Time frame: almost two years since the end of DotW

Yixing woke up slowly, mind still heavy with the haze of sleep. He blinked a few times to clear his head, trying to raise a hand to rub at his eyes but found he couldn’t move his limb.  In fact, there was something weighing down his entire left part. He looked down to have a clearer look, only to have his mouth broke into a smile.

Iola was still sleeping soundly, head fitted perfectly on the crook between his neck and shoulder, an arm thrown carelessly across his waist, legs tangling together with his. The soft breath emitted from her parted mouth was warm and comforting as it hit his bare chest.

Yixing’s smile grew wider. It was rare for him to wake up before she did; usually it was Iola who was the early riser, up and about at the crack of dawn, already preparing for her usual morning walk with the drachensteins.

She’d once told him how strange it is that she always woke up early here, since she wasn’t such a morning person back at her own world. Yixing have his own theory about it, though when she told him he just nodded and kept silent. He thought that since Iola is the Chosen Soul, the human counterpart of the Guardian of the Tree of Life itself, it was only natural that she would be awake the same time as the world greets a new day. After all, she and the world were connected.

He took a glance at the window and nodded rather smugly when he saw that the sky outside was still dark, confirming his suspicion. The faint orange light at the horizon told him that morning will be soon upon them, though, but he reckoned he still have some time to savor the moment.

And these short few moments were something that Yixing treasured. Once she wakes up, Iola would belong to everyone and everything. She would be all over the place, either in council meeting with the Elders, listening to the reports of happenings in either Zolora or any other places in the world as her responsibilities asked of her. She would be outside talking to the many nature’s spirits, listening to their stories and complaints. She would hold open audience where anyone who wants to meet her and learn more about the spirits could. She would be surrounded by people, even by his own brothers.

But this, this moment was all Yixing’s. Here in her room (a small voice at the back of his head said their room instead and Yixing couldn’t exactly disagree seeing the vast amount of time he spend here), under the dark cocoon of the night, with no duty and obligations binding them, here Iola belongs to him, and him only. And Yixing will be damned if he spend those short moments to go back to sleep again.

He stared down as Iola still slept on peacefully. His left shoulder was numb, but Yixing wouldn’t move for anything. Slowly he raised his other hand to brush back the bangs falling over her forehead, leaving a small kiss at her temple.

Iola stirred and Yixing held his breath, not daring to move until she relaxed again. He waited for a few heartbeats more before he ran a finger over her forehead, her eyebrows, down the slope of her nose, stopping at , following the curve of her lower lip. Without stopping to think he leaned down to kiss her; just a simple peck, a touching of lips, but he still felt thrill sliding down his spines at the feel of her softness.

He pulled away after just a few seconds, not wanting to wake her up. Iola mumbled incoherently and snuggled closer, but her eyes were still closed and Yixing heaved a relieved sigh.

The blanket covering them had slide lower when she moved and Yixing couldn’t help his smirk as he spotted several red marks forming on her neck and shoulder. He knew that Iola would grumble when she sees it later on and Yixing will counter by saying that he didn’t hear her complaining about it last night, to which she would blush fiercely and he would just grin.

It was still rather new, this physical aspect of their relationship. Luhan would say it have been a long time coming with a sly grin on his angelic face. Maybe so; at least his other brothers also think the same, but Yixing didn’t mind. He meant it when he told Iola that she could take as long as she wants in figuring out this thing they have. And take it slowly they did, each moment at a time.

His mind went back to those first few dates he’d planned when he first courted her (though not lingering too much on how most of them are failures), of long hours spend just by the two of them, talking about everything under the sun and learning to know each other better. And with each moment they spend together he found himself entranced more and more by the person that is Iola.

It was understood silently by both of them from the beginning that they did like each other, but they didn’t really know each other. And as they both learned, they found more things to love. Their relationship has been rather smooth going once the initial bump had been straightened out, perhaps a few tiff here and there over truly nothing where they quickly made up. After not too long it only felt natural when their gazes always found each other’s, hands quickly following, bodies pressing together in tight hugs that always took his breath away.

Oh, and the kissing! Kissing may be Yixing’s new favorite pastimes, even though he still cringed at the memory of their first one. Technically they’d already kissed before but he refused to acknowledged that as their first kiss, not when the circumstances around them at the time was a matter of life and death, not when he was half out of his mind with the paralyzing fear of losing her and the threat of both of them dying was looming over them in a dark cloud.

He had been waiting patiently for the perfect moment to kiss her again, the right place and the right time, and yet all of his carefully prepared acts were for naught when they finally did kiss, something completely unexpected.

Contrary to what his brothers thought when they first found out that Yixing and Iola spend their nights together, they both didn’t do anything more than sleeping together in the most literal sense of the word.

The habit itself happened unintentionally; he went to her room as usual for their usual talk and ended up lounging on the bed besides her as they were talking about their childhoods and before long they had fallen asleep with heads leaning against each other, too tired from the day’s event.

Iola had blushed fiercely the next morning but only laughed in dismissal when he tried to apologize. In silent agreement it was agreed that they spend their nights together, content enough with just sleeping with arms around each other.

It was on a regular mor