Fine Again

Arc settled and relaxed more and more as he and Vanille snuggled together as was their usual routine, his eyes slowly closing as his lids grew heavier. There had been a time that sleep had been very hard to come by and had been something he had avoided out of fear of the nightmares he would have, but those days were long gone. Vanille's presence was enough to reassure him of where he was and kept him grounded here instead of letting his thoughts slip away to the past. Each day that he woke up with her still in his embrace strengthened the belief that she was truly going to be with him for the rest of his days and that was a powerful feeling for someone that had felt so adrift for so long.

He was hovering on the edge of sleep when he felt Vanille shift and roll to face him, causing his forelegs to naturally shift and hold her a little tighter without actually pulling him out of his tentative slumber. What did pull him back from his sleep and get him to reopen his eyes was her soft whisper that was still almost hard to hear despite the silence of the den around them. He blinked open his eyes and tipped his head down to look at here where she was pressed into the thick fluff of his chest, his sapphire eyes heavy lidded as a little smile pulled at his lips. "I love you too," he whispered back in a quiet rumble, one of his massive paws starting to gently rub her back.

Despite his better judgement, he allowed himself to dip his head a little lower so that he could tenderly press his lips to hers for just a moment. There had been so many moments in their time together where he thought their affections were leading them further, but they had stopped short. He would never push Vanille for more and was perfectly content waiting until she was ready, but it did make him hesitant at times to delve into any kind of affection beyond their usual cuddles like this at night when he was going to have her pressed into him like this. He let his kiss linger for just a moment before he pulled back again, giving her another smile and squeezing her gently before he started trying to wind down to sleep once more.

"Arc & Vanille"