the fact that she'd made it seem like she had forgotten them. "So, you is more of a general you. But still."
He offered to do whatever he could to help and she shrugged a shoulder. "Just..." she paused, not wanting to seem clingy or needy, but wanting to say that he would help her. "Just stuff like this. Maybe not at three a.m., but... spending time together, you know?" When she was with him, it was easier to forget about everything bad that was going on around them. "Spending time with you helps me."
Survive. That was a funny word. Rae's body relaxed when she felt the slight weight of his head leaning against hers, but her mind didn't. "Surviving and living are different things," was all she said at first. But the statement itself said more than any further explanation would have. He made her spirit feel alive, in a world when everything else was trying to kill it. "And I'd rather live," she added.
She relaxed a little bit further, reaching her free arm out for her side pack and tugging out a small half-twin-sized blanket that she'd army-folded into it. She unrolled it and draped it over their legs. "Think anyone would be offended if we dozed off here?" she asked him. It occurred to her that she'd just woken up from a nightmare and maybe hurrying back to sleep wasn't such a good idea. But she was comfortable... and felt safe with Eli right next to her. So maybe... she could actually get some sleep.