Dawn was in a good mood. She had been in one the whole day. It was rather enjoyable to have her husband constantly making light hearted flirtatious comments in her ear.
She was not the only one, everyone seemed in an almost festive mood. Probably happy to be on their way home. The rangers seemed to have made up as well – she was not sure when because she had been paying attention to Arrion the whole time.
As they ate supper, they did not bother being as quiet. Now, there was almost a freeness to the air, like they were not worried about anything.
Dawn sat beside her husband with the food that Miria had made. She slightly leaned towards him as she ate. It was actually rather nice just listening to the teasing and banter that was going on.
She felt her good mood improve even more when Arrion casually wrapped one of his arms around her shoulder and squeezed her close for a moment. She absolutely loved it when he acted like it was the most natural thing in the world.
She did not look at him though. Not that she was ignoring him. She was all too aware of everything he was doing. It wasn't much more than him slowly rubbing circles on her arm but she found herself not wanting to separate from him at all.
Laughter suddenly rang out and she looked over at where Fendrel was swapping jokes with Aklane and Kion. Aldresh was listening but seemed just a little out of it. Dawn was never sure what exactly was going through his head when he wasn't blowing things up. Probably wanting to blow things up.
Dawn smiled as she listened to them having fun. She did not have the heart to tell them to quiet down. Besides, she really found it hard to be afraid of anything when Arrion was sitting next to her. and not just because of how giddy she was feeling. There was a reason why people found it hard to think that he could die easily. Lumnan kings tended to be well versed in battle and her husband was no exception.
There was only one thing making her feel just a little bit unhappy. She would not be able to cuddle up to her husband tonight.
It was a pity. She slept better with him at her side. But they did not have enough tents to do so. She sighed.
"What's wrong, dear?" Arrion turned and looked at her, his eyes looking faintly worried.
"Just I'm tired of not being able to cuddle up to you when I fall asleep…."
He laughed, and then he pecked her on her forehead. "Well, after we get home, I promise you can cuddle with me everyday."
Dawn did not care that they were in front of everyone. All she cared about was the sweet look her husband had when she looked at him. She leaned even closer to him, and placed her lips against his. She knew that he would not mind the fact that they were not alone either.
She was right. He placed a steadying arm around her and just kissed her back.
Afterwards, he gave her a grin and whispered to her, "Thanks, my dear. More than happy to offer myself any time for your use."
She laughed softly at him and shook her head. There was a sweet feeling in her chest that had been feeling heavy lately. Now, she was past that heartache and she was so very thankful.
To herself, she promised that she would show this man how much she loved him for the rest of their lives together.
Later, when it was time for her to be turning in, Dawn was reluctant. She wanted to spend more time with her husband. But he sent her to her tent with a smile, and she could not fight against him.
So, she laid down and happily thought about what was going to happen next. She couldn't wait to get back to Lumna and there were several things she wanted to do – most of them involving her shapeshifter.
She closed her eyes trying to fall asleep. The sooner she did, the quicker it would seem before she could be with him again. It was not easy though. It was not until the second watch that she managed to actually fall asleep.