Elain knows Azriel cannot sleep. Knows those dark circles are getting darker. Which is exactly why it’s surprising when she finds him peacefully dozing on her bedroom floor one night.
She leans in to make sure it’s not a dream.
Even breaths. Calm cadence. Relaxed face lines.
On instinct, as if he could feel her exhale on his skin, her proximity, Azriel’s eyes flutter open, crinkling to adjust to the stark contrast. That mole by his left eye disappears.
“Az.” Elain breathes, mouth agape, but she doesn’t move away. “I was just checking if you were truly asleep.”
Azriel blinks once. Twice.
Then, his eyes widen just a fraction before he pulls himself up, Elain backing up to give him space.
“Sorry I…” He mumbles, rubbing his neck, “I must’ve dozed off while waiting for you to wake up from that vision, and the floor was really comfy and truly the only place where I—”
A soft laugh bubbles out of her.
A faint redness stains his cheeks. “I should go.”
“I will meet you in the greenhouse tomorrow morning to discuss that vision.”
Everything happens so fast. Az is on his feet, stumbling towards her open balcony door to fly out while Ellie stands in the middle of her bedroom in a pink nightie, dumbstruck.
“Azriel,” comes out of her mouth.
Her feet find feeling and she turns to him. Or his back, which is facing her now.
“If you ever want to sleep…” Her voice is soft. Warm. “My bedroom floor is always yours. I’ll leave the balcony door unlocked from now.”
He says nothing, but only because she’s pushed him into speechlessness.
“You can come anytime. I mean it.”
A swallow betrays his nerves, and all he can do is give her a hesitant nod of acknowledgment, because logic always flies out when it’s with her.
Every night, Elain waits.
But not a shadow arrives for a week.
Maybe she scared him away. Maybe it was too forward of her. Maybe, maybe, maybe.
Until one unreal midnight, Az willingly crawls through that entrance, quiet as night, his heart warming while watching a passed out Elain buried in her covers. Then notices a pillow and bedding by her cot.
As if she had hoped he would come and sleep in her space.
A strange burn glitters his eyes, and quietly, he makes his way there to lie down, his mind settling.
Azriel falls asleep to the sound of her gentle breaths. It doesn’t even take him five minutes.
It becomes an unspoken ritual—her lying on her bed and him on the floor by her side. They don’t touch each other, no, but Az looks forward to these nights with her regardless, because just being around her calms him down. Sometimes, she’s awake. Sometimes, they talk in the soothing darkness.
And most times, that’s how they fall in love. Softly. Reverently. Inevitably.
