#assuranceshipping

The late afternoon sun is peeking out of the clouds for once, and it streams in through the window, hitting Siane’s hair and skin and casting an almost angelic, golden glow to her.  Angelic - now there was a thought.  She’d only nearly given him a heart attack with her teasing how many times today?

Still, Nanu thinks, a small smile pulling at his lips.  Angelic was the right word for it.

He approaches her, one hand outstretched, as if to touch her and wake her up.  At the last minute, he realizes he can’t do it.  She’s clearly tired, and he can only imagine how much all that activity must have taken out of her.  She hadn’t done so much as a quarter that much walking or jogging on even her best day in the Police Station.  Waking her up instead of allowing her to rest would be cruel.

Siane stirs in her sleep, reaching for something - and not finding it.  Instead, she turns on her side, a small shiver passing through her body.  Was she running a fever?  Had she worn herself down into exhaustion?  Very gently, Nanu brushes his hand against her forehead.  She doesn’t feel any warmer than he does, but she again shivers a little.

She’s a little cold, he realizes, and she doesn’t have any blankets to pull up around her.  He can’t fix everything for her, as much as he wishes he could.  But he can fix this.

Nanu fetches the blankets she’s been sleeping with, then frowns.  They smell like Meowth, and they’re covered in purple hair.  Quite clearly, they could use a good washing.  Nanu makes a mental note to throw them in his washer in a minute, then goes to his bed to fetch his own blankets.  They’re covered in Meowth hair, too - an unavoidable fact of living with his small horde - but at least they smell better.  In fact, they smell a little like…him.

He wonders, briefly, if she’d like that.

Then he returns to the couch, draping first one blanket, then a second, carefully over her form.  This wakes her up, and she stirs, turning to look up at him and blinking the sleep away from her eyes.

“Hey,” Nanu mumbles.  “Didn’t mean to wake you.  You just seemed cold.”

“I was,” she agrees, drawing the blankets a little more around herself.  “Thank you.  That was really sweet of you, Nanu.”  Her hand darts out from the blankets and finds his.  Her slender fingers slip into his hold, and she gives his hand a gentle squeeze, then pulls away.

“Glad I can help,” Nanu returns, aware that he’s blushing.  “Do you want a pillow, too?”

“If you don’t mind,” Siane hums, her eyes already drifting shut.

“Not at all,” Nanu hears himself saying, and then he’s returning to his bed to retrieve one of his pillows, too.  He might as well wash her pillowcases while he’s washing her blankets.  “Here,” he says once he’s back at the bed.  Siane’s almost asleep, but opens her eyes at his words, and lifts her head up.

“Thanks,” she says as Nanu tucks the pillow under her head.

“Of course,” Nanu hums.  “Get some rest, okay?  Dinner will be waiting for you when you wake up.  You must be exhausted from today.”  He wants to tell her how strong he thinks she is, but holds back for now.

“Yeah, everything really took it out of me,” Siane admits.  “Thanks again, Nanu.”

“Yeah.  Sweet dreams,” he murmurs, and actually sets one hand on her forehead gently, pulling it away almost as soon as he realizes what he’s doing.  But Siane only smiles up at him, none too perturbed by his actions.  Nanu diverts his eyes and begins to walk away, planning to do some laundry, then some cooking, but Siane’s voice stops him in his tracks.

“These blankets smell like you,” she murmurs.  Nanu’s heart practically hammers out of his chest.

“Yeah.  Sorry.  They’re mine -” he starts, but before he can finish, she interrupts him.

“No, don’t apologize.  I was mentioning it because it’s nice,” she sighs, then turns on her side, her eyes fluttering shut.

Nanu hears her voice repeating those words over and over as he washers her blankets and pillowcases, and turns over the meaning of them while he cooks.  Would there be some sort of way to ask her why she thought it was nice, tonight?  Maybe just slip it into conversation when she wakes up and starts eating?

Except Siane doesn’t wake up - she’s out cold.  Nanu considers waking her up for food, but again, he can’t bring himself to do it.  She seems to need the rest more now.  As the evening wears on, turning into night, then late night, he watches TV and puts away the leftovers and throws her blankets in the dryer, but he also notices the way she tosses and turns more and more on that little couch.

There’s no way she’s comfortable on that.  And she’d been sleeping on it for how long, at this point?  With no complaint?

Nanu’s heart softens, and he scoops her up under her shoulders and knees, standing and holding her princess-style.  She stirs a little, but she’s in a deep sleep; all she does is lean her head against his shoulder and actually snuggle a little more into him.

Nanu can’t help but think how cute that little gesture is, and this time, he doesn’t mentally berate himself for thinking of Siane as cute.

He holds her just a little closer, walking over to his bed, and gently lays her down on it, arranging the blankets swaddled around her.  She again doesn’t wake, and Nanu feels a little pride in this, in knowing that he could take care of her.

He’ll sleep on the couch tonight, and at some point, they’re going to have to figure out a more comfortable place for Siane to sleep.  He imagines, for a brief moment, that she might one day want to sleep in his bed with him in it, but then he reminds himself not to let his hopes get too high.