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It's the sunlight that wakes Ivy, streaming through the curtains directly into her eyes. She winces and turns away instinctively, still half-asleep, wishing things weren't quite so bright all the time.
Her annoyance with the light fades when she sees Harley's face on the pillow next to hers. She's still not used to it, the way they share a bed now. Harley's arms around her as they fall asleep, getting to wake up beside her. She used to think she'd never get to have this, not with the person she really wanted. And now here she is.
Harley normally wakes up first, sometimes springing up to yank open the curtains and startle Ivy out of her sleep. Which is admittedly annoying, but Ivy would take that any day over a life where they don't get to be like this.
Today, though, Harley's still asleep, and watching her makes Ivy feel that kind of sentimental tenderness she used to be surprised that she could feel. Harley doesn't sleep like a movie star, flawlessly perfect and unblemished. Her hair is messy and her lipstick is smudged because she refuses to remove her makeup properly before bed, and she's snoring softly, her mouth slightly open, one arm flung out in Ivy's direction, and none of it matters. Because she'll always be the most beautiful person Ivy's ever seen.
And no matter how much past Ivy might be horrified that she could ever have her heart melted that way by any person, any part of the human race, present Ivy doesn't care. She doesn't have to hide those feelings anymore.
She leans up on her elbow and reaches out to pull the quilt back over Harley where it's slipped off her in her sleep, and then just stays there for a moment, watching her, wondering how she ever lived without this, this life with Harley, not just alongside her but with her. Because now that she knows what it's like to have this, she never wants to lose it. And she hopes things don't change when this suspension of reality is over, when they go back to Gotham and face whatever new chaos they'll inevitably find there.
Ivy shakes her head, trying to push those thoughts away. Living in the moment has always been hard for her. Much as it causes problems sometimes, part of her admires the way Harley can jump into new things at seemingly a moment's notice, no prior planning or excessive worrying required. Ivy can't do that. Change has always scared her just a little too much. Her plans are always actually planned, pre-arranged and scheduled. Things go wrong anyway. And she can't stop being scared that it will happen again.
But right now, she can try to exist right here, in this moment when things are quiet, and Harley's next to her, and life is actually good.
Harley shifts in her sleep and half-mumbles something, her hair falling into her eyes as her head turns towards Ivy. Ivy reaches out to push it back, gently tucking the pale blonde strands behind Harley's ear, and her girlfriend stirs, her hand catching Ivy's and her eyes blinking open slowly.
She smiles when she sees Ivy, in a soft way that makes Ivy's heart break a little, because it's almost unbelievable that Harley could be smiling that way at her.
“Morning, Peanut,” she says softly, smiling back, and Harley blinks and yawns and then looks at her curiously.
“Why do you even call me that?” she asks, her voice blurry with sleep.
Ivy feels her cheeks flush a little and looks away from Harley, suddenly feeling awkward. “I dunno, Harls, I guess it just... suits you somehow.”
“'S cute,” Harley mumbles. She's silent for a second, then, “You hardly ever say my full name, you know that? I mean... not my full full name, but just... Harley. You don't say it that much.”
“I can... if you want,” Ivy says, not sure where this is going.
“Nah, that's not what I meant. I was just thinkin' that... I like that you're the only person who really calls me anything else. I'm happy being Harley Quinn and having people know who I am, right, but... with you I just feel like... me.” She laughs a little, like she wasn't expecting to say all of that, and Ivy pretends like that didn't make her strangely emotional because that's exactly how she's always felt with Harley. Like she's the one human being Ivy can be Ivy around.
“Same here,” she says instead, kind of casual, because she's still not really got the hang of this 'sharing her feelings' stuff.
Harley grins and leans forward to kiss her briefly on the lips, before throwing the covers off her body, because she can never lie still for long. “Rise and shine, daffodil! It's our twelfth day anniversary!”
And Ivy laughs because, talk about ridiculous pet names. And because Harley's celebration of their every single day 'anniversary', despite that not even being what 'anniversary' means, will never not be endearing, even if it's a little exhausting too.
“Honey, it's still early,” she reaches out to catch Harley's wrist before her girlfriend can jump up and open the curtains, because Ivy can't deal with that level of sunlight right now. “Can't we sleep in for once?”
Harley looks down at her, considering, then leans over, smirking. “Well, I don't know about sleep, but...”
Ivy grins back at her. “You know, babe, sometimes I love the way your mind works.”
Harley's smile widens. “Yeah, so I've heard.”
And they say a lot more after that, but most of it isn't with words.