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They didn’t exactly have fixed sleeping positions every night. Sometimes Laura would be the big spoon, other times it was Carmilla. Or they might just sleep in a tangled mess of limbs. On certain specific dates Carmilla made sure she could hear Laura’s heartbeat through the night, and on others yet it was Laura resting on her chest, awake for most of the night to make sure Carmilla was still breathing.
Tonight, Carmilla was holding Laura tight against her chest, her back flush against the vampire’s front. It was just how they had fallen into bed, Laura moving against her the moment they laid down. She had taken a hold of Carmilla’s hand, bringing it to her chest and pulling Carmilla close. She had fallen asleep in seconds. Carmilla chuckled quietly against her shoulder and settled in for a few moments spent just enjoying having Laura in her arms before succumbing to sleep herself.
Except that hadn’t happened for an hour now. Carmilla wasn’t complaining. It may have been a little creepy, but watching Laura rest was soothing to her. Laura looked so at peace, it made even Carmilla’s penchant for nihilistic philosophical thoughts stop for a bit. Laura safe and sound in Carmilla’s arms, trusting her so completely, was enough to bring tears to Carmilla’s eyes.
It was a good thing that Laura never saw this happening. Vampires don’t cry after all.
“Carm.”
It was a pained whimper of her name, and Carmilla immediately knew what it meant. Both of them were familiar with nightmares by now, their own and each other’s. Laura’s always involved failing someone. Her father, her students, the Silas students back in their college years… Carmilla mentally snarled at that. Laura sacrificed so much for them, and all their supposed friends could do was blame her for the misfortunes of that cursed school. But the worst, Laura had told her once, were the dreams in which she failed Carmilla.
She hadn’t said anything after that, and she didn’t need to. Carmilla sometimes woke up in a cold sweat she didn’t even know was still a possibility for her undead body, trembling and wide-eyed until the dream slipped away, and she could fully come back to the world where Laura was holding her and whispering comforting words against her ear. Alive alive alive , not dead by Lilita’s hand and Carmilla’s cowardice.
Carmilla gently pushed Laura so she was resting on her stomach, her back bare. Carmilla started tracing every mark on her back. She traced imagined patterns on Laura’s skin, connecting each freckle and mole into constellations, both real and imagined, first with her hand, then with her lips. Always some part of her touching Laura’s skin, trying to signal to her unconscious mind she was not alone.
This was the way that worked best for calming Laura without waking her up. Words sometimes were interwoven into her nightmares, making them worse and harder to fully disconnect from.
The whimpers and light gasps she could hear from Laura gradually diminished, the quicker breaths Carmilla could feel rising in Laura’s chest going back to the lazy rhythm of sleep. She was about to turn them back into their original positions when Laura twisted around, looking at her with sleepy, red-rimmed eyes.
She pulled Carmilla close, laying them both on their sides, with her face resting just under Carmilla’s chin.
“Thanks, Carm.”
Her voice was scratchy, the warmth in it undeniable. Carmilla smiled, instinctively holding Laura tighter to her.
“No problem Laura.”
Even Carmilla could hear the affection clear in her own voice. When exactly had she turned into such a sap?
Laura snuggled closer, her breath tickling Carmilla’s throat. She intertwined their legs together, they were pressed as close as possible now.
“I love you.”
A kiss against Laura’s forehead. “I love you too, liebling.”
With a deep sigh, Laura fell back into a peaceful slumber. This time it didn’t take long for Carmilla to follow her.