Kissing prompt! "A single loving kiss left on the other’s forehead when they fall asleep snuggled close together."
I couldn’t resist dabbling in @kagetsukai‘s darling pair for @thesecondsealwrites‘ #KissingDay2017: Cullen X Ellana Lavellan
“No book tonight?” Cullen asked as he dropped down onto the sofa. Ellana was wrapped loosely in a blanket as she checked something on her phone.
“I finished it earlier today. I’ll have to find something new.” She sat her phone on the small table beside the couch and wrapped both of her arms tightly around his bicep.
Warmth bloomed in him, as it often did with her small gestures. Her forehead pressed against his sleeve, he smiled unabashedly.
“We can watch a movie, though,” she added, mumbling into him.
He snatched the remote out from between the couch cushions and pulled up Netflix. “Oh can we?”
“See, I think you’ll be asleep in 10 minutes. 20, perhaps, if it’s a movie you love.”
She groaned and looked up at him with a petulant frown. “Will not. We should watch Dirty Dancing.”
“Ah-uh, you promised, Mr. Rutherford. We watched The King’s Speech last time, now it’s my turn.”
“You told me you liked it!”
“I did! Aaaand you’ll like Dirty Dancing.”
He huffed in defeat and searched for the title, secretly hoping that it would be unavailable to stream. When it popped up, he winced, and tried reasoning with her. “You know you’re going to fall asleep–”
“And if I do, you can turn it off.”
“And the moment I turn it off, you’ll wake up and swear you’ve been awake the whole time. I know you too well, Ellana.” It was a mock argument, something soft that he was relieved to be having. It meant they had passed the point of tiptoeing around one another. There was a sturdiness to their relationship--still young and exciting, but increasingly resilient.
“I promise, I’m wide awake.”
As he had anticipated, she was asleep before Patrick Swayze even appeared on-screen. He told himself he’d give it another ten minutes to be sure she was really asleep. But ten turned to twenty, and he was beginning to root for the on-screen romance. The music was a bit old-fashioned, but he quite liked most of it. When he gasped as Baby and Johnny finally managed the elusive lift, he felt Ellana stir against his arm. But she snuggled further into him as the credits rolled. He hated to wake her, but his hand was going numb and she would end up with a stiff neck the way she sat.
He pressed a kiss onto the crown of her head and felt his heart stir at the smell of her shampoo. She lifted her head slowly.
“I’m awake,” she mumbled. He placed a second kiss firm against her forehead, satisfied as he heard a gently hum rumble through her.
“Of course.” He would allow her a victory. “Now, let’s get you to bed.”
“But wait, did you see the lift?” Her eyes were still closed as he shifted to help her stand and he had to stifle a laugh at the sight.
“We should learn the lift,” she slurred as they shuffled to her bedroom.
She overestimated his coordination if she really thought that possible, More likely, she would forget the conversation by morning. He pressed another kiss to her temple as she leaned all of her soft weight against him. “Perhaps.”
