ember runs into an unexpected familiar face, aka @vallaurent
The clinic was, once again, pretty quiet. Renee had been out for part of the day, so it was left up to Val to care for any incoming patients. Of which, so far, there had been very few. Just a few scrapes and bruises. Val had, luckily, taken one of her books with her to pass the time. Completely occupied with it, she only noticed that someone had entered Redwoods little clinic when she heard the footsteps coming up to her desk.
"One sec, hun, this is just getting interesting-" she called out, casting a quick glance upwards to check whether the person standing there was dying or in any state that would require her attention - which made her pause.
"Oh, Ember. Hey." Val smiled, a little bit awkwardly. Shaking off the surprise at seeing the other woman there, she closed the book. "What can I help ya with? Got hurt?"
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Saying Val was the last person she expected wasn't fully true, if her mother or sister showed up suddenly at the clinic, that would have been more of a shock, but Ember certainly didn't expect the person to turn around to be Val, and it only really confused her more when the other seemed to be less of a surprise than it was for her.
"I-- Val. Hi," she stumbled over her words, blinking rapidly. The world was such a small place for sure. "It wasn't really me, there's a little girl outside, she fell and hurt her knees and I came in to get some bandages but-- I'm sorry, what are you doing here?"
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"I work here?" Val responded, slightly surprised at Ember's confusion, before realizing that Ember probably had no idea that Val had even made her way to Redwood. Val knew everyone who came and went, because she knew how to get information out of people. But Ember hadn't been here for that long, and why would anyone mention to her that Val was here?
"I came here a few months ago, after I split from my last group." The honest answer. Val sighed softly. "I heard you made it here not too long ago, yourself. Congrats on makin' it back to civilization, by the way. Heard you have some family here, too."
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"...Thank you?" Val's been here for a while, of course. Of course. And it was a big thing when she showed up, everyone knew about Isaac Apatow's daughter, and Val knew about her family status, knew about the dad who hasn't been there since she was four, it wouldn't have been hard to put it all together. And then casually stay out of Ember's way, considering everything.
It made sense, of course it made sense, but still, it stung.
"Sorry, all of this is just a surprise to take in, I didn't think-- well, I guess that's obvious." She forced herself to get over it, it was really not helpful to keep being the human equivalent of a question mark. (She didn't think about why meeting Val actually surprised her more than, say, meeting Orion here.) "But yeah, I kind of came looking for my father, so that was a positive find. And to be clear, I'm glad you're okay, and not zombie food."
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Val felt her own bad conscience tug at her. The fact thet she'd been avoiding Ember was, probably, pretty dang obvious. Should she have acted surprised? Pretended that she didn't know that Ember had been here all along? Somehow lying felt wrong in that moment, but maybe that would have been the better option.
"Thank you. I appreciate that, hun." Val smiled her typical smile, because she was glad to see Ember. The fact that she was alive was a miracle. Val hadn't thought she'd be seeing the other woman again. But then the knowledge of why they hadn't even been together in the first place weighed heavily on her. Shaking those feelings off, Val quickly turned her full attention to Ember.
"What about your mom? I... I know she isn't here with you. What happened? If you don't mind me askin'."
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Val was simply making conversation, Ember knew that. Was trying to be nice, asking about her mom, but Ember's stomach lurched at the question and felt like running away. Like maybe Val not telling her she was here was a good idea, actually.
(It was for both of their sakes.)
"It was the age old story, really. Zombies came, zombies chomped, only one got out bite free, life intact," she said, trying to keep her voice casual even though if one person could see through it, it was Val. Her dad knew her mom decades ago for the most part, aside from the phone calls, Orion barely knew them to really get to know her mom, but Val-- she came to dinners at their place, chatted with Izzy while she waited for Ember to get ready. She knew how close the family was. "It happened over a year ago now, so it's been a while.
"...anyway, did you arrive here alone or with somebody?"
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Val found her heart cenching when she heard Ember tell her about her mom. It was something Val had been afraid of, but now had her confirmation. Seeing the casual way Ember was talking about it felt worse. Not because it was disrespectful to Isabelle in any measure, but because Val knew Ember enough to know it was a facade.
"Oh honey, I'm so sorry." The pain in her voice was genuine as she stood up from behind the desk. Their relationship right now seemed unstable, unsure, or at least Val didn't quite know just how to handle Ember, but even now, she felt it was right to pull the other woman into a hug. "She was real special. I'm sorry you lost her." It took Val a moment to pull away, hands pressed gently against Ember's shoulders.
"I came here alone. My survivor group disbanded, and after that I stumbled here. Ember... I hope you know this but... I'm so glad you're here."
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"I-- thanks," Ember said because really, what could she do to such a genuine show of sympathy that came from Val in that moment, seeing right through the walls she tried to put up and then Val even came up and hugged her and it was so easy to just let everything else fall to the wayside and wrap her arms around Val herself, enjoying it for a moment before Val pulled away.
Pulled away but not too far, her hands still on Ember's shoulders as she explained how she got here and then added that she was glad Ember was here too with those dark, deep soulful eyes of hers looking down at her and Ember was moving before she could really register what she was doing - leaned forward and pressed her lips against Val's, gently, almost like a question.
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Val wasn't sure what she had expected - what she'd hoped for - but when Ember suddenly leaned forward and kissed her, she realized that this had been part of it. Ember was gentle, questioning as if she didn't quite know whether this was okay or not. It still felt the same after all that time. Val couldn't help herself in that moment. She reached up, cupping Ember's face with her hands and kissed her back, letting her thumbs trail over the other woman's cheeks as she did so. Only for a few seconds before she pulled back enough to look back at Ember's face.
"Honey, I-" Val looked at her, realizing that she'd missed this in ways she hadn't even realized, but also remembering why they hadn't had this. Why she hadn't seen Ember in all those years. "You know I'm no good for you, hun."
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There was that first moment of the kiss where Ember wasn't sure if Val would kiss back or pull away - both understandable and possible reactions, given their history -, but then Val leaned into it, cupped her face and kissed back and Ember let out a sigh as she lost herself in those few moments before Val pulled back again.
Ember chased her lips for a second before looking at back at Val - fuck, that honey just rolled off her tongue so easily and it was so incredibly distracting. Val was probably right, she knew that. They were bad for each other, they've come to that conclusion plenty of times before. But they've been in this exactly situation after those conversation just as many times, and Ember in that moment didn't - just couldn't - care about the past. "I don't really care right now," she said and when she kissed Val again, this time there was no hesitation, no question, just the desire to keep doing it and not let her brain overtake her.
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Val had expected their past to overcome both of them. Make them pull back and realize that after the many times they had split up, they should have learned their lesson. To not get too close again. But it was hard, not getting pulled in when Ember was so close, when she said she didn't care with no hesitation. And when she kissed Val again, the woman knew she lost that internal battle, at least for the moment.
Val kissed back with the same determination, one hand still cupping Ember's cheek, the other trailing into the other woman's hair, gently. Ember still kissed the same way she did back then. She let herself get lost in it, until she needed to pull back to breathe. "Did I ever tell you I love the way you kiss me...?" Val muttered, close enough that her breath ghosted over Ember's lips. Biting her own lip, Val pulled back enough that she could look into Ember's eyes. "Do you wanna get outta here? I like kissin ya, but the clinic entranceway probably ain't the best place for it."
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Ember kept her eyes closed for a moment after Val pulled back, smiling before she peppered a couple of feather light kisses on Val's lips. "I am pretty sure you have, but I still love hearing it. And right back at you." And when Val asked if she wanted to get out of here, she let out a small chuckle and nodded. "That's smart, this is-- don't get me wrong, pretty awesome, but yeah, not the kind of place for that."
Still, she gave Val one last kiss and then pulled back. "Good to see you in an environment like this though, it makes sense they snatched you right up here." She slid her fingers through Val's. "Fuck, I really missed you, you know?" She ignored everything else - they could deal with other realities later, for now, "Lead the way - where do you live?"
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It felt so, so good. The small kisses, the little affections, so familiar to her. Letting her hand run through Ember's soft dark hair, Val looked at her with the awe and affection she hadn't allowed herself. Lettinger her fingers thread Ember's, she chuckled. "Yeah, it... feels good. Normal. The way it was before, kinda."
Especially with Ember here, now. Val would let herself forget and be happy, for just the moment. She deserved that much, right? And Ember did, too. "I missed you too, lovely. Now, let's get outta here. My apartment ain't that far away." Quickly radioning Renee that something had come up and she'd be out, Val pulled Ember with her, outside of the clinic into the sunshine. Still holding her hand, as if the other woman might just disappear.
It was a 10 minute walk to her studio apartment. It was in a somewhat lonely part of Redwood, but Val liked the size and just because she was a chatterbox didn't mean she didn't like the calm and quiet. Opening up the door, she led Ember into a spacious apartment. Tall windows letting the sun in, shelves and other furniture lining the walls, filled with books and other knickknacks to make the place cozier. A makeshift bedroom made with a portable divider, and, in the middle facing the outside, a small Island of couches, chairs and a table. Normally Val would've asked if Ember wanted to drink something, offer her to sit down, along those lines. But now she just reached up, cupping Ember's face and pulling her into a kiss, loving and gentle and a little bit deeper than she had allowed it to be back at the clinic.
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It was so easy to fall back into walking next to Val, holding her hand, Ember's fingers gently caressing the back of the other woman's hands. There was something calming and excitable at the same time to be heading over to Val's place - something she's done plenty of times before and yet, it was all new, in a new place, unknown territory.
They were on the same page, though - when they arrived, Val didn't linger, didn't do pleasantries, they went right back to kissing and Ember sighed into it, the neediness that she didn't show too much before coming out now.
She's seen the place just enough that after a few moments she started leading the two of them towards the couches and once Val's legs hit the couch, Ember pushed the other down onto it, standing there, watching her for a few moments, taking in the entire woman - the frizzy, curly hair, the desire in her expression, the lanky body, those breast that curved and fit right into her palms, Ember knew from experience. "Fuck, you're still so gorgeous," she breathed and then climbed into Val's lap, straddling her and kissing her again, deep and full of desire.
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They picked up where they had left off. Like there hadn't been several years that they hadn't seen each other in, they just slipped back into their old rhythms. And Val didn't mind it. Kissing Ember with the same desire and need, not holding back as if a barrier had been broken.
Val followed Ember's lead, let herself be pushed onto the couch, meeting Ember's gaze as they stared at each other for just a moment. Things may have changed but she was still as beautiful as ever. Those warm, brown eyes that Val could get lost in. Her beautiful brown hair, sometimes tied up, sometimes falling onto her shoulders. Val remember how she played with it when they were half-asleep in her bed, strands between her fingers. "Can only say the same to you, honey." Val immediately reached out to Ember, kissing her again, letting her tongue gently trace Ember's lips. Her fingers found skin, soft and warm beneath her fingers, just from where Ember's shirt had slipped up. Her fingers traced the familiar curve of the other woman's hips, before pushing upward her back. Val pulled away enough to let her lips trace the gentle line of Ember's jaw, placing kisses, soft and feathery, down to her throat.
"Mh... Can I...?" A lingering question muttered against the crook of Ember's neck as Val's tugged on Ember's shirt.
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Ember chuckled against Val's skin, eyes closed, leaning into Val as her head tilted, giving space for Val's lips to caress her skin softly, gently as she asked Ember whether she was okay with going further. It was all so familiar and so new somehow at the same time and Ember didn't want either of them to stop. "Fuck yeah, please. I want this. I want you." There was no uncertainty after, both of them getting lost in the pleasure of each other, not caring about the past or the future, only about the other person, about feeling good and feeling close, feeling that intimacy and closeness they've known well over the years between the two of them.
END.