"So that's why the gelato keeps disappearing before I get any," came Lizzy's quiet voice from the doorway.
Red glanced over his shoulder with a spoonful of the aforementioned gelato in his mouth. "Well, now I feel like a kid caught with his hand in the cookie jar. Or spoon in the ice cream carton, I suppose."
Lizzy offered him a small, sleepy smile and pushed herself off the door frame to join him at the table; she rubbed his shoulder and bent to drop a kiss to the crown of his head on the way. Red still wasn't used to the feeling of her lips pressed against his bare scalp, but he treasured it nonetheless—the easy intimacy in the act, the comfort in it. It made him nostalgic for a time long past, a time that had a lot more in common with his life now than he ever thought possible.
She pulled out the chair on the other side of the table as silently as she could so as not to wake Agnes and propped her head up drowsily on an elbow. "You gotta let me take some of these nighttime teething shifts."
"You need your sleep."
"So do you," she said, and reached out across the table to grasp his hand. He watched her thumb move over the skin on his knuckles, back and forth, back and forth. It was mesmerizing, really. As were her eyes, when he looked up to meet them. There was such naked care and concern in them, something she rarely allowed herself to show unless they were completely alone. In the past, it was rare even then. But things had changed. They lived together now. They let their guard down around each other on a daily basis and it didn't even feel especially terrifying anymore.
"I'm… restless in the best of times, Lizzy."
She chewed on her lip for a moment. "We used to sleep pretty well before. You know, considering."
Sure, they had indeed done a solid job of helping each other sleep while they were on the run, through a heady mix of sensuality and dependence, but it had never been particularly healthy. They were trying to do things right this time. Leaning more heavily on their partnership than their attraction for the time being seemed like a wise decision.
"That was the exception, rather than the rule. For me, at least."
"Yeah. Me, too." She gave his hand a squeeze. "I still don't mind if you wake me. There's something peaceful about waking up in the middle of the night. Everything's so still and quiet, like the world's forgotten about you for a little while. It's nice. Especially when you have someone to share it with."
Red scooped up another spoonful of gelato and held in out across the table. Lizzy leaned forward and ate it, dragging her lips across the bowl of the spoon to catch every drop; he swallowed reflexively as he watched her.
"Mmm. Chocolate peanut butter this time?"
He nodded. "Do you want a bowl or another spoon or—"
"Actually—" standing again, Lizzy slid herself around the table—"I was thinking I could just…"
She arranged herself in Red's lap and took advantage of his surprise to take the spoon from his lax fingers and scoop up another bit of gelato. Red couldn't look away as she turned the spoon over and licked it clean.
"This is very good," she said, and filled the spoon again, offering it to Red this time.
"Delicious," he agreed.
That surreal still silence Lizzy spoke about settled over the kitchen, wrapping its liminal strangeness around the two of them. It was as pleasant as she said it was, sharing it with her. Red felt a warmth rising in his chest, losing himself in the fondness in Lizzy's eyes.
Red and Lizzy leaned in at the same time, closing the small distance between their faces for a kiss, then another, and another—slow, languorous kisses that tasted of gelato and tranquility. The spoon clattered to the table, forgotten, as Lizzy cupped his face between her hands; Red splayed his fingers over her lower back, bracing and balancing her in the almost awkward position she sat in across his lap.
When they eventually pulled back, they rested their foreheads together and sighed, contentment spreading from the tips of their fingers to the tips of their toes.
If this was the new normal, Red liked it. He liked it a lot.