Post-Apocalypse Paradise

1: Tranquility

Slowly but surely, the early morning sunlight illuminated the floor piece by piece, corner by corner. The light permeated through a trio of tall windows encircling the room, bringing heat with it, and replacing the night air with a comforting warmth.

Like a theater curtain being lifted, a scene began to reveal itself in the morning light. In the very heart of the room was a pair of young dragons, one purple with golden highlights, the other a deep black with red tones. The former, a male, was curled up around the other - a young female. His body nested hers - his wing a blanket, his tail a safeguard from movement during the night.

As the light reached the young purple dragon's face, his cheek gave a small twitch. By the time his brilliant horns were lit, he opened his eyes. Glancing around his surroundings he took in the familiar walls, as well as the dragon dozing peacefully in his coils.

"...Cynder?" The purple dragon whispered. There was no response but the subtlest of twitches from the dragoness's eyelids.

"Cynder." He called again, a little louder.

"..."

"Come on, Cynder, I know you're awake."

"...Do I have to be?" Cynder replied, her voice graveled and her eyes clenched in the morning sun.

"Technically, no." Spyro answered. "But as long as I'm around, I'm not going to let you sleep in until midday all the time."

"Hmm...I'm not a fan of that reasoning, try again." Cynder said flatly, rolling her shoulder blades and readjusting herself against Spyro's side with a content sigh.

Spyro glared at her with a patronizing expression. It was only the third morning they'd had since Malefor's defeat, but the purple dragon was already discovering how stubborn the black dragoness was outside of life-threatening situations, as well.

"Cynder, you know full well I'm no good at staying in bed once I'm wide-awake." Spyro said. "You might be able laze around, but I want to get up and do something."

Cynder replied by nuzzling her snout deeper into Spyro's chest, trying to hide her face from the assaulting light. Spyro continued his prying glare, but struggled to not cave to the adorable sight.

"Myou anna ow shometing?" Cynder asked through a muffled voice.

"What?" Spyro asked, unsure if he was responding or asking for clarification.

"Right now you're not the 'Purple Dragon of Legend'." Cynder stated, freeing her mouth. "You're an extremely warm, comfortable bed set."

Spyro blushed.

"And last time I checked..." she continued with a yawn. "...comfy bed sets don't talk. And they certainly don't tell their occupants to get up."

"Alright, well, let me ask you a question now." Spyro responded, now sporting a smirk. "Are you sure you're not just feigning laziness so you can get away with cuddling a little longer?"

"...No..." Cynder said under her breath, not even sounding convincing to herself. "...Okay, maybe a bit of both."

Spyro couldn't help but beam. He bumped Cynder's snout with his own, and now it was Cynder's turn to blush.

"You know I love you, Cynder," Spyro said softly. "But there's a whole lot more to that than just relaxing together. I don't want to miss out on all these gorgeous days we've been having lately, especially since we fought so hard together to keep them."

Cynder let out a defeated sigh.

"Alright, alright...you know, it's totally like you to guilt me into things." She said with a grumble. Reluctantly she pulled herself from the male dragon's embrace, stepped out onto the warm stone floor, and stretched out her limbs and back.