Hey ya'll so I wanted to write some dorks in love and also practice atmosphere within writing so here you go :)
The passengers of the war rig bounced with each ebb the desert dunes offered. Max in the passenger seat, sleeping quietly for the first time in perhaps years. Who knew how long that would last.
After the tragedy of Splendid, Furiosa welcomed the warm feeling that seeing Max brought her. She'd never admit it, not even to herself, but the feeling remained nestled in her belly nonetheless.
Nux and the wives remained in the back. They were exhausted, lids heavy, hair blowing in the wind that rushed through the permanently open windows of the rig. Nux felt Capable's body against his, the bumps resonating with the both of them as they bobbed together. He liked how she felt; so soft and clean compared to his sandblasted, clay-covered skin.
Soon Nux and the Dag were the only ones with their eyes open, aside from Furiosa who gazed powerfully at the horizon in front of her. Seemingly endless orange against blue. Pure blue.
Nux watched the Dag's dainty hands as she gathered her long, blonde hair in them. She brushed it with her fingers, tangled from the ordeal they'd all experienced together. Nux wondered if her hair was as soft as Capable's that rested against his chest. It seemed like it.
She split her hair into three parts, then wove it into a clean braid. Nux tried to comprehend her movements, but found himself confused by her fast-moving fingers, twisting and pulling. He was amazed, though, to see what her hands had created in her hair. It was like rope, rope that would suspend the rigs he worked on, rope that carried the platform, rope that contained the War Boys when they retched at night from the pain they'd experienced. But her rope was silky, supple.
"How'd you do that?" Nux whispered over the other girls, trying not to wake them from their sleep.
"Huh?" the Dag's ethereal eyes darted to his, both a piercing blue. His pupil wide, her's constricted. She was facing the setting sun.
"Your hair," he nodded towards her hands that still gripped the braid, tying the end.
"Oh, um," the Dag smiled. Her teeth were so shiny. "It's a braid. You just kind of, weave the hair."
Nux nodded, still not understanding. He'd watched her weave it, but still didn't comprehend how her movements resulted in what he currently saw.
"I don't suppose you'd know, you don't have hair... you need hair to braid hair..." the Dag droned on now in that way she had, slightly oblivious but always observant.
Nux smiled. No shit, he thought. He wanted to chuckle, but kept his chest still to not wake Capable. He looked down at her hair, his goggles still planted on her head. I'm never getting those back, he thought. He was alright with that.
"I can show you, if you want."
Nux met her gaze, creamy. "Yeah, that'd be real shiny, I guess."
Furiosa looked in her rearview mirror, or whatever still remained of it, to see Nux leaning over slightly as Dag tried to make her movements as obvious as possible. Nux tried to keep track, her celestial voice trying to carry him, but his mind was too heavy.
They gave up, Nux concluding that he'd have to wait. They were too far apart from each other for him to see up close, and he couldn't try on her hair. The Dag mentioned that to learn, you need to try. It was quiet again, aside from the roaring of the engine and the dusting of the sand hitting the wheel-wells as the tires trucked on.
Capable shifted against Nux's boy, her eyes feeling heavy. She wouldn't go back to sleep, she knew. She was awake, though her body cried for more rest. It wouldn't come.
She looked up to see Nux's eyes closed, his head resting against the seat. She scanned his face, his scars, as he slept, his arm still draped over hers. He was so peaceful, she thought, when he wasn't rattling around or scared. And he was scared very often.
Everyone else remained asleep, the Dag having followed Nux not long after. Max's head bounced with the rig, his arms crossed over his body. The girls huddled against each other, the biting air of the desert turning cold as night set in.
Night.
Capable looked to Furiosa who had been too focused on driving to notice Capable's awakening. Capable shimmied Nux's arm away from her, setting it down on his leg, allowing her to stretch her weary arms and legs.
"Furiosa," she murmured, her voice scratchy from her tiredness. "Are we stopping soon? For a break?"
Furiosa looked back, her eyes tired. She was as exhausted as the rest of them, moreso probably, and deserved a break. They were far ahead of the war packs pursuing them, having great advantage and plenty of time to sleep in shifts.
"Yeah," she responded. "We'll stop soon."
Capable was pleased. She needed to walk, to move. With the night came cold and rest, something Capable had anticipated since the heat of the desert bore into her skin.
The rig came to a stop, alerting Max to awake from his sleep. For the first time in years, he woke without a start, without a need to kill or defend- just woke up. He was comforted.
"What're you doing?" Max growled, his words short but pleasantly neutral.
"Taking a rest break. We have time. The girls need to walk, we can sleep peacefully" she responded diplomatically, setting the kill-switches and the brake. This would be a good spot, protected under a particularly large dune.
Max grunted, agreeing, Furiosa supposed. She opened the driver's door, the slamming of it waking the girls. Furiosa went to inspect the rig, make sure everything was in place.
The girls rolled and stretched, Nux following them. Nux met Capable's gaze, darkness shrouding the intricacies of her features, but she was beautiful nonetheless. He opened the door, stumbling out of the rig and planting his feet into the sand. He held out his hand for Capable to follow, she using his leverage to hop down into the night-cooled sand. The other women moaned and groaned, making small talk, dusting themselves off.
Capable climbed the cab to delve into the small reservoir they'd stayed in the first part of the trip. She returned with 4 big blankets, thick. The girls sat in the sand, talking about various pleasantries, anything to avoid the silence.
Nux and Capable shared a blanket, then Cheedo and Toast, then The Dag. Furiosa got her own, and Max had refused one. He slept in the cab anyway.
"We should sleep in shifts," Furiosa suggested, just to be safe. The team agreed, Max staying awake first.
Furiosa was the first to plant herself in the sand like a seed laid over dirt and fall asleep, the blanket a buffer between her and the sand. Her robotic arm hung from the drivers' side door.
After walking and stretching, the other passengers settled down. It felt good to lay down and close their eyes, having had to sleep sitting from pure exhaustion. The Dag discussed... something, no one really listening too intently. They appreciated her droning words, something to break the silence that they'd share otherwise.
Soon, everyone rested peacefully, the Dag's words thinning and replaced by smooth breaths. Everyone except Max, who kept his eyes on the inky blackness in front of him. He scanned for lights, listened for gunshots. There was nothing for three hours, when he jumped down to the sand to wake the next patrolman.
Nux was shaken awake, Capable not far behind him. Max grunted when he noticed his eyes open, blinking, trying to see who he was. He understood though: it was their turn.
Max returned to the rig to get some sleep. Nux and Capable sat up, stretching, the cold air biting compared to the warmth their bodies had created under the blanket. They huddled. In the moment, Nux planted a small kiss on the top of Capable's head, feeling her soft hair against his face. Her skin flushed, making her feel like a child.
They looked up to the stars, clear as could be. It always astonished them both, to be able to look up and see the universe. Maybe somewhere out there, there would a better place than this wasteland.
It seemed alright now, though, as Capable nestled between Nux's legs, his arms around her. They sat, looking up, the only noise their breaths.
Nux reached up a tentative hand to grab a small clump of Capable's hair. He'd withdrawn his second hand, toying with it. Her scalp tingled as he played with her hair, running his hands through it, twisting it. She closed her eyes.
"What are you doing, Nux?"
The sudden noise kicked him out of his almost blissful ministrations. "I uh," he stuttered, his voice louder than he anticipated. Quieter now, "The Dag tried to show me how to make braids."
Capable smiled, turning her head towards him. "Did you do it?" she reached back and grabbed the sad excuse of a twist Nux had created. She grinned wider.
"Not exactly."
Capable giggled at that, turning her body towards him now. "I can show you, Dag can be hard to learn from sometimes."
Nux smiled, her face clearer now that his eyes adjusted to the dark. "We're supposed to keep watch."
"We can do that while I teach you."
Nux caved, wanting to feel her hair again. It was so soft and bouncy under his fingers. The last time he'd felt hair was when he'd held it up to be cut from Bloodba- Max's head. This time, it was intimate, pleasurable.
She parted her hair, sending half on one side of her face, and half on the other. She grabbed the left clump.
"Follow my fingers," she instructed, prompting Nux to reach up and grab the other half.
She separated it into three strands, so did Nux.
"Hold it in your fingers like this."
He did.
"The first one goes over the middle, and you loop it under your finger like this."
Slowly, he copied her.
"Then, the third goes in the space between the first and he second." She pulled the first braid taut.
Capable repeated the movements until the whole length of her hair was braided.
He followed. He'd done it! It looked similar to the Dag's, but Capable's hair was so much thicker, it was hard to make it look at clean as hers.
They finished both sides, Nux grinning that childlike smile Capable had come to adore. She helped him tie them with little rubber bands. Nux compared them to the buffers found in different engines and car parts, amusing Capable.
"So that's how you braid," she concluded, running her hand along the braid that Nux had made. It was warm from his hands.
"Thanks," Nux said softly. His voice was so raspy, Capable had to remind herself sometimes exactly who he was.
Capable leaned into Nux's chest, the braids brushing his skin. He grinned, his arms moving to support himself. They were close now, their foreheads touching. His head was hot, too hot. Was it a fever?
No, Capable concluded, as she brushed her lips against his. He was just a young boy, kissing and touching and fumbling around in the dark with a girl he liked. She smiled into the kiss, deepening it, feeling his hot breath against her face. He kissed back to the best of his ability, still new and innocent.
She broke the kiss after a moment, leaving Nux's lips parted and his eyes heavy. He was overwhelmed, she knew, he always was with any affection. But he reached one hand up to lightly grasp the braid he had made, still looking in her eyes.
He felt her lips against his as he tilted his head to kiss her again, feeling her skin against his chest and her hair between his fingers.