RowAelin One-Shots

Sunbathing and Stargazing

          The day was bright. Clouds ambled in the crystal sky, and she laid back against the roof. Soaking up the pure sunlight, Aelin Galathynius closed her eyes against the warm brightness that seeped to her core. Her arms were folded behind her head, serving as a temporary cushion to rest her head upon while she waited. Birds circled in the skies among the clouds, and various woodland creature flitted across grass now peppered with the beginnings of a new season. The breeze that tickled her face carried all the other signs of an approaching autumn; no word yet from her carranam. The phantom pain, caused by longing for her ever-loyal partner, had plagued her every day since his departure, never ceasing and never easing.

          The gentle sliver of a breeze flew past once again, bringing with it a strong sensation that resonated within her – usually caused by being in the right place at the right time – and the faint, sharp smell of pine and snow. Attempting to act as casual as possible, she hardly cocked open an eye as a familiar whoosh and flash of light occurred on her right. A large body belonging to a certain Fae individual slid down the roof shingles with close to no sound, and if Aelin was not in her own Fae transformation, she would have missed it. The sound of fabric rustling  beside her forced her to give into temptation, and she found herself face to face with a certain handsome, chiseled face. He looked exactly as he had when he left, yet there was a slight disheveled feeling to him, and his eyes flickered with an exhausted flame.

         "Rowan," she breathed in an imperceptible tone, but she knew he heard her because his face flickered with the slightest look of longing.

          Not giving him any time to respond, she had him on his back and arms pinned, and the match had begun. It consisted of many switching of positions, from Aelin with the advantage, to Rowan, and back to Aelin again. Their wrestling on the roof was disturbing a large amount of shingles from their positions on the steep slanted roof, so with a rekindled flame in both of their eyes they laid on their sides, facing one another. The prince caressed the queen's face with warm, calloused hands that she had missed very much.

         "My Fireheart," he began to whisper, wiping a stray of hair away from her face that had loosed during their brief tussle. "I was beginning to believe that I would have to stay another half a year in that ridiculous castle. No offense to the prince, but perhaps he could stand to improve his perceptiveness. I was about ready to storm straight into his chambers to protest I could no longer stand the wretchedness of my own boredom." This elicited a small chuckle from Aelin and he moved his hands to grasp her own, a small, rare smile making its way from his lips to his eyes.

          Aelin longed to close the distance between them, to finally feel him as she was denied for a long six months, but as soon as he pulled her close another bird dropped itself on the peak of the roof, transforming into her friend, the elegant Lysandra.

         "So sorry to interrupt your moment, but can one of you point me in the direction of where Aedion might be?" She asked, a certain spark to her eyes and set to her mouth that was not unlike the one Aelin had just put on in front of Rowan as he pulled her close. Aelin nodded, giving a small smirk along the way.

         "He is most likely in his rooms, practicing with the straw dummies he had hauled up to his room earlier this morning." She replied, chuckling as Lysandra transformed one again into a bird, and swooped through the windows just off the edge of the roof they were positioned on.

          Just underneath them were Aelin's own chambers. The sun had since dropped under the horizon, and now brilliant stars began to dot the skies above them. Laying herself on her back once again, Aelin propped herself onto Rowan's arm, nestling herself into his warm embrace. Rowan said nothing as he curled his arm around her, the possessiveness that the queen had missed surfacing once again. They sat for quite a while - exactly like that - enjoying one another's company.

          Once the stars began to imprint themselves on Aelin's vision, she turned to Rowan and sensed the longing on him, as well as the stiff impression of long since gone fear.

         "You smell of fear. What happened?" She questioned, head leaned into the crook of his shoulder and arm. He sighed - which she took to be a sign of bad news - and sat up in a sudden movement, angling herself to look at him. He sat up with her, their bodies close but not close enough.

         "When I was released from my business yesterday night in Adarlan, I flew as fast as I thought possible to you. I couldn't stand spending one more minute being far away from you. On the way here, the thought entered my mind that something may have happened to you since I'd been away for so long. That inkling of fear lasted up until the moment I saw you resting here in the last rays of the sunset." He mentioned, eyes downcast for a moment before they set themselves on her again.

          Before long he closed the distance between them, and his lips came crashing upon hers like a wave longing for the shore. His hands traveled across the expanse of her back, touching the ridges of scar tissue that were exposed on her back, since she had only been wearing tight trousers and an upper undergarment for the pleasure of sunbathing. Her arms wound themselves over his shoulders and around her neck, and she pulled herself into his lap. His fingers tangled themselves into her impossibly silky hair, and their kisses slowly evolved from crashing and desperate, to light and feathery, back to harsh and full of longing. Between breaths they most definitely did not need, he let out a low growl, and bit at her lower lip. She gasped and gracefully combed her slender fingers through his mid length hair. They stayed there for a long while, discovering and exploring small things that had changed in their separation of six months.

{A/N: Thanks for reading the first part, I hope you enjoyed it. Drop a comment or star if you want me to write more, and write a comment if you have a specific prompt you want me to write to; I'll most likely consider it.}