Chapter 61: Summer Dust and Silk Threads
The sun was merciless.
Even with fractured clouds dragging their tired bellies across the sky and the world already half - dead, summer didn't care. It clung to everything — soaking into cracked pavement, pressing into the shattered asphalt, sliding down the spine like a fever that wouldn't break. No breeze, no reprieve. Just heat and dust and the memory of a season that once meant something sweet.
Aria wiped damp bangs from her forehead as she followed Selene across the desolate parking lot of a decaying suburban shopping center. Faded white lines ghosted beneath their boots, guiding them like the echoes of a more orderly past. Ahead stood what remained of a mall — a monument to convenience and consumerism now split open like a cracked ribcage. The shattered glass entrance gaped wide, jagged remnants glittering beneath the haze, as if daring them to step into a memory.
Inside, mannequins stood frozen in poses too perfect, their glossy plastic eyes eternally wide. Their arms reached out in mid - gesture, like they'd almost remembered what it was like to be real.
Selene's voice, low and steady, carried across the echoing atrium. "We should take what we can. Once production stops for good… clothing like this won't exist anymore."
Aria nodded, tugging the collar of her shirt away from her sweat - slicked neck. "I still can't believe this is what we're doing. Raiding a mall like it's an apocalypse film."
Selene glanced at her, the faintest curve to her lips. "That's because it is."
The silence that followed was thick — not oppressive, but suspended. It wrapped around the crumbling walls and sagging kiosks, stitched together by dust and ghosts. Aria's boots crunched across broken tiles and scattered receipts, their paper edges curled and brown like forgotten petals. The air held a strange mix of perfume, mildew, and old air conditioning — faint traces of a life before.
A cosmetics kiosk stood to their left, half - collapsed but strangely intact. Lipsticks in unapologetically bold shades sat upright in their displays, a few lids missing like someone had tested them seconds before the world fell apart. Aria hovered for a second, staring at a crimson bullet of lipstick that caught the light.
"Think it'd still work?" she murmured.
Selene, several steps ahead, didn't turn around. "Only one way to find out."
Aria laughed softly, the sound curling into the stillness like smoke. She kept moving, drifting into a boutique just beyond the destroyed escalators. The sign above the door swung lazily, a single bolt the only thing keeping it from falling altogether. The name was faded, almost unreadable, but the window display told the story — chiffon, silk, a world built on soft things and excess.
Her fingers brushed a pale green dress with tiny embroidered flowers along the neckline. It was light as breath, dulled by time but still soft — surprisingly so. Something caught in her throat, sharp and unexpected. A knot of memory and longing that didn't belong to today, didn't belong to this broken place.
"It's beautiful," she whispered to no one in particular.
Behind her, footsteps — quiet and deliberate. Selene appeared in the doorway, arms crossed, framed by fractured sunlight. "Take it."
Aria turned, half - startled. "It's… impractical."
"So is surviving the end of the world," Selene said as she stepped inside, her voice steady. "But here we are."
Her gaze drifted over the dress and back to Aria's face. "You should have things that make you feel human. You deserve that."
Their eyes locked, and for a moment, Aria forgot how to swallow. The way Selene looked at her — like she was something fragile wrapped in fire — it did things to her pulse.
The sun filtered through a cracked skylight, dust motes glittering like fine powder. Light painted gold across Aria's bare shoulders, catching in the strands of her tangled hair. Selene didn't look away. Not quickly enough.
Aria turned the dress in her hands. "You think it'd fit me?"
Selene tilted her head slightly, eyes flicking down, then back up. "It would. You'd look… good."
Aria smiled, her voice soft and teasing. "That sounded dangerously close to a compliment."
Selene gave a faint smirk. "I don't give them out lightly."
"Guess I'll have to earn the next one," Aria murmured, letting the dress drape over her arm.
"You already did," Selene said, too quietly for anything but honesty.
The world felt quieter after that. More charged.
They moved together through the ruins, fingers brushing against faded fabrics and cracked mirrors. Selene stayed practical — choosing breathable clothes, durable seams, pockets. Aria, in contrast, lingered on textures, colors, silhouettes that had no business in survival but called to her anyway.
She picked a faded silk robe in antique rose, a delicate necklace with a chipped moon charm, and a sundress the color of apricot sorbet that didn't match anything but her mood. Selene never questioned the choices. But once, when she thought Aria wasn't looking, she ran her fingers over the sundress's hem and smiled faintly.
At one point, Selene tossed a pair of swimsuits onto the pile.
Aria arched a brow. "Planning a vacation?"
"There's a lake in your dimension," Selene said, deadpan. "Might as well look the part."
Aria's eyes narrowed, playful. "You picked two. One for you?"
Selene shrugged like it was obvious. "You think I'm letting you have all the fun?"
That earned a smirk and a head tilt. "What kind of fun are we talking about?"
Selene's eyes glinted. "The kind that gets you wet."
Aria choked on her laugh, eyes wide. "You did not just say that."
Selene's smile was slow, smug, wicked. "You started it."
By midday, they were flushed and sticky with heat, sweat clinging beneath their clothes like a second skin. The mall's structure groaned around them, the metal skeleton still holding, but barely. Aria flicked her fingers and opened the veil to her dimension, the shimmer sliding open like silk against the sky. It pulsed faintly now — responding not just to her will, but her breath, her mood.
Selene watched it open, ever observant. "It's changing. Growing with you."
Aria nodded, eyes thoughtful. "It feels… alive now. Like it knows me."
"Maybe it does," Selene said. "You're the anchor. The heart."
Something in Aria's stomach flipped. "That sounds… weirdly romantic coming from you."
Selene glanced sideways. "It wasn't meant to be."
"But it was," Aria said, bumping her shoulder into Selene's arm.
Selene didn't answer, but she didn't move away either.
Outside, the air hit them like a furnace. Aria squinted against the sun, dragging her fingers through her damp hair. Beside her, Selene pulled off her jacket, revealing the black tank top beneath, slicked to her torso. Her muscles flexed subtly with the motion — quiet power made visible.
Aria tried not to stare.
She failed.
Selene noticed.
Aria caught the raised brow, the smug flicker of amusement in Selene's eyes. "What?"
"You were staring."
"I was appreciating," Aria said breezily. "Big difference."
Selene leaned in slightly. "Mm. Want me to turn around so you can get the full view?"
Aria rolled her eyes, but the flush at her cheeks betrayed her. "You're insufferable."
"I'm right."
"Cocky."
"Accurate."
Aria shoved her gently with her shoulder, laughing under her breath. "One of these days, I'm going to out - flirt you."
Selene smirked, stepping closer. "Promise?"
Their eyes met again — too long, too deliberate. A charged pause, heavy with everything they didn't say.
Then Selene leaned in, just enough for her voice to skim Aria's ear. "That sundress you picked?"
Aria swallowed. "Yeah?"
"You're wearing it tonight."
Aria's breath caught. "Bossy."
"Confident," Selene corrected. "And I want to take it off you."
Aria blinked once. Twice. Her brain short - circuited. "Selene."
"Yes?"
"I hate how good you are at this."
Selene grinned, pleased. "I know."
The day bled into amber and shadow, sun slicing through cracked skylights above the deserted mall. Dust motes drifted in slow spirals, catching the fading light like glitter in a snow globe. The air was stale with old perfume and distant mildew, but quieter now — like the whole world had stopped breathing just for them.
Their footsteps echoed over the warped tiles as Aria carried the bundles of sundresses, letting them float beside her in a lazy orbit. Shelves loomed around them, gutted and lifeless, but somehow it didn't feel hollow. Not with Selene brushing close, her presence cutting through the stillness like a pulse.
"Later," Selene murmured, her voice slipping right beneath Aria's skin. "You're putting that sundress on."
Aria stopped just short of the old fitting rooms, heat crawling up the back of her neck. "Oh? Is that a command?"
Selene stepped in close, her breath cool at Aria's ear. "A promise."
Aria turned slowly, the silk of the bundle whispering in her hands. "And after I put it on?"
Selene's mouth tugged into a slow, delicious curve. "Then I'll take my time with every ribbon. Maybe even the ones I didn't tie."
Aria let out a shaky breath, lips parting on a grin she couldn't help. "You are so full of yourself."
"I'm full of you, sweetheart. You just haven't noticed yet."
Her brain blanked for a second. Just — static.
Aria stepped back into one of the open changing stalls, the slatted door broken off its hinges. Fluorescent lights above flickered once, then gave up entirely. The shadows here felt thicker, but not dangerous. Not with Selene leaning in the doorway, arms crossed, gaze sharp enough to pin her in place.
"I could use a little privacy," Aria said, teasing.
Selene didn't move an inch. "You're adorable."
"You're a menace."
"And you're stalling."
Aria bit her lip and dropped her jacket, letting it fall over the half - busted bench. Her tank top followed. She shivered — not from cold, but from how Selene's eyes didn't leave her once. Not even to blink.
"You know," Aria said, tugging the sundress free, "this is completely unnecessary for a scavenging run."
Selene tilted her head. "You're the one who packed it."
Aria snorted, tugging the breezy dress over her head. "I packed it for after the apocalypse. Not during."
Selene's voice dipped. "Why wait?"
Aria turned, slow and deliberate, letting the sundress fall into place. "I'm going to regret showing you this, aren't I?"
"Absolutely."
She rolled her eyes and stepped out of the stall, trying not to flush under the weight of Selene's gaze. "Well?"
Selene didn't say a word. She stepped forward and reached for the back of the dress, fingers skimming along Aria's spine like a question. Her touch was cool, almost too much against overheated skin. Aria inhaled sharply.
"You always this cold?" she asked, voice thinner than she meant.
"I'm frost, Aria. You knew what you were getting into."
"And I'm fire," Aria murmured. "You sure you can handle me?"
Selene tied the ribbon at the nape of her neck, knuckles grazing the curve of Aria's lower back. "You're assuming I haven't already."
Aria's pulse spiked. "Rude."
Selene stepped around her slowly, eyes trailing the neckline, the way the fabric skimmed over her legs. Aria squirmed.
"If you keep looking at me like that," she muttered, "I'm going to forget we're standing in an abandoned Macy's."
Selene smirked. "Let it go to clearance."
"You're terrible."
"You like it."
Before Aria could sass back, Selene kissed her. It was firm, unapologetic, a frost - sparked fuse lighting skin on contact. Aria gasped into it, her fingers catching in the loops of Selene's belt, anchoring her like she was the only real thing left in the world.
Selene pressed her back into the mirror, cracked glass webbing behind her. Her hands slipped low, cupping Aria's hips through the soft dress, dragging a moan from her lips that echoed off the empty shelves.
"You've been avoiding this," Selene murmured against her neck.
"I wasn't —" Aria started, then stopped. Her voice was wrecked. "Okay, maybe a little."
"You're scared."
"I'm not —" She breathed in, chest trembling. "I don't want to be."
Selene kissed the hollow of her throat, then higher, colder. "Then don't be."
Aria surged forward, kissing her harder this time, melting into the chill like she was made for it. Her hands slid up under Selene's shirt, fingertips chasing goosebumps across her ribs.
They stumbled back into the dressing area, the broken bench groaning beneath their weight as Selene pulled her down, bodies colliding like a secret they could finally say out loud. The sundress rode up, forgotten. Heat curled and coiled, every touch a match-strike, every gasp a countdown.
"You're not gonna let me leave this dress on, are you?" Aria managed between breaths.
"Not a chance," Selene growled, voice dangerously close to a purr.
Clothes scattered. Time unraveled.
And when the silence finally settled again, Aria lay curled against Selene's side, breath hitching as the last tremor rippled through her. She didn't care that the tile was cold or that the world was ending outside. All that mattered was Selene's hand tracing lazy circles along her bare thigh.
"I don't want to be afraid of this anymore," Aria whispered, so soft it could've been a thought.
Selene pressed a kiss into her hair. "Then don't be."
Aria smiled, her fingers tightening around Selene's. "Tell me to wear something stupid again tomorrow."
"As long as I get to take it off you."
They both laughed — quiet, easy.
But just as the moment began to settle, a sound cracked through the still air.
Zzzzap.
Both women froze. It echoed again—closer this time. Sharp. Electrical. Like a taser discharging somewhere deep in the dark.
Aria sat up slowly, heart thudding. "What the hell was that?"
Selene was already reaching for her blade, expression flattening into calm, focused danger. "We're not alone."
The laughter was gone now. Just the broken silence, and the hum of something unwelcome waking up in the dark.