Familiarity ||| Jacaerys Velaryon

thirty-two

Alyssa woke in Jace's bed. She was very confused at first; she knew it wasn't her room. It took a moment for it to come back to her; having Jace help her with her burn treatment.

Oh fuck, she thought, knowing she'd fallen asleep in his bed. Sleep had snuck up on her; with Jace's hands feeling nice and the soft crackle of a fireplace.

When she pushed herself up and rubbed her face, Alyssa noticed that he'd also covered her with the blankets and pulled her nightgown over her shoulders. He truly was a sweet, and funny, boy.

She did find herself in a bit of a predicament, however, When Alyssa fully sat up and realized that Jace was already gone. She'd need to get back to her own room to change, but wandering the halls in a nightgown was unseemly-

Oh. And Jace was considerate.

Laid out over the couch was one of Alyssa's dresses and her underthings, probably picked out by a maid. Jace had brought them to her so she wouldn't have to walk through the halls.

Her honour and dignity. He did very much care about Alyssa. She knew that, of course. But not the depths of his care, of his thoughtfulness.

Alyssa had never had a man, not any that she'd been with for a long period of time, do anything similar for her. They didn't care. But even with as much as Jace knew about Alyssa, he cared very deeply.

It made her heart warm. And perhaps that was what accelerated the ignition of a spark. Seeing this act of kindness when other men would have taken advantage of Alyssa's situation.

She wanted to assure him that things like that were appreciated. Alyssa wouldn't have it that their marriage was ever one-sided, she didn't want him to think that.

Thinking about what she could do to show him her appreciation without telling him, Alyssa got dressed.

The thought came to her just as she was tying her hair back. Alyssa saw the blank parchment on his desk, whatever he'd been writing from the night before was gone. But it still gave her an idea.

It did take her much longer to leave his room than if she hadn't done it. But Alyssa needed Jace to know he was doing well. With everything. Being his mother's heir and biggest support, acting as her betrothed, being a big brother to four others.

All of it weighed on him. And perhaps knowing that he was doing well would make that laid a little lighter.

Alyssa took her time writing compliments on many pieces of parchment. Compliments, what Alyssa liked about him, positive affirmations, and encouragement. She didn't know how many she wrote for him, but it was a fair few.

And when they were written, Alyssa went around his quarters and hid those papers for him to find. Hopefully, he would find them intermittently and have a nice reminder every once and a while. A little surprise to make his day.

Some were hidden better than others. But when Alyssa was happy with it, she finally left his quarters and hoped they did something to encourage Jace.

***

She thanked Jace personally, of course. Found him that morning and thanked him for being considerate and kind. Jace shrugged it off but did take the thanks.