the fell asleep on meme!

[advancing]

"i just need to rest my eyes"

Someone, whether it be a friend or a total stranger, has fallen asleep on you wherever you happen to be; you are a rather comfortable pillow to them.

Do you let them sleep or abruptly wake them up?

Comments

[partnerinheels]

She trails her fingertips along his side as she listens, watching their path as they absently navigated the path of shirt folds and musculature. "I haven't discussed them with anyone. Not... Not yet at least. It's nice to just not be alone, you know?"

The rumble is oddly comforting, and she can't help but press her ear closer to hear the rhythms of his breath alongside his heartbeat. Focusing on that and his heat helped bring her back from Kijuju. That and his words, weighted with the additional years of experience.

"You're making far too much sense for the middle of the night." In other words, his logic is helping.

[standsentinel]

"Bad habit, sorry," Kaidan says, and doesn't mean a word of it. As she cuddles in closer, his hand drifts from stroking her back to running fingers through her hair, granting what peace he can give.

"Honestly, if there's an easy answer I've never found it. Just... let it ride. Be good to yourself, as much as you can. Take whatever tricks work for you to calm back down again, check back out of the dream. Little things."

[partnerinheels]

The unfortunate part of that advice is that the little tricks that she found to work while on the island weren't exactly accessible here. She knew better than to push something physical on someone who preferred an emotional connection, and she didn't want to try random men on random planets. That just had bad idea written all over it. Therefore, Sheva remained celibate.

So instead, Sheva had attempted upping he workouts and training sessions. It had worked for a while, but eventually, push came to shove and the nightmares won out. Talking to someone felt more like transferring the burden more than anything, and that had it's own guilt attached.

"I need to find new tricks. Ones that I can do alone." Not that there are many places to be alone on this ship, but she might be able to manage. Once she said it, though, she realizes how her statement might be taken, and shifts herself so that they're face to face. Her features were crinkled in worry and shadowed in fear. "I didn't mean... Hell I appreciate everything you've done for me. Everything. I just... I don't like burdening people with my problems."

She has needed to be strong her entire life it seems. Breaking down like this after a silly nightmare of something that never happened made her feel weak. Soldiers weren't supposed to be weak, and that went double for female soldiers.

Her fingertips reached up to lightly brush his jawline, an apologetic gesture at the least, a loaded interest at worst. Instead of the apology she meant to utter, "I appreciate you, Kaidan." slips from her before she could stop them.

[standsentinel]

"You're a hell of a woman, Sheva," Kaidan reassures her quietly, jaw tilting slightly to lean into her touch, just a little. "And-- the thing with problems, and I'm still working this one out myself, is that when you have people you trust, people at your back... what happens is that it's not a one way sort of deal."

Arm still tight around her, he catches a quiet lungful of breath, and lets it out slowly as he considers something. Eventually, he wonders "If I stay here beside you, do you think you could fall back asleep?"

[partnerinheels]

Sheva can't help but blush as she searches his face for evidence that he's just being nice. But what she knows of Kaidan now, he wasn't one to lie about such thing, especially to teammates. "Thank you," she finally whispers with a slight nod, not knowing what else to say to follow words like that. He's much better with words than she is, and she knows that.

"I can try," she answers honestly, leaning forward a fraction of a centimeter before giving him a lopsided smile, albeit a weak one. "It might take a while."

[standsentinel]

"Just don't drool on me, and we're all good," is where Kaidan draws his line, hushed and mock-solemn.

Hand squeezing her shoulder, he shifts in the narrow bunk until he can settle in on his side, one arm pillowing his head and the other ready to drape solidly across her.

"Keep the covers -- I tend to run a little hot to begin with," he states, entirely unnecessarily give that she's been clinging to him.

[partnerinheels]

"Ruining all my fun," she mutters with a playful undertone. While the earlier episode had shot her awake, her body remained exhausted, and it reflected in her voice whether she liked it or not.

As Sheva felt him adjusting, she peers at him and raises an eyebrow. "Front or back?" There weren't exactly many ways to fit two people on a bunk this size, despite her smaller stature.

With his heat, she has a feeling she might not need the covers after all.

[standsentinel]

"Whatever works for you... and I'm serious about the drooling," he informs her gravely, making light of the situation to keep any awkwardness to as minimal a level as possible.

[partnerinheels]

"Then I have the perfect solution," she counters, carefully shifting and rolling over onto her side facing away from him. Her rear may have dragged along his front before settling calmly back against him with a long, hopefully relaxing, exhale.

[standsentinel]

By the fact that Kaidan goes very still at that ass-dragging, he's attempting to be a gentleman about this.

Still, once Sheva's settled in, he lets an arm settle across her waist in a loose hug, and offers her a gravely amused "Good night, Operative Alomar."

[partnerinheels]

His gentlemanly response is mildly perplexing to her, but more frustrating than anything. She knew that path would be an easy way to forget the nightmare, and she had thought there existed a mutual attraction. On the other hand, Sheva also knew Kaidan to be intelligent, fair, and the type of man to look after another person's best interests.

"And you too, Major Alenko." Her hand settles on his as she says this, a silent additional 'thank you' for his support that night.

As for sleeping? It might happen after some quiet consideration on why what just happened happened, but at least her mind is no longer lingering on the nightmare.