Rimenlie

This is slightly AU, obviously. Riley wasn't bitten, Clem's group found Tommy's shortly after Carver, and... Yeah :D Might be more later, I dunno yet. I kinda want to write some Clem/Sarah...

Chapter ManagemenChapter Text

Riley yawned as xe stretched xir lanky body across the couch. It's old and faded leather scratched at xir back, but it was much better than sitting in the same position xe had been stuck in for hours during sentry duty. Ellie chuckled as she watched her lover. Riley could seem invisible sometimes, but other times xe seemed to take up a ridiculous amount of space.

Like a whole couch, for example.

"Scoot over." The redhead commanded as she fought a smirk.

"Mm, no." Xe stuck xir tongue out and closed xir eyes, intent on falling asleep, "Go find somewhere else to sit."

Ellie considered this for a moment. True, her lover was probably tired and not in the best mood to mess with, but that would mean an uneventful, boring evening. Deciding that boring was, well, boring, she took action.

She sat on her lover's lap, and then sprawled over xir lap so they were face to face. Riley made no protest, instead keeping xir eyes closed.

"Riley..."

Ellie poked xir cheek. When she didn't get a response she huffed, glaring at her lover. Riley, however, was fighting a grin, since xe knew the frustration xe was causing. Xe knew very well what Ellie wanted, but decided to tease her about it.

"Riley, come on, I'm bored!"

Ellie's whining voice was irritating, as was intended, and got Riley to lift and eyelid, gazing at xir lover.

"What am I supposed to do about it?"

The freckled teen grinned down at her lover, choosing not to comment as she pressed her lips to xir's. Riley's heart beat picked up as xe cradled Ellie closer. The redhead tasted like vanilla, probably from the latest pack of energy bars they had scavenged. Ellie hummed against xir's lips, wrapping her fingers in xir's dark hair. She pulled back briefly and said, "See, isn't this better?"

Riley only scoffed and pulled her down again. The redhead made no complaint. The two continued the kiss for a few minutes before they heard someone at the door.

"Hm, Clementine?" The dark skinned teen asked, a bit dazed.

"Probably." Ellie answered breathlessly. She was about to add more when the youngest of the trio walked into the room, chuckling.

"Geez you two. Are you glued together or something?"

Ellie bit back a cheeky comment as Riley sat up, shifting them over and beckoning Clementine to sit with them.

"This could be you, if you didn't volunteer to hunt so often." Xe smirked playfully, knowing full well Clementine didn't like the physical aspects of the relationship.

"That sounds like a threat." The Georgian girl deadpanned.They laughed at her joke as Clem sat with them, relaxing back into Riley's left shoulder as Ellie did the same on the right.

Many people didn't understand their relationship. Most people those days only stayed together for sex or power. Not them, though. Their relationship was more about stability than anything else. Comfort, safety, love, things that were as rare as most things from the 'days before'. They had their troubles, sure, and many people disagreed with them (including each other), but for the most part, they were happy. Happiness being another rare thing in those days.

"We got a few deer." Clementine said after a few minutes, "And some rabits. We ran into some clickers, though, down by the west side."

"Man, there were only runners there last week." Ellie scowled, thinking back to her trip with Joel to the small town near the dam. It seemed there were plenty of infected getting through the town, but they had yet to find out how.

"Kenny said people might be getting stuck in town and dying. Or maybe the hunters get them." Riley pointed out. Hunters were a far less common problem now that the dam had a fairly large population. This probably meant that the hunters were going after other people, then, to get their goods.

"Well, sucks for them." Ellie said, half joking. Riley chuckled and Clem rolled her eyes.

"Oh, Joel will be here soon. He was helping with the horses and said he'd be home for dinner."

"Christ," Riley muttered, "Is it that late already?"

Ellie laughed, "Guess we got a bit distracted, hmm?"

Even Clem giggled at that one as she sat up and stretched her arms over her head. Riley swiped her hat, placing it on xir head before Clem could take it back. Xe leaned back into the couch and pulled the cap low over xir eyes.

Clem scoffed but didn't bother trying to take the hat back because she heard someone at the door. Ellie jumped up and ran into the hallway, greeting Joel halfway. Clem and Riley shared a look as they got up and headed towards the pair.

"Hello, girls. Y'all staying for dinner?" Joel greeted them warmly, and it was only after years of knowing him that they heard the plea in his voice. This night was for him and Ellie.

"No, thank you." Riley waved him off, "Some of the kids are meeting at the schoolroom for dinner."

"And Kenny told me to be back soon." Clem added.

The three said goodbye, and the two teens left. Once they were outside, Riley turned to Clementine.

"So, why does Kenny want you home early, anyways?" 

Clem shrugged, "I dunno. He said him and Sarita wanted to talk to me about something important." She paused. "I hope they're not going to tell me to stop hunting. That's the only chore I like around here."

Riley laughed, "They know you can handle yourself. I'm sure it's just something about school or something."

Clem nodded, but wasn't entirely convinced. Kenny had seemed pretty serious, and maybe a bit excited. She shrugged, though, deciding she'd find out soon enough. They stopped outside of the building the schoolroom was in. It doubled as a library and a teen hang out spot, and Riley's eyes lit up when xe saw it.

"Well, I'll see you tomorrow, then?" Xe and Clem hugged, and the younger girl nodded, "See you then." 

"Tell me what Kenny wanted to talk about." Xe smiled. Clem nodded, returning the smile. She kissed xir cheek before turning and walking towards the cluster of houses that most of her old group lived in.

Tomorrow she would have quite the story to tell.