but i’m a fire and i’ll keep your brittle heart warm (for ben)

[strongerthanblood]

When Rey's eyes flutter open upon waking, she immediately shuts them again as she shifts to avoid the light streaming through the window. With a flick of her wrist, the curtains slide shut and sighs as the room dims around her.

She stretches, feeling a pleasant soreness in her muscles that comes from a long, hard day's work. It's only when she turns to the side and sees Ben asleep next to her that she realizes that she isn't in her bed, which is definitely where she fell asleep the previous night, and the night before that.

A project at the junk yard had taken up her attention, and perhaps the bond knew how much she missed being in Ben's presence. She is always aware of him, settled firmly in her mind in a way that's become wholly comforting, but she hasn't seen him in days.

Once she's more awake, she can feel the hum of the bond, drowning out noise around them until she can't even hear the birds that chirp outside of his window in the mornings. Ben is still asleep, with the sheet draped around his hips to reveal his bare torso, so Rey curls up on her side and lets herself look at him.

Eventually looking isn't enough for her so she shifts closer, smiling to herself as she gently trails a fingertip down the length of his arm. It won't take much to wake him, she knows, so she's careful in her movements. Her fingertip moves to the center of his broad chest, and she flattens her palm there as she leans in to press a kiss to his shoulder.

Touching him through the bond is an experience all its own, like a warm tingling throughout her body. It's the perfect thing for a lazy morning, and she lets her palm glide down his stomach as she noses along the inside of his bicep just to take in the musky smell of him, warm with sleep.

"Ben," she whispers, pausing the downward slide of her hand when she reaches the waistband of his underwear. For a moment she considers diving under the sheets to wake him up with her mouth, but she knows he wouldn't sleep through that, so she circles his navel with her thumb instead. "Wake up, sleepy head."

Comments

[weakandfoolish]

"I'm not sure if that's meant to be an insult to you, or to me," Ben said with a rumble of laughter. "Or is it a complement?"

He spread his hand along the center of her chest, his fingers easily spanning from one side of her ribs to the other.

[strongerthanblood]

“All of you is big,” she says with an appreciative smile. As if to prove her point, his hand spans the width of her chest and she takes a deep breath, watching his palm rise and fall with the motion.

“They get the job done,” she breathes out as she reaches up to let her fingertips skim across her breasts. Her nipples are tight and peaked like they always seem to be when he’s close like this, and she rests her hand over his.

She slides his hand down to the narrowest part of her waist just to shiver at the span of his fingers, and hums contentedly as she looks back up at his face.

“Too big. It’s ridiculous, frankly,” she tells him, even though she knows it’s obvious how much she likes it.

[weakandfoolish]

"You don't sound convinced," he murmured, his hand spanning nearly the entirety of her belly. He ducked his head to kiss the the flat of her sternum, just above the valley of her breasts.

He felt as though he could spend a lifetime learning her body and never tire of it. There would be no end of things he could learn about her, and from her.

[strongerthanblood]

“I suppose I could be convinced,” she teases, watching as he lowers his head to her chest. His mouth touches her skin, gentle and soft, and she lifts her hand to card her fingers through his dark hair, letting her nails trail lightly along his scalp.

She never can seem to stop touching him once she starts, and she curls her other hand against the back of his neck to give it a comforting squeeze. Her fingertips trail over the nape of his neck and along his shoulders, cataloguing each small mole on his pale skin.

He presses another gentle kiss to her chest and she gathers some of his hair at the top of his head in one hand, brushing it back from his forehead. There’s an extra elastic on her nightstand, so she reaches over to grab it and makes a small bun, simply because it’s long enough to do so, and she can.

“There,” she teases warmly, resting her hands on his shoulders and taking in her handiwork. “Now I can see your pretty face.”

[weakandfoolish]

As she pulled his hair back from his face, he frowned, reaching up to touch the tight bun at the crown of his head with a peevish expression curling his lips. Truthfully, he struggled not to laugh.

"It must be time for a cut," he said placidly, peering back at her with only the faintest curve of amusement on his lips.

[strongerthanblood]

“I could do it, if you want.” she says easily, looking down at him as she cards her fingers at the shorter hair at the base of his skull. “I’ve always cut my own.”

He could go to a proper barber here, she realizes, but she assumes that he probably doesn’t enjoy a stranger touching him so intimately, so she makes the offer anyway.

His ears are revealed like this, and she traces the shells of them with her thumbs. They’re endearingly large and the tips of them get red when he’s flustered. She adores them.

[weakandfoolish]

"Hm," he said, a vague acceptance of her offer. Letting strands of her hair slip through his fingers, he added, "At least the ends are even. Mostly."

He struggled to hide his smile.

[strongerthanblood]

“You’re so spoiled,” Rey says with a laugh as she puts her palm over Ben’s face and pushes him away hard enough that the tiny bun on his head bounces with the motion.

“Go ahead and go waste money on a fancy haircut, then.”

[weakandfoolish]

"I didn't say no," he pointed out, muffled by her palm. Stifling a laugh, he reached up to tug the elastic from his hair, letting it stretch around his wrist instead.

"If it would make you happy to cut my hair, I won't deny you."

[strongerthanblood]

Her eyes go to the black elastic around his wrist, and she decides not to ask for it back. Seeing it there makes her feel good, and she wonders if he feels something similar when he sees the necklace around her neck. If so, she should probably get him something better than a hair tie.

“As much as I appreciate the sentiment, you don’t have to do something just to make me happy,” she assures him, reaching up to sweep back the messy spill of his hair. “But, if you were to indulge me, don’t cut it too short.”

Her fingers curl in his hair and she gives it a playful tug. “I rather like having something to hold onto.”

[weakandfoolish]

"I'll keep that in mind," he said, chuckling softly as he rolled on his side to face her, his hand curling gently around her forearm to keep her hand there in his hair.

"I know we weren't going to leave this bed, today, but I think we should have some breakfast," he suggested, with an affectionate smirk.

[strongerthanblood]

“Are you offering to make me breakfast?” Rey smiles and turns a bit to curl in towards him, letting her fingertips travel from his temple to the nape of his neck over and over again.

She can hardly believe that it’s still morning after all they’ve done, but the birds are still chirping energetically outside.

“I’ve never just spent a day doing nothing before this place.” Every day brought with it a set of tasks and challenges that she could not ignore, even if she’d had a bed to lounge in. Ben must have had days of rest as a child, but she cannot quite imagine him aboard the Supremacy, letting himself be idle.

“I like it quite a bit, as the occasional treat.” She leans in to kiss him and then drags herself into a sitting position next to him, stretching her arms up over her head as her hair tumbles down her back. “What should we do for breakfast, then?”

[weakandfoolish]

"I'm not asking you to cook," he teased, bracing himself for her indignation.

"I haven't in a long time," he admitted, sweeping her hair away from the line of her back, just so that he could glimpse the curve of her spine. Pushing himself up to sit, he ducked to press a kiss to the top of her shoulder.

"I'm sure we'll find something." Slipping from the bed, he went in search of his pants, glancing over his shoulder at her with a crooked smile as he strode into the front of the apartment where most of their clothes had been abandoned.

[strongerthanblood]

"Spoiled," she says again, twisting a bit to give him a playfully cool look over her shoulder. Rey is aware that she cannot cook worth a damn, and she has no real desire to learn anything beyond the basics. Ben can cook very well and does seem to enjoy it, so she's happy to let him.

He kisses her and gets out of bed, and Rey watches him go with a pleased smile on her face, letting her gaze drop to the curve of his backside and his strong thighs. She takes a moment to simply bask in the happy domesticity of the moment, and then rolls out of bed to go use the restroom and clean up.

After washing her hands and splashing some water onto her face, she pulls on the tee she slept in, the one stolen from Ben, and a pair of plain cotton panties before heading into the kitchen.

Ben is bent over in front of the open refrigerator in a pair of dark sweats, and Rey steps up to swat him playfully on the ass as she squeezes by to get to the kettle. "Fix me something nice, sweetheart."

[weakandfoolish]

"Are you going to be this insufferable all day?" He asked plainly, though there was the playful indication in his tone that he wouldn't have minded it.

Setting the eggs and butter and a package of bacon on the counter, he opened the loaf of bread to pull out a few slices and drop them into the toaster, leaving the lever up for the moment.

[strongerthanblood]

“Oh, I’m just getting started,” she assures him as she pulls herself up onto the counter next to the stove. “Having a beautiful man run across town for me first thing in the morning does wonderful things for my ego.”

She spots the bacon on the counter and her stomach gives an audible little growl that makes her smile sheepishly over at him.

“I do appreciate you, you know,” she says a little more seriously, catching him by the arm as he moves past her. He knows that, she’s sure, but she still wants him to hear it. Smiling softly, she pulls him closer and tips her chin up to give him a soft, lingering kiss, jumping slightly when the cold package of bacon in his hand touches her bare thigh.

“I like having you here like this,” she tells him as she pulls away, smiling as she reaches up to brush his hair back from his face. “And not just because you make me bacon.”

[weakandfoolish]

"Beautiful?" Ben let out a bark of rare laughter, stopping short when she caught him by the arm.

He arched a brow, quirking a faint smile as he rested a hand against her rumbling belly.

"Good," he said, matter-of-fact. "Because I'd planned to be here often."

[strongerthanblood]

“I think you’re beautiful, and I’m always right, remember?” She gives him a rueful smile and reaches up to cup his cheeks in both hands. “I’ve always thought you were beautiful. Ever since you first took that dumb helmet off. It was very frustrating, actually.”

He may not be most conventionally attractive, but what does Rey know about convention? She’s always been able to find beauty in forgotten things, broken things, and see what they would look like when made whole.

“You can be here whenever you’d like,” she tells him as she pulls him in to give him another soft kiss before releasing him. You could be here always, she thinks, but she doesn’t say it. “And I’ll make sure that there is always bacon for you to cook.”