Issue 1 Downtime

Opening the door Nailah steps into the part of the complex that serves as her apartment. It's as tastefully decorated as can be done with limited supplies and steel walls and looks much more comfortable than one would expect from the corridors outside.

"I'm back." she says as she puts away her coat.

"One thing I'll never understand," said a voice from the other side of the room, as she turned her chair to face the door, "Is why someone who knows they'll be late doesn't change when they say that they're going to arrive." The woman quirked a small smile at Nailah. "Although I suppose that there's some temporal reason involving butterflies and other things that would make my head hurt."

"Something like that." she smiles softly and walks over to Rebecca. "Sorry." she adds before leaning down and gently kissing her.

Becca smiled as she kissed Nailah back. "You're here, and I had something to poke you for. What more could a girl ask for?" she asked, a little tease to her voice. "What held you up?" she asked, standing from her seat.

"A good wine would be nice." she jokingly answers Becca's question. "And Sergei returned with a couple of refugees so I stopped by to see if they were settling in alright."

"Ah, yes, more mouths to feed, more bodies to swell the ranks," Becca mused, walking over to a small bar and looking at a bottle that she picked up. "Hmmm... a good year, from my experience," she mused as she popped the cork, reaching for a couple glasses.

"Thanks." she says, taking one of the glasses from Becca after she fills it.

"I'm just glad we can give people a place where they can stop running."

"It is a good thing," Becca agree. "The state the world's in now..." She shuddered, then covered it by taking a sip from her own glass.

"We mustn't be bothered by that." she says, slipping an arm around her waist from behind and leaning her head against Becca's. "We're safe here and that's what matters."

"Mmm... somewhat true. I'm still forced to worry about some people we haven't found yet," Becca admitted, leaning her head back agains Nailah.

"I know... But if we go looking for them we risk everything we built here."

"You know that this doesn't feel right, though," Becca sighed. "Hiding here, ignoring everyone else, everyone we know who doesn't come to us...

"I don't like it either but we're lucky for everyone who makes it here. I wish we could spirit everyone away to safety but going out there again is much too dangerous for most of us..."

"It still doesn't feel right sometimes," Becca sighed, sitting back on a cushy couch. "I never liked sitting things out," she said, frowning slightly as if at a passing thought, then shook her head to dismiss it.

"We do what we can and hold out. It's less than either of us would like but after everything that happened it doesn't seem right to risk losing you." she smiles softly, sitting down next to Becca.