Silence was like a heavy blanket in the apartment, no signs of life other than the steaming tea held in cold hands and the barely there breathing of the undead woman in the windowsill.
The world was on the edge of waking up, the sun cresting the horizon and slowly illuminating the quiet cityscape outside the high building they were residing in. The light hit her hands, and at first she had jolted back after centuries of burns to near deaths, but when her skin remained fine she had eased back onto the cold windowsill and simply stared once more.
The sunlight was up to her shoulders when the floorboards creaked and a half-asleep Michael walked into the room and straight into the kitchen.
She recognised the sounds of him making coffee, vaguely remembering his no milk and sugar preference. Brown eyes glanced back to the road beneath the window, watching the few cars drive by and fade away in the early morning fog.
"Couldn't sleep?"
A simple glance from her told him enough and he chuckled softly. "I know, I know." He grabbed a chair and it scraped over the floor as he dragged it next to Selene. He easily plopped down and took a sip from his coffee. "What's on your mind?"
Cold fingers tensed around the mug. She felt naked without her catsuit, but Michael had told her to try and wear normal human clothing, blend in more. Now that he was here she was minutely aware of her bare arms and legs, of the thin fabric covering her torso and hips. She clenched her jaw and shrugged. It was a nonchalant gesture she failed to perform nonchalantly, and a warm hand touched her thigh.
"You're okay, Selene." His voice was comforting, a relaxed face gracing him. "It's only been two weeks."
"Yet look at you settling in like this." She didn't mean to sound as bitter and snappy as she did, and she instantly regretted it with a wince and a gaze averted.
A small and fond smile. Accepting and understanding, infuriatingly so. "This is what my life was like before. Minus the beautiful woman in the windowsill, of course."
An unnecessary compliment that somehow still managed to make her dead heart skip an impossible beat. "Michael."
"If you want to be with me, you're going to have to get used to compliments," he teased, settling back into a comfortable silence as he sipped his warm drink.
Be with him, yes. It was something that had been on her mind much now that there wasn't any running and fighting to be done anymore. They shared a bed, solely because there wasn't another in the apartment. Or so she kept telling herself whenever he cuddled up against her and wrapped an arm around her slender waist. She had foregone sleeping during the day, trying to get used to the sun once again and forcing herself to get into a human rhythm because... why, exactly? If she really thought about it, all that really popped up was Michael's smile.
A warm and relaxed hand touched her shoulder and then lips pressed a loving kiss on her head. "I'm going to take a shower."
"Wait."
The words came out before she had even thought about what she wanted to say. For a moment she was at a loss for words, his calm eyes looking into hers, filled with a feeling she was almost scared to try and recognise as he patiently stood there. She blinked a few more times. "Michael."
"Yes?" He tilted his head, inquired.
"Stay with me."
Whatever it meant, whether it meant now, this second, or the rest of their lives, she wasn't really sure. But something about his gaze and words just clicked and she finally allowed herself to remember her long-forgotten human self feeling so loved and now so alone.
Body frozen on the windowsill she was grateful that Michael understood, as he ever did with her, and walked over to her. His warm hands gently cupped her cheeks and he simply smiled the warmest smile she ever saw and felt. And then he leaned in and their lips met and the sunlight on her neck seemed cold in comparison.