The Morning After

It was warmer than normal which did not quite register within the mind of the sleeping healer as she mumbled in her sleep, arm curled over that warmth located beside her. Somehow, strangely enough, there was no fear or panicky waking like there had been for the last few days after the kidnapping. This time there was only a sense of calm which pervaded her mind from the pleasant sound of a heart beating under her ear and the tender feel of thumping upon her cheek.

The morning sun splashed across the blankets which covered her and the sounds of morning chirping began to rouse the dark form from a fitful sleep. Deep brown eyes opened slowly and Jezarine wondered what felt so different making this morning arrive with more wonder than others.

Then it dawned on her like the sunlight was doing, her eyes taking note of the room and new first morning contents. She was wrapped around the human Templar who had kissed her twice the night before and the blankets were wrapped around both of them. Had she fallen asleep curled up to Ianto? It would seem that she had and he must have made sure they stayed warm by getting them under the covers.

Both of them were still fully dressed but it still felt like there was a strong connection which had bloomed, tying them together in something completely new.

Her eyes shifted from the bed to gaze up into Ianto's face so she could smile at him, showing that she was pleased to be there beside him.

Ianto was still asleep as the sun first began to shine through the window. He was holding onto something warm like he was afraid it would try to get away, tight and protective. He felt comfortable, and that was a strange change of pace because he hadn't had a good nights rest in a long time. His mind was still too hazy with sleep to really remember what the cause of this pleasant feeling was, but his only half-waking mind was determined to bask in it.

He'd had a nightmare last night. About her, of course - when wasn't it about her? - and as good as he'd felt, it had left him shivering. She'd just been . . . looking at him. Like she was sad, or angry even - it had always been so hard to tell, with her. And he . . . he'd felt so guilty, like he always did, but worse now, like something had changed. In his dream, he couldn't remember exactly what had changed, but even asleep, he'd known that something had.

But then he'd stated to wake up, and the dreary nature of the dream began to fade, and he felt content again. He smiled in his sleep, and he shifted, curling around the warm he was holding. He hummed a little, letting out a long sigh as wakefulness began to return to him.

It seemed to be a long time later, in his sleep-drugged mind, that he finally opened his eyes, though it couldn't have been more than a few minutes. For a moment, he was confused a to where he was, but then coherent thought came back to him, and he relaxed into the bed, and hugged Jez - he knew it was Jez, now - to his chest a little tighter. It should have been awkward, or embarrassing, but it wasn't. He just felt safe, and he hoped she felt safe, too.

"M-rning," he murmured, his eyes half-closed and his voice still heavy with sleep.

"Morning." Jez answered then yawned, almost like a kitten. This felt so nice lying in bed without being bothered by anyone else. The best part of it was lying there with him, warmed and comforted, "I guess I fell asleep."

Now that was silly to say. Of course she fell asleep and so did he but he'd stayed there with her. Now the only thing was what to do next. It did not occur to her that anything like this would ever happen or that one could just sleep with a person without it being something more provocative, even though she wanted that as well. This was a tenderness that meant more than just rolling in the hay, even though she had no clue what that would be like. Was it sweeter? What was it like?

Her mind started on a spiral of questions as she lay there but she stomped those ones out. Anything like that would come as it did. They did not need to hurry. In fact, they could relax as much as they wanted today. With how Nygozy left the night before she figured that the warden commander was not likely to bother them and all she would be doing was reading, learning and stuff like that.

"So ... uh ... what did you want to do today?" She gave him a shy, almost school girl smile.

Ianto smiled sleepily, eyes still closed, and he buried his head forward into the pillow near the top of Jez's head. "Sleep more," he said with a drowsy laugh, tugging the blankets up around him. He was awake now, though, or at least mostly awake, and getting up would probably be a better idea.

He remembered when Jez had fallen asleep in his arms last night, and she'd looked so comfortable there that he hadn't had the heart to leave, even if he'd wanted to. So, after much maneuvering, he'd managed to get them both under the covers (the rooms were damn cold at night), and he'd fallen asleep soon after that, warmer and more comfortable than he'd felt in a long, long time. Waking up had brought a similarly pleasant feeling.

"I dunno," he said, his voice more awake as he shifted and stretched his back (as comfortable as he'd felt, he hadn't moved so much as an inch all night, and his arms and legs were stiff). "Get some breakfast, look at those healing books you were interested in." All of that sounded well and good to him, and he didn't really have any plans.

Sleeping did sound like a rather good idea but just like Ianto, Jezarine was now awake and once she was awake she would be very bouncy and ready to go. The joking didn't get past her and she giggled just before kissing his chin, "I don't think either of us could do that."

When he stretched his back she wiggled a bit to get the kinks out of hers as well. She'd love to stay in bed but she had to admit that she was almost ready to do things. The thought of breakfast made her tummy gurgle and she giggled even more, "The tummy has spoken. Food then books. You can probably help me out with some of those. It said in the one book that some of the basics in Templar abilities comes in handy for learning mind care."

Ianto could have helped the smile at Jez's stomach's protest if he'd wanted to, and he playfully swat at her stomach. "Oi, quiet," he said with a grin, and then reluctantly sat up, stretching his arms over his head as he suppressed a yawn. Then he sat for a minute, glanced at Jez, and swung his feet over the side of the bed.

"What do you want for breakfast?" He asked casually, fishing on the floor for the dagger belt he'd taken off last night so that he didn't stick himself, Jez, or the bed with it as he slept. He didn't particularly care what he ate - he was hungry, and life in a Chantry taught yo to be happy with whatever you were given (something that had been hard to learn at first, being a nobleman's son).

Jezarine chuckled as he swatted at her tummy and told it to be quiet then crawled out of bed after him, bouncing onto the floor before stretching like a timid kitten. She was excited to get on with their day together. It wasn't like they hadn't spent time together before but this was new. If she gauged everything correctly then the kisses were not just kisses for the sake of kissing. There was something between them that seemed to have cemented the night before.

Now the question was what she wanted for breakfast. That was a good question, "We can bug the cooks for some eggs and meat. I'm hungry for a good, hearty breakfast. Maybe some pancakes and syrup, toast and butter, those chopped potatoes they make so nice ..." She became more excited with the idea of a good meal as she had not eaten well since she had been kidnapped. Now she wanted to eat and do things whereas before she'd only wanted to sit about, stay out of the way and talk to her friends.

It was good that Jez was so excited just for something like breakfast. She'd been so introverted since that all had happened, and it was good to see her coming back to her old self - he'd been starting to wonder if the old Jez would ever come back. He questioned, briefly, if he had anything to do with that.

"Sounds like a huge breakfast," he said with a lopsided grin. "I'm in." Bribing the kitchens wasn't so hard - they all liked Jez because she brought them all of the herbs they needed. It would be easy to get them to whip up a big breakfast for her. It was good that they'd woken up early, though - getting breakfast at lunch time would have been a bit trickier.

Well, he was ready, and he turned to Jez with his hands on his hips. "Should we go down, then, and give the cooks warning of our expected feast?"

"Uh huh. Really big, like this big!" She lifted her arms out as if she were telling him how big the fish was then wrapped her arms around him and looked up, "We can go in a moment. You know ... I couldn't have gotten through this so fast without you."

Jezarine hugged him tight, putting her head on his chest and sighing before looking back up, "Last night ... you really meant it with those kisses right?"

There was a part of her that was scared it was all a dream and then another part that said he only did that to make her feel better or because of her accidental slip. It was almost like fearing monsters when you go to bed. It seems so real at the time then you wake up to sunlight and all is different.

The healer didn't want that to be so. She didn't want it to be a mirage.