Her arms slipped into their familiar positions around his torso which was not quite frail but was still slight enough to warrant a suggestion of weight lifting to look less like an overcooked noodle with an unkempt mop of dark hair. After so many years of this painful display of affection his body had actually dented where her arms often fell, just enough to give the sensation that they were locked into place instead of just against each other. Instinctively his arms went limply around her shoulders, eyes sweeping the area almost dully. Her body heat, the vibrations of her ragged breathing and general shaking of frame, and the wetness he could feel staining the jacket and down towards skin told him this was hardly the nightmare he believed it had been. This was the unfortunate reality they had woken to and for a good few moments he sorely wished they had been one of the fortunate to die and be dust on the asphalt, not the survivors.<br/><br/>An absence was felt and his dark eyes roamed back to her, watching her shed the coat she'd been wearing. Hadn't it been freezing out before all this? It didn't snow this far South, or at least it was rare that it did, but he remembered having to give up a bit of his masculinity to beg for a swipe of balm so his lips wouldn't crack. It hadn't helped the stuff had been strawberry scented but he had figured at the time he wouldn't be doing any kissing to warrant anyone knowing. But now it was warm, a heat one would expect in the summer, yet it lacked the skin-molesting slickness that was humidity. Wordlessly his own jacket fell off of him in several graceless shrugs, revealing bruised arms.<br/><br/>"Are we sure we aren't the dead ones?" That question made no sense. He could feel pain, the dead couldn't. Maybe this was the Hell his mother always spoke about on Sundays and whenever he did something bad. Heather's mentioning the woman brought the shrill guffaw to his ears and he doubled over in pain, clutching his ears to muffle the sound even though it was only in his mind. Ice sipped at his veins and a shudder wound down his spine, causing him to straighten up once more and correct his glasses. "Dreaming...?"<br/><br/>His eyes swept the area again.<br/><br/>"They say the truth is stranger than fiction. I think that pretty much answers it."