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Rin stirred awake, and found that she couldn’t move.
A few years ago, she would’ve acted on instinct and thrashed against whatever restraints held her back. Now, she had more than enough experience to deal with these kinds of situations. These kinds of situations warranted her to be calm, to maintain her strength and to figure out where exactly she was before figuring out an escape plan.
So she first paused, took a breath, forced herself not to move, and opened her eyes.
She blinked at the sight.
It was still dark, but that wasn’t much of a problem. She could adjust in a few seconds. Or bring fire to light the room. She blinked again and found herself staring at the dark ceiling. It felt familiar.
Then she glanced down and realized that she wasn’t bound with ropes and restraints in her prison.
One of Nezha’s legs was thrown across hers, and one of his arms across her waist, pulling her tight against him. A blanket lay haphazardly across their bodies.
Oh. Now she remembered.
Her body, tensed and stiff a moment ago, now relaxed under the covers. She turned her head and found his sleeping face on his pillow. He usually woke up as soon as she did, or she woke up as soon as he did, for both of their bodies were scheduled perfectly as soldiers. But yesterday, Nezha had come back late from the borders for his mission and now exhaustion seemed to have taken over the military caution.
Rin couldn’t remember him coming back last night. She fell asleep while waiting for him. She might have stirred when he did come back―she had vague memories of mumbling nonsense to him, but now she wasn’t sure if it was a dream or not.
Half of his face was buried in his pillow. Rin knew she would never get tired of staring at him. There was always one more detail to notice no matter how long she had been studying his face. The shape of his brows, his closed eyes and long lashes, slightly upturned lips. She wanted to brush the hair that fell across his face only if her arm wasn’t caught in a vice like grip.
He was even more beautiful in sleep.
And you’re mine. You love me.
Should she let him sleep or force him awake? He was back, he seemed unharmed, and if he hadn’t woken her up and didn’t seem in a hurry to awake, then the disturbance in the borders must have settled down. So nothing serious whatsoever.
She first wriggled her legs out of his. Then she lifted herself on one elbow, pressed her lips against his ear, and blew.
The startled movement almost knocked her off but it was worth it to see the dumbfounded expression on his face. She fell back on her pillows, met his confused eyes, and burst into laughter.
“Good morning,” she snickered.
Nezha closed his eyes and rubbed his hand over his face.
“You absolute demon.”
“You lazy ass. Wake up.”
He pulled the blanket over his head. Rin yanked it back.
“Last I checked, I wasn’t the one who was sleeping as the other was faithfully devoting his life to the country.”
“Last I checked, I wasn’t the one who was still sleeping after the sun rose.”
Nezha’s one eye cracked open. “The sun’s up?”
“Yes.”
“You liar.”
“It’s peeking out from the horizon.”
He groaned and suddenly wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her close, against her splatter of protest. She felt him bury his face in her hair.
“What part of wake up did you not get―”
“All of it. I did my fair share last night, sleep in with me just for one day.”
“I have a job with the Cike today.”
“Ditch them.”
“What happened to faithfully devoting your life to the country?”
“How about faithfully devoting your life to your husband?”
“Sounds so fucking boring.”
“Is that so?” He started pressing kisses on the top of her head, slowly descending down. Rin's heart fluttered, eyes closing on their own before she snapped rationality back to herself. She pushed him away at his chest.
“I’m not kissing you before you do something to your mouth, your breath is disgusting.”
“What happened to having me in sickness and in health?”
“I changed my mind.”
"I'm afraid it doesn't work that way."
“How does it work then?”
He mumbled his next words against her cheek. “It works by sticking with me forever.”
“Horrible deal, actually. I just wanted some fancy Warlord’s household food.”
“Hmm. We really would’ve been better off not married.”
“We definitely lost our heads.” Rin’s finger traced against the side of his face.
“True. Unfortunately, against our better judgment, I’m yours.”
“Disgusting.” She bit her lip. “Say it again.”
“What?”
“Say it again.”
He smiled a slow smile. Rin’s stomach flipped.
“Yours,” he whispered. She saw his eyes flutter close as he leaned in.
Rin clamped her hand over his mouth.
His eyes flew open. “What―”
“What did I say about your morning breath?”
His words muffled against her hand. “You’re unbelievable.”
“Shouldn’t have married me, then.”
“Oh, trust me, I regret it every single day.”
“Says the one who got terrified I ran away on the wedding day.”
“Well, it wasn’t exactly my fault that you disappeared for two hours, was it?”
“Now I wish I disappeared forever back then.”
Nezha leaned in as close as he could with her hand between them. “Do you?”
“Obviously.”
His hand reached out to grab her wrist. Rin thought he was going to push it out of his mouth, but he just held it gently. She felt her eyebrows scrunch up.
“What are you doing?”
“Your pulse says otherwise.”
Heat rushed to her cheeks and she kicked him in the legs.
“Ow!”
“Wake up and go brush your teeth.”
He gave a dramatic sigh. “If you insist.” He pressed a light kiss on the inside of her wrist, and stood up. He gave her a wink before he closed their bedroom door.
Rin watched him go, too happy to hide her grin.