Sit back and breathe
Preface: So, I had this massive writer’s block last week and now I wanted to give it a try with something somft and sweet and Trammander, so have this little piece. Haven’t written Trammander in a while! They deserve happy moments! And I missed writing Hearne! He’s proud of his gf <3 Slight content warning for implied nudity, though it’s not sexual.
Divinity’s Reach, 1334 AE
The bed isn’t empty.
Drowsy from sleep, Trahearne can only tell as much. Warmth radiates from Nyra’s body like a flame (wrong comparison, his mind would’ve supplied if it had enough presence to do so) and he scoots closer, as if trying to jealously keep it for himself, making a little noise when his nose makes contact with uneven flesh.
“Nice appreciation for my thigh, Hearne,” she teases. “I’m sure you wouldn’t want the other one to feel left out though?”
He has no will or strength to move, so he contents with just opening his eye. Unfortunately, he meets the darkness as does so, groaning that somehow, he ended up sleeping on his left side. “Later,” he mumbles. “Warm.”
Flicker of page from a book. Nyra’s laughter sounds like Orr reborn and Trahearne lets it wash over him, feeling something equally light settle in his chest.
“If you’re cold,” she adds suddenly, putting the book down on the bedside table and moving her thigh away. He mourns the loss of the powerful muscle for a moment as she resettles on the bed, fully laying down again. “C’mon. Should be more-encompassing now?”
“Perfect,” he says quietly and settles his head at the crook of her neck. Her breast pokes his chest but he’s not really in the mood for anything more than just existing there, soaking in all that human-specific warmth and scars and skin and the sheen of sweat and the fact he gets to hug this miracle of a woman for the rest of his second life.
Nyra runs her fingers over his back. “Better?”
“Oh, immensely,” he’s fully awake now, but he’s not leaving even if Tyria’s on fire again. Well, maybe if Tyria’s on fire again. But just in that case. Sometimes, he feels like he should cherish every chance he gets because she belongs to the world as much as she does by his side and he sometimes wants to jealously guard her, summon all minions he can think of if anything dares as much as snicker in her direction.
She’s been through enough, he asks the world. No more.
They’ve been through enough. Enough pain for three lifetimes. But the world isn’t made of good wishes so he only gets to cherish what few gentle moments he can scramble together.
“I’m glad I’m your personal body-pillow,” she continues in amusement, but there’s no judgement in her voice. “One of a kind, really. They don’t sell those anymore.”
“Lyss, if you’re a pillow then just let me use you as such,” he laughs against her neck and he can’t see the angry claw marks Smodur left but he knows they’re there, just beneath her collarbones, and he moves from his spot for just a moment to kiss them before getting back.
“Bossy,” she says fondly.
They stay in comfortable silence for a while.
“You’re still here and in a good mood,” he comments, settling on his elbows as he runs his fingers over her nose and pokes its small, short peak.
“Why should I not be?” Her good mood is infectious and attention-grabbing. It makes her eyes shine with mirth, smile break through the obligatory pout. He hopes to inhale it further by kissing her.
There’s a strong sensation of worthiness in it. I deserve this. I deserve to be happy. I deserve not to suffer under my own head. I deserve good things, no matter what I’ve done.
He’s struggling with some of those things himself, but he’s inspired to overcome them anyway. If the light here, what chance does defeat have?
“In all seriousness though, I slept really good - a surprise - and I have nowhere I have to be urgently. But I woke up and felt the need to just stay.” She says everything precisely, but it doesn’t undermine the genuine nature of her words. “Though it may feel like I have to rush and do this and that, I can afford a morning to lay in. To take a breather. Braham made that possible. Aurene, Rytlock, Crecia, and fuck, me too. I bought myself time to sit back and breathe.”
Nyra grins with unfiltered pride and it looks magnificent on her. “I don’t feel like shit for once. I’m healing, Hearne. I’m not there yet, we’re not there yet, but I’m healing. And it makes me happy.”
“As it should,” he says proudly, squeezing her cheeks. “I am very proud of you.”
“Thank you,” she says softly. “It means a lot.”
The morning drags away in pleasantness, even if it isn’t as quiet as it started out. Sit back and breathe. The world isn’t ending for once.