Sweet Dreams [Temara]

It started the way they always seemed to start. Fuzzy, but becoming clear, as though stepping out of a fog, going from a place he couldn't recall to here. Waking up, perhaps. It came with the very vague sense that he'd been there before, and would scarcely remember it later, much as he couldn't really recall what happened next. Only this.

He was wounded, his side bandaged and an ache- even if it would have been much worse, and much more worrisome a wound waking, while it seemed so trivial here, almost more of a mark than real crippling injury. It wasn't his bed. Just the old couch, clashing with the room's mostly careful balance of child proof and simple refinement by being plain old unimpressive and plain- but comfy as anyone's business, soft without sucking folks in whole. And his head was being lifted from it, placed into something warmer and much nicer.

She wiped the bangs- that he'd been growing longer for her- back off of his face, and he opened his eyes, looking up.

"I missed you."

Confused. Troubled, but he paused as if he wasn't really sure what he was saying. Had she been gone? But she was here now. That was all that really mattered. Just as always, or so it seemed. Wasn't she always right here?

Rayner lifted his head slightly, laying a hand on the back of hers- one of the few scars that didn't become indistinct or seem a part of whim in these dreams, as even his eyes occasionally wavered, the scarred hands were a constant- and pressed her head low enough to kiss her lips before laying his head back down.

RE: Sweet Dreams

She had been as quiet as always as she sat down, smiling at the gentleness of his face as he slept, only to be startled as his eyes opened. They hadn't done that before. Was he healing? She hoped so.

Small tears leaked from her eyes as she looked down at him. "I missed you too, love." offering no resistance as he pulled her head towards him, letting her lips linger upon his. It was strange how in dreams, you always looked how you perceived yourself. She was no longer pregnant, but slim, with her normal curves. Her hair was much longer than it had been, even at Avalon, trailing down almost to her hips, and was currently pulled back into a ponytail that rested over one shoulder, tickling the side of his face.

She reached over and brushed a hand along his side. "This whole sleeping through Sera's 3am feeding is so not going to cut it cowboy." She teased him lightly, bringing the hand back up to brush across his cheek.

RE: Sweet Dreams

The ponytail seemed... unexpected, but somehow seemed to fit. Enough that he blinked and gave it a second thought as it tickled his face- and then dismissed it. It was Celeste, unmistakably. That had always been there, right?

His memory wasn't always perfect after all, and it felt sort of as if a part of his head was missing.

Despite that, he felt her lips so clearly he just smiled on up at her as she let it down and brushed her hand over his side. He hardly even felt the wound, despite her digits going nearer it. If anything... the touch almost seemed to sooth it away. He frowned at her words though, then smiled, then confused frowned more, and shifted, half upright, looking puzzled. Sera's feeding time. Their daughter. She was feeding? Well... why shouldn't she be? And yet.... yet he couldn't seem to quite place.... no, he had to, that made no sense, it would be something that would be firmly rooted and unmistakable right here. Of course he knew about that, of course he could picture her down to the last hair in his head. He was just tired.

"Sera's feeding? So late?"

Pity, or perhaps envy, his ignorance of the fact.

RE: Sweet Dreams

Celeste chuckled and rolled her eyes. "Yes, husband. Sera has a larger appetite than you." Another snort as she moved her hands to cup her breasts. "You don't get these from bottle feeding." Her breasts were slightly larger even if she seemed a little skinner. Not much; yet, but enough that it was obvious that it'd been a while since Sera had been born.

"She feeds whenever she feels hungry. Luckily, she's down to one overnight feeding now and won't wake again till around 8 or so." She smiled at him. "So that gives us plenty of time alone..."

As he was more upright, she got a closer look at his eyes, and reached over to his cheek, pressing her hand to it. "You never told me..." it had never occurred to her to ask actually, she just took the oddness of Gaia for granted sometimes.

"Did you use to have blue green eyes?" she had a feeling he had, that it was where Sera had gotten them. Danielle had her father's eyes. And there was too much blue in Sera's to be her own.

RE: Sweet Dreams

"Hard to believe," he teased back, but he didn't bother sitting up, and mostly sounded in awe, picturing the child. Smiling. Giggling. Just sitting. Feeding. Not a very clear image, but at least.... at least he was conjuring something vague now. He'd definitely seen her, right? He knew he must have plenty of times. He petted her knee with a hand, laying back in her lap, and with a voice more dreamily spaced out than flirting and teasing, he finished "I'd eat those right up."

Even if she seemed flirty.

Didn't matter. He liked it plenty. She always could seem to manage to take his mind away from any troubles with a little bit of that sauce and fire. He smiled, a hint of that roguishness, and petted more up to the thigh. Her next comment side tracked it yet again however, as his eyes- if there had been any doubt to what they'd been a moment ago, suddenly became decidedly blue-green in response to her question.

"Yes. I was born with them, mostly blue. Before he happened and... changed..."

Rayner stared into space, and sat slowly upward, growing quiet.

"Everything."

He looked at Celeste, and then smiled with a soft sort of grimness, or perhaps fatality, and said "But he's gone now" with conviction; as if he just knew it to be true instinctively. Somehow, he seemed distant, long dead ghost now, like he should be, rather than a nightly specter and reminder. He squared his shoulders, drew himself up large, comforting, and seemed to find now dire weaknesses or chinks in his armor, and kissed her softly on the lips.

RE: Sweet Dreams

"I'm sure you would." she chuckled, but for once she hadn't been flirting with him, more checking to see how much like himself he was feeling. The comment helped. They were a very sexual couple, but it didn't have to be about the sex. However, him missing an oppourtunity to make a lewd comment...that would have been odd.

She let him get situated and began to stroke his hair again. It was nice to see him so awake and active...

He...

Again. By now, she knew who 'He' was, but he wasn't bothering them in this dream, so she wasn't going to let him ruin Rayner's first time awake in a dream. As he sat up, she wrapped her arms around his shoulder and hugged him tightly, her head tucking into his neck and shoulder.

"She has them. Your eyes, I mean. That's all. I've been trying to figure it out for a while now. They're beautiful..." She leaned back from the embrace just in time for him to kiss her upon the lips, and she returned the kiss just as softly. She wasn't even sure if sex was possible in a dream. I mean, wouldn't that much excitement wake a man up? Heck, wasn't that what caused morning wood? For all their adventures in bed, and her own training, there was still a lot she didn't understand.

"Just as beautiful as her father's other eyes." She stretched up, and pressed a small, soft kiss to each of his eyelids. "You are, who you are, and I love you for it, Rayner. Everything has helped make you who you are today, and while they aren't always great things, you now have a beautiful, intelligent, wealthy wife, and a step daughter who adores you, and a beautiful girl who thinks the sun and moon sets at your command. Would you really trade any of that for a memory of who you might have been?" It was a little bit of a serious turn in the conversation, but since the chance was there, she wanted to keep it in his brain of all the stuff he did have that was so good. 'He' seemed to feed off of when Rayner was feeling his worst.

"Would you like to check on her?" Offering the best positive thing she could to him at the moment that she knew would work.

RE: Sweet Dreams

He listened attentatively, even when he blinked in confusion, keeping up with Celeste's tiny speech, even as he seemed to be slightly confused by it. He smiled, sure. But his eyes warbled and shifted oddly as she spoke, even though he grew to grin and chuckle softly at the end, shaking his head lightly from side to side. When it was done, he seemed... different.

Probably because one eye had stayed blue-green, the natural shade, and the other had wound up as pure blood red as ever.

He kissed her neck, and squeezed her firmly, letting that be answer enough, head tucked into her shoulder. He sat and shifted slightly, and then...

"Would I..."

He leaned back and blinked as if flabbergasted, looking her straight in the face. And despite that his features somehow seemed to remain more fixed despite the dreamspace, his face slowly melted... figuratively. A big goofy grin, shy and excited all at once, nervous yet without doubt. Bizarre, what such a tiny thing could do to a man. Then again, plenty of big men always seemed to be rather drastically affected by the smallest of objects. Irony of the world, perhaps.

"Yeah..." he whispered in a hoarse voice, quite dreamily.

Pun intended.

RE: Sweet Dreams

Celeste chuckled and got up off the couch, if only it could be like this in reality. If only was just a work of fiction though. Doing her best to restrain her own depression, she offered him a hand up. As long as 'He' wasn't here, she didn't have to worry about a weapon, and with her new weapon, she could summon it from anywhere.

"Just be quiet or you're going to be the one rocking her to sleep." she teased but she was also serious. She'd found out that she could pull others into the dream space as well. Which meant she'd been able to previous introduce Sera to her father, even if her father had been passed out cold.

As they moved away from the couch, they'd find what looked to be an old antique cradle that held a bundle in a soft green gray color. Small cherubic cheeks, soft lashes fluttering against those, while her face was lit with a fierce grin. Her arms were free, and covered in tiny little socks, because even at a month old, she liked her own way and flailed and cried when she wasn't getting it. She couldn't do much damage yet, but Celeste would rather not have to talk about being scratched to all hell and back by her newborn.

"Your daughter..."

RE: Sweet Dreams

Rayner took her hand between his larger two and gently pulled as he leaned forward, rising to his feet and standing close by her. He blinked curiously, and nodded, as she spoke, and looked around. Was it so late? She had mentioned some feeding earlier, it must have been that late. No wonder he'd... fallen asleep on the couch apparently. But he nodded none the less, and grinned. He didn't mind the idea of rocking her to sleep at all, but far be it from him to decide it was his place to wake a little angel. Rayner couldn't recall where the baby's room was for half a moment, and then the next thing he knew he was at the cradle. He didn't question it. It didn't even seem particularly strange.

He froze.

Yes, the man faced down dragons (or dragon, at least) and all sorts of nonsense, but he looked at the cradle and just stopped mid step. Not in fear or nervousness. Several steps back he simply paused as if caught out of time, looking at the little structure as thought it were some alien thing of magnificence, a hanging garden or great old ruin put together in a way that he'd never ventured to fathom a building could be structured before. He stayed there for a moment, sizing it up, and then slowly approached in a- quite ironically- dream like fascination, almost as if trying to hold off passing the point where he could see over the lip and down inside of it properly another moment, as though he wasn't ready for it, still trying to prepare last minute for that instant.

It passed without him hardly noticing though. He caught a glimpse of the little face inside, and his face, already locked with a soft focus on her to exclusion of all else, melted as he caught a spring in his step, never mind the wound, and went right beside the cradle, placing a hand on each side of the thing.

She was so tiny, but somehow, even at the first time and with her eyes closed, he knew this child could not possibly have been mistaken for any other. Unique. Perfect. Full of spirit and sculpted like she really had been delivered right from some sort of heaven. For several seconds he stared down inside with wonder and rapture, face gently moving through different phases that never came quite fully to the surface, before he looked up to Celeste as if for permission, or asking if it were even possible.

And then Rayner bent down, and ever so carefully lifted the tiny bundle.

"My..."

He whispered, staring down at the little face and studying it, memorizing the appearance, the shape and tiny lashes, the expression that- though he'd likely never realize it- was one-hundred-percent her father's grin, the weight and softness. Even though she was already asleep, he ever so gently rocked her, looking down at the face and visibly tracing over every inch of her carefully with his eyes, as if literally running a finger up and down her face to make sure he covered every last molecule of surface.

"What.... was it..."

He stumbled on, searching for words, not in a way that said his awe at seeing his daughter had literally deprived him of ability to form thoughts, but as if he was desperately searching for a single exact phrase, something delicate and difficult or caught in an old memory he was trying to dredge up, by the effort it took. No doubt it seemed so silly to her, for him to worry so much about words right now, only moments after he'd finished forgetting the rest of the world in favor of the child in his arms, but to Rayner it was very important to try this right now. The one phrase. He knew he remembered it. It wasn't just for him. He liked it, and wanted to recall, and make sure he was correct, but it was as if for Celeste and the little girl, these exact words, verbatim, meticulously pronounced correctly and strung together, would hold all the meaning in the world. The only sort of gift he was even capable of offering great enough to suit this moment. He was no poet, after all. For him words were usually just words. But these... these meant everything.

"...ma petite Serafina Aimee."

RE: Sweet Dreams

He wouldn't realize it of course; but over the last few months she'd gotten a lot of practice in holding her emotions in check and it was serving her well right now as watching Rayner made the strawberry blonde a little choked up herself. And after she gave him the nod that he could pick her up, she wrapped her arms around her body and just watched, finding it a lot harder to do as she watched him with his daughter, tracing her soft features that still somehow always reminded her of him. Especially that grin.

Even as she watched, Serafina curled into Rayner easily, clutching at his shirt in a tight little grip that didn't want to let go and Celeste finally stepped forward and wrapped her arms around his waist from behind, her head pressed to his back as she let the tears go. It was just a fiction, this dream and yet she wanted so desperately for it to be real.

Her tears caused a stutter as she responded to his last words. "My promise to you." She wasn't thinking if he'd even understand what she meant. But every day it was Serafina's presence that reminded her of what she was working towards, of what the goal was. But whether it was Rayner's words or Celeste's; eyes that seemed too big for her face opened up, peering blue green luminosity up at Rayner, as the smile remained and her hand released his shirt as she raised her arms towards him, stretching for his face as if she knew him already.

RE: Sweet Dreams

He was in awe of it down to the last detail; the little girl in his arms, asleep and carefree, tiny and vulnerable yet boldly unafraid of anything in the world. In some ways, reminded him of himself. Or of her mother. She looked a lot like her. But definitely... maybe it was the bit of him in there that seemed off. He certainly didn't often see Celeste that fierce or boldly brash and unapologetic. Well. Not as often outside of bed, anyway. He tried not to wobble or lose his train of thought when she gripped his shirt. He wanted to squeeze her tight so badly. Good thing she seemed so tiny and fragile he also had a fistful of instinct telling him to treat her as though she were made of tissue paper, and enough mind. He couldn't help a happy sigh as Celeste curled up to his back, and blissfully oblivious, all seemed right with the world.

"Your... ...?"

He started to ask what she meant, mind barely available for the task of conversation at the moment, when Sera opened her eyes.

Rayner was just openly dumbfounded for a moment at her reaction, looking at the girl reaching up and smiling.

And then his face stretched into a grin to match hers, wide and fierce, almost clumsily, obliviously so, and burst into voluminous laughter. Chest bouncing in mirth he lifted the little girl, very carefully adjusting his grip and held her out, holding her very gently not-quite to arms' length, and lifted her slowly, a tiny heave up to let her look down at him instead, with the sparkling sun at her back to give her the sort of angelic halo 'round her that she deserved, in his eyes. Whether the sun had been there a moment ago or not was of no consequence. It shone for her. Still in laughter, he lowered her, very carefully kissed the tip of her teeny-tiny nose, and turned around with her to face Celeste, not sure what he wanted to show off, just that he had to share the joy.

RE: Sweet Dreams

As he spun around, Celeste regretfullly let him go, taking a step back to look up at him. It filled her very soul with warmth to watch the affection and love he had for his daughter, although there was never any doubt in her mind. It might be interesting at some point to tease him about who was his favorite but for the moment, she was simply content to watch the two of them.

"See, and you wondered if she'd be scared of you because of those scars. Browning women don't scare so easily as that." She helped him move Sera to his side slightly, just adjusting so she could lean up and press a kiss to one of the scars on his face. "It just proves that you've got what it takes to deserve us. Isn't that right, Sera?" She turned, looking at the newborn who just laughed and grabbed at her hair. Gently, Celeste pulled her hair free, taking the babe's fist in her own and running a thumb along the tiny fingers.

"She's a very opinionated little twerp, but nothing really seems to scare her. But her screams are terrifying..."

RE: Sweet Dreams

He chuckled at that, and leaned low enough to give her a small kiss over the infant, before leaning back and looking up at Celeste past the corners of his eyes, keeping Serafina in his peripheral, as if the little thing bundled up in his arms might be going anywhere. "Sometimes I think a little too hard to scare." He smiled and said it affectionately. Would have been hard to not be affectionate at the moment, but he also admired that about her every bit as much as he was frequently frustrated by it. And how could he not be proud to hear out his little girl being just as brave?

...well, a little nervous maybe, but proud none the less.

"I suppose she would have to have quite the set of lungs on her,"

He smiled over the infant at Celeste, playing with her hand, and then looked back down to Sera. Opinionated sounded right too, but then, he figured that one probably reflected more on himself than on Celeste. Well. Most of the time. Or more openly anyway. Celeste at least was mindful about her manners when she stood her ground on things.

"Ain't a thing to scream about no more. Daddy's here to keep you safe."

RE: Sweet Dreams

When Rayner used the word Daddy, Sera's nose wrinkled in distaste. Seems Celeste had already been getting to her with the French. To Sera, he was 'papa'. Poor Rayner. Three females, and they could all use a language he didn't understand. He was doomed.

As for Celeste...

Everything she'd been managing to hold in since he woke up bust free. Not a big dramatic gush, but very much like how Rayner considered her manners; very mindful as they trickled free from her eyes and rolled down her cheeks freely. For the moment, she'd forgotten that this wasn't real, that 'Daddy' wasn't here to protect Sera. Or although she'd never admit that she needed it; her. For the moment, she just buried her head under his neck and continued watching Sera make faces at Rayner, even going so far as to grab his nose with one of her fists. This was so hard...maybe it was a bad idea. Maybe the nightly visits should stop...

Using one arm, she wrapped it around his back, and hugged him as best she was able, her grip a little tight before she forced herself to relax. She -was- just tormenting herself. He was never going to remember any of this and would likely think she had abandoned him. God, this hurt so much.

RE: Sweet Dreams

"Hey now, what's that about? You think you can beat up the big bad monsters better than me?"

He wrinkled his nose right back at her, completely oblivious to what was going on, and made gentle tickling motions at her stomach.

"My little demon slayer."

He chuckled and laughed, grins and a swirl of vast waves of emotion; proud and excited and calmed all at once by the little tiny thing in his arms, nabbing his nose and making all sorts of lively fuss and cheer. He was seeing all the months of Celeste with the bulge in her stomach, the little girl laughing and looking so spirited and sharp, perceptive of the moment even as little as she was. Hell. He could see her getting little tiny pairs of shoes (and probably losing them in the craziest of places) and learning to run, with the knee scrapes, and right on up... up... it was a long, scary road ahead. He'd braved a lot of those. But he thought he liked this one the best. Rayner continued to play the teasing faces and nonsense with Sera, struggling to balance the baby properly while wrapping an arm around Celeste's shoulders's in return as she hugged him with one and-

"Mwah!"

The red head would suddenly be presented with a tiny child and her husband's face, both presented close to her teary one, as Rayner made an exaggerated kiss at her, and then turned to Sera.

"Quick! Kisses for mama! Mwah-mwah!" Mimicking the kiss motion to try and give her the idea, and then continuing to use what seemed to be a very playful ambush baby thus far. All goofiness and smiles, he kissed from the tiny tip of Sera's nose delicately, to across Celeste's cheek and nose. The hand on her back, however, massaged slow and steady, serious and comforting, whatever was troubling her.

RE: Sweet Dreams

As Serafina slobbered all over her mother, Celeste couldn't help but giggle and try to playfully protest. It was hard to be emo when you were getting kissed by two of your favorite people in the world. "Okay guys, okay!!" she laughed and tried to pull away, pressing her back into Rayner's grasp. "I get it. Maman needs to cheer up. Je suis très heureux, je promets!" Wiping the baby drool from the opposing cheek she looked at Rayner. "Now you've not only woken her up, but gotten her all excited..." she frowned at him.

"Guess I'll just have to go to bed without you, since you'll be spending the rest of the night trying to get her back to sleep..." She tsk'd at him while Sera made grabby hands at both of them, cooing and bubbling over with excitement. It was play time!!

RE: Sweet Dreams

"Jay-soo-foo-foo indeed."

Rayner let her have a little space from Serafina- who was bouncing and about as close to singing in joyous excitement as anything her age came, pawing at Rayner's face and probably soon to start slobbering on him too- and put his own hand back a hair. Mommy needed a little breathing room. And while he would probably ask her what was bothering her later if she still remembered it at all, for now with little Sera there he was just happy to see her smile and enjoy it. He closed his fingers together, scratching gently at her back with the pads of his rough fingers.

Rayner sat back onto the couch. It had been across the room sure, but his mind just thought of sitting back and it seemed that of course the couch would be right behind him. Dreams generally seemed to skip right to the point like that, though it wasn't always clear what the point was. He hoisted Sera up about one shoulder, giving her free reign to rain terror upon his hair and face as he gestured Celeste to sit down beside him with his other hand, and then lightly guided her head over and into his lap. Petting her hair, he hushed Sera and made happy, excited faces and quiet sounds all the same, counterproductive as attempting to demonstrate quiet and exciting her might have been. He felt like he could stay up all night. But then, he didn't know he was dreaming, and who ever felt sleepy in a dream?

RE: Sweet Dreams

Actually, what Celeste did at first was stare at Rayner in amusement as she watched him try to settle in with Sera. She was learning a lot about dream mechanics this way. He had no reason why Sera couldn't be hoisted up on his shoulder at this young of an age, and so in the dream, she could. She was a little floppy, but overall content. She wondered how far the girl's education could be done in drea---

And there was Rayner, gesturing for her to sit down. At a couch. That had ...you know what, never mind. She wasn't going to think about this too hard, she might not be getting any real rest back there if she did. She laid down for the moment, and just rested her head on his lap for a change and tried to relax. She had no idea what would change when the light of day hit and right now, she just wanted to pretend this was real and that nothing could hurt them.

RE: Sweet Dreams

For a while he settled there and played with the baby- smiles and coddles and slobbery kisses and little grabby hands all over himself, along with a variety of other squirmy play and little amusements. He absentmindedly petted Celeste's hair now and again when he could spare the hand, as he played with the child. Gradually, it became clear she was ready to go back to sleep, however. It was probably mostly the play that kept her mood up, as the child slowly faded into what seemed like the area for crankiness between falling asleep and either not wanting to stop watching things, or just being ornery. He played calmer and rocked her, until he had the little darling lightly making dozing sounds and drooling in his arm. He admitted, silently, that it'd probably be his fault if she kept up the slobbering and drooling for a while, after that.

He rocked her and smiled, watching, until his arms got a bit heavy, and he placed her in the craddle.

Actually, he didn't really remember doing so, much less getting up, but he knew he had, so all the same. Quietly, as if afraid to wake the suddenly absent infant, he leaned down and kissed Celeste. Or he meant to. Her head in his lap was a bit of an awkward angle, so instead he laid a kiss below her collarbone, and slowly worked his way up where he could, if he could convince her to sit up a little with it and let him kiss all the way up to her lips. He'd lock there a brief moment, before also getting her nose and forehead. Just to tease her. He didn't ask after what had been wrong, though he could have sworn he was forgetting some kind of stress or other, and instead took a rough hand up and down her back in long, slow strokes, just rough enough to move her body a bit with it, and watched her. It was nice, just to have them there.

RE: Sweet Dreams

She didn't know it was possible to doze in someone else's dream, Celeste thought almost sleepily as she glanced up at her husband only to see that their daughter was put up, safely she was sure, and that he was back and leaning down to kiss her. Only he missed, and succeeded instead in kissing her shoulder. Repressing a soft shiver of delight, she had to remind herself that this was just a dream. But as he kissed his way to her lips, she found that thought fading further and further from her mind until she reached one hand up and placed it behind his head, and twisted her body so that he could reach it all the easier even as her nails raked along his scalp.

But as he pulled away and kissed her nose, it wrinkled and she frowned at him, forgetting entirely the point of her being here to guard him from his nightmares. "Wha..." She started to complain before his hand found the small of her back and he began rubbing, not rough and yet not gentle either; just the way she preferred. "I've missed you so much...", she whispered breathily. As if the more she said it, the more that she'd get to stay here, with him, would be true. "I've missed waking up against you in the morning. I've missed your arms around my body, keeping me safe and warm..." there was a hint of the tears back in her eyes, but they didn't fall even while they choked up her throat.

"I ---" and she found at that moment that she couldn't say the words. They had welled up in her throat so tightly, they wouldn't spill. She didn't know when or if she'd ever be able to see him again, and if she did, what would have changed. She wanted to pretend everything was okay. That she was the same woman he'd married, but everything that had happened...

...it was so much. Maybe she had changed. Maybe she was weaker for loving him. It seemed like her only course of action was to get back to him. But was it enough to base a life off of? Or had they moved too soon. There she was doubting again. Not him, but herself. She had to be strong for him, so he wouldn't have to protect her; she couldn't hold him back. But maybe she and Sera already were....

Instead of thinking anymore on the subject, she wrapped her arms around his neck and shifted until she was sitting in his lap, all curled up as tiny as she could be, simply clinging to him like a small child. A perfectly vulnerable target.

RE: Sweet Dreams

"I miss you every second you're away."

He laid his head against the side of hers, and kissed behind her ear. He loved to look at her, but it always hurt a little when the tears started to come. And he needn't look to see crystal clear how that tear stained face would look, as more came, or she shook worse and worse. Instead he just continued slowly comforting her, not so secretly enjoying the nails against his scalp. Not that he acted much off it at the moment, but Celeste knew him as well as he knew her, after all. Instead he squeezed her- just like she'd missed. He was confused, and introspective, quietly thinking as much as the dreaming state allowed as he braced Celeste and rubbed her back, slowly, stroke my stroke until she moved to be gathered into his lap.

There was no darkness creeping in as she left her concentration for a moment and let herself sink into the experience.

Instead, Rayner squeezed, pulling her in and kissing her face and neck gently, always with slow brushing motions of his hands and a concerned manner. He didn't know what was wrong, but he knew Celeste. She'd say when she was ready. Until then, it did not matter. He merely wanted to comfort his wife.

One strong scarred hand reached up and touched one of hers, slowly wrapping it up in his and squeezing supportively, as he spared a kiss for somewhere in the region every so often.

RE: Sweet Dreams

"I love you"

The words were simple, but heartfelt as her fingers twined with his. So much to do until this could be real. But he was awake at least and she could at least pretend for a few moments that she wasn't stuck in a frozen tundra with his child and without him. Her head tilted back and she kissed underneath his jaw, small, soft butterfly kisses even as the hand in his hair slid down and began raking along his back.