( 🛏️ ) : for our muses to wake up in the same bed. // dino x heather
it was a still morning, not completely silent, there were birds chirping outside and the breeze past them by, making dino hide deeper into his sheets. he could feel the sun on his skin warming him, asking him to open his eyes. but he didn't move, he didn't dare to wake up, he wanted to keep himself there, relaxed and completely rested in this solemn peaceful moment. truth be told, he doesn't remember when was the last time he felt like this. there were no thoughts in his head. there was nothing urging him to get up and get on with life. in fact, not even him was feeling pressured by himself to do so. all his instincts said: you can stay. further to his reasons to continue in this half-dream-half-awake state, came in the form of a smell that heightened his senses. he wasn't particularly knowledgeable about perfumes but he knew there was something special in this one. it wasn't like anything he ever scented before.
he could still be dreaming for all he knew, because his mind started to take him elsewhere. there was a forest, he was running somehow and he could feel the breeze hitting his face in a soft caress. giggles were forming in his throat and he just let them roam freely from him, someone was shouting his name in a caring way. it was only when his knees and legs ache from running so much that he stopped, panting for air. he felt a hand reach his arms and he looked up, at first he didn't see anything but the sun and the blue bright sky, his vision a blur. but then, through his fuzzy sight he recognized him. he hasn't seen that face for a very long time but he could never not know who reached so tenderly for him while calling him son. his mother had a picture of that day somewhere on their house, dino knew where he was now.
he felt the warmth next to him again, from his father, from the scent and thought that might be amber, like the trees that surrounded him in that memory. fresh, woody, musk. dongyoung felt hugged by the memory and by the present.
there must have been quite a smile on his face when his body finally started to wake up, his vision was just as blurry as the one from the dream. might he still be there? definitely not, he was aware of himself now, probably more than ever. dino allowed himself a sigh, a content one, because he couldn't remember the last time he slept so well or even the last time he dreamed so vividly. and he felt rested like he didn't in so long. it was crazy to think so because of how much he did last night. his energy seemed to last for hours until he dozed off naturally by her side. yes, heather. the amber. there she was, of course. he didn't forget that for a moment but now that his eyes were fully open and his mind was starting to recall everything he became truly aware of them entangled in bed together.
in another situation he might have felt the need to get up, cover himself, think about what he had to do for the day and get it done with already. however with heather next to him, he wasn't in any rush. in fact, he was surprised — when he turned his face expecting her to still be sleeping, he found instead her pair of brown eyes resting on his image. this made his body jolt, if he wasn't so serene and still processing being awake, he could very well get excited again when she smiled in response. dongyoung yanked that smile off heather's lips with a soft passion filled kiss. she tasted just like his dreams. just one kiss wasn't nearly enough, nonetheless it was what he could manage before she stopped him. he heard her utter words of good morning and how he slept so well, he nuzzled into her neck. part of him wanted to say "because of you." yet he didn't, instead he breathed her scent one more time. feeling on pause. did the time stop and he didn't notice? where were all his worries? what it was what he needed to do? "this." he heard himself say in a whisper, he was sure she heard.
for so long, rest had felt undeserved. love had felt conditional. his mornings had been something to endure rather than welcome. but here, tangled in sheets that still held the warmth of the night before, he realized how his chest didn't hurt. how the memories that once clawed at him now sat gently, no longer begging to be fixed or released. they were part of him, yes—but they didn’t rule him anymore. heather was proof of that. a presence that asked nothing and offered everything. with her here, he felt more sure of himself than he'd ever been. he didn’t have to be strong or careful or ahead of anything. he could simply exist and be loved in that state.
dongyoung pressed another kiss on her lips, a reverence, as if thanking her for something she might never fully know she had given him. when he pulled back, his voice was steady, grounded in a way he never heard before. “this..." he repeated softly. "feels nice." nice— didn't quite convey. nice was what he said, because it was the closest word he had that wouldn’t break the moment open. what he truly meant was in that perfect still moment, her soul reaching his on his dreams and still being there in the morning, his body no longer aching for what would come but settling into her comfort. yet he didn’t correct himself. he only stayed there, forehead resting against hers, letting nice be enough. because for once, everything was.
