Private Zinflix and Chill

[Varin Mortifer]

Varin remained quiet while she helped explain the process of the story. Slowly he was starting to get it more. Focusing more on the character's obsessions.

He felt her shift her position so she leaned more on him and he shifted slightly to help accommodate a little better to her form.

The narrative started to take a turn away from the familiar. And to something that was more amorphous in meaning. Though each character's thoughts and actions were right in their way, they were also wrong in the others. There was no cut and dry, black or white. There wasn't even gray. It was multiple colors multiple avenues connecting, converging and separating from one another, deepening the plot. That was the only common factor he directly noticed.

The plot continued to deepen like an endless pit. It sucked him in.

His fingers lightly brushed her shoulder again as a deep exhale left his lungs. The calming and relaxing position now overtook his body as he lost himself to the series that played over the screen.

“I have to admit. The acting in this one is leagues better than I expected. Normally something corny happens and it takes you by surprise.”

He looked at her.

“This was handled with care and craft.”

He reached his hand into the now empty bowl of popcorn, a light sound of his fingers tapping the glass bowl.

“Already? How much did you have?”

He gave her a non-serious glare, knowing it was probably his massive hands that took the bulk of it.

Seren Gwyn​

 

[Seren Gwyn]

Seren let out a quiet breath that might have been a laugh, or might have just been agreement, her head resting a little more fully against his shoulder as the scene on the holo shifted again. She did not look away from the screen when she answered, her voice low so it did not compete with the dialogue.

"They let the contradictions breathe," she said softly. "That's what makes it work. No one is framed as wrong in isolation. Only incomplete."

Her fingers traced absently along his forearm, a small grounding gesture that mirrored the way he had touched her shoulder.

"Most holodramas rush to tell you who to side with," Seren continued. "This one assumes you'll make up your own mind, then quietly reminds you that your conclusion might still be flawed."

At his comment about the popcorn, she finally glanced down at the empty bowl, one brow lifting faintly before she looked back up at him, the corner of her mouth curving.

"You eat like someone who expects the universe to run out of food," she remarked dryly.

She shifted, carefully disentangling herself just enough to stand, though her hand lingered on his knee for a moment before she moved away.

"I'll make more," Seren added, already turning toward the hearth. "Try not to uncover the secret of the plot while I'm gone."

There was no hurry in her movement. No tension. Just the quiet assumption that when she returned, she would sit back down beside him, and the story and the moment would continue exactly where they had left off.

Varin Mortifer

 

[Varin Mortifer]

“The story also does not frame right or wrong. Takes its time and does not draw conclusions for you.”

He looked at her fingers as they traced his arm, prickling underneath her touch, sending a gentle shiver down his arm.

“I definitely prefer the slower stories that allow you to get to know the characters. The stories are much more satisfying.”

He looked at the empty bowl with her, her comment on his eating brought a chuckle out of him.

“What me?"

The fake surprise leaving his voice in a small gesture of joking sarcasm.

"Well I don't usually snack a lot. It's kind of hard to pace myself with it.”

His gaze met hers when her hand lingered on his knee. A quiet look in his eye as he gently laid his hand over hers, giving her just enough room to pull away to grab more food.

“I don't think I could if I tried. That's more of your talent, but I am following along nicely I think.”

He smiled at her as she walked to the hearth, watching the show continue, taking note of anything important that would happen that he would have to tell her.

There he waited for her as the scent of the food filled the room once again, and he eased back into the couch.

Seren Gwyn​

 

[Seren Gwyn]

Seren returned a few minutes later, the soft crackle of kernels still echoing faintly from the hearth behind her. She carried a fresh bowl cradled in one arm and a pair of drinks in the other, steam curling lazily from the tops as the scent followed her back into the room. When she reached the couch, she handed him one of the cups first, deliberately, before setting the bowl down between them.

"Hydration," she said lightly, "so you don't try to live entirely on popcorn and stubbornness."

She settled back beside him, close enough that their shoulders touched again, her knee brushing his as she reclaimed her place. The bowl shifted slightly as she pulled it closer, though she made no attempt to guard it from his reach.

"You're right about the pacing," Seren continued, eyes returning to the holo as a new scene unfolded. "Slower stories trust the audience. They assume you're paying attention, and that you'll sit with uncertainty instead of demanding resolution."

She glanced at him briefly, a quiet glint of amusement in her expression.

"Most people don't like that," she added. "They want answers handed to them. Clean endings. Someone to blame."

Her fingers dipped into the bowl this time, taking only a small handful before she leaned back again, shoulder resting lightly against his.

"I think you're following just fine," Seren said softly. "You notice the same things I do. You just pretend not to so you don't interrupt."

She took a sip of her drink, then let her head rest back, attention returning fully to the screen.

"If something important happens," she murmured, "we'll rewind. No rush."

The room settled again into shared quiet, warm and unhurried, the story unfolding while the night stretched comfortably ahead of them.

Varin Mortifer

 

[Varin Mortifer]

He gently took the drink from her as she sat back down beside him. The fresh bowl now ready to be shared with them both. This time he opted to take smaller handfuls so he would not eat most of it this time, leaving plenty for her.

He felt her settle in, leaning back on his shoulder, knees touching.

“You did not miss much when you left, they seem to be still questioning. Though one suspects the other is sabotaging them.”

Varin loved it when states of paranoia wrapped certain characters. The sense of madness and obsession that took hold poisoning relationships and the mind alike.

“I guess you're right. They would not survive the truth.”

He took a sip of the sweet liquid as consequences of the character's actions did not quite unfold yet.

Truth be told, the character that fell first was his favorite in this story. Blind to consequence and easy to step into discomfort and unknown first.

They would be who would lead the downfall of the second character and so on and so forth. But more importantly, it would show that not all knowledge gained is worth the outcome.

He looked at her.

“You're not trying to spike me are you?”

He gave her a joking glare.

“You may need more than this to do it.”

He chuckled.

He set the drink down on the table beside him, his gaze lingering on her for a bit longer as it softened.

“Thank you for doing this with me.”

He spoke quietly. He never really shared shows like this with anyone. People were either disinterested or they thought themselves too highly over it, and Lysander was usually too busy.

The show played on as she had unintentionally drawn his attention for a moment longer.

Seren Gwyn​

 

[Seren Gwyn]

Seren noticed the adjustment immediately, the way his hand hovered over the bowl for a breath longer before taking less this time. She did not comment on it. She simply accepted the shared rhythm and settled back against him again, her shoulder fitting into place with quiet ease as the scene on the screen continued to unravel.

"They never do," she said softly, eyes still on the argument unfolding between the characters. "Not because the truth is lethal on its own, but because it arrives without asking whether you are ready to carry it."

At his joking accusation, she gave a faint huff of amusement, her head tipping just enough for him to feel the motion.

"If I were trying to spike you," Seren replied dryly, "I wouldn't use something this obvious. Sweetness only works when people underestimate it."

Her gaze flicked to him briefly before returning to the screen.

"The first one always falls because they move without hesitation," she continued, voice quieter now. "Curiosity outruns caution. Knowledge taken without restraint has a way of demanding payment later."

When he thanked her, Seren did not answer right away. Instead, her hand shifted, resting lightly against his forearm, a grounding touch that asked for nothing.

"I'm glad you asked," she said after a moment. "Some stories are meant to be watched alone. Others settle better when someone else is breathing beside you."

She leaned just a fraction closer, not enough to pull his attention from the screen, only enough to remind him she was there, and let the holodrama reclaim the quiet between them.

Varin Mortifer

 

[Varin Mortifer]

His brow raised.

“Oh? What would you use? If you don't mind me asking.”

His curiosity piqued at her statement, not in challenge but genuine curiosity. Not that he thought she would do it, but if she could then how would she?

The show unfolded with another scene with another character. One of lower importance, but his actions just as if not more important than the main focal characters. A decision this person made, pulling Varin's attention. What looked like something mundane caught his eye as he noticed a small detail that would unravel the plot even further.

“Interesting.”

He spoke quietly out loud after what he had just witnessed.

“I foresee that biting back eventually.”

He looked back at her again as he grabbed a bit more popcorn, popping it into his mouth.

Tell her to turn it up a bit…

Varin paused for a second.

.....But if I can hear it then some can you.

Ignati rumbled back in his head.

Not beyond your incessant chewing boy! Turn it up!

Varin's face grew blank for a moment.

ya know what? I’m just gonna chew louder!

He plopped some more popcorn into his mouth.

ooooh you are growing cruel boy.

Ignati fell silent once more as the show continued, Varin's hand tracing idle patterns over Seren's hand without even thinking about it. He was engrossed in the moment, sucked in by the plot of what was happening.

Seren Gwyn​

 

[Seren Gwyn]

Seren did not answer him immediately. She watched the screen for another few seconds, letting the scene finish breathing before she shifted her attention back to him. When she did, there was the faintest curve at the corner of her mouth, not quite a smile, not quite seriousness either.

"I wouldn't," she said simply, voice calm enough that it left no room for doubt. "Not to you."

Her fingers adjusted under his, deliberately, grounding, as if to close the door on the thought before it could wander anywhere uncomfortable.

"If I ever needed to end someone," Seren continued after a beat, tone turning more academic than threatening, "I wouldn't use poison. It leaves too many variables. Metabolisms, tolerance, timing."

She glanced at him then, just briefly.

"I'd use absence instead."

At his raised brow, she elaborated, unhurried.

"A pressure imbalance. A severed anchor. Something subtle enough that the body keeps going while the mind quietly loses its footing. Most people mistake it for exhaustion, grief, or their own fault."

Her thumb brushed lightly over the back of his hand, softening the edge of the explanation.

"It's obscure. Inefficient. And entirely unnecessary here," she added, the faintest dry note threading her voice. "Which is why you don't need to worry."

She leaned back into him again as the volume swelled slightly on its own, the dialogue clearer now.

"Besides," Seren murmured, eyes returning to the screen, "if I ever wanted your silence, I'd just wait for you to stop chewing."

The contact of her hand stayed where it was, steady, familiar, and entirely unthreatening as the story continued to unfold.

Varin Mortifer

 

[Varin Mortifer]

His facial expression softened when she admitted she would never do it to him. A reassurance he normally would not belive but this felt different to him.

“You would take the mental approach.”

He took another small handful of popcorn as she spoke his other hand keeping hers held lightly.

“It is effective, more so than most think. I don't fear it if it happens. I know it's a risk, and I know at some point I will likely face it.”

Her final comment had him stop chewing for a moment as Ignati laughed in his head. He started chewing quieter.

“Hmm, that bad huh?”

He looked at her with a smile.

“Its your fault, making such delicious snack.”

He popped a couple more towards his mouth, missing entirely as the show continued. The lack of accuracy making him give off a small nervous chuckle.

The show had started to take a darker turn for the characters. Two characters believing they are on opposite spectrum but both walk the same razor's edge. Both partaking in knowledge they should not have. Plot lines started to line up and the obscure started to reveal itself into something disturbing. Something that did not care for morality or laws. It just was.

"I guess I just would not be surprised if I was hurt in the end."

He spoke quietly, accidentally voicing his inner thought.

He looked back at her.

Seren Gwyn​

 

[Seren Gwyn]

Seren's mouth curved into a small, knowing smile at his quieter chewing, her gaze flicking briefly to the bowl before returning to the screen.

"I noticed," she said softly, amused rather than critical. "The galaxy thanks you."

She let the scene play for a few more seconds before speaking again, eyes tracking the way the two characters mirrored one another without realizing it.

"That's the unsettling part," Seren murmured. "They think they're opposites because they tell different stories about themselves, but they're reaching for the same thing. Certainty. Control. Meaning. The Force doesn't care which justification they use."

Her thumb brushed lightly over the back of his hand, a grounding, absent gesture.

When he spoke again, quieter, more exposed, Seren did not look away. She shifted just enough to face him more fully, her expression calm and unguarded.

"I won't do that to you," she said plainly. "Not deliberately. Not as a test. Not as a lesson."

There was no oath in her voice, no dramatic weight, just truth stated as fact.

"I don't pretend to know what we are," Seren continued after a moment. "Names tend to flatten things that are still taking shape. But I do know what you are not."

Her fingers tightened slightly around his.

"You are not my enemy. And I don't treat those I trust as instruments."

She leaned back against him again, eyes returning to the unfolding story as if to signal that the moment did not need to be heavier than it already was.

"If this ends badly for those characters," she added quietly, "it won't be because they were hurt. It will be because they never questioned who was holding the knife."

Her shoulder rested comfortably against his, presence steady.

"You're allowed to just watch tonight," Seren said. "No defenses required."

Varin Mortifer

 

[Varin Mortifer]

His fingers tightened a bit more with hers after she spoke. A soft chuckle escaped his lips as if he tried to hide the moment of vulnerability, though he knew that was already too late.

He didn’t verbally respond at first, but he acknowledged her with a slow nod. Though one word she said stuck with him.

Trust

She trusted him. He didn’t really understand how he earned that but that didn’t matter. The how was no longer a forefront thought. His expression changed a bit after she spoke and his eye found the screen again. Watching the scene unfold, he was paying attention for the most part. But that word still dangled in front of him and he was unsure if it was bait for a trap or something else.

In a world of Sith, trust was a very dangerous thing, Varin knew his moral compass enough to know he would never break that. But for someone to be close enough to put it through the test, that was different.

He remembered almost like a forgotten memory a phrase that was said to him by someone imprisoned by the covenant.

"Love itself is not what should be feared. The consequences are."

He remembered the time when she helped him from freezing water. Remembered when she stabilized his wounded body. And the night they shared his first kiss.

"But fear of consequence is not the same as weakness, It is the price of choosing something that matters enough to risk loss."

The words from the Chiss assassin, Shade, he questioned some time ago.

His hand loosened slightly in hers, and his eye slightly widened. Not enough to openly be noticed, but enough for it to warrant a reaction out of him.

His body slowly relaxed, as he looked at her. His hand slowly came up to gently run his fingers through her hair, slowly brushing it back.

“As you wish…No barriers…no defenses…”

His voice fell a bit quieter.

“...No walls…”

His gaze stayed on her, he didn’t mind if she kept watching the show, he was perfectly fine just being here with her, sharing the space and the closeness.

Seren Gwyn​

 

[Seren Gwyn]

Seren did not pull away when his fingers threaded through her hair. If anything, she leaned into the touch slightly, a quiet acceptance rather than an invitation to rush forward. Her eyes stayed on the holoscreen for a moment longer, letting the scene finish its thought, before she finally spoke.

"Then let them stay down," she said softly, meaning the walls as much as the barriers. "Just for tonight."

She turned her head just enough that he could see her profile, the calm in her expression unbroken.

"Trust doesn't have to be a trap," Seren continued. "It can be a choice you renew each moment, quietly, without ceremony. You don't owe it permanence, and you don't owe it proof."

Her hand shifted, fingers lacing more securely with his now, grounding rather than restraining.

"And no," she added, almost gently amused, "I'm not asking you to forget what you are, or where you come from. I wouldn't trust anyone who could do that."

She finally looked at him then, her gaze steady, unflinching, but warm.

"Fear of consequence means you understand value," Seren said. "It means something matters enough that losing it would hurt. That isn't a weakness. It's awareness."

The show continued to murmur in the background, its tension rising, but she did not seem in any hurry to follow it now.

"You don't have to decide anything tonight," she finished quietly. "Not about me. Not about yourself. You're allowed to exist here without sharpening yourself into a weapon."

She settled more comfortably against him, her presence steady and unguarded.

"I'm not going anywhere," Seren added, not as a promise, but as a simple truth in this moment.

Varin Mortifer

 

[Varin Mortifer]

He remained silent as she spoke. Though inside there was something screaming for him to say something. Acknowledgement, a sigh that he heard and understood her. Give her a sign of life that he wasn’t ignoring her words, his heart pounded in his chest as he tried to think on what to say.

Her eyes found his when she turned to look at him. Almost as if entranced he could not look away from her. The sounds of the show played on in the background but his attention found something far more interesting.

The only response he could muster was an action.

Slowly he leaned towards her, his lips pressing against hers as his hand tightened around hers a bit more, shaking in their grasp. He was not on guard this time. She did not have to lead into it, or convince him. He demonstrated what he said he would do, and dropped his walls completely.

When the kiss broke he whispered to her as he took deep breaths.

“I hope you aren’t going anywhere. Whatever the decision is in the end, what we are or what we could be, that doesn’t have to happen now. But whatever it is now, I plan to hold onto it tonight.”

He gently kissed her once more as his finger traced her cheek.

Seren Gwyn​

 

[Seren Gwyn]

Seren did not pull back when he kissed her. If anything, she met him halfway, the contact unhurried, deliberate, and unmistakably mutual. Her free hand rose, resting lightly at the side of his neck, thumb warm against his skin as if to steady him as much as herself.

The holodrama continued in the background, voices rising and falling, light flickering across the walls in muted blues and golds. Neither of them paid it much attention now, but its presence mattered, grounding the moment in something ordinary and real.

When he whispered, when his breath trembled against her cheek, she stayed close, her forehead resting briefly against his as she answered just as quietly.

"Then stay," Seren murmured. "Not because you've decided anything… but because you don't have to decide anything at all tonight."

Her fingers curled slightly into the fabric at his shoulder, not gripping, just anchoring.

"What we are doesn't need a name yet," she continued, voice low and even. "And what we might become can wait its turn. Right now is enough."

She kissed him again, slower this time, deeper in feeling without crossing into urgency. The kind of kiss that lingered, that invited closeness rather than demanded it. When she drew back, it was only far enough to look at him, her expression calm but warm, eyes searching his face rather than retreating from it.

"No walls," she echoed softly, a faint smile at the corner of her mouth. "Just this."

Seren shifted, more comfortably tucked against him, her shoulder fitting naturally beneath his arm, her knees still touching, her presence easy and unguarded. The show droned on behind them, unnoticed but constant, as the room settled into a quiet, shared heat that had nothing to do with the hearth and everything to do with choice.

And for tonight, that was more than enough.

Varin Mortifer

 

[Varin Mortifer]

He rested his forehead onto hers, eyes closed as if lost in the closeness and the moment. His hand gently resting to the back of her neck, his thumb gently brushing her neck as she spoke. He nodded slowly after she spoke before they deepened the kiss together, slowly his other hand ran up her arm to her shoulder, then echoed back to her.

“No walls…”

He gave her a gentle smile as she shifted.

“If you trust me this much, then it is only fair that I share that same trust with you.”

He took a deep breath.

“With everything you had seen from me and what we had experienced, you chose to stay.”

His eye looked into hers as his fingers gently massaged the back of her neck, though his body resembled a pillar of strength he had enough control over it for sensitive and tender care.

“I have witnessed that trust multiple times from you.”

He gently kissed her chin, following along her jaw line, as the warmth of their closeness enveloped them both.

I will leave you two be for now.

Ignati spoke quietly, Varin barely noticing as he lost himself to the moment. The quiet of the room met with the gentle noise of the holopanel soon became white noise. Acknowledged, but just there. Light flashing of the show reflected off the walls.

His hand on her shoulder roamed to the hem of her shirt line, slowly following down removing the fabric from her body. The closeness only deepening between the two of them as the hearth continued its gentle hum and the show continued its plot unabated. He helped reposition on the couch for comforts sake for the both of them. He kissed her deeply once more his breathing intensifying with the moment.

Seren Gwyn​

 

[Seren Gwyn]

Seren did not pull away when he drew her closer. Instead, she softened into him, the movement unspoken and instinctive, as if her body already knew the shape of the moment and accepted it without question. Her hand rested at his chest for a beat, feeling the steady rhythm beneath his skin, before sliding up to his shoulder as he adjusted them both on the couch.

She did not rush him. She never did.

When his touch traced the line of her neck and shoulder, when the kiss deepened, she responded in kind, slowly, deliberately, meeting intensity with calm rather than urgency. There was heat there, unmistakable, but it was tempered by trust, by choice, by the quiet understanding that nothing had to be taken to be shared.

"You don't have to prove anything to me," she murmured softly against him, more reassurance than declaration. "Being here is enough."

The holodrama continued behind them, voices and music blurring into something distant and indistinct. Light shifted across the walls, then faded again as the scene changed, but neither of them followed it anymore. The hearth's low hum became the dominant sound, steady and constant, grounding the space as the night deepened around them.

Seren shifted slightly, settling more comfortably against him, her head resting near his shoulder, her fingers idly tracing slow, absent patterns along his arm. The closeness remained, warm, intimate, unguarded, but unhurried, allowed to exist without being pushed toward anything it did not need to be.

Time slipped by unnoticed.

Hours later, the only sound left in the room was the soft breathing they shared and the quiet crackle of the hearth, holding the silence gently as the night claimed the rest.

Varin Mortifer

 

[Varin Mortifer]

“It’s more than proof to you. I need to see if I am capable of it.”

He responded quietly, his gaze never leaving hers. The faint sound danced around the both of them as the runes on his body pulsed lightly, as if matching the moment. The heat of his body retaining a comfort that could only be held in intimacy. He watched her trace the patterns along his arm, the soft touch bringing about a slight shiver up his spine.

Though time drifted further into the night the closeness and warmth remained. A bubble of consistency that only drew him closer to her. His fingers traced her hair again as she settled against him, his body forming a position for her to ease herself further.

The night continued on as they enjoyed each other's company, what seemed like mere moments bled into hours that he would never trade for anything. He had drifted to sleep with her, the cushions of the couch forming around their bodies almost holding them in place.

Varin had slowly awakened hours later to the noise of the show going silent. A soft breeze hit his bare chest as he slowly sat up, squinting his eye to better read the screen.

Still watching?

He slowly reached for the datapad on the table careful to try to not wake her up as he resumed another show for background noise.

He looked back at her and gently moved some of her hair out of her eyes. Slowly he leaned forward and lightly kissed her forehead. The night replayed in his head and his body relaxed ack into the couch, his head resting on the arm, a soft sigh leaving his lips.

Seren Gwyn​

 

[Seren Gwyn]

Seren stirred when he moved, not fully waking, just enough to register his presence shifting beside her. A quiet sound escaped her—something between a breath and a hum—as she turned slightly toward him, her hand finding the fabric at his side and curling there on instinct.

"Mm…still here," she murmured, the words barely shaped, more felt than heard.

When he brushed her hair back and kissed her forehead, she leaned into it without opening her eyes, her brow easing as if the touch had smoothed something restless away. She shifted closer, fitting herself more securely against him, her head settling where his shoulder met his chest, her breathing evening out again almost immediately.

Sleep reclaimed her easily.

Varin felt the weight of her settle, the quiet certainty of it, and whatever alertness had pulled him awake softened. He adjusted just enough to keep her comfortable, one arm resting protectively around her, his body relaxing back into the couch. The low murmur of the holodrama faded into the background again, indistinct and unimportant, until even that slipped away.

He fell asleep not long after; the room held in warmth and stillness.

Some hours later, dawn crept in quietly, pale light filtering into the cave-home and brushing the stone walls. Seren woke slowly this time, awareness returning in gentle pieces: the hearth's dying warmth, the steady rise and fall of Varin's breathing, the way his arm was still draped around her.

She remained still for a moment, watching him sleep, then carefully eased herself free so as not to wake him. Moving softly, she gathered her hair back and padded toward the small preparation area, beginning to set out what she could for breakfast. Water heating, simple food laid out, the familiar, grounding motions of morning.

The sounds were minimal, deliberate.

Behind her, the hearth gave a quiet crackle as the night finally gave way to day.

Varin Mortifer

 

[Varin Mortifer]

He did not wake when she moved. He did not even stir. Deep sleep had taken him finally. One of the rare times he could sleep and his body was taking advantage of it. Dreams took hold of him. Sights of his home and his people. Every day he had been growing more and more homesick but he always kept it buried deep inside him. For the first time though, these dreams did not dissolve into nightmares of when his home was taken. Ignati was not prattling inside his head.

He had given him some space.

It wasn’t until the scent of food hit his nose that he slowly woke up, stirring at first and realising the space was empty beside him. He slowly sat up to look around, only a bit confused of his surroundings before he remembered. He heard movement not far and the scent let him know that she was here and cooking.

He slowly laid back with a soft sigh as his hands rubbed his face, his fingers touching the eyepatch over his left eye. He stood up and stretched as his eye wandered. His body was still getting used to being blind on one side and it took a bit of time before he found her.

“Good morning.”

He spoke softly as he approached her, the familiar warmth of the hearth and the environment around him presenting their own greeting as he approached.

“How did you sleep?”

He laid his hand on her shoulder, running his thumb along her shoulderblade.

Seren Gwyn​

 

[Seren Gwyn]

Seren glanced up when she sensed him move, turning fully as he came closer. A small, genuine smile found her easily at the sight of him, unguarded in a way mornings sometimes allowed, when nothing had quite had time to put its weight back on yet.

"Good morning," she said softly, leaning just slightly into the warmth of his hand when it settled on her shoulder.

She let out a quiet breath that might have been a laugh, gentle and low.

"I actually slept well," Seren admitted, eyes flicking briefly toward the couch before returning to him. "All things considered, on a couch, not a bed, and with the night doing its best to remind us where we are."

Her smile lingered, warmer now.

"I hope you did too."

She turned back toward what she was making, unhurried, comfortable with his presence at her side, the morning settling around them as if it had always belonged there.

Varin Mortifer