fragile | clexa

seventy four

Warmth.

It was the first and only word that came to Clarke's mind when she woke up. She was kept in the haze of half-sleep by that warmth and didn't have her body under enough control to restrain a deep, content sigh.

The air that felt so refreshing and so warm in her lungs smelled of lavender.

Lavender? Lexa's soap was rose or waterlily and she had a naturally earthy scent, but lavender?

Clarke hummed and dug her nose deeper into the thick, soft cotton of the sweater hugging the body next to Clarke. The rise and fall of her chest, the rhythm of her heartbeat that faintly reached Clarke, Clarke knew it by heart. Lexa.

In the comfort of the utter and bone-reaching, skin-prickling warmth, Clarke snuggled closer. Her limbs felt sated and heavy although it couldn't have been morning yet and her eyes squeezed together with a yawn.

"You're the sweetest," she heard Lexa murmur into her hair and Clarke lifted her chin off the woman's chest to find her gazing down at her already.

"You're awake?"

"Mhm."

"Why?"

Lexa made a vague, lazy motion with her finger and as if it came on her command, a heavy gust of wind hit the house. Only now, Clarke's brain registered the rushing of water and the raindrops against the window too. A thunder sounded far off.

"Oh. Fall storms."

"Yeah. I like them, but years of training to wake up by a creaking floorboard don't really leave me asleep."

"I'm sorry," Clarke murmured and pressed a kiss to the closest skin of Lexa's she could reach. "Do you have new soap? Lavender?"

Lexa chuckled. "Your sense of smell is fantastic, I do. Temporarily. Do you like it?"

"I love it," Clarke said and dropped her head back on Lexa's chest. Lexa's fingers automatically wove into her hair. "What time is it?"

"A little past 2?"

"Mhpf," Clarke hummed muffled by Lexa's sweater. The blanket sat just right around them, warm and comfortable and sleepy, and Lexa's body was right where Clarke wanted it to stay forever. "I miss you each night I'm here alone," she whispered.

"I thought I was the only one. There's so much space in my bed, I can't remember how I ever slept in the middle of it thinking it's fitting for me alone."

"I miss your chambers, too."

"Most of your paintings are still there. And the clothes you bought with Berta, the ones you wore to our first date."

Clarke chuckled and blushed a little, re-settling on Lexa's chest to get more of her warmth. "Yeah. Those."

"Don't you need new clothes anyway? Winter is coming, and I wouldn't want you to be in Raven's old, misfitting clothes then, you would probably catch a cold."

"My mom is probably going to look for some new winter clothes, she doesn't forbid me anything but she also doesn't like me to be out of the house alone. I'm turning 20 this winter but I feel like she still thinks I'm 10."

"She's worried," Lexa said and shrugged gently, not to disrupt Clarke's place on her chest. "What do you think we're going out for breakfast on the market tomorrow and buy some clothes for you? When was the last time we were actually out together?"

"I have enough left from working for Berta to pay for a coat and some warm sweaters myself, you're right. Let's do that."

"I have enough left, too. Like, as much as I want."