Tender
A/N: After a rough holiday weekend, I needed to write some much needed fluff/sleep headcanons featuring oc pairings with @lavellanlove. Velriel, Asami, Maleus, and Avira all belong to her.
Tender is the stretch of time Velriel faces every night as he waits for his vhenan to fall asleep. Runale struggles each night, her body wound in a tight ball, her arms tucked close to herself, her legs folding. Her brows pinch, her jaw clenches as she grinds her teeth. He can read her turmoil on her face and slowly, tenderly, he smooths her face with caresses, reminding her that she’s safe, that despite what her mind tells her, she’s not alone, and she’ll never be alone again. His hand slides to her back, rubbing through the knots and the tension she holds there. As her breath slows and deepens, so does his movements, and over time her body unravels and softens under his touch. At last, Runale is asleep and there is peace on her face. Only then will Velriel join her.
Tender is forgiveness for being woken up time and time again from worry. Tamralan is so silent, so still, too reminiscent of a dead man, and Asami’s seen plenty of those. Her heart lurches in her chest when the sun wakes her, and she finds him exactly the way she left him when she fell asleep. Each attempt to wake him is always successful and he always greets her with a smile and a kiss, and then a laugh after she explains why she woke him. Have you woken up next to a dead man before? The similarities are uncanny. She eventually starts sleeping with her ear over his heart as a gentle reminder when she wakes.
Tender is Maleus swelling with love looking at the love of his life sleep beside him. For a quiet woman when awake, Sylathi makes herself known in her sleep: snores with each steady breath, only interrupted when she stirs or roll over, and she does very frequently. If he’s patient, he might catch her mumble something, and if he’s lucky, she’s coherent and he can talk to her. Or try to talk to her anyway. Her responses may not be relevant to anything he’s saying. She never remembers their conversations, and reddens with embarrassment whenever he mentions them. He just hugs her close and whispers that it’s precious, and she’s precious, and never wants her to change.
Tender is Thelrand holding his vhenan, his everything, close to him as he sleeps. It’s more than just an insatiable need to hold Avira: it’s a promise that they’ll never be apart again; that he will never foolishly let her slip through his fingers again; that after what the gods put them both through, they are simply meant to be. Nas’falon. More than soulmates. More than lovers. Feeling her warmth, breathing her scent, her body pressed against his. It’s the proof he needs that she’s alive, she’s there, she’s his, and he is hers, and that they deserve their happy ending, too.