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It's dark. You've been struggling to get to sleep for the past hour and you're about to give up entirely. The human-bed is warm and soft, but it's notorious for being unable to stave off nightmares. You're not certain you could handle whatever the wave of nightterrors waiting for you in your subconcious, however. But at this point, you'd just be happy to sleep at all.
You blink blearily in the darkness at stare vacantly at the ceiling. It isn't hard for you to see, given your naturall nocturnal species. But actually viewing your surroundings takes focus you don't have. It isn't until a sliver of light casts across your ceiling that you stir. You tilt your head and glance toward the doorway. Your concern immediately spikes from the sight and you're halfway up and off the bed when dark shape in the doorway speaks softly.
"Don't- Don't get up.. I'm sorry." Your eyebrows furrow as you ignore her instruction and sit up. Your feet settle on the cold floor as she continues. "I didn't.. I didn't mean to disturb you."
"Nonsense." You state, firm but.. Concerned. You twirl a hand through the air, motioning her closer and she obliges. The door slips shut behind her and you watch the shadow trudge closer. Once she's close enough, you rise to your feet. You stand nearly half a head taller then her, but it doesn't matter at the moment. One hand settles on her cheek while the other grasps her shoulder. Even in the darkness, you can tell she's avoiding looking at you. "Rose, darling.." You start, but fall quiet as her head tilts and her warm cheek presses further into your hand. Your thumb ghosts across her soft skin and you realize it's damp.
She's crying.
She inhales a shuddering breath and you take it upon yourself to bring her smaller frame close to you. She doesn't hesitate to wrap her arms tight around your waist, squeezing so hard you'd think she was scared of losing you..
Oh.
"Rose.." You try again, but her face burrows deeper into your shirt and you falter. You can feel her shaking and you know how hard this must be for her. She tries so hard to be in control of her emotions.. Seeing her break down like this means something must really be wrong. "Sweetheart, I need you to talk to me.. What is the matter?"
You feel her back shift as she inhales deeply. She doesn't remove her head, so her voice is muffled.. But you hear her clear enough.
"It's.. really. It's ridiculous of me.."
"Hush, my love." You chastise her before she can argue further. Your hands rub patterns on her back and you feel her own curl around your shirt. "What happened?"
Soemehow, she's gotten quieter. Barely a murmur into your shirt. "Just.. A bad dream."
You give an understanding hum, a sound that vibrates through your torso and into her. You press your bare lips to the crown of her head and murmur against her hair. "It is not ridiculous, Rose.. They can be very unsettling.." You shift again, removing your lips from her scalp and casually blowing a few pesky blonde strands away from your mouth. "Do.. You wish to talk about it?"
There's a long silence, one you do not pry. You let her have her pensive silence.. Eventually, she shakes her head.
"Very well."
You won't force her to speak if she doesn't want to. If she needs to, she will. For now, you simply comfort her. You sway from side to side. Gentle and slow. You continue to rub her back, trying to get the shaking to die down, but it doesn't. Your lips find her head again, and you linger, your lips resting just beside her temple. Your throat clears, before you start softy. First, it's just a hum of an old tune. But it picks up words along the way. Your voice is quiet and low, with the natural rasp that comes with your birth-language, but Rose had claimed to love the tune anyway. She'd told you once before that lullabies were meant to be soothing.. This wasn't necessarily a lullaby, but the gentle tempo of it had a similar effect anyway. And you weren't exactly sure your voice was the most soothing, but she enjoyed it nevertheless.
"What do these words mean?" She asked you once.
You told her.
It was a story, a tale of lovers across the hemospectrum. One with royal blood and one with common. Scorned for their stark gap, they loved eachother anyway. They disregarded the judgement of their peers and remained hopelessly adoring of one another. Devotion Beyond Reason was what the title translated to.
The word by word translation stole the tune away, and Rose prefered it in Alternian anyway. It meant more. You can still remember the way she smiled as you sang it for her the first time.
She may not be smiling now, but her shaking has subsided. Her breathings evened out. Soft, shallow breaths against your shirt. You can feel the wetspot her tears have left, but you won't complain.
Halfway through the tune, you realize she's speaking. You come to an abrupt stop to catch her quiet tone and you realize-With a flutter deep in your chest- that she's singing, too. In shaky, awkward Alternian she's parroting from you. She's singing right along with you. You stop and her head lifts a little. You can see her damp cheeks and tired eyes, but the faintest curl to her lips as she continues the song from where you left off. You feel your expression soften as you join her. Brushing tears away from her cheek with your thumb, the two of you finish the song and you're sure to punctuate it with a soft kiss to her lips.
When the silence falls again, her eyes have shut. She's leaned into your hand like she could fall asleep in it and you'd kill to keep her this content and peaceful.
"Kanaya?"
"Mm?"
"..May I sleep with you tonight?"
You kiss her again and feel the smile against your lips.
"I would like nothing more."