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Kinich had come home earlier than Mualani for some reason, evident as he was found sound asleep, snoring gently like a baby yumkasaur on their shared bed. Cute. His spouse thought as she raised a finger lightly poke his cheek, making sure not to disturb him from his lulled state, which resulted in him unconsciously groaning and shifting his position facing her half of the bed.
The girl decided she had her fun for now, and that it was time for her to shower and change into her sleeping attire.
Eleven p.m. by the time her baby blue, satin nightgown settled on her body, ready to join the sleeping saurian hunter in bed. Tonight’s air was warm but still had occasional whispers of the wind, not surprising for Natlan, so she didn’t need to wear too much, also the reason why her husband wears only a tank top and boxers almost every night.
As expected, soft snores and gentle breathing were heard as she carefully swung the door open. She couldn’t resist the urge to press a light kiss on his head, so she gave in as soon as she hopped in the bed.
“Goodnight, Kinich.” Her eyes meticulously scanned the boy’s peaceful face; such a shame his eyes were closed so she couldn’t admire them.
Maybe she’s getting into her self-indulgent thoughts too much, tangling her hands with his messy, raven hair. She couldn’t stop herself, even if she wanted to, giving him a peck on the lips before whispering an I love you even though he can’t hear it.
Just as Mualani was about to turn off the night light, she felt something on her wrist. It was none other than Kinich, gripping on to her quite firmly, then he brought his head to nuzzle there, about to prove her wrong. “I love you too, Lani.”
She didn’t even need to look in a mirror to know how red her face was; she was as red as the day he confessed his feelings to her. Although he was quieter here, something similar he did from that day was that he was being more openly affectionate, specifically through words. The fact that he said it with her nickname, while being unconscious made her heart race too, but not as much as the night he proposed to her.
The orange hue light, from the lamp powered with phlogiston, paints his sleeping face, something about it makes her eyes linger on him longer. She remained quiet, the only sounds audible was none other light sounds from the sleeping boy.
Mualani was about to (reluctantly) cut off the light, until she noticed his lips barely parted, as if he wanted to say something. It was hard to notice, she would’ve missed it if she wasn’t so busy admiring his face.
Suddenly, the person in front of her started taking in sharp, short-lived breaths, like he’s panting from finishing off his favorite extreme sports. It was also probably worth noting that his eyebrows furrowed in a frown.
She placed a hand over his hand, checking if he is sick from the unusual breathing face while also patiently waiting for him to hopefully say something, but minutes later to no luck. Defeated, the hand was lifted off his forehead and just as she was apart to turn off the lights, a hand wrapped around her wrist then a husky voice she would recognise anywhere called out her name, almost in a pleading manner. “Mualani…” his grip on her hand only strengthened. How strong can this man be, while asleep? “Please don’t… don’t ever leave… me. Especially if it’s for someone else. Please.” She could barely hear the last part. Nonetheless, the girl’s eyes widened, unaware he had doubts about their relationship even though they’ve been happily married for weeks now. What made her even more shocked was seeing the tears fall from his closed eyes. Never once has she seen him cry, not even after they started dating.
Fingertips brushed under his eye, wiping the tears away. “Kinich.” Despite her efforts in keeping him asleep this whole time, she decided— needed to shake him awake to let him hear this.
He forced himself to a sitting position while rubbing his eyes, like Mualani. “Mmmh… what is it, love?”
“You were sleep talking.”
“So?”
“So? Wanna guess what you said?”
He groaned, already slumping to his sleeping position. “Not now… maybe tomorrow.” Mualani stopped him from returning into slumber, and pulled him back to his sitting position to now face her.
“Nuh uh, mister. We have to talk now.”
Kinich eyed her, confused. “What did I say?”
“I’m glad you asked.” She replied. “Well, you were cute honestly— if you weren’t saying something so heartbreaking.” Lizard eyes gazing into hers, intensely, anticipating her response. “You were begging me to stay, and never leave you— especially if it’s for somebody else. And you were crying. Did you have a nightmare?”
Her beloved husband didn’t answer right away, but after a while he nodded. “Yeah, I admit I do. But it’s not a big deal—“ The man was then cut off by his wife’s constant ah, ah, ah. “No, Kinich. We need to talk about it. Please listen.”
He sighs and lets her continue, knowing he couldn’t say no the moment she dawned him with that look in her eyes, and a squeeze on the wrist. They are now sitting face to face on the bed, then Mualani took his hands once again.
“I need you to know that I will be with you forever. Nothing, and I mean nothing, can change that, and I’m over a hundred percent sure of that, especially after our marriage.” She emphasized the sentence by feeling the diamond ring on his hand. He reacted by swallowing non-existence saliva, judging by the way his throat bobbed. “I could never leave you— even if I tried to. You mean everything to me, Kinich, so much that I don’t think you’ll ever understand. I love you— everything about you: your face, your eyes, your lips, your body, how you can calculate decisions so quickly, your personality, how you act when you’re flustered or shy, comforting me during tough times, always being there with me and so much more; the man you are, ‘Malipo’ Kinich.” She ended the sappy speech by lightly pressing her lips against his.
No words were said after that, nor did she expect him to say anything. If it wasn’t obvious, Mualani was the more emotional one in this relationship and he isn’t really a huge fan of topics like this.
She let out a small gasp when muscular, toned arms wrapped around her waist; tangling them into an embrace. His searing, hot breath on the right side of her neck. It took him a while to speak up, but when he did, he said something unexpected. “I think I know why I had that dream.” The pair of delicate hands, which went from his back to his hair, urged him to continue.
“I’ve lost too many important people in my life. Remember what I told you about my childhood?” Mualani nodded. “I guess, somewhere in the back of my mind, I’m scared of losing you one day. First my mom, then my dad, and I don’t want to lose you, Mualani: my wife, the love of my life.” His voice grew quieter by the second. “I guess that’s also why I insisted on putting you, and Kachina at arms length at first. I was scared that I’d lose you one day and be hugely affected by it, same goes for Kachina. But something about you, like you said, pulls me closer to you and I can’t get away from that even if I tried. And I suppose since then, I’ve learned to warm up to others better.”
He very much adored Kachina, and Mualani does as well. Sometimes it’s like Kachina is their own daughter whenever they hang out or even think of her, and Ajaw was the babysitter when Kinich and Mualani were busy together.
Like her, he ended his statement by giving her a kiss: on her neck, to both sides of her cheek, then a final, more passionate and prolonged kiss from the one she gave him earlier on the lips. Kinich definitely made sure he showed that he meant his words.
Both reluctant as they pulled away. “I’m sorry, love, for waking you up.” He brought her hand to his lips, her ever so sweet smile satisfied at the delicate yet greatly affectionate display.
“No, you didn’t wake me up, I got back home late.” She explained. “Sorry not sorry for waking you up though.” To emphasize her playness, she stuck her tongue out and pulled down the skin below her eye.
The two broke into laughter, then exchanged remarks with a teasing lilt to it, clearly unaware of how fast time has passed during their fun, precious time.
To the point where they’ve accidentally got into a weird topic. “Gosh, what do you think our kids will think of us?” Kinich huffed. “They will both have completely opposite parents which might be weird for them as they’ll question why it’s only me doing all the work of raising the kids and taking care of the house.”
“I don’t know and I don’t care. And who said I won’t be doing any work in the household? Also we both know Ajaw can entertain the kids better than you can.” She said without missing a beat. “As rude as you sounded, I do love the idea of having kids of our own though, I love taking care of kids! I think two is perfect— no, hmm, this much?” Mualani raised up an outrageous amount of fingers proudly in front of him. Kinich’s face automatically flushed into a deep red hue as soon as he registered her words, as that would basically imply they’d have to… “Yeah, sounds about right!” The reaction on her husband's face was priceless: shocked and very, very flustered. “We’d make really cute, pretty or handsome kids of our own, don’t you think so?”
That seemed to be the last straw for him, at least it felt like it. He buried his entire head in his pillow, crashing his entire face against it. “I’d make sure they’d have the best childhood, at least a better one than mine.” He found the courage to say, after the abnormal amount of heat left Kinich’s face.
She hummed, he felt her hands reaching in for his hair again. “I’m sure you will.” The feeling of her fingers entangling with his dark strands of hair was so soothing, so relaxing that he almost fell asleep straight away.
“I love you.” He managed to say to her before giving in to his suddenly very heavy eyelid’s desire for sleep. “More than you’ll ever know.”
“I love you too, way more than you’ll ever know as well.” Was the last thing he heard before another pair of lips took his own before his vision blurred, then sound asleep. He knew she’d tease him for sleeping back in earlier than her, since he’d usually brag about being last to sleep and make fun of her for sleeping in so easily.
He truly did love her more than she would ever know, maybe even greatly beyond his knowledge. The day of his successful proposal and the marriage is without a doubt one of the happiest days in his entire life, and hopefully for her too. Perhaps, he might not understand the sheer amount of her love for him as well.
He never thought he’d get this far, let alone fall in love. And he’s very glad he did, only if it’s Mualani.