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The soft rays of sunlight that were just creeping in through the window of the room found Jaina Proudmoore awake and bright-eyed. It was early still, much too early for most to be awake, but Jaina had always been fond of the dawn. As a child, her father had often woken her at such hours so they could watch the sky turn from inky black to the soft pinks, golds, and light blues of early morning before he would take her out into the water and teach her something new about sailing.
It was something she had gotten into the habit of doing, and it had served her well throughout her life. Even when she burned the midnight oil, she still made an effort to wake early and watch the sun rise in the horizon, enjoying what few moments of peace she could steal before inevitably having to deal with a packed schedule and unending duties.
However, today was different. Instead of being at her window, with a robe tied around her body to ward off the morning chill so she could observe the sunrise, she was happily ensconced in bed; a soft, loving smile curving her lips as she watched her wife sleep.
It was the rarest of treats: a day off in which she had awoken to the adorable sight of Sylvanas beside her, having actually spent the night with her and slept instead of merely waiting for Jaina to fall asleep before rising to do more work.
They’d had several arguments about the whole thing, and after a lot of stubbornness, back and forth, a strange incident that ended with Anya getting herself banished to Northrend for having locked them in a closet, and some compromises, they’d worked out a schedule that was acceptable for both of them, even though Sylvanas had grumbled about losing three perfectly good nights of work to her wife’s whims.
Jaina traced the delicate shapes of Sylvanas’ ears with her eyes, being terribly tempted to touch them but knowing that her beloved was very sensitive there, and would wake immediately if she gave in to the impulse. Instead, she contented herself with looking at them, stifling a giggle when they twitched and flicked lightly in her sleep.
Nobody would ever believe that the feared and fierce Sylvanas Windrunner, Warchief of the Horde and Banshee Queen of the Forsaken was a complete and total cuddler. But she was, and whenever her wife slept with her, they woke up with Sylvanas inevitably having glommed onto Jaina during the night.
The feeling of those strong arms around her and the silken feeling of delicate, pale-gold hair brushing lightly against her bare skin made Jaina’s smile widen, the look of adoration in her eyes plain to see even to the blind or the foolish. If anyone had ever still held doubts about the way the Lord Admiral felt about her wife, they would have been dispelled at the sight of that look and that smile.
“I’m so glad I was wrong about you. About everything.” She murmured softly, stifling giggles again as Sylvanas mumbled something unintelligible in her sleep and her ears flicked lightly in response. Tides, her wife was adorable. “I could have never imagined that we would be as happy as we are now. When we got married I was too busy being lost in my pain and sadness to see clearly, but you changed all of that. You changed me.”
Unable to resist any longer, her fingers traced a proud jaw with the lightest of touches, a small shiver going up her spine when Sylvanas leaned into the touch and nuzzled the digits.
“How I ever thought you were unfeeling is beyond me. You’re a big, fluffy cat hiding beneath that icy cold exterior.” Jaina chuckled softly, nuzzling the crook of her wife’s neck and releasing a happy sigh when the slumbering Elf pulled her ever closer. “Don’t worry, my darling, I promise not to tell anyone. I know you have a reputation to maintain.”
“We’ve come a long way, haven’t we?” Jaina continued idly, having closed her eyes to savour this rare, beautiful moment of utter perfection. Would that they could only have this a little more often, but she was grateful enough that the Dark Rangers had all but demanded that neither she nor Sylvanas worry about official matters today, for they would take care of everything.
“It’s so strange to me now, recalling the first years of our marriage when we were so cold and distant with each other. Polite, but always with that detachment that made it obvious ours was a marriage of convenience and nothing more.” The mage shook her head, scoffing at her younger self. “If only we had known. Back then I could have never imagined you to be as expressive as you are, even when you do your best to mask your emotions behind that aloof regality of yours that can easily fool most people.” Her fingers stopped just shy of touching the base of a long, elegant ear, still not wanting to wake her wife. “Not me, though. Not anymore.”
“I love your scars, did you know?” Jaina murmured gently, her lips tracing the ones that were in range of her, making sure to give special attention to the ones with raised skin and slight knots, the ones she knew her beloved thought were ugliest. “I love all of them. The ones you’re proud of, because you got them in battles defending your homeland, and the ones you hate, because you think that they represent weakness, which are curiously all the ones you’ve gotten after...well, after everything.”
Her hand migrated, tracing soft patterns down the Elf’s muscular back, enjoying the ripple of soft, cool flesh beneath her fingers. “I love them, because even though you don’t think so, they’re proof of your strength, of your agility. They’re the proof that you survived another battle, that you were able to come home to me. I’d prefer it if you could be spared such things, but I know that’s never going to happen.” She gave the gentlest of squeezes to a broad, strong shoulder before going back to tracing idle patterns on her wife’s back. “You were meant for the frontlines, it’s in your blood, and I would never ask you not to do it. I reserve the right to worry about you, though.”
“I love your laugh, even though I rarely get to hear it. I’m not saying it isn’t for good reason, but I do love it.” Jaina huffed lightly, burying her nose in the crook of her wife’s neck again and taking comfort in the scent of leather, flowers, and cold steel that was unique to Sylvanas. “I love that you feel comfortable enough with me to let me hear it on the very rare occasion that something prompts you to it. I do enjoy your chuckles, but your actual laughter is wonderful, and it always fills my heart with happiness whenever I hear it.”
She hummed thoughtfully to herself for a moment. “Is it selfish to think that you reserve it only for me? Maybe. But even if it is, I think I’m allowed to be selfish with my wife.”
“Since we’re on the subject, I love that we’ve gotten to the point where you don’t feel like you need to be strong and stoic all the time with me. I love that you show me more of what lies beneath, of the things you really feel instead of keeping up your masks all the time.” Jaina laid soft, loving kisses down her wife’s throat, paying special attention to the unmoving pulse point, which she liked best. “I can see how much effort it takes, since you hate feeling vulnerable and I know a part of you still thinks your feelings make you weak. I know how hard it is for you to open up, to let me truly see you, and you’ll never know how happy and grateful I am that you make the effort anyway.”
“I love how selfless you are, how even though you would never admit it, there’s a gentleness in you that shines through clearly. I love your dedication and strong sense of duty, which is what we began bonding over in the first place. I love how hardworking you are, even if you’re an ass sometimes and won’t let me do quite the same.” She huffed, truly a tiny bit annoyed, but mostly incredibly fond of her eternally exasperating wife. “‘I’m undead, Jaina. The same rules don’t apply to me, Jaina.’ You big cheater.” A chuckle followed that statement, taking the sting out of her words as her eyes roamed all over her Sylvanas’ body, lingering on every line of hard muscle, on every scar, all of the perfect imperfections that made up her beloved’s frame.
“Do you know how beautiful you are?” Jaina whispered, as if it were the most precious of her secrets and she was afraid anyone might overhear. “Not just your body, even though yes, Tides, your body is gorgeous. I love the heart that lives in you, no matter how much you may try to hide it. I know you have it and I know it’s gentle and full of love and caring.”
One of her hands travelled from Sylvanas’ back and down her wife’s arm until she reached the Elf’s large hand. She played with those long fingers lightly, delighting in touching the raised callouses and the light twitches in response to her touch. “I love your hands. How strong and skilled they are, how dexterous their abilities, that they put others to shame easily.” Her smile acquired a devilish tint to it, her eyes twinkling mischievously as she whispered directly into the shell of her wife’s ear, “And that’s without mentioning how much I love what those long fingers of yours can do here, in our bedroom.”
Heat began to pool low in Jaina’s belly, the feeling of Sylvanas’ powerful muscles against her doing wonders at stoking the fire that eternally burned within her for her wife. She ignored it for the moment, though; there would be time to sate it later. She wanted to take advantage of this moment to say as much as she could without being interrupted or being met with disbelieving noises. Even though Sylvanas couldn’t really hear her, she was satisfied with being able to indulge in the sappiness of telling her all of this.
Sylvanas was usually highly uncomfortable with this kind of talk, so Jaina could very rarely indulge in it. Since she was unconscious, though, the mage could take full advantage to praise her wife as she wished.
“I love how strong you are, a strength born of necessity, of always having had to bear the burden of the world on your shoulders. It’s unfair, and you’ve suffered immensely from it, but you’ve never let that suffering keep you down. You’ve embraced it and always learned from it.” Recalling some of the arguments they’d gotten into due to her wife’s ruthless pragmatism and thick-headed stubbornness, she chuckled lightly and shook her head. “Well, perhaps some things needed adjustment, but I think you did well enough on your own until I came along to offer a more balanced perspective.”
“I love that you know you can rely on me to share that burden, that you no longer feel so alone in this and that you trust me enough to let yourself be ‘weak’ in front of me.” Jaina twined their fingers and rested her forehead against Sylvanas’, her other hand carding through her wife’s long hair. “I love that you no longer think you must do everything on your own and are comfortable enough to let me help you, that you know you can count on me. I love that you now lean on me the way I lean on you.”
The urge to kiss Sylvanas was getting stronger and stronger, but she resisted. She had a couple more things she wanted to say, and if she actually gave in to the temptation, she was well aware that she’d never stop until she’d woken her wife with kisses and then they’d devote the morning to indulging endlessly in each other’s bodies.
“I love how caring you are.” Jaina murmured softly, “I love how you much you care for all of your people, our people. How good a leader you are, how calm and steady you are no matter the circumstances. I love that you give so much of yourself, always, even though it’s mostly in subtle ways that mean many don’t see what you do and will never thank you for it.”
“Most of all, I love you, my darling, my beloved, my starry night and swift compass in uncharted waters.” Jaina cupped Sylvanas cheek, her fingers lovingly caressing there, down her long, elegant neck, and into her collarbone. “I love you so very much, sometimes I don’t know what to do with myself with how strongly I feel for you.” Her hands tightened on the other woman’s body and she moulded herself against Sylvanas further, so close that it would be difficult to see where Jaina ended and Sylvanas began were it not for their differences in skin tone. “If only you could see yourself even a fraction of the way I see you…”
Unable to resist any longer, Jaina gave in and finally, finally kissed her wife. She couldn’t help the soft moan that escaped her at the feeling of those soft, cool lips against her own, losing herself in the moment and pulling Sylvanas even closer to her.
She wasn’t entirely taken aback when her kiss was answered rather ferociously, Sylvanas having clearly woken up and picked up on Jaina’s intention easily. The Elf wound her arms around Jaina as one of her legs settled in between her wife’s own, smirking into the kiss when Jaina hissed and ground against her.
As usual, Jaina’s humanity failed her and she was forced to pull back for air, her eyes dark and wanting and boring into Sylvanas’ as she tried to catch her breath.
Sylvanas chuckled and pressed a soft kiss to Jaina’s nose. “Well, after hearing all of that lovely prose, however could I possibly doubt my lady wife’s feelings for me ever again?”
It took Jaina a few seconds before her mind properly registered that statement and then she yelped in surprise. “You were awake this whole time?!”
“You are not as subtle as you think, wife. Of course I have been awake all this time. I’m a very light sleeper and you decided that you would make a canvas out of my body.” The sheer glee in Sylvanas’ smirk was almost enough to make up for Jaina’s embarrassment.
Almost.
“Tides, Sylvanas. You simply let me ramble on like that!”
“I was curious, and then it would have been terribly rude to interrupt you in the middle of such an adoring soliloquy.” Sylvanas softened and her eyes were filled with a tenderness that was rare and precious, and only for Jaina. “I could not have imagined that you would be quite so sappy, my love, but it was interesting to hear what you had to say when you believed me asleep. Is that…” She hesitated for a moment, her voice faltering for a single second before she pulled herself together again. “Is that truly what you think of me?”
Jaina’s eyes were dewy and her voice full of emotion when she answered, the words pouring from the very depths of her heart. “That and more, my darling. I love you. I love you so, so much.”
Sylvanas let out a shuddering breath, closing her eyes and gently pressing her forehead against her wife’s in a sweet caress. “I love you with all of me, dalah’surfal. With all that I am, all that I have left, I love you. You are everything that is good in me, and I thank Belore every day for having guided me to you.”
Before Jaina could say anything else, Sylvanas captured her lips in another kiss, this one softer and much more tender, but just as deep and full of emotion as the first one had been.
Since they had the day to themselves, she fully intended to pay back her wife, with interest, for all of the lovely things she had said about her that morning. Sylvanas may not be all that great with words, but her actions would speak in her place.
And she intended to give Jaina a soliloquy of her own.