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Trixie knew that Katya was a restless sleeper. In their time as friends, she became accustomed to waking up and seeing a stream of texts that Katya left her during the night. Messages ranging from recaps of dreams she just woke up from to long rambling messages about the fleeting existence of life to jokes she thought of during the night that she thought would make Trixie laugh, all sent at odd hours of the night when the rest of the world was asleep. Trixie, however, didn’t know the extent of Katya’s restlessness until they started sleeping in the same bed. It was one of the reasons Trixie hesitated when they talked about moving in together, she wasn’t sure she would be able to share a bed with someone who is awake most hours of the night. Not to mention the thrashing and profuse sweating throughout the night that Trixie did not want to have to deal with every night. In the end, Trixie decided it was worth it and they moved in together.
Getting used to Katya’s erratic sleep schedule was something she was prepared for, she knew she would have to deal with her sleeping odd hours and she didn’t mind that. What she wasn’t prepared for was Katya’s ability to communicate and move in her sleep. It’s not that she’s a sleep talker, or even that she’s a light sleeper and will wake up if spoken to, she just has this strange ability to hear things while she’s sleeping and act accordingly.
The first time Trixie noticed this ability was the first week they moved in together. Katya had gone to bed early after staying up pretty much the entire night and day beforehand, and Trixie climbed into bed some hours after her. Katya was sound asleep, sprawled out on her side of the bed with her face smooshed inelegantly into the pillow. She looked so small and young, her face slightly sweaty with hair sticking to her forehead much like a child. Trixie saw her sleeping and was overwhelmed by a feeling of soft affection for the other woman, and whispered, “I love you,” to her sleeping form.
“I love you too,” Katya whispered back, just as softly as she had said it.
Trixie was confused, Katya looked not just asleep, but deep asleep, the kind of sleep that’s hard to pull yourself from, but her response was entirely coherent. She scrutinized her girlfriend for a minute, making sure she wasn’t just pretending to be asleep, but she was well and truly asleep. Trixie shrugged it off, amused by the fact that saying I love you back was so second nature to them that Katya could do it in her sleep.
Trixie had forgotten about that night, it didn’t seem particularly noteworthy or important, until a couple weeks later when she once again was climbing into bed after Katya had already gone to sleep.
She climbed into bed next to Katya’s sleeping body and tried to settle in. Katya was sprawled out particularly wide that night, bleeding into Trixie’s side of the bed slightly, and Trixie bumped into her body slightly as she tried to find a comfortable position to sleep in. As she wiggled around in the bed, she brushed against Katya’s shoulder and Katya immediately leaned in and kissed her on the forehead. Not just a brush of the lips as she moves in her sleep, but a proper peck on her forehead. Trixie froze in her spot, ready to apologize for waking her girlfriend up, but found Katya still sound asleep. When she was sure that Katya had not actually been woken up, she started to shift around again, a little more carefully this time. Katya’s limbs spread out across the bed made it difficult, and she brushed against Katya again, receiving another kiss, this time planted firmly on her shoulder. Katya is still dead asleep, unmoving afterward, and Trixie smiles to herself at the soft, gentle side of Katya that comes out in her sleep.
It takes a few weeks after that night for Katya to be the first one in bed again. Katya had gone on a particularly long run that day, trying to get rid of the energy she had built up that was bursting out of her all morning, she pushed herself to her limit, and came crashing down, taking a shower and climbing into bed, passing out into a deep slumber almost immediately.
Trixie let her sleep while she did some of her own work, entering their room some time after to follow her girlfriend to sleep. Trixie went about getting ready for bed, finally climbing into the bed. Katya’s hair was wild, she’s gone to sleep with it still wet and unbrushed and it’s flowing around her in untamed waves, she looks peaceful in her sleep, far calmer than her earlier restless state and Trixie leans down to give her a gentle kiss on the cheek. She feels Katya move under her lips, and she worries that she woke Katya up until she feels warm lips on her own cheek, returning the kiss. Katya settles back down into the pillow wordlessly and it appears she’s still asleep. Trixie looks at her with a mixture of fondness and bewilderment, once again confused by Katya’s ability to be caring and affectionate in her sleep.
She observes her face, calm and statuesque in her sleep and doesn’t stop herself from leaning down to plant a goodnight kiss to her lips. As she places her lips gently against the sleeping woman’s she feels lips press back at hers, interlocking in a delicate kiss. Trixie’s lost the feeling of surprise at these gestures, accepting that Katya is just an affectionate sleeper somehow, and sighs into the kiss before pulling their lips apart and settling down contentedly to sleep.
Trixie has used all this new found knowledge of Katya’s sleeping abilities to her advantage, getting to kiss her girlfriend and tell her goodnight like she normally would despite her having been asleep for hours. She loves that on nights where Katya is dead to the world while she’s still awake and active, she can have a final interaction with her still, it makes her feel comforted and loved, knowing that her girlfriend is still with her in sleep. She’s content in her knowledge, and it comes as a surprise when she learns that it doesn’t stop at the simple gestures she’s already discovered.
Trixie had had a particularly long day at work. She didn’t come home until late, and has already received a text from Katya earlier in the night that she had gone to bed, making her bad mood about the day worse knowing that she wouldn’t get a comforting hug that she so needed after the day.
She enters the quiet apartment, thankful that Katya left some lights on for her so she’s not stumbling blindly through the darkness. She makes her way immediately to the bedroom, ready to go to sleep and end this too long day. Katya is asleep in bed as she expected, looking soft and warm, and Trixie starts getting ready for bed. She finds a glass of water sitting on her side table with a little note from Katya with a simple, “love you baby,” and a tiny heart. It makes Trixie smile, and she gulps down a few sips gratefully, not even aware how thirsty she had been. She slides into bed, turning out the lamp Katya left on for her and getting comfortable under the covers. She gives Katya a simple kiss on her forehead, receiving a kiss to her chin in return and whispers an, “I love you,” which is once again returned.
She smiles down at her girlfriend, appreciating how fragile she looks when she’s asleep, “I wish we could cuddle,” she finds herself whispering into the air. She wasn’t expecting a response, but she hears Katya moving around under the blankets and then feels her arms wrap around her body and her lips planting a kiss on her face. Trixie stilled, in slight shock at what just happened. Reciprocating the things that Trixie does to her in her sleep is one thing, but Katya hearing and doing the things Trixie asks while fully asleep is something else, and Trixie melts into the sleeping girl’s arms. After her long, tiring day, she was able to get the embrace she craved from Katya, even if she was asleep while she did it. The tension fades away and she relaxes into the embrace, falling asleep immediately feeling safe and warm in Katya’s strong arms.
Usually when Trixie wakes up, Katya is already awake and active, somewhere in the house doing who knows what. On this morning, however, she wakes up to find that she is still wrapped up tight in Katya’s arms. As she opens her eyes against the bright light streaming into the room from the windows, she finds Katya looking down at her, running her hand up and down her back and shoulder.
“Goodmorning,” she says, her voice still rough from sleep.
“Morning,” Katya says back brightly, clearly having been awake for some time, “did you sleep well?”
Trixie hums her reply, nodding her head which is nestled against Katya’s chest still.
They lay there tangled up together quietly for a while as Trixie slowly wakes up more. Katya stays with her, hands roaming through her hair and to her arms and back, making Trixie fill up with the tenderness of the moment.
“Did you know you’re an affectionate sleeper?” Trixie asks once she feels awake enough to have a conversation.
Katya tilts her head with a look of confusion on her face, “what?”
“You’re affectionate in your sleep,” Trixie repeats, “you like to kiss and cuddle me while you’re sleeping.”
“No I don’t” Katya argues, her hands stilling.
“Yeah you do,” Trixie says back, “I kiss you and you kiss back, and I asked you to cuddle last night and you did it, it’s crazy.”
“That’s not possible, Trix.”
“That’s what I thought too, but you do it every time, I’ve tested it,” Trixie fights back.
“I don’t believe you,” Katya decides.
Trixie rolls her eyes at her girlfriend, of course she would deny it, “Whatever you say.” Katya can deny it all she wants, but Trixie knows she cares, knows that she’s a caring person, and her not wanting to believe that she’s just as affectionate in her sleep as she is during the waking hours doesn’t take away from the feeling of complete love and safety that Trixie feels every time Katya kisses her subconsciously while her mind isn’t active. The fact that she knows for sure now that it isn’t conscious action only makes her love her more.
Trixie was worried that she wouldn’t be able to adjust to living with her girlfriend that sleeps at erratic times, but she’s found that it has only made her fall deeper in love, only made her feel more secure in her relationship with this woman that has care pouring from her body at every hour of the day.