#houkai

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“E mi et le… escontina~”

Jyahnar’s voice was soft, and their gentle tone never wavered as they sang the same soothing song they'd sung to their lover a thousand times. It never tired to Kiana’s ears, who listened to their voice with closed eyes and a sleepy smile. She was loathe to admit that Jyahnar’s voice was a bit too soothing, and she was starting to nod off in the other’s arms.

Kiana hadn’t realized they'd stopped singing until Jyahnar spoke to her.

“Kiana?”

The white-haired girl blinked a couple of times in order to clear the sleep from her eyes. “Mmfh… yeah?”

A soft laugh came from her partner. “You’ve grown weary, love. Please get some rest.”

“I’mma sleep-” Kiana plopped down in Jyahnar’s lap without hesitation, head landing against their thighs with the intent to use them as a pilow. “...right here! Nighty~”

The former Herrscher had no objections, and a gentle smile rose to their face as they watched Kiama begin to drift off again. Jyahnar’s hands softly played with their partner’s hair, sending silver curls spilling through their fingers. The only sounds were that of the waves crashing against the shore in the distance, and Kiana’s soft breaths. They were quite loud; as Kiana had a tendency to snore, but Jyahnar didn’t mind- it was proof that she was alive.

Of course, Jyahnar was breathing too, but it wasn’t the same. Their body was only a mimicry of what it meant to be fully human, a false puppet filled with a fake life breathed into it by Jyahnar’s true form, a beast powerful enough to wipe humanity’s existance out in an instant if they so desired it.

Perhaps, Jyahnar wondered, if it was the flaws in their mimicry of a human’s life that themselves were part of the human experience. Every human they'd met so far was flawed in all sorts of ways. At first, they'd hated that she couldn't become human, to be with Kiana as only a mortal lover could, but it eventually came to be that being with Kiana made them feel more alive than anything else possibly could, human or otherwise.

Meanwhile, Kiana was dozing off amidst much less serious worries. She wondered which girlfriend would be the one to cook dinner tonight, and while no offense to Jyahnar - she loved a good squid stew! - Kiana was really craving for Mei’s ramen noodles right about now and really hoped that was what they’d be having. She was also worried about falling asleep too quickly and not being awake to get a good night kiss from BOTH girlfriends. Kiana also had more important worries, like how she was going to keep secret the kitten she’d bought Mei for her upcoming birthday and was currently keeping smuggled in their apartment, or how she’d accidentally drank the last of the milk without telling anyone and put the empty container back in the fridge to hide the evidence. She was bound to get a scolding for both of those if Mei found out. Hopefully she hadn't noticed the dead mouse under Kiana’s bed yet either, definitely not a fault of the smuggled kitten.

Kiana’s worries eventually turned to a hazy dream as she slept in Jyahnar’s lap. She dreamed of a giant eagle ray flying far above the sea, with wings so large they stretched to fill the horizon in each direction. Kiana herself rode on the beast’s back, listening to the gentle song that it sung to her in Jyahnar’s voice as they sailed through the clouds.

“The mountain's edge, the moon is full Take in a breath, this forest of yours Bask and sleep in the summer grass Your precious face in profile”

The ray spoke in Jyahnar’s voice again after the song had completed.

“I love you, Kiana.”