Safe Haven

Red

A brush of hair tickled the tip of Xilä's nose. Unconsciously, she sniffed and shifted away from it, snuggling closer to the wall of warmth in front of her. Bleary eyes blinking open to the span of a chiselled blue chest, she felt the uncomfortable sensation of having a full bladder.

"Mmm-Tey," she groggily mumbled, stretching out her legs with a sleepy yawn. "Teyam," she tried again, when she failed to squirm out of his arms.

Lifting her head to take account of their position, she slumped back with a sleepy smile.

She was completely locked in her lover's embrace. Both laid on their sides, fronts so flushed with each other, she could feel the outline of him poking her through his loincloth.

Her head was cocooned on his right bicep, face a mere inches from a pectoral, while his other arm draped across her waist, hand tucked inside her top, fingers spanning the width of her back.

"Teeeeyam. Wake up, handsome," she sang, tilting her head to run her nose under his jaw.

He shifted with a little groan. "It's still early, baby. Go back to sleep," he grumbled over the top of her head- voice rough with sleep as he slipped a knee between her thighs.

She hissed when he pressed against her bladder. "I have to pee," she whined, trying to break free again. "Neteyam!" she berated, nipping the skin of his neck.

After a few more failed attempts, she finally made her break for it, scrambling to climb over his massive frame and out of the room.

Neteyam was much more awake when she returned. He had turned on her little lamp- its light bathing the room in a soft glow as he sat cross legged on her bed. In front of him was a spread of mismatched breakfast items.

"What are you eating?" she giggled, slumping her way over to nestle in the well of his legs with her knees tucked to her chest.

"I raided Salveen's stock for some breakfast. Did you have dinner last night?" he asked. "I think I forgot to have," he mumbled over a mouthful as he offered her a bite of his.

She shook her head in response to his question and took a big bite of the loaf slice in his hand, cheeks puffy as she chewed.

They ate in silence, feasting on sweetened seed cakes, leftover hexapede stew, slices of Xi's famous loaf and a couple of almost ripe berries.

Feeling full, she fed him her last half of a seed cake, giggling when he playfully nipped her fingertips in the process.

"I'm sorry about last night," Xi eventually said, breaking the long comfortable silence.

"Don't you dare," he said, cutting her off. He twisted her sideways and tilted her chin up. "You have no reason to apologize, alright? None."

She nodded mutely with a saddened frown, so he kissed it, smoothing away the creases on her forehead with a thumb before kissing the pout off her lips.

"Do you want to talk about it?" he murmured gently. "Was it- was it the one with your mother again?"

"Yes," she admitted, laying her temple on his shoulder, accepting the hand he gave her to fiddle with. "It was the one about the night she left."

"Sal and Jxo said you had one the night before as well....do you know if something triggered them?"

A fleeting flash of her father's face popped in her mind- his ominous threat to take them back to Li'ona causing the meal she just ate to swirl uncomfortably.

It was on the tip of her tongue to spill everything to Neteyam but she knew how he'd react, so she had to ease the truth out carefully.

"Um...I ah..." she mumbled, switching her gaze from his face to his fingers she'd been fidgeting with.