[ Nikolai exhales under the frame of her hands, tension ebbing from his body. ]
Maybe we leave it for now, [ he tells her, quiet as his hand loops around her waist. ] I would rather you be awake for all of it, at least for now.
[ It's hard to put the right words to the entire experience. What he and Ianthe had discussed. How it had felt to be in bed with her. How it had felt to draw a response from her without any accompanying rejoinder to meet the nudging tug of his thoughts projected telepathically to her.
It's a snarl of feeling that may well be misplaced, given Alina's response now.
He rests his forehead to hers briefly, puts a soft kiss to her mouth. ]
Will you be disappointed to wake up to me without any fanfare accompanying my presence?
[ she stays close enough to his face even after he breaks the kiss that when she laughs, her breath is on his face. ]
That'd be poor foundation for a marriage, wouldn't it?
[ but then, maybe that's the kind of marriage he's used to. political alliances surely don't make for warm beds. maybe it's the kind they'd made, too, back in ravka. it's not uncommon in poverty, either. women bought like cattle made to tolerate men who work them like donkeys. ]
[ How would Nikolai know a poor foundation for marriage from a good foundation? He has so little to base it upon. Only his own instincts, and his need to do better than what he was raised alongside. ]
That's fortunate for me, because I'd like to do that more often.
[ As often as she'd permit.
This is not his room. His welcome here feels tenuous, conditional.
He tightens his hold on her, drawing her into him. Closes his eyes for a moment as they settle together. ]
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no subject
Maybe we leave it for now, [ he tells her, quiet as his hand loops around her waist. ] I would rather you be awake for all of it, at least for now.
[ It's hard to put the right words to the entire experience. What he and Ianthe had discussed. How it had felt to be in bed with her. How it had felt to draw a response from her without any accompanying rejoinder to meet the nudging tug of his thoughts projected telepathically to her.
It's a snarl of feeling that may well be misplaced, given Alina's response now.
He rests his forehead to hers briefly, puts a soft kiss to her mouth. ]
Will you be disappointed to wake up to me without any fanfare accompanying my presence?
no subject
That'd be poor foundation for a marriage, wouldn't it?
[ but then, maybe that's the kind of marriage he's used to. political alliances surely don't make for warm beds. maybe it's the kind they'd made, too, back in ravka. it's not uncommon in poverty, either. women bought like cattle made to tolerate men who work them like donkeys. ]
I rather like waking up to you. Just you.
no subject
That's fortunate for me, because I'd like to do that more often.
[ As often as she'd permit.
This is not his room. His welcome here feels tenuous, conditional.
He tightens his hold on her, drawing her into him. Closes his eyes for a moment as they settle together. ]