Who: Liam Stewart and Ruby Daly What: They wake up in the same bed When: Day 1 of Cruise Where: Their Room Rating: Low
Ruby and Liam lived together, but they hadn’t quite graduated to staying in the same room yet. It wasn’t that they didn’t love each other - or at least Ruby was sure she felt that way about him - but that here in Madison there was less life and death and so it presented them with the opportunity to actually date. She had never had that experience before. Even back in the camps she wasn’t allowed to talk to the opposite sex. The first boy she remembered talking to had been Martin and Martin was a piece of shit who, much like Clancy, gave Oranges a bad name. Or maybe Ruby was just someone an exception to being a complete asshole. Or maybe one day she’d give into the voice that told her just to take control and do what she wanted.
When she came to consciousness this morning, she was aware of Liam beside her. Aware it was him because they had slept close together before out of necessity for heat and survival. This time, though, they were in a really comfortable bed.
Thinking that this was maybe a vivid dream of hers, she snuggled in closer to him, eyes still closed, and she smiled at how warm and solid he felt.
–
Liam, despite the fact that he loved being in Madison Valley, still didn’t sleep well. He drifted off sometimes, but he always slept with one eye open, afraid of what could be around the next corner, or who could find them in the next second. He knew that he was safe in Madison Valley, at least, he trusted the people who said he was, but some things just didn’t relax that easily.
So when he woke up with the sun coming in the window with Ruby beside him, he knew immediately that something was weird. He froze, trying to see if he could sense anything, but he couldn’t. Opening, his eyes, he looked over at her.
“Hey…” he said softly. “Something’s weird.”
Something was wrong, he knew that, but he didn’t know if it was a good thing or a bad thing.
***
It was not a dream after all. She opened her eyes and sat up with a mixture of embarrassment and happiness that probably made her expression a little confusing. She was mostly embarrassed because she had cuddled him while no doubt drooling or something equally mortifying. Ruby was grateful that she went to bed last night in a t-shirt and shorts otherwise it’d have been a lot more distracting right now.
“What’s wrong?” She said it even though she realized it as she looked around. This wasn’t their apartment. Almost reluctantly, Ruby climbed out of bed. She went to the small round window which already gave her a hint and looked out. “I think… the Dome’s moved us… for some reason.”
–
There was very little that Ruby could have done that would have grossed out Liam. In fact, waking up while she cuddled him was one of the nicest things he’d felt in a long time. It was everything else going on around them that was messed up.
He sat up when she got out of bed, looking around the room that was definitely not where he’d gone to sleep last night.
“Moved us where?”
***
Ruby was trying to take in the scenery like there were clues to discover. The thing about the Dome ‘experiences’ was something she had no context for things which was due to being in a camp for most of her life. “I think we’re on a boat. Or I guess a ship?” Boats were smaller, right?
She turned to look at him to explain. “Sometimes we get portals, right? Sometimes other weird things happen like you might have a craving or want to sing all day or something? But there are also times when the Dome changes or brings us places and we don’t have a lot of control over it.” She paused, trying to figure out how to explain. “... One time we all woke up in the 1980s. I thought I was someone else entirely. I had a lot of tattoos and piercings and I sang in a punk rock band. There was this man in Madison at the time named Chidi. In the 80s… world, I guess - he was my dad. And then after a week we were all back to normal, but we had memories of what happened the week before.”
–
Even though Liam was used to the weirdness of back home, this was not something he was used to. Being on a ship in the middle of the ocean - at least, he assumed it was the middle of the ocean, as a big ship wouldn’t fit on the river, right? - was something that was not within his understanding. Especially with a room as nice as this one. Were they on a cruise? Were they going somewhere nice? Was it a vacation? He didn’t know the answer to any of these questions, so he just stared at Ruby as she spoke, his eyes getting wider.
“Um…okay…so…I’m Liam Stewart and you’re Ruby Daly, so I think we still remember who we are?”
He stood, glad that he’d worn his sweats to bed last night, and joined her over at the window. Sure enough, there was nothing but water to be seen.
“So this is…something different?”
***
Ruby laughed as he stated who they were and nodded as if to confirm that yes, she knew who she was this time. The only upside to the whole 80s thing was that she had had a father again and she hadn’t thought she was a monster. The girl had had her own problems, but they were different than Ruby’s and a little vacation from that hadn’t been bad.
“I think so.” She nodded. “I want to lean on ‘something nice’, but I think we should reserve that for after we check out the ship. You know, in case we get creepy vibes or something from the staff.” Like maybe this was a floating prison or something.
“But…” She started, her voice a bit softer as she spoke, “... I’m glad you’re here with me this time.”
–
Liam couldn’t help but smile at that. They’d been through a lot of things, both on their own and together, and the one thing he knew for absolutely sure was that things were always better when they were together. It seemed easier to get through things. Or maybe that was just because there was a reason to get through things when she was close.
“We should probably go check it out, then?”
As much as part of him wanted to stay in this pretty little room with Ruby, they needed to make sure that they were safe. That everyone was safe.
***
Liam’s smile at the ability to completely disarm Ruby. It was almost like a superpower of his. God help her if he ever ‘turned evil’ or something.
“Yeah. Let me just…” She wasn’t naked, thankfully, but Ruby wasn’t sure she would feel comfortable in her pajamas, especially if it turned out they were somewhere that they needed to fight. She walked to the drawers of the room and opened up on of them. Men’s underwear. She blushed just a little and tried another one. She found jeans and the closet had a shirt she could wear. “One sec.”
Maybe she should have felt okay to change in front of Liam, but considering they only slept together one time and it had been rushed, though hot and heavy. She wanted them to ‘do this right’ this time around and that meant leaving some ‘mystery’. Or… something.
She came back out feeling better and had even managed to brush her teeth, having found some toiletries of theirs in the bathroom. “Okay, let’s go.”
The hallway was surprisingly spacious. Ruby had never been on a cruise, but she always thought modern ships were made to fit as many people in. “Well at least there aren’t any security guards or people with weapons.” Yet. Ruby was trying to be optimistic. “Sometimes the Dome likes to be nice to us… it’d be nice if this is one of those times.
–
Liam got dressed while Ruby was in the bathroom, just pulling on a shirt and a pair of jeans that he found in the dresser. He wasn’t really concerned about looking good at the moment - Ruby had definitely seen him at his worst and he wasn’t worried about her feelings changing because he didn’t look as good as usual. Honestly, he probably looked better than usual. He’d been taking showers and washing his clothes pretty much every day.
Anyway.
He took her hand as they left the room and headed down the corridor. He wasn’t exactly sure why, maybe it was just support, maybe he needed it as much as she did. He was glad that there didn’t seem to be anyone dangerous around, no guns or anything like that.
“Yeah…like, just a cruise? For fun?”
He hadn’t done much for fun in his life. It would be nice if that was what this was.
***
“I know that seems a little suspicious, but… yes?” Ruby gave him a wry smile. It was ridiculous that they felt like anything nice had to have a catch and yet, it was second nature. Both here and back home. At least here everyone seemed to have a level playing ground, so to speak.
“If everything seems like it’s above board… let’s make sure to have as much fun as possible, okay?” Ruby usually didn’t think this way, but with Liam, it was easier. Liam almost had Ruby believing she desired happiness, which was big for her.
–
“As long as everything checks out, I think that’s a great idea,” he grinned. Part of him hoped he remembered what it meant to have fun, but he also thought that they could probably figure it out together. With Ruby around, all of that came much more naturally.
“Let’s check it out then. And see if there’s food. I’m…kind of hungry.” He blushed a little - after all, he was still a teenage boy.