Zoya Nazyalensky Imagines

Friends And...

Zoya wakes up late. Technically, she knows better than this. She's been a soldier for most of her life; she's tried to forget the rest. If there's one thing that Zoya Nazyalensky is used to, it's order and routine, and that means waking up at the usual hours. Sure, she's technically not late to sparring practice or her studies or anything like that, but the fact remains that Zoya is only now waking up after the faint golden lights of dawn have drifted through the hastily closed curtains to illuminate the fact that Zoya is lying in a bed that is not her own.

It's not like this is something to be ashamed of. Zoya's found herself in this exact same situation, in this exact same room, many times before. The only change in that little schedule is that Zoya usually makes it out before the lights come on, and she's way past that point now. Zoya racks her brain to think of what could have possibly caused her to sleep so late, past her better judgement, and then her vision shifts slightly to the side and she remembers why- it's because she feels safe, for once. She feels at home here, a feeling that's so rare that Zoya would break her own usual internal schedule to enjoy it.

The girl lying in the bed next to her won't judge Zoya for sleeping late or for sneaking out of the room before dawn. The girl lying in the bed next to her is Y/N L/N, Zoya's closest friend at the Little Palace and perhaps anywhere else on either side of the True Sea. They'd become acquaintances and then comrades soon after finding themselves in shared classes, both girls being the best in their respective fields. It's not common for Corporalki and Etherealki to become close, but Y/N and Zoya were just that.

Despite Zoya's tendency to try and commit every good thing to memory, she can't quite recall when her friendship with Y/N drifted into something more. Maybe it started late one night when they'd both been feeling particularly lonely and the kvas had run a little long into the hours, maybe it was the result of hot summer nights when there was simply nothing else to do except to look and think about what might happen. Regardless of how it all started, Zoya's fairly sure that she'd do anything in her power to make sure that it didn't stop.

That's the thing about this little relationship- it's good, probably far better than Zoya deserves. As compared to any of the other one night stands that Zoya's enjoyed or endured with other Grisha at the Little Palace over the years, there's something foreign in between the kisses- trust. Zoya knows that Y/N isn't just there for the sex, and Y/N knows that Zoya sees her as more than a nightly activity. When the sun comes up, they're friends again, and there's nothing more to it than that.

That's what they'd agreed to when this whole altercation started, anyway, that they'd be friends no matter what. Maybe Zoya wanted to sink her sunsets into liquor and her best friend's bedsheets, and despite her best attempts at drawing strict lines between daily training and nightly dalliances, she can never quite manage it. However, all of that will stay tucked firmly behind locked doors, and there won't be a single sign of it during the daytime. That's what's best for both of them- the Little Palace can be extremely competitive, and they can't risk losing the one good friendship either of them have just because they can't quite seem to keep their hands to themselves.

This is what Zoya drew out, what she agreed to alongside her best friend. However, she's gotten a little too used to it, and she knows that. Case in point: the fact that she forgot to slip out during the night (as to avoid the rumors) and actually slept in until daylight. As Zoya shifts slightly, consciousness returning to her, she can't help but look around in new eyes. She's not used to seeing the room bathed in the pale tones of dawn, and she can't deny that it adds new softness that simply isn't there during the shadows of dusk.

Then her eyes catch on the girl beside her, this time for good, and Zoya knows that she may have committed a grievous mistake and gone past her original pact for friendship first and feelings second. She's grown accustomed to sneaking out in the dark, when the gloom of the late night disguises anything and anyone to mere silhouettes in the dim room. Now, however, Zoya can see the peaceful expression on Y/N's face in almost painfully exquisite detail.