12.22.08 - Underwater Kisses

Location: Redwall Cavern Hole

Characters Involved: Sivaine, Nathan

She never made it up the stairs. It's after dinner, Cavern Hole's population has thinned, and Sivaine has lost the fight with fatigue she began that morning. It's the badger-sized armchair and she's curled up against one of the armrests, head resting on her crossed arms, knees tucked up and feet crossed. Probably only meant to sleep for a little while.

The little while has stretched into a long while and this is where Nathan happens upon her again. He stands on the steps between here and the great hall, brows lifted a little before going across to the chair, leaning over Sivaine, and gently brushing the rough pads of two fingers along the edge of her ear.

She's become as deep a sleeper as Ardice, but with none of the violence. Funny that. Sivaine flicks her ear, mutters a little 'mnuh' and burrows her nose deeper into her arms. "Mnnh." Her tail, looped over her ankles, twitches once.

Nathan straightens a little, hand against the back of the chair, looking down at her. ".. this hasn't changed either," he notes, and lowers to his knees. With Sivaine asleep he ducks his head to steal a quick kiss from the corner of her mouth.

And that's a feat, given the way she's positioned. Sivaine's fingers flex, brush against his shirt collar, clumsily grasp. The corner of her mouth twitches back and she sighs quietly.

Nathan exhales quietly and moves his hand up, stroking over her hair before he drops light kisses into it, across Sivaine's crown to the back of one ear. He's not in any particular hurry.

Waking, this behavior would be pure suicide, but the Sivaine that engages in physical violence is off somewhere else entirely. She rolls her head to the side, lips parted just slightly and utters a little noise. She's smiling, but the tiny furrow in her brow and the pull of her mouth is sad. Wistful. Her shoulders shift; she digs a foot between chair and cushion.

Nathan looks upward, his hand lightly on Siv's upper arm. He hums a low snatch of some far-off tune, gaze exploring over the ceiling, and then the hum takes the form of very, very soft words. "The.. rain'll be gone in the.. morning. .. but I'll .. still be here... in the morning..." His voice is gravelly, deep. His muzzle lowers, holding a kind of far-away, reminiscing smile as it comes near hers, to drop a feather-light kiss on her cheekbone.

"'nt g'," Sivaine mutters then, and her eyelids flutter open a fraction, close, part again. She looks uncomprehendingly at him through a haze of lashes, eyes milky and unfocused with sleep. "..mm."

A faint grin shows along Nathan's muzzle, eyes shutting for a moment. He presses a soft kiss to her brow, arms moving to ease, bit by bit, around Sivaine. As if to pick her up, but he doesn't. "Siva?" Very, very quiet. His voice is scarcely there at all.

"Wh'm. Nh." Sivaine utters a little grunt and shoulders into the crook of his arm, ears twitching. "N't." Her eyes struggle to focus, but it's a losing battle, and it's hard to make out anything other than warmth and.. well.

Absently his fingers brush at her back, muzzle resting alongside the sleepy mouse's with their whiskers brushing. "Siva," he whispers to her, voice nearly sing-song, ".. have you missed me?" His ears tuck back, eyes closing.

"Mnnnnh." Sivaine scrunches her eyes shut, nose wrinkling as she frowns. "Wh'd you.. w'ted. Y'r. W'ted." Her tail gives a sleepy twitch and she shrugs a shoulder.

She's just as indiscernible as ever, isn't she? Nathan sighs out a warm breath against Sivaine's cheek, petting down the middle of her back, then upward. His fingertips slide into her hair. "I know, Siva," he whispers back. "Just. I want to know. You missed me, didn't you?"

Sivaine's fingers spread, flex, curl along the armrest. "M'ssrmyh," she mumbles. Well, it's /almost/ a word. In another language. "'R y' st'p'd. 'nt P'h.. kick h'mm'ck 'gain."

It's enough for him. Nathan grins more but keeps his eyes shut. "She'll kick it again, huh?" he whispers against the inside curve of her ear. "... then we'll just go swimming again. And you know what I'll do..?"

"H'h," Sivaine huffs, muzzle curving in a smile that last for just a moment before it's mellowed by sadness. "Y're goin' w'y.'

"No .. I'm not. If you won't leave, I won't leave," Nathan quietly bargains. He strokes her hair, soft and slow, the touches focused near her nape. "... I missed you too, Siva. And the hammock, and the .. kissing underwater. I missed it all."

"'lw'ys l've," Sivaine mumbles, but arches her neck back under his fingers. "Y'r 'nderw'tr." then, preceded by a sad little noise, "/Why./" She digs her nails into the upholstery, grasping at some invisible thing.

"Guess that means I should kiss you, huh?" Nathan murmurs, a chuckle in his voice, though it doesn't fully form.

"'nh mean 't." Sivaine shifts again, making another 'nrr' of sleepy distress. "Y'.. mmh. N'n."

"I mean it," Nathan whispers. "I mean everything I say. You know that. ... I can't lie worth my life, Siva." His mouth bumps against hers, now, experimentally.

And she reciprocates. Clumsy through sleep, but her lips quest for his, find them, linger, brush. A silvery whisper escapes her, a warm breath. "You lied once."

Nathan tugs her in slightly with the hand at her nape. The kiss presses and holds, but it's gentle, warm. "An unintentional lie," he whispers sadly, eyes opening. "... I didn't know it was a lie at the time. It doesn't count." Then, with another soft smooch at her lower lip, "Go to sleep, Siva..."

"..s't still 'lie," Sivaine mutters, with an upward quirk of tone that might be a question. Another little mumble; her brow furrows, and she buries her nose in her shoulder.

"Yes," Nathan murmurs at her. ".. it's still a lie. But it's the kind you're supposed to forgive." With his he eases his arms underneath Sivaine and lifts her into his grasp, muzzle in her hair. "Sleep now, Siva," he churrs at her, and then settles himself in the huge ol' badger chair she was just occupying. Plenty of room for two. Nathan curls on his side, arms around Sivaine, with her hugged against his chest.