Work Text:
Even though you had told Sana at least a hundred times you were okay going to the beach in the middle of fall and you had been making these small afternoon trips for years, she still had her doubts. She was standing by the door, Miso's leash in her hand as she adjusted her hat in the mirror. You shut the door to your bedroom and leaned against the wall in the hallway, admiring the cute scene in front of you.
No matter where Sana was going, she always managed to look absolutely stunning. Her outfits always matched and most of the time, she managed to match at least one article of clothing with Miso. This time, her hat was a light caramel color, much like Miso's fur.
It had already been four years since you started dating and ever since then, every day had been the best day. You met Sana at a party one of your friends had hosted in the summer, celebrating her graduation from her master's program. You spotted her through the crowd, a beaming smile across her face. From the second you saw her, you couldn't take your eyes off of her...
//
"Hey Momo who's that girl over there?" You nudged the host of the party, one of your closest friends since you were in middle school. Momo turned around, raising a questioning eyebrow to look at you.
"Y/N there's at least 15 people in my kitchen right now. You're going to have to be a bit more specific."
You rolled your eyes and pointed to the shorter girl with dark brown hair who was currently wrapped up in a conversation with one of Momo's coworkers.
"The girl with the brown hair?" Momo squinted to see who you were talking about despite having near perfect vision. You chuckled and shook your head, knowing she was taking her time just to annoy you.
"No the guy with the red shirt. Yes! The girl with the dark brown hair. What's her name?" You draped your arm around Momo's shoulder and leaned against her, eyes still focused on the beautiful brunette.
"Oh you should have said!" Momo laughed and shrugged your arm off, poking you playfully in the side. "That's Minatozaki Sana. She's one of the new assisting professors in the marine biology department."
You nodded, impressed by her position at Momo's university and her seemingly flawless side profile. Momo eyed you carefully and spun you around to face her, a suspicious look on her face.
"Why do you want to know? You got a crush or something?" You tried to hide the glaringly obvious, but the blush creeping up your neck and quickly into your cheeks gave it away. "Oh you totally have a crush on her! Damn you're a sucker. You haven't even talked to the girl and you're about as red as a tomato. I can introduce you two if you'd like."
Before you had any time to protest, Momo was already calling Sana over, waving her hands to draw even more attention to herself and you, the human tomato. Your attempts were futile as you tried to push Momo's arms down, not wanting to attract even more people's attention to your growing embarrassment.
Sana noticed Momo and excused herself from her conversation, side-stepping through the small groups surrounding the kitchen island. She slowly made her way toward you two and you felt your heart rate drastically increase. Soon enough, you were a few feet away from one of the most beautiful people you had seen in your life.
"What's up, Moguri?" Just from speaking three words, you could tell that Sana was one of the happiest people on the planet. Her smile never faltered even through her brief and teasing conversation with Momo. You hadn't bothered introducing yourself yet, content on watching the two interact and knowing that if you did try to say anything, it wouldn't be coherent enough to understand in the slightest.
"Oh this is Y/N! They haven’t met you yet and spotted you when you were talking to Hoshi. I thought you two would get along well." Momo stepped to the side and elbowed you after a few seconds of silence.
"I-I'm Y/N." You smiled and internally screamed. Momo had literally just told her your name and that's all you could tell her? Smooth.
Sana just giggled and shook your hand. She brushed her hair behind her ear, revealing a pastel pink hearing aid. This caught your attention and you briefly glanced up at it. "It's nice to meet you. Momo's talked about you quite a bit but it's nice to put a face to the infamous Y/N."
You groaned and playfully rolled your eyes. You looked to the side only to find that Momo had somehow teleported to the other side of the kitchen. She just gave you a thumbs up over the small crowd of people in the kitchen before continuing her conversation with another one of your friends.
"I hope it was good things, but knowing Momo I'm sure she's told you everything. Good and bad."
//
Fall and winter were two of your favorite seasons even though you hated the cold. The favoritism of these colder seasons may or may not have been due to seeing Sana in the cutest and cuddliest outfits, but who really knows.
As you arrived at the beach, you parked your car in the empty lot. Since it was the middle of fall, the beach wasn't exactly the most popular place to be. You didn't mind though. In fact, you kind of enjoyed it. Sure you couldn't go in the water and splash around or you'd turn into a popsicle, but you had the whole beach to yourselves and the entire parking lot to choose from.
You got out of the car and opened the trunk, quickly grabbing Miso's leash, your golden retriever, before he jumped out and went sprinting into the water. That was the only problem with bringing Miso to the beach in the fall and winter. Sana claimed he was half duck and half dog with the way he loved the water. In a heartbeat he'd risk freezing to death to swim around for only a few seconds.
It was sunny and the slight breeze made it feel even colder than it actually was but you didn't mind as long as you had Sana and Miso with you. Conversation always came easy between you two. Even after your first meeting with Sana at the party, you found it easy to talk about anything and everything with her...
//
It was your third date and Sana had chosen a Disney themed mini golf course. After the first time you met her and the first two dates you had, it made sense why she had chosen this date activity. Sana was the embodiment of everything fun and happy. She was like a walking ball of sunshine.
"I've hit the stupid dwarves mine cart three times now! It's like they don't want you to make it past this hole!" You threw your hand that wasn't holding a golf club in the air, slightly frustrated at just how bad you were at this.
Sana on the other hand was dying of laughter. Sana on the other hand was playing an amazing mini golf game. 17 holes into the 18 hole game, she had managed to get a hole in one 5 times. "Maybe your form's a little wonky."
"Oh is it? Maybe you want to show me then miss mini golf pro." You chuckled and held out your hand, motioning towards the course for her to demonstrate the correct way to play. What you had expected was for her to demonstrate with her club and ball. What you hadn't expected was for her to come up behind you and use your club and ball. You felt your heart speed up a bit and your hands got significantly sweatier than they already had been.
"Relax your knees, bend your elbows and your back slightly, and then gently swing. You're not trying to hit it a hundred miles, Y/N." Sana giggled as she swung the club with you, her small hands holding onto yours. Even though she could barely see past you, you finally made it past that damn mine cart and into the hole.
"Hole in 7! Beat that!" You laughed and smiled triumphantly. Sana just shook her head with a bright smile and gave you a high five. She set her ball down at the last hole and brushed her hair behind her ear. You were a bit surprised when you saw a baby blue hearing aid this time instead of the pastel pink one you had seen a few times before. Your gaze lingered a little longer before you peeled your eyes away to focus on Sana getting yet another hole in one.
"How do you do that?!" You set your ball down as she bounced around, laughing and doing a little celebratory dance. You lined up your shot and took a deep breath before gently swinging. Well, you didn't get a hole in one but you managed to get it in just 3 tries this time.
To celebrate her win, you offered to buy ice cream. Unsurprisingly to you, Sana decided to go with one called strawberry sunrise. You on the other hand stuck with a classic. Chocolate chip cookie dough.
You eased into a conversation with Sana, talking about your respective jobs, when she brushed her hair behind her ear again. This time, you got caught glancing at her hearing aid. You quickly looked in her eyes and stuck your hand out to apologize. "I-I'm sorry. I just. I noticed that you had hearing aids whenever we first met. I didn't want to be rude asking about them so I didn't say anything. I didn't mean to stare. I'm sorry." You looked down at your ice cream guiltily as it started to slowly melt and drip down one side.
Sana just let out a small laugh and smiled at your rambling apology. She shook her head and took one of her hearing aids out, holding it in her hand to show you. "It's okay. Thank you, actually. Usually it's the first thing people notice, but then they don't stop asking questions about it. I'm actually surprised you waited until the third date to ask about it." Sana moved her hand closer to you on the table, encouraging you to hold it and take a closer look.
"I've used hearing aids since I think middle school. I was swimming with my parents on vacation and I got some water in my ears. Unfortunately, it resulted in a double ear infection. It was easily treatable but we didn't catch it early enough and by the time I went to see a doctor, I had already lost a good portion of my hearing." Sana still had a small smile on her face as she told her story. It broke your heart to hear, but the way she looked at you and the strength in her voice told you she had come to terms with things a long time ago.
You didn't even notice the sympathetic look on your face as you handed Sana her hearing aid back. She put it back in and reached out for your hand that wasn't now covered in sticky ice cream. "Hey it's okay. I've been okay with it for a long time. It was really hard to get used to when I was little and it can be a bit much at times but I've been able to handle myself for this long."
You nodded in understanding and smiled, slowly intertwining your fingers. It felt natural even though you hadn't known Sana for that long. As she continued to answer your questions with that blindingly beautiful smile on her face, you fell for her more and more.
"If you don't mind me asking, why marine biology? I mean if you lost your hearing due to an ear infection after being the water, I feel like you wouldn't go into any field related to water."
Sana smiled and took a bite of her ice cream, thinking about it before responding to your question. "I was a little turned off from being anywhere near water that wasn't in the shower or the bath but I couldn't stay away. I've always loved the water and the beach. About a year or two after I started using hearing aids, I got back into learning about the ocean and everything in the ocean. I think it was kind of my way of healing from it. I didn't want to let that incident keep me from something I love."
At this point, you had more ice cream on your hand than you had actually eaten. You were so invested in everything that Sana had to say. You didn't really mind it though.
//
The jacket you threw on before you left your apartment had long been abandoned on the sand as you chased Miso around on the beach. If there was one thing he loved more than the water, it was his ball. There were at least 5 of the fuzzy little tennis balls lying around your apartment and Miso loved every single one of them. This one though was specifically for the beach, absolutely covered in sand and salt water.
You slowly crawled towards Sana, out of breath and exhausted. You had been chasing Miso and throwing the ball non-stop for the past half hour and all you wanted to do was catch your breath and be cool enough to put your jacket back on. You clipped Miso's leash back onto his collar before you plopped onto the beach towel beside your girlfriend. Miso seemed as tired as you were so he gnawed on his ball and laid on the sand.
"Not as youthful as you were four years ago, huh baby?" Sana teased and playfully poked your cheek.
"I'm still as youthful as I was seven years ago." You smiled and kissed Sana's cheek, resting your head on her shoulder. Although that was obviously a lie since you were breathing like you had just run a marathon, Sana seemed okay to play along with you.
It was almost 7:30 by the time you had shifted in your spot. You had enjoyed watching the waves slowly roll onto the shore for the past 10 or so minutes. It was times like this that made you feel extra grateful to have someone like Sana in your life.
"I think Miso's ready to play again." Sana got up and took her jacket off, already preparing to get sweaty. She bent down to give you a quick kiss before she started to take one of her hearing aids out. "Is it okay if I take these out for a little bit?"
You just smiled up at her and took her hand, pulling her down to you. She crouched down in front of you and you cupped your hands around her face, your thumbs gently stroking her cheeks. "Of course baby. I love you. I'll be here if you need anything, don't worry." You signed this as best as you could and leaned in, placing a soft kiss to her lips. You smiled at the taste of the peach flavored chapstick she had on.
Sana giggled and pulled back. She loved that you always made an effort to try and sign with her. She handed you her hearing aids and stood up, unclipping Miso's leash. She grabbed the soggy ball from him and tossed it down the beach, jogging behind him before he got too far.
You watched for a while as Sana and Miso, the two loves of your life, ran up and down the beach. Sana's laugh was angelic and you loved seeing her smile. You looked down at her hearing aids, noticing she went with the pink ones today. You frowned a bit as you thought back to the first time she took them out around you. It was something that she trusted you with fully now, but it wasn't always like this...
//
You were bored, laying on your bed just scrolling through your phone to pass the time until you went over to see Sana. "Only an hour and a half until she's done with work." You sighed and hoisted yourself out of bed, walking out into your living room to see if there was anything you could do to entertain yourself for the time being.
As you stood in the living room behind your couch, you noticed the tall stack of books that were sitting in front of your partially empty bookshelf. "I guess I could put those back." You walked over to the stack you hadn't finished putting back after you cleaned weeks ago and started to organize them.
Only five books in, you heard your phone ring. You set the book you were currently holding back on the stack as you answered the phone, a goofy smile on your face. "Hey baby! Done early with work?"
"C-can you come over now?" Sana answered in a broken voice. She had obviously been crying and you could tell something was wrong. You quickly stood up and grabbed your jacket and keys, already out the door and abandoning the stack of books.
"Of course. I'll be over in a few minutes. Stay on the phone with me until I get there, okay?" Worry was weaved in your words as you drove to your girlfriend. She didn't say much but whenever she felt bad and you weren't right beside her, it made her feel a little better to hear your voice on the phone.
You pulled into the parking lot of her apartment and walked into the building. You took the elevator to her floor and didn't even bother knocking on the door. As you hung up the phone and swung the door open, your eyes quickly found Sana crouched on the ground. She had her knees tucked to her chest and she looked so small and sad.
"Oh baby." You felt your heart shatter at the sight and rushed to her side, wrapping your arms around her. You gently pulled her onto the couch with you, letting her just tuck her head into the crook of your neck and cry. You gently stroked her hair and rubbed small circles on her back to try and calm her down a bit.
It wasn't often that Sana cried like this and when she did, it was that much more devastating. You always knew Sana to be the bright and happy girl so seeing her sad and lost in her own head was a hard sight to take in. It took her a while to calm down but she finally managed to slow her breathing and loosen her grip on the hem of your shirt. She looked up at you with red, puffy, and tear stained eyes.
"What's going on baby? What's got you all worked up?" You wiped the few tears left on her cheeks and kissed her forehead a few times, letting her take her time.
"I-I was walking back to my car and a big group of people was running behind me. I didn't see them and one of them ran into me. They a-apologized but one of my hearing aids got knocked out. When I p-put it back in it was all messed up and it r-really hurt my ears. It was just a lot and I was really overwhelmed and i-it was bad when I was driving h-home and-" You pulled Sana closer to you and kissed the top of her head, gently rocking her in your arms. You could tell that it was a lot for her to process and you didn't want her to push herself too much.
"Shh. It's okay baby. You don't have to tell me anymore. You did such a good job. Did you take the one that got knocked on the ground out yet?" You looked at her and she shook her head. You tried to reach up to take it out for her but she immediately recoiled, tucking her face back into your neck. You were a little startled and pulled your hand back, quickly apologizing.
Now that you thought about it, you had never seen Sana without her hearing aids. Even when she was sleeping and you were staying over, she'd keep them in. "Hey hey it's okay. I won't hurt you baby. I just don't want you to be uncomfortable." You tried to reach out again but this caused Sana to bury herself deeper into your arms. She shook her head and you could feel her shaking.
//
It took about an hour for Sana to fully calm down. Once she did, you had made it to the kitchen and she was nursing a cup of tea. She was still a little out of it but she looked better than when she was shaking and crying on the couch.
Sana looked down into her cup of tea and sighed. You looked up from your phone and slid it in your pocket, reaching out to hold her hand. "What's up, baby? You don't have to tell me if you're not comfortable or you're not ready, but you seemed really scared when I tried to take your hearing aids out."
Sana slowly nodded and looked up at you. Her eyes were dark and sad, something you didn't enjoy seeing, but something you were willing to endure seeing to let her confide in you. She squeezed your hand a little, nervously playing with your fingers.
"When I was in high school I had a similar pair of pink hearing aids. I was so excited that they were a fun color but these girls in my class didn't think so. I was just reading before class started when one of them took them out of my ears and threw them on the ground. They broke and I spent the rest of the day not being able to hear. I cried when I got home and all my parents could do was give me my old pair until we got new ones."
You could feel anger burning in the pit of your stomach. Who in the hell would be such an awful person that they'd do something like that?
"When I went back to school the next day with the old hearing aids, the same thing happened. This time though, my new ones hadn't come in yet. I had to spend the rest of the week sitting in the front of the class. I could obviously sign but I couldn't hear anything. I felt like everyone was looking at me and laughing but I couldn't tell. I felt like they were all saying 'oh look at the stupid deaf girl who broke her hearing aids'. Ever since then I've always been the only person to take my hearing aids out and I try to keep them in whenever I'm around people. I know you'd never say anything mean to me or do anything to hurt me but... it's just stayed with me."
You sighed and wrapped Sana in a hug. You were glad she was comfortable enough to tell you things like this. It let you know that she trusted you and that's all you needed. You pulled away from the hug and carefully reached a hand out, brushing her hair behind her ear.
Sana flinched at first but sat there. She carefully watched you as you kissed her forehead. "I don't have to do anything if you're not ready, but if you want me to, I can take these out for you. I can tell the broken one's still making you uncomfortable. I love you more than anything on this planet and you know that I would never ever do anything to hurt you."
You looked into Sana's eyes, trying to show that she could trust you with something as important as this. She took a few seconds to think about it before she slowly nodded her head. She closed her eyes and gently grabbed your hands, guiding them to her ears. Your hands were shaking a bit and your heart was beating like crazy. You didn't want to mess anything up.
As you gently and slowly took her hearing aids out, you let out a breath and set them down on the kitchen counter. Sana opened her eyes, now unable to hear anything. She looked into your eyes with a small smile, tears forming in the corners of her eyes. She let out a long breath, one she felt like she had been holding for years, and kissed your cheek. She pulled back and signed “I love you” before you pulled her into a hug, letting her be completely comfortable with you for the first time.
//
Sana was crouched down by the water, looking for the perfect rock. Each time you went to the beach in the fall and winter, she always brought back one rock as a souvenir. You weren't sure why she wanted them, but it was cute. The top of your dresser and the window sill in your bedroom were lined with oddly shaped stones.
Now, as long as she was prepared for them, Sana loved pictures. If she was caught off guard or they were candid, she was less of a fan. As you watched Sana sift through the sand for that perfect rock to commemorate the afternoon, you pulled your phone out. You zoomed in, focusing on the cute concentrated face she was making. You snapped a few pictures before she looked up, waving the rock in the air she had just found.
You slipped your phone back in your pocket and laughed, waving her over to you. She ran back over and sat down beside you, showing you the new addition to the collection. She placed the smooth stone in your hand and kissed you on the cheek.
"It's perfect! Light gray with little specks of white! And it's kind of shaped like a heart."
You smiled and nodded, handing the rock back to her. It was a pretty good one and you were always happy to see just how excited she'd get over the smallest things. You pulled her hearing aids out of your pocket and set them in your lap. "Do you want them? You don't have to. I just wanted to give you the option."
Sana thought for a moment but shook her head. You kissed the top of her head and put them back in your pocket until she was ready to put them back in. You would never understand how she truly felt, but you could understand why she liked not having them in sometimes. It was good to have a break from hearing and just be in your own world.
The rest of the afternoon flew by and before you knew it, the sun was starting to set. Sana looked out onto the water and a blissful smile was on her face. The orange light from the sun cast a perfect glow on her face. You took your phone out of your pocket again and snuck a few pictures in before Sana turned and caught you. She looked at you with a pout and tried to take the phone from you. You just laughed and held it up in the air, taking advantage of your height.
"You're so mean! I didn't even have time to prepare!" Sana huffed and shot you a playful glare before reaching down to pet Miso. He was contently sitting in between you, loving the occasional head scratches you'd give him. Miso had been a part of your household for the past three years and he quickly became Sana's favorite. She'd never admit it, but you saw how well they had bonded almost immediately. Not only was Miso energetic enough to keep up with Sana, he was also trained to help her in case she lost her hearing aids or wanted to have a day where she didn't want them in.
Whenever you had the discussion years ago with Sana about getting a pet, it was a pretty easy decision to make. You had wanted a pet for a while and Sana had wanted a dog that could hear for her whenever she didn't feel like it. The circumstances were perfect...
//
"Baby what do you think about being a dog?"
Sana laughed and tilted her head, looking at you in confusion. "I think being a dog would be fun but I'm okay being a human."
You furrowed your eyebrows in confusion before you realized that you had signed and asked her if she wanted to be a dog. You blushed a bit and shook your head. Sign language was something you were still learning and it was hard to get used to, but you were more than willing and able to learn for your girl. So, you tried again.
"I'm sorry. I meant what do you think about getting a dog?"
Sana nodded in understanding and gave you a quick kiss on the cheek. "Oh I gotcha. Thank you for practicing. It means a lot, baby and I think a dog would be fun to have. Why do you ask?"
You thought for a second before pulling a pad of paper out. You wrote down, 'Can I tell you? I don't think I can sign this one. It's a little long.' Sana read what you had written and nodded. She held up a finger, signaling for you to wait one second before she went to your bedroom and grabbed her hearing aids. She put them in and nodded for you to continue.
"I know that you've been wanting a service dog for a little while and I've always wanted a pet. I think it could benefit us both and who doesn't want a furry friend? I think we're doing well enough financially that we could at least start thinking about it." You smiled and took Sana's hand in yours.
"I'd love to get a dog with you! It means a lot that you're thinking of a service dog too. You're so sweet to me." Sana had a look of absolute adoration as she wrapped you in a hug, sighing in content at the thought of taking your relationship that one step further.
"I'm glad you're up for it, because I may or may not have already been talking to a woman to get the dog. I also may or may not have pictures of him." You gave Sana a sheepish smile as she pulled away from the hug. She playfully narrowed her eyes and held her hand out, expecting you to show her the pictures.
You laughed and pulled your phone out of your pocket, looking through the many pictures of Sana in your camera roll to find the few of the one year old golden retriever. You finally found the ones the agency sent you and handed your phone to her.
"Y/N! He's so cute! Look at his ears! And his little nose! And his paws! And he looks so cute in the harness! Oh my gosh!" Sana was squealing over the pictures, looking like she was about to explode. You just let out a small laugh and leaned over to see which picture she was looking at when tears started to form in her eyes.
The dog had a little graduation cap on and a harness. The medal around his neck read 'Best Boy' and he had a huge smile on his face. In more ways than one, he reminded you of Sana. He was always happy, excited, and ready to help others.
"Do you like him?"
"Yes! I love him! He's so cute!"
"Well, do you want to meet him? Right now?"
Sana's eyes went wide when you asked this and she nearly fell out of her seat she got up so fast. The whole ride to the agency, she was bouncing up and down in the passenger seat, going on and on about how exciting it was going to be and how much it was going to help her whenever she didn't have her hearing aids in.
You were just happy that she was happy. You were content on listening to her babble on about how she was going to spoil him and the name she had already picked out. She wanted to call him Miso, meaning smile, since he was smiling in all of the pictures the lady at the agency had sent you.
It was exciting. This new chapter in your life with Sana was something you thought you'd never have with someone. You never thought you’d reach this level of domesticity and here you were. Driving to an agency to pick up a new member of your family.
//
Sana yawned and laid her head on your shoulder. You looked at your watch, surprised by the time. It was already 9:00pm. The sunrise was beautiful but you loved sitting and watching the ocean in the dark as well. Miso was curled up in between you two, finally tired out from playing all afternoon. His ball rested a few inches from his nose, dirty as could be.
"You ready to head home for bed baby?" You looked down at Sana who looked back up at you and nodded with a small smile.
"Thank you for coming with me, Y/N." Sana gave you a quick kiss on the cheek before she helped you up. You started to fold the beach towel as Sana stood there on the edge of the water, looking out into the night with Miso. She looked at peace. Yes, Sana was a bright ball of energy and sunshine so it was rare to see her down or upset. But, seeing her at total peace like this was rare. It was like her whole body just took a deep breath in and let her know that it was okay to not have all the energy in the world. You finished folding the towel before you pulled your phone out of your pocket, making sure that the flash wasn't on so Sana wouldn't catch you.
You snapped a few quick photos, Sana and Miso only seen by the light of the moon. You scrolled through them, in awe at how beautiful she was even from behind. Before you slipped your phone back in your pocket, you took one more picture and called Sana over to start walking back to the car. You intertwined your free hand with hers and swung your hands gently. There's something else you'd never get tired of. You'd never get tired of the feeling of her hand in yours. It was always so soft and light. It was warm and it fit perfectly in yours.
Miso hopped into the trunk after you put the blanket in. He immediately flopped down and curled up on top of the folded square. You smiled and shook your head, kissing him on the head before shutting the trunk. You got into the car and started it, waiting for Sana to get in and pick the music before you started to drive. You were looking down at your phone when you felt a pair of eyes on you.
"What's up there, Miss Minatozaki?" You playfully smiled and looked at her out of the corner of your eye. When you got no response, you turned to see Sana looking at you like you were her whole world. And you were. The way you looked at each other was like two kids in love. It was like the sun and the moon. It was like the sky and the stars. Sana just shook her head and shrugged, blowing you a kiss before she turned her attention back to her phone to pick some songs.
Once "light" by wave to earth came on, you smiled and started to quietly sing along. You started driving, and as usual, your hand found Sana's. At every stop sign, you snuck a quick glance at her. At every stoplight, you snuck a quick kiss. Once you were home, you carried Sana out of the car and into the apartment, Miso following closely behind. Your beach days always ended like this. Sana thought you were a bit of a dork for doing something as corny as this, but you just wanted to make sure she felt loved.
You'd always sit her down on the bed gently, first taking her jacket off. You'd move to her socks, then her pants and her shirt. You'd grab her favorite pair of silk pajamas and slowly slip them on. With a different touch, a different look, it could escalate into something much more intimate. But, you knew Sana. You knew how to look at her. How to touch her. How to care for her in a way that meant nothing more and nothing less than pure love and adoration. As you buttoned the last button on her silk sleep shirt, you cupped her cheek, rubbing your thumb gently over it.
Even though it had almost been five years of dating this beautiful woman, you still made sure to ask for the last step of your post-beach nighttime routine. You'd brush her hair behind her ears and kiss her forehead, your lips lingering for a few seconds before pulling away. No words were spoken during this whole routine, and you think that made that much more meaningful. That much more special. You'd look at her and raise your eyebrows slightly, silently asking if she wanted her hearing aids out. She'd always nod yes, but you wanted to make sure. You never wanted to break that trust she had with you. You'd gently reach up and take them out, setting them in the charger on her night stand before running your hands gently over her ears, kissing each of them. To end the day and the routine, you'd kiss her gently and look at her for a few moments, your eyes drinking in ever little detail on her face before signing "I love you".