โI cannot say I complain about waking in your arms in the morning,โ Theia murmured softly, her voice threading through the dim quiet between them, โwhen I find the world has not yet whisked you away. Perhaps there indeed is a benefit to your working hours.โ And perhaps the greatest of them was the way exhaustion eventually claimed her, when her limbs grew heavy enough that sleep could finally take her when she curled beside him, she did manage to spare him most of the restless stirring and fractured dreams. She felt the subtle loosening of his muscles beneath her lips, along with a soft sigh that escaped him as she traced the line of his shoulder blade. The cotton of his shirt brushed against her mouth, and her lips curved into a faint, contented smile. If she could give him even a fraction of the comfort he gave her, she could perhaps rest a little easier. She did not wish to be a burden, though she knew he would deny that she was one instantly. There were moments, bright and warm,ย when she could almost believe that their lives might shrink to the size of this room, to the gentle orbit of two hearts learning how to beat side by side. Moments in which she hoped that he didnโt ever want to let her go. And in those moments, happiness felt both like salvation and like sin.
โA tail, then,โ she murmured, her voice low, as though sealing an oath between them. โThe sea would welcome you, if you came with.โ She leaned back against the small wooden table she squeezed herself close to, letting her fingertips drift through the thin spill of moonlight that bled across its surface. She imagined him beneath the waves alongside her, as he absently wound a strand of her unruly hair around her finger as he weighed every choice with gentle seriousness. โYou would learn quickly,โ she added, a faint smile curving her lips. โAnd I would show you the quiet places, where the world dissolves into nothing but colour and current.โ She was no mermaid, no sea-sprite either, but the fantasy itself offered reprieve: a world where their travels were boundless, unshackled by law or fear.
The weight of his hand resting at her hip, the gentle squeeze that followed, sent warmth blooming through her chest, radiant and steady. Even as their conversation drifted toward darker waters, that simple touch softened its edge. She hesitated at his suggestion, considering carefully. โYour offer is too kind,โ she said at last. โAnd meeting them again might ease something in me that has not known peace for a while now. But give me time, please, let me find a safer place. They should not be seen here.โ Her gaze lifted to his, unwavering. โI will not place you in any more danger than you already are in now, sharing your home with a fugitive.โ
His soft protest at her offering stirred a helpless smile, the heaviness ever so lightly lifted once more. โI cannot believe you pay such close attentionโฆ,โ she murmured as she watched him accept the plantain from her hand. The way his eyes lingered on her made the food seem suddenly inconsequential. Awareness bloomed along her skin, subtle and electric, until she realised how little space remained between them. A position she had maneuvered herself into, without second guessing for a single moment. The dim light blurred the edges of the world, leaving only the hush of breath between them. If she could, she would remain there forever.
At his question, her bottom lip caught between her teeth briefly. She swallowed the teasing answer waiting on her tongue you and let the silence stretch, fragile and static.ย She couldnโt fully recall how many nights she had slept in his bed now, and even in such a close proximity he had remained most gentlemanly. He had given her more than she could ask for. Given her all the space he thought she needed, to a point it made her question wether he swore a type of vowโฆ But these words, the way he seemed to drown in the present, made her question if his words were meant to be an innuendo? In the silence that stretched between them, Theia weighed her chances. Praying to whatever drowned god that she made no mistake by taking a dive in uncharted waters.ย
Courage came like a crashing wave. She leaned in, capturing his lips with hers. In a daring moment, even letting her tongue dart out to capture the lingering sweet taste of plantain there. A soft sigh escaped her as she deepened the kiss, her small frame pressing into his. Her hand, that had been resting over his heart, curling into a fist there as though she might anchor herself. He tasted of warmth and sunlight, of something bright enough to chase away a cold she had not realized had settled into her bones long before him. When she finally pulled back, breathless, there was only so much space she could put between them. For one taste only soothed so much of the aching pull she had become aware of.
โDeliciously sweet,โ she murmured, licking the faint trace of him from her lips, her pulse unsteady. โYou have certainly made me hungry for sharing more... - Another taste of plantain then, or...? โ