[she nods - and up she goes! once she's up, she scoots to the far side of the mattress so that yin yu will have space to get himself up and situated.
...if she's being honest, she's a little nervous. something about this feels a little more deliberate than falling asleep next to each other at curfew, but.
she peeks out at him with a small smile - it's vaguely reminiscent of when they had been on their way here weeks ago, and she'd watched him climb up from one level of the bus to the next. all at once, the time feels so very long, but also very, very short.
[ he's a little nervous too. it feels like a silly thing to be nervous about, but it's been an overwhelming few hours, and he has to take a breath to keep his emotions from jittering. really... flayn's found whatever hole he usually shoves his emotions in and just dug it right up, faster than the earth master's shovel. she worked her way into this space without him even really noticing, until suddenly it was impossible not to feel it, every piece of her warmth and kindness and friendship (and...her affection, now, too) like a shining, bright light.
he has to duck so he doesn't hit his head on the ceiling, but, yin yu makes his way up to join her, a knee coming to the bed before he's able to arrange himself properly on the mattress. this bed is really barely big enough for him even in his own cabin, normally, because he's all limbs, and he has to tuck his knees up properly to fit. sharing it with another person means they're going to have to be close, though he settles down with a respectable amount of distance.
it's certainly not the same time they've slept in the same place. once, he gave her his bed, and after that, they'd been pushed asleep by curfew nestled close around a fantasy novel, even woken up together in the hay at the petting zoo. it's not unfamiliar and extremely new territory all at once, so - it's probably not wrong to feel a little flustered, again, is it?
he shifts to nestle his head in the crook of his arm, adjusting to make sure flayn has enough space, and gives her a small smile. dark hair around his face, cheeks still a little pink, it's almost as unguarded as a look he can manage. ]
[flayn smiles back at him as he situates himself on the bed.
there is only so much room, here. but that is alright. it is not as if she actually wants to keep her distance from him. so she settles against him. her pulse is racing, but it's peaceful, too, to be here like this with him.
(gods, but she's glad he stayed.)
she lets out a small breath.]
...thank you for being here. I think I shall be able to sleep easily, tonight.
I'm glad. [ yin yu gives her a little nod, propping his cheek against his upper arm as he gets comfortable. he's not entirely sure where to put his other hand: there's not much space between them, now, and flayn is warm and comfortable up against his side, a new weight, and one that he definitely does not mind. even if it's embarrassing.
after a long moment, yin yu shifts to let his arm gently fall around her shoulders. i like it when you hold me, flayn had said, and... he likes it too. like this, it feels like there's not a camp outside, like there won't be an execution in the morning. even if those worries are ever present, for a moment, yin yu's consistently anxious mind is... it's quiet. he's at peace, or as at peace as he can be. ]
...I think so, too. [ he'll be able to sleep. he hopes. he thinks.
his thumb strokes against her shoulder, gentle, unconsciously. just because it's there, just to remind himself it's real. ] I hope that you will have a peaceful rest, my lady, and pleasant dreams.
flayn's arm comes to rest around him as she relaxes against him. like this, he may not be able to see her face quite as well, but her expression is fond - if a little melancholy. it's nice, knowing that he wants that for her.]
I do not often have that.
[she says it gently. not because she wants him to feel bad for her, but - so that he knows just how remarkable it is that he's able to bring her this sort of peace.]
I do not often sleep easily at all. But, with you...
[well.
with him, she doesn't fear that he will be gone in the morning, taken somewhere far beyond her reach.]
[ despite the tight space, this is really, really comfortable. cozy, almost. the chill from the badly insulated cabins is nonexistent, but just to block the last bit of it out, he reaches for covers to pull up, too, to keep them both warm. one last, protective little gesture, just to make sure everything is comfortable, that everything is just right.
what she's saying moves something in his chest in empathy. he doesn't often sleep peacefully, either. yin yu spends his nights patrolling the ghost city, because that's when it's the liveliest; he protects its residents from harm (and from each other) in the latest of hours.
maybe he can protect flayn at night, too. ] There's nothing to force either of us to sleep this time. [ he says, a faint hint of amusement to his tone. ] ...but if you think that I can help, I'm happy to do so.
[ this is definitely not a struggle. ] Is there anything I can do to ease your mind to make sleeping easier? [ besides this? maybe he can tell her a story. ]
...the truth is, I am... I am afraid of sleeping. [from her memories, and from the bit on her profile about her 1088-year-long nap - he can probably guess why. she'll explain, though.] I worry that I will not be able to awake for years upon years, and that when I do, most everyone I know and love will have vanished.
[...as her mother did.]
So, as long as you are still here when I wake...
[she can sleep peacefully, knowing he'll still be with her when she wakes up. he promised.]
Edited (fuckin html. fuckin spelling. my god. goes back to sleep) 2020-07-14 14:23 (UTC)
he thinks, quietly, i'd wait. for the hundreds of years of his miserable life, waiting for someone if that were to happen wouldn't be so bad. it's what chengzhu did, isn't it? for eight hundred years, he searched for taizi dianxia, and never stopped. yin yu's experienced it. he's helped him look.
he's not prone to such loud declarations of love or devotion. it's a lot to even think such a thing, a little sobering. but for all of the misery that yin yu has been through in his own long existence in what is more or less a purgatory, to think that there could be a light at the end of a tunnel would be a kindness. if she couldn't wake, then he'd... he'd do his best to make sure he was standing there, when she did.
if flayn has done him the honor of seeing him, of refusing to let him vanish, then he won't vanish on her, either. if he's been seen, then he'll try to stay that way, now, cast into the light for the first time since his banishment.
but, right now, it's just one night. that is easy.
his arm squeezes around her shoulders, closing his eyes. just soft enough to be heard: ] If you have me, then I'll stay, my lady. I'll be here.
tomorrow has the potential to be disastrous. tonight, though - if they take the night on its own, only for what it is, and ignore what happened before it and what might happen after - it is perfect.
Live our lives fully, flayn remembers as her eyes flutter shut and she snuggles into yin yu's side. In the present moment.
it mingles together with I'll stay, I'll be here.
when he says that, she can believe it.]
Then I shall see you in the morning.
[her heart gives a small thrill at that - to be able to see him, first thing, when she opens here eyes... that seems like a miracle in and of itself.]
[ with a quiet hum, yin yu nods, agreeing. he promised to stay; he'll stay.
(to protect this person, for as long as he can. if his miserable life can be used to help someone else, then--that's all he could ever ask for. how nice it is, for a moment, to feel loved, valued, cherished. wanted. seen. there are no words that can encapsulate how important that is for yin yu.) ]
Goodnight, my lady.
[ flayn will have to be paying attention, but. as he settles in more comfortably, cheek turned slightly against the pillows, he tips his head down a bit more, and presses a soft, lingering kiss to the top of her head, letting his eyes close, too. ]
[the kiss to the top of her head comes just as she's drifting off to sleep.
for one brief moment, flayn allows herself to hope that it was real - that it wasn't just wishful thinking. that, somehow, yin yu was here with her tonight not because he felt it was a task or a duty he had to perform, but because he wanted to be.
...that whatever else is happening with lili, right now, her emotions are under control. if they are, then that means the small gesture of affection was all yin yu.
if it wasn't him, she doesn't want to know.
between one breath and the next, flayn slips into slumber, and sleeps peacefully for the first time in a long, long while. she's safe here, tucked against yin yu's side, wrapped up in his arms.]
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
fishingforcompliments) wrote2020-06-06 12:53 pm
no subject
...if she's being honest, she's a little nervous. something about this feels a little more deliberate than falling asleep next to each other at curfew, but.
she peeks out at him with a small smile - it's vaguely reminiscent of when they had been on their way here weeks ago, and she'd watched him climb up from one level of the bus to the next. all at once, the time feels so very long, but also very, very short.
has it really only been a few weeks...?]
Ah, please come on up...
no subject
he has to duck so he doesn't hit his head on the ceiling, but, yin yu makes his way up to join her, a knee coming to the bed before he's able to arrange himself properly on the mattress. this bed is really barely big enough for him even in his own cabin, normally, because he's all limbs, and he has to tuck his knees up properly to fit. sharing it with another person means they're going to have to be close, though he settles down with a respectable amount of distance.
it's certainly not the same time they've slept in the same place. once, he gave her his bed, and after that, they'd been pushed asleep by curfew nestled close around a fantasy novel, even woken up together in the hay at the petting zoo. it's not unfamiliar and extremely new territory all at once, so - it's probably not wrong to feel a little flustered, again, is it?
he shifts to nestle his head in the crook of his arm, adjusting to make sure flayn has enough space, and gives her a small smile. dark hair around his face, cheeks still a little pink, it's almost as unguarded as a look he can manage. ]
no subject
there is only so much room, here. but that is alright. it is not as if she actually wants to keep her distance from him. so she settles against him. her pulse is racing, but it's peaceful, too, to be here like this with him.
(gods, but she's glad he stayed.)
she lets out a small breath.]
...thank you for being here. I think I shall be able to sleep easily, tonight.
[and she dos not often sleep easily.]
no subject
after a long moment, yin yu shifts to let his arm gently fall around her shoulders. i like it when you hold me, flayn had said, and... he likes it too. like this, it feels like there's not a camp outside, like there won't be an execution in the morning. even if those worries are ever present, for a moment, yin yu's consistently anxious mind is... it's quiet. he's at peace, or as at peace as he can be. ]
...I think so, too. [ he'll be able to sleep. he hopes. he thinks.
his thumb strokes against her shoulder, gentle, unconsciously. just because it's there, just to remind himself it's real. ] I hope that you will have a peaceful rest, my lady, and pleasant dreams.
no subject
flayn's arm comes to rest around him as she relaxes against him. like this, he may not be able to see her face quite as well, but her expression is fond - if a little melancholy. it's nice, knowing that he wants that for her.]
I do not often have that.
[she says it gently. not because she wants him to feel bad for her, but - so that he knows just how remarkable it is that he's able to bring her this sort of peace.]
I do not often sleep easily at all. But, with you...
[well.
with him, she doesn't fear that he will be gone in the morning, taken somewhere far beyond her reach.]
no subject
what she's saying moves something in his chest in empathy. he doesn't often sleep peacefully, either. yin yu spends his nights patrolling the ghost city, because that's when it's the liveliest; he protects its residents from harm (and from each other) in the latest of hours.
maybe he can protect flayn at night, too. ] There's nothing to force either of us to sleep this time. [ he says, a faint hint of amusement to his tone. ] ...but if you think that I can help, I'm happy to do so.
[ this is definitely not a struggle. ] Is there anything I can do to ease your mind to make sleeping easier? [ besides this? maybe he can tell her a story. ]
no subject
[more than enough.]
...the truth is, I am... I am afraid of sleeping. [from her memories, and from the bit on her profile about her 1088-year-long nap - he can probably guess why. she'll explain, though.] I worry that I will not be able to awake for years upon years, and that when I do, most everyone I know and love will have vanished.
[...as her mother did.]
So, as long as you are still here when I wake...
[she can sleep peacefully, knowing he'll still be with her when she wakes up. he promised.]
no subject
he thinks, quietly, i'd wait. for the hundreds of years of his miserable life, waiting for someone if that were to happen wouldn't be so bad. it's what chengzhu did, isn't it? for eight hundred years, he searched for taizi dianxia, and never stopped. yin yu's experienced it. he's helped him look.
he's not prone to such loud declarations of love or devotion. it's a lot to even think such a thing, a little sobering. but for all of the misery that yin yu has been through in his own long existence in what is more or less a purgatory, to think that there could be a light at the end of a tunnel would be a kindness. if she couldn't wake, then he'd... he'd do his best to make sure he was standing there, when she did.
if flayn has done him the honor of seeing him, of refusing to let him vanish, then he won't vanish on her, either. if he's been seen, then he'll try to stay that way, now, cast into the light for the first time since his banishment.
but, right now, it's just one night. that is easy.
his arm squeezes around her shoulders, closing his eyes. just soft enough to be heard: ] If you have me, then I'll stay, my lady. I'll be here.
[ it might be nice, for once, to sleep in. ]
no subject
tomorrow has the potential to be disastrous. tonight, though - if they take the night on its own, only for what it is, and ignore what happened before it and what might happen after - it is perfect.
Live our lives fully, flayn remembers as her eyes flutter shut and she snuggles into yin yu's side. In the present moment.
it mingles together with I'll stay, I'll be here.
when he says that, she can believe it.]
Then I shall see you in the morning.
[her heart gives a small thrill at that - to be able to see him, first thing, when she opens here eyes... that seems like a miracle in and of itself.]
no subject
(to protect this person, for as long as he can. if his miserable life can be used to help someone else, then--that's all he could ever ask for. how nice it is, for a moment, to feel loved, valued, cherished. wanted. seen. there are no words that can encapsulate how important that is for yin yu.) ]
Goodnight, my lady.
[ flayn will have to be paying attention, but. as he settles in more comfortably, cheek turned slightly against the pillows, he tips his head down a bit more, and presses a soft, lingering kiss to the top of her head, letting his eyes close, too. ]
no subject
for one brief moment, flayn allows herself to hope that it was real - that it wasn't just wishful thinking. that, somehow, yin yu was here with her tonight not because he felt it was a task or a duty he had to perform, but because he wanted to be.
...that whatever else is happening with lili, right now, her emotions are under control. if they are, then that means the small gesture of affection was all yin yu.
if it wasn't him, she doesn't want to know.
between one breath and the next, flayn slips into slumber, and sleeps peacefully for the first time in a long, long while. she's safe here, tucked against yin yu's side, wrapped up in his arms.]