By the third bath, he turns to face her and asks her if she would like to join him.
-"Where the Miracle's Kept" by yourinsomnia
She ponders the question for several moments. Her eyes trace the flesh newly revealed from under war paint and the layers of sand that had previously hidden it, his lips surprisingly full and pink after several days of carefully sipped water as he recovered from his very near death. Her gaze was also drawn to the patchwork of scars that littered his body, many older ones only now visible to her though others she knew were more recent - acquired while saving her life and that of the others. But this debt to him is not what finally makes up her mind, it is instead the way he is looking at her now, his eyes wide and unexpectedly innocent. He looks at her reverently, as if he wants to give her the world but but can only offer to share in this.
She does not reply to his question but simply begins undressing. Nux watches in rapt fascination as she removes each item, no longer the gauzy coverings he remembers from their first meeting but far more practical garments. She is somehow even lovelier in this garb, perhaps because she looks more like the brave fighter he knows her to be. But she has not lost her kindness in this new position, or her softness, which she slowly reveals to him inch by inch before finally settling into the water across from him.
"I have never seen a breeder uncovered before…"
"I am not a thing." She replies - almost more as a repeated mantra than in true anger, knowing as she did that he does not think of her the way others had before.
"Well I have never seen a.." he searches for a more fitting word, for she could not be called a breeder and she was certainly no longer a wife of the Immortan, "a Capable before" he finally utters, satisfied that surely she could be called Capable.
She smiles at hearing her own name from his lips, and he responds with an even larger grin of his own. But the ease of his smile does not cover up the nervous tension the rest of his body displays. He leans over shakily to pour water from cupped hands over the parts of her not covered by the water, careful all the while not to touch her skin. "So shiny…" he utters, as much to himself as to her.
"You're trembling..." She notices his hesitance.
"No!" He quickly denies, shaking his head in an exaggerated movement that has her briefly worrying about his injuries.
"You're allowed to touch." She reassures him. She watches his face as he battles with the desire to reach out to her and the belief that he doesn't deserve her, doesn't deserve any of this. His expression has always been so open, his thoughts and feelings so easy to read - a rare and dangerous quality in their world. It should be strange to feel so protective of a war boy, but she finds herself wanting more than anything to gather him up in her arms and keep him safe with her forever. But right now she also wants something more, and so she assures him again that she would welcome his touch. Capable observes his countenance once again and sees the exact moment where his desire wins out, his face looking almost as if he was preparing for battle. And in some ways he is, for there are few things so risky as allowing yourself to want something beautiful and good after all they had been through.
Rather that rushing towards her to grasp and grab at all that lay before him with this new resolve, Nux instead gently touches her hair, which surrounds her face like a fiery halo. The ends of it have become an even deeper red where they have touched the water, and it startles him with its softness. Nothing in his life before her has ever been soft. He moves over to touch her cheek, which is as smooth and cool to his fevered skin as he imagines chrome would feel. Perhaps this is the Valhalla he had dreamed of? But no, this was even more precious. Valhalla promised brightness and battle, but being here with Capable was a peace he never could have imagined.
Pressing her cheek more fully into Nux's hand, Capable turns her head slightly to give his palm a kiss. His face has been moving towards her own since he first touched her hair without his even realizing it, and Capable takes this opportunity to pull his face the last few inches towards her for a chaste press of her lips onto his own. They remain suspended here for a moment, reveling in the newness of being together like this, eventually pulling back only slightly so that they are still sharing each breath. Nux then pulls back more fully, to behold the girl in front of him once again. His hands run up and down her arms gently, while her hands move to his shoulders, mindful of his injuries as well as Larry and Barry.
Nux's hands continue along their path up arms and down across her collarbones, finally reaching the soft swell of her chest. She gasps at the sensation and he pulls back as if burned. He then reaches up as if to begin hitting himself in repentance, but Capable takes his hands gently in her own and places then back on her breasts. She is tempted to tell him that she is not some fragile thing, that she will not break so easily, but admits to herself that she is enjoying his gentleness after a lifetime of being treated roughly. Instead she lets out a contented sigh as his fingers brush across her nipples.
Emboldened by her reaction, Nux leans forward to place another delicate kiss at her clavicle, placing more small kisses down her chest until he can take the soft bud of her nipple into his mouth. Capable moans and reaches back to grasp his head, holding him more firmly in place and encouraging him to continue his ministrations. Nux finds each of her sounds more lovely than the last. He then draws his mouth to the other breast for a little more attention before dragging his lips down her stomach as far as he could before the water stopped his course. He stares at the place where her body disappeared into the water looking slightly perplexed until his face lights up with possibility. Reaching around her waist he plucks her out of the water and sets her on the edge of the bath with all the gentleness she was becoming accustomed to but far more strength and grace than she expected from a man recently brought back from the brink of death.
Nux simply grins at Capable's surprise, and uses his new vantage point to look more fully on her, yes, and all the ways her body stood in contrast to his own. He places her hands back upon his shoulders as he runs his own hands up her smooth thighs. As his hands reach their apex, he gently runs his thumb between her soft curls, finding moisture there he knew was not entirely due to their bath. Bringing his thumb back into his mouth to taste, he finds her a little salty but also like he had imagined the green growing things he had seen once but never enjoyed. And here she was, his green goddess, his oasis. He leans down to sample more from the source of her.
Capable opens her mouth in soundless surprise as Nux gently licks at the seam of her, widening her legs a bit to give him space to continue. He brings one hand up to hold her open to his mouth's attentions, while the other hang roams freely but clumsily over the rest of her. He lifts his head for a moment to look at her, all lovely and flushed pink, but Capable quickly pulls him back down to where she needs it most. Letting out another sigh she brings runs her hands over the smooth curve of his skull, gently reminding him by their presence to stay where he is. Not that he would even think of moving now. The sounds coming from her gain in volume as he presses his tongue more deeply into her center, following the taste of her. His moans vibrate against her as she caresses the sensitive spot behind his ears before grasping onto him more firmly.
"Nux…" she whimpers as he finally brings his tongue up to the bundle of nerves above her opening. Encouraged by the use of his name, he starts to suckle at her as her sounds began their crescendo. She feels the tension building in her to nearly unbearable levels and thinks that nothing in this world had ever been so perfect as this moment. But then from between her thighs Nux glances up at her with his wide, hopeful eyes so intent on pleasing her and she finds even sweeter completion - her body curling around his own as she lets the sense of release wash over her.
Now completely boneless, Capable slips back into the cool water to wrap herself further around her former war boy. His lips are slick and red and he gazes at her in awe before burying his face into her hair and neck. He holds onto her more tightly than he had dared to previously. But when she finally reaches down towards him to share in her pleasure she finds him soft. She worries for a moment that something might be wrong until she hears something that sounded like "I already…" murmured into the skin of her neck. Smiling in wonder at the remarkable boy in her arms she pulls him away from her neck for another sweet kiss. Capable nearly begins crying at the thought of how close she had come to losing him, but he is safe with her here and now. They had both once again found hope for a future.