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When Sunni had proposed camping, despite having secretly brought along blankets and a basket of sweets she’d freshly baked earlier in the day to prepare, a small part of her was worried Ciaran would say no. Her heart feels tight at the possibility, with feelings she can’t place, but it’s fine, it had to be. Because he’d looked her in the eyes as they talked and said yes.
And so here they are, sitting under the faint starlight peeking through the leaves of the impromptu tent they’ve made, bodies and hands warmed by the hearth of the fire they built and started together.
Sunni places down her basket of sweets, products of her hard work, but she’s always been one to share. Maybe Ciaran was too, for when Sunni moved over and sat near him on his sleeping blankets, he didn’t seem to be against sharing his space with her, either.
So this is how Sunni ends up sitting a hair’s breadth away from him, with her legs pulled up to her chest, arms resting on them and her head tilted amusedly as she looks at Ciaran talk. She takes a sip of her raspberry wine, and her face flushes red. She feels happy.
She offers her own response, a happy and sweet sound as they both engage in the chatter.
They talk about nothing, about everything, things that feel hopeful of the future, of the sun- and of simple musings like baked apple pies that bring back fond memories for Sunni in a time where she didn’t have much to look forward to.
If safety was a person, Sunni thinks it would be Ciaran. That tight unknowing feeling returns, she takes another sip, and smiles as she relaxes once more.
Her eyes catch briefly on his eyes, and she can’t help but think she could get lost in them like stars. She closes her eyes and giggles delightedly, he’d mentioned how he would apply as a maid to the maid cafe, and she muses how pretty the dresses would look on them both.
When her head starts sinking deeper into her arms and her eyes feeling heavier, she fights to stay awake, she really does! But with the moon in her presence, how could she refuse its lull and comfort?
Although… She wishes the night could go on just a bit longer, to sit side by side like this, two souls awake and resonating with each other even when the world has long gone dark. To feel the warmth.
Finally, Sunni rises from her spot and stretches her arms, catching a quick glance from Ciaran in her direction, and she flashes a faint and happy smile back, and she makes her way to her own blankets, across from their campfire.
He watches as she lies down, and does the same, but with a sort of still-awake nature that Sunni can’t quite decipher yet. She wonders what he’s looking at so intently with those beautiful eyes in her direction, and why, before she offers a sleepy wish of “good night, sleep well”!
She hides a yawn behind her hand, eyes heavy and blinking with the weight of the stars on them, and she rolls over to look at Ciaran, just beyond the now-dwindling fire. Now, his eyes also look heavy.
He’s just close enough that she could reach out and hold his hand before she falls asleep. It would be nice, she thinks.
It’s just before Sunni reaches out, but she feels too warm and too heavy from the fire and wine. A soft smile still sits on her lips as her blankets and dreams claim her, and she hopes he doesn’t wait too long before falling asleep either.
She hopes her innocent ruse to keep Ciaran away from his work and resting won’t be noticed, and that instead he enjoyed his night as much as she did. Maybe she was selfish, to drag him away like so- but if it’s what her heart tells her, could it really be so wrong?