"Work Song"

When Eve wakes up, she almost screams at the weight of Villanelle's arm across her bellybutton, unfamiliar with the concept of sleeping with someone after so long.

Villanelle feels her knee-jerk reaction and opens her eyes sleepily, a smile slowly forming across her lips as she takes in the sight of a disheveled but alert Eve.

"You look very sexy," Villanelle mumbles, eyes drifting from Eve's face and down to her chest.

"My eyes are up here, fiancée," Eve teases, pulling Villanelle's head closer to hers for a kiss.

"But your morning breath is not so sexy," Villanelle adds, smirking at Eve's responsive huff. "I'm just joking. I love everything about you. Even the way you taste in the morning. But I still don't know if you taste the same in other--"

"Okayyy. Hold those horses, cowboy. We're not going to, erm, discuss other things. Unless you want to watch me touch myself."

"I wouldn't mind," Villanelle casually states, pupils darkening at the thought.

"I know you wouldn't," Eve adds hastily, "but someone needs to take their medication and someone else needs to help said person use the bathroom and shower. No offense, baby, but you kind of smell"

"I never smell," Villanelle grumbles. "And if I do, it's a very sexy scent."

Eve rolls her eyes and pecks Villanelle on the lips, grinning at the disconcerted look on Villanelle's face. "I love your natural scent. But I do think taking a shower will help relieve some tension in your muscles."

"Do you know what else relieves tension, Eve?"

"I imagine you're going to tell me."

"Sex."

"We can have sex if you let me help you take a shower and eat breakfast."

"Really?? I don't need to wait a week?," Villanelle asks, excitement rolling off of her body in waves.

"Really. I wouldn't joke about that with you."

Encouraged by the idea of afternoon sex, Villanelle tries to sit up so she can get out of bed.

"Wait. Not so fast, tiger. Let's just lie here for awhile."

"You're right. You are always right. My smart, beautiful, funny, partner-in-crime."

"You don't need to flatter me, baby. I'm not going to rescind the promise."

"Okay," Villanelle beams, sliding her arm beneath Eve's neck and shuddering in anticipation at being touched by Eve and being able to touch her.

Marmalade jumps onto the bed and walks across Villanelle, eliciting a yelp, to paw at Eve's neck, Peaches close behind, mewing desperately.

"I'm going to go downstairs and give these two their breakfast. Don't go anywhere."

"Yes ma'am," Villanelle affirms, grimacing the second Eve disappears downstairs with Peaches on her shoulder and Marmalade leading the way.

Five minutes later, Eve walks back into the room and sees Villanelle fast asleep.

She sets down a glass of water and two pills on the bedside table before getting back into bed and leaning into Villanelle, sighing. Her thoughts drift back to the last time they were together, almost a year ago, in November. Eve's mother had just died so Villanelle came to Connecticut as soon as Eve told her the news.

After the last guest had left her mother's house following the reception, Eve and Villanelle had gone upstairs to her childhood bedroom and gotten into the queen-sized bed Villanelle had replaced her childhood bed with a few years prior.

"Are you scared of death?," Eve asked Villanelle after Villanelle told her she had to leave again, one last time, to fulfill a promise she made to Konstantin before his untimely death regarding Irina.

"I have faced it many times, now. I'm more scared of leaving you behind."

"What would you do if I died first?"

Villanelle doesn't reply to Eve's question. Instead, she turns on her side so that her back is towards Eve and she is facing Eve's bedroom window.

"I'm sorry," Eve says softly, shifting her body so she can rest her right cheek against Villanelle's tear-stained left one. "I shouldn't have asked you that. I'm just feeling emotional after Omma's passing."

Villanelle turns onto her back and she pulls Eve into her, breathing in the scent of her shampoo. "If you died first, I'd ask you to leave the first and last dance for me, in that ballroom upstairs."

"And all the ones in between?"

"And all the ones in between."

"That's a very sweet response."

"It's how I feel."

"You're getting older, V. The work is becoming more dangerous. If I asked you to not leave, I know you would listen."

"I would."

"But you need to take care of those last few men Konstantin told you about so Irina can be free."

"Yes."

"Do you know how long it will take you?"

"No. I need to track them down. The last remnants of a dying dynasty."

Villanelle laughs dryly and Eve bends over to kiss her on the lips.

"I know you won't rest until you do what you need to do. I'll be here when you come back."

"I don't want to leave you."

"And I don't want you to leave. But if you don't do this, you'll always wonder about Irina and you'll never forgive yourself."

"You're right. I'll always be looking over my back, too. They are still looking for us."

"So Bear tells me."

"We can still go to Alaska."

Eve laughs softly, eyes glistening with a memory of Rome and its ruins and a confession of love Villanelle made to her even before she knew what love meant.

"Alaska will always be there. For now, we have Marmalade to worry about. He has probably already wrecked the inside of our home, wondering why we have been gone for so many hours."

"Our baby," Villanelle whispers, clenching her fingers around Eve's shoulder as Eve leans into her side and inhales the scent of her perfume below the collar of her tuxedo blazer.

"I miss her already," Eve announces, nuzzling her head below Villanelle's chin.

"Me too. I was her favorite daughter-in-law."

"God. You two loved to make that joke."

"And you always jumped in with 'She's the only daughter-in-law' and Omma would double over laughing like she had just heard you say that for the first time."

"She loved you."

"I know she did. I loved her too. She was the only mother I ever had. The best one, too."

Eve wipes away the tears trickling down the slopes of Villanelle's cheeks and kisses the streaks on her skin.

A few minutes later, Villanelle asks: "What are we going to do with the house? Shall we keep it?"

"I want to hold onto it."

"Okay. We don't need to make any decisions right now. I have enough money stashed away for us to be comfortable for the rest of our lives. I can keep paying the taxes on it. You don't have to keep working if you want to take time off to...reflect. Or to travel. Visit Elena in England."

"Thank you, baby. But I'm not going to retire until you're home for good. I would be bored if I retired now."

"I know. But what if I don't come back for another two or three years?"

"You will."

"How do you know that?"

"I just have a feeling and my instincts are always right."

"That's true."

"You're just going to show up, one day, as if you had never left."

"Will you be ready then? To say yes?"

"I said no to you once, in Rome. I've said yes ever since. Don't you know that by now?"

"Sometimes I need to hear you say it."

"Okay. Yes. To any question you would like to ask me."

"Any question?," Villanelle asks slyly, her fingers slipping beneath the straps of Eve's black dress.

"Oh god. You want to have funeral sex, don't you?"

"EVE! So scandalous! I would have phrased it differently."

"Okay, impress me then."

"Would you like to have sex in your childhood bedroom? I think Omma would want us to do that. Instead of lying here and crying."

"You're seriously dragging my deceased mother into your request for sex?"

"Uh...yes? You know she would be proud of me for asking you first. Consent is very sexy, Eve."

"Shut up and take your tux off."

Villanelle laughs into Eve's neck as she swiftly unzips and pulls down her dress.

"Eve? Eve, wake up."

Eve opens her eyes to see Villanelle staring down at her.

"Were you dreaming about me?," Villanelle asks, a smug smile coating her cheeks and her chin.

"Was I saying something?"

"You were saying my name."

"Oh. Then yes."

"What were you dreaming about?"

"The day of Omma's funeral service. The sex we had in my childhood bedroom."

"That was very hot. I had to take my tuxedo to the dry cleaner that day because someone was too impatient and grinding down on my pants."

Eve groans, face entirely flushed. "That was not my best moment. But in my defense, you did a great job at soothing my pain."

"Speaking of soothing one's pain...," Villanelle is about to make a suggestive comment when Peaches jumps onto her chest and flops down at the base of her throat to play with Villanelle's hair.

"That is ticklish," Villanelle frowns, pretending to be upset. She picks Peaches up and kisses her belly, making raspberries there.

"Is she always this curious?"

"Yes. She follows Marmalade around everywhere. Hey, Marmalade! Be calm," Eve directs, watching Marmalade try to clamber up Villanelle's torso and see what Peaches is up to. Marmalade chirrups and stares at Eve exasperatedly, in a glance eerily similar to her own look of frustration, returning to his spot be†ween Villanelle's legs where he lies down to observe Peaches.

"It's okay. I'm not in as much pain right now when I have this little stinker in my face. She smells fresh?"

"She likes to sit in the clean laundry basket."

"Are you a panty-snatcher, Peaches?"

Eve laughs and watches Villanelle place Peaches on top of her shoulder where Peaches remains, nipping at her earlobe and pulling the hair from behind her ear with her tiny, always moving paws.

"Do you think we should tell these two that they were involved in an exciting proposal?"

"Yes. When they stop thinking your body is their play area."

"It is a play area," Villanelle drawls, her accent thick and heavy as she sends Eve a wink.

"I should string up some caution tape around it. To prevent any further injuries or accidents."

"You would look good in a construction worker uniform. I will order one online."

"You think I would look good in anything."

"Yes, but you also look good in nothing."

"You have a one-track mind," Eve laughs, giving Villanelle a kiss as Peaches paws at her chin when she leans over.

"Can you blame me? It's been a year, Eve," Villanelle announces, her hand sliding beneath Eve's shirt so her fingers can run across the ridges of her ribcage.

"No. And I know. That's what my dream was about."

Villanelle pulls her hand away from Eve's shirt and tries to sit up so she can set Peaches down.

"Fuck, it hurts," she whines, closing her eyes tightly after attempting to lean sideways, over the edge of the bed.

"It's okay, here, let me take her. Marmalade, follow me."

Eve pads to the bedroom door and sets Peaches outside of it after giving her a kiss. "Go and play with your brother, okay?"

After Marmalade stalks out of the room, perturbed at being disturbed, Eve shuts the bedroom door and gets back into bed.

"I want to make you feel good but I don't want you to feel bad if your body cannot respond the way you want it to."

"I want you to touch me, Eve. I'm already halfway there before small baby interrupted me."

"Just lie back and relax then, okay? And if there's too much pain, I'm going to stop and you're going to take those pills."

"So bossy," Villanelle scoffs, smirking regardless.

"Can you spread your legs a bit more?"

"I thought you'd never ask."

Eve laughs, pressing kisses below Villanelle's pelvic bone, her curly hair brushing against Villanelle's skin and making her shiver.

Dipping her fingers between Villanelle's thighs and simultaneously sucking on her swollen clit makes Villanelle grab Eve's hair aggressively, pulling her head closer against her skin.

"Don't stop," Villanelle exhales, breath accelerating with every press of Eve's tongue above, around, and beneath her clit.

Eve removes her lips from Villanelle's clit so her fingers can coat it with her own wetness. This move makes Villanelle close her eyes as her left hand fists the sheets and her right hand pushes down on Eve's head, encouraging her to use her mouth again.

"Fuck, Eve," Villanelle whines, her hips thrusting upwards as Eve kisses her bundle of nerves and then uses her tongue to lap up the wetness quickly pooling beneath it.

When Villanelle comes, Eve coaxes her through the orgasm by kissing the insides of her thighs and the area above her hipbones. To Eve, the sight of Villanelle coming undone is beautiful. Even when restricted in her movements, Villanelle is still a sight to behold. Rippling muscle, sweaty hair sticking to the sides of her neck and her forehead, eyes squinted shut, unbridled energy spilling from her limbs like streams of light.

"Come here," Villanelle breathes, beckoning Eve with her finger.

"Hold on, let me wipe you down. I don't want you to feel uncomfortable if you're not able to move."

A few minutes later, after discarding the used flannel into the bathroom laundry basket, Eve gets back into bed once again.

Villanelle beams at her, a contented sigh rolling off of her lips.

"Was that good?," Eve asks.

"Beyond. I couldn't hold out any longer. I came so quickly."

"I know."

"I like tasting myself on your lips," Villanelle whispers, pulling Eve's bottom lip between her own and gently sucking on it.

"I remember," Eve groans, parting Villanelle's lips with her tongue.

"Do you want to sit on my face?," Villanelle asks, grinning at the reaction she can feel Eve experience in response to the question.

"Are you sure you can handle it?," Eve teases playfully, her heart threatening to jump out of her chest.

"I know I can handle it. My upper body is okay, especially my head. You remember my head, don't you?"

Eve's entire body flushes with Villanelle's question and Villanelle laughs as she watches Eve hurriedly get off the bed and remove her shorts.

"Take off your shirt, too. My hands still work."

Eve almost falls over in her haste to oblige. By the time she is back on the bed, Villanelle has downed the glass of water from the bedside table and palmed the headboard to shift her body down, giving Eve more room to move at the top of the mattress.

"Now," Villanelle calmly states even though Eve can tell she is nervous, "you do remember how to ride my face, right?"

"Oh, shut up. I'm older but I'm not old."

"Come on then, Beloved. Before I fall asleep on you again. And then you'll go swap me out with one of your other admirers."

Villanelle's eyebrows are raised when Eve gently lowers herself down, straddling Villanelle's collarbone, knees pressed against the mattress.

"What are you waiting for?," Villanelle asks, dark eyes roving over Eve's breasts as her hands reach out to palm them.

"For you."

Villanelle licks her lips and moves her hands so that they are at the base of Eve's back as Eve adjusts her body once again so that her knees are on either side of Villanelle's head and she is hovering directly above Villanelle's mouth.

"Do you want to go for a ride, Firebird?," Villanelle asks.

And without waiting for a response from Eve, Villanelle takes off, much to the dismay of the two inquisitive felines meowing pitifully beyond the closed door.