ARISTOS ACHAION // Awesamdude X Reader

30

The first thing you felt when you woke was sunlight on your face. You sighed sleepily, rolling so that your eyes were no longer in the direct reach of the sun before opening them, blinking until your vision cleared of drowsy clouds. On instinct, you stretched an arm out to Sam's side of the bed, only to find it empty.

You frowned, feeling around the bed. He must have gotten up early.

Picking yourself up, you swung your feet over the edge of the bed, stretching your arms up over your head. Sunlight streamed in through the window, showing the expanse of trees that made up your orchard, just outside the cottage. It had been Sam's idea to start a grove of fruit trees when you had first settled here, and you were pleased to say the harvest of apricots made enough money for you to afford the simple life you had made.

Getting up, you padded out of the bedroom and into the other room of the cottage, intent on putting some water on the fire and starting some tea.

It was even brighter in here, the rising sun shining directly into the window by the door and illuminating the rest of the room. The little table that Sam had put together for the two of you, the lilies that you had cut from the patch by the river yesterday sitting in a vase as the centerpiece. A small bookshelf hung on the wall over the fireplace, the collection a mixture of folk tales and those shipping logs that Sam liked to peruse. Your favorite little thing though, was the sloppily made dried flower crown that you had hung on the wall - a gift from Sam when he had asked you to marry him.

Just looking at it made you smile to yourself as you set the kettle over the fire, waiting for the water to heat.

The water set to boil now, you made your way over to the window, watching as the sun rose over the hills. This really was a beautiful place - and far from the city you had fled from. That ship had taken you across the sea and dropped you off here - just outside a small fishing town by the water, nothing like home. Out here, there was no overcrowding, and there was enough to eat, and the heavens smiled down on you every day.

Paradise, compared to what you had left.

Sometimes you still thought about it though. You would never know what had happened to Ceres after you and Sam had made your escape - if they had faced any punishment for letting you go, even though they had really had no say in the matter. Or Vesapasian - if he was still the caesar. You had no idea who had replaced Sam as the warden. You had no idea if the city was even still populated, or if conditions had gotten bad enough where it was only ruins now. It was strange, to be somewhere else when you had been there for so long.

The sound of the door opening interrupted your thoughts, and you turned to see Sam ducking through the frame, brushing off his tunic. "Oh." He said, smiling when he saw you. "You're up."

You returned the smile, going over to press your face into his chest, arms finding their way around his waist before you gave him a squeeze. He smelled like the morning dew and the wildflowers that grew between the rows of your orchard. "You got up early."

"Wanted to check the trees." He said, running a hand down your back. "The fruit's looking good - we should be able to start harvesting today."

"Good." You said, lifting your face out of his chest. "I'll help you after we eat breakfast."

You moved to slide out of the hug, but Sam kept a firm hand pressed to your back, holding you in place. His other hand came to cradle your cheek, smiling as you tipped your head back to look up at him.

"Have I ever told you how beautiful you are in the morning sunlight?" He asked softly, petting back your hair.

"Almost every morning, love." You replied. And it was true - most days, at some point while the sun was still young in the sky, he would say some variation of the same thing. He had been doing it for a while now, but it never failed to make your heart fill with affection for him.

Sam just hummed, leaning down to close the distance between the two of you and press his lips to yours. He must have picked some fruit while he was out, because he tasted like apricot. When you pulled back, he chased your lips for a moment before you tutted at him.

"You can't be eating the harvest, love." You said, pulling away to go take your water off the flame.

"It was one apricot." Sam said. "And it was just to make sure that they were ripe."

"Mmm." You didn't believe him for a moment - half the reason he'd wanted to plant apricot trees in the first place was because he loved the fruit so much. Still, there wasn't anything to be done about it now, and if it really was just one fruit, it wouldn't hurt. Taking your kettle of now-steaming water, you poured two cups, sprinkling some tea into each before handing one off to Sam.

Sam accepted the tea gratefully, pressing another kiss to your forehead. "Thank you."

You brushed him off, going about getting the rest of your breakfast together now - breaking off a sprig of grapes and drizzling olive oil over slices of bread. As you worked, you could feel green eyes on you - a feeling that had at first been off-putting, but now was comforting. Even with something as simple as making breakfast, it was nice to know that he was still watching over you.

And with how things were going, he would be for a very long time.