Rita is lying down on the ship's deck when Judith comes out to check on her—her side pressed against the wooden floor, her limbs loosely splayed out over the blueprints she was scribbling on an hour ago, and, upon closer examination, her eyes closed in sleep. Several opened books lie scattered around her, indicating that Rita must have dozed off in the middle of reading, and Judith shakes her head.
Honestly. After she expressly told Rita not to push herself if she was getting tired.
"Rita?" Judith attempts lightly, gently shaking Rita's shoulder, just in case she's not so far gone that she can't go to bed herself. But Rita doesn't so much as stir, so after a few seconds, Judith sighs and bends down to prod at her cheek.
"You always have to be so difficult, don't you?"
Still, no sense letting Rita sleep out here in the wind and cold. One arm hooks under Rita's knees while the other moves to brace her upper back, until Judith is shifting her into a bridal-style hold. Doing her best not to jostle the sleeping girl, Judith carries her inside the cabin, where she sets Rita down on her bunk and watches her curl in on herself on the mattress.
Judith quietly chuckles at how cute that is, then runs her fingers through messy brown bangs to sweep them aside. Rita's face looks so peaceful when she sleeps, soft and sweet and serene, relaxed without that usual furrow in her brow. Her chest visibly rises and falls in time with her slow breathing, and as Judith finds herself enraptured in the steady pace, she bends down, fully intending to just sneak in a kiss to the cheek before getting ready for bed herself—
Rita suddenly shifts, and Judith freezes up as she finds herself kissing puckered, eager lips instead.
Wide-eyed, Judith jolts back as abruptly as if she'd been burnt, her fingers flying up to her now tingling lips. Green eyes flutter open to blink up at her, glistening with mischief as a definitely awake Rita bursts into laughter.
"Gotcha," Rita snickers, clearly pleased to have caught her off guard.
Judith gapes. "Since when have you been awake?"
Rita hums and cocks her head on the pillow. "Mmmm, since you started carrying me?"
Her voice is lilting, playful, and she seems far too smug about pulling off her little trick. So Judith narrows her eyes and swiftly hefts herself up onto the bunk as well, until she's straddling Rita beneath her. Taking advantage of the newly exposed skin, Judith swoops down to nuzzle her nose in the crook of Rita's neck—a spot Judith knows to be quite sensitive—and delights in Rita's squeals of laughter as her lips blow raspberry after raspberry.
"Gah! Quit it!" Rita gasps, hastily shoving her away, then glaring and covering her neck protectively when Judith teasingly makes as if to do it again. "Don't you start. We'll never get to sleep if you do."
She has a point.
"Fine." Judith settles for kissing Rita on the nose before rolling off her bed. Once her feet hit the ground again, Judith whirls back around to proffer her hand. "But since you're actually awake, you'd better brush your teeth properly before bed."
Rita rolls her eyes, clearly not happy to be bugged about hygiene, but she takes Judith's hand and pulls herself up anyway.
"Sure, sure. Whatever you say."