imagine 𖤓˚࿔𑄝࣪ ִֶָ☾. | “we go like up til i’m sleep on your chest.” [blurb]
ryland grace x alien!fem!reader
—established relationship.
RYLAND stretched his arms overhead with a quiet yawn, the artificial lighting in the ship’s common area casting soft gold across his tired face. “man,” he said, voice low and casual as ever, “i could really use some coffee right now.”
he glanced at rocky, who was laying on his back completely still inside his xenonite hamster ball, deep in a food coma.
then he looked up at you, flying on your back above him, hair curling and floating around your head and body. you were already looking at him, almost analytically. you could point out the slight darkness under his eyes, the messy knots in his hair, his crooked glasses threatening to fall off of his face. but you don’t, instead you just say, “you need sleep, ryland grace.”
ryland opened his mouth to argue, then closed it. he frowned and pouted like a scolded puppy, “i am tired,” he admitted, slumping slightly. “but i’m not sleepy-sleepy. more like… my body’s heavy and my eyes feel sandy.”
he rubbed one eye with the heel of his palm before squinting at you through messy blonde strands that always seemed to fall in his face no matter how many times he pushed them back.
“so you are sleepy. come here.” you say, flying towards him. ryland sighs, “you’re being bossy again.”
“you like when i tell you what to do.” you say with a small smile, settling on the floor next to him. ryland sleepily smiles before admitting, “yeah, i don’t hate it.”
you lay back against the ground you’ve all grown to find comfortable, then lift up your arms for ryland, beckoning him to come closer. ryland had recently developed a new sleeping habit. he’d pretend he’s just trying to cuddle with you, to get a little comfy, but then he’d push his head through your shirt (which was usually his) just to lay against your boobs. he’d never admit out loud, but he loved sleeping against the softness and warmth of your chest.
you lift your shirt up with a small teasing smile, “come on, i know you want to~” you giggle. ryland pretended to huff in mock annoyance, but the twitch at the corner of his mouth and the way his cheeks flushed betrayed him.
he did want to. there was a part of him that ached to curl up, close his eyes, and just… relax. and you made it so easy. the sound of your heartbeat, the steady rise and fall of your chest, even the smell of you, familiar, like home.
so, really, who was he kidding?
he slid down to lay next to you and carefully wriggled his way onto your abdomen. ryland shifted carefully, his long frame folding awkwardly at first before he finally found a comfortable spot. he tucked his head beneath the soft fabric of your lifted shirt, adjusting slightly until the cool cotton rested against his cheek. with a quiet sigh, he closed his eyes, resting his other cheek against your boobs, the familiar warmth surrounding him.
the tension in his shoulders melted away almost instantly. this was safe. like gravity pulling him back to where he belonged. he didn’t say anything else now that rare silence from ryland grace who usually filled every moment with nervous chatter or scientific rambling.
his head fit snugly under your chin; his body curled against you like a sleepy, lanky kitten. the only thing out of place was the frame of his glasses, so you carefully pulled them off his face and set them aside. “you always try to sleep with those on.” you quietly say,
ryland mumbled something against your collarbone, it sounded like a tired protest about being perfectly awake, thank you, but his words were slurred and his eyelashes were already drooping.
you smile at his immediate sleepiness, then gently brush your fingers through his messy blond locks, trying to lull him into sleeping quicker. ryland sighed deeply, a long exhale that carried hours of exhaustion and space-induced stress. his breathing slowed instantly under your touch.
“mmm… you always do that,” he murmured sleepily, his voice thick with drowsiness. “feels nice.” he shifted slightly to nestle deeper into your cleavage like he was trying to fuse himself there permanently.
then came another soft sigh as one hand lazily reached up to rest over yours where it lay on his head not pulling it away just holding it gently against him. you continued petting his hair slowly, and ryland let out a barely suppressed purr of pleasure. he had been touch-starved for so, so long without realizing it; the gentle touch was soothing his frazzled nerves.
his whole body seemed to melt against you as the last bits of tension seeped from his limbs. even the constant thrum of anxiety he couldn't escape was temporarily muted, replaced by a quiet hum of contentment that radiated from somewhere deep in his chest.
with one last, slow exhale, ryland finally let himself slip into a deep, dreamless sleep.