Keeping watch with his wife was something that Arrion rather liked doing. He was rather glad that she had forgiven him for keeping quiet for a bit. He knew he was wrong to have done so, and that she would have had every reason to be angry at him for the childish stunt. That she was not made him feel more than a little relieved.
He was not fully sure why he had messed with her. Some of it had been that he had been upset with her and he had been being just a little bit petty. He was pretty sure some of it was just because he got a kick out of messing with people in the first place, and it came naturally to him. And some of it, if he was being honest with himself, was because he had wanted her to validate to himself her feelings.
Her quick forgiveness was just that. She cared that he was alive, and that was still her focus even when he had done something that usually would have made her upset with him. Of course, her getting mad at him would not have exactly disproved it, as that could have been showing her care too.
But she had not been apathetic towards it. She had been slightly annoyed, but she had not been able to keep it, because she was just that happy at the moment.
A grin lifted his lips and he propped his chin on her shoulder. She had been in his arms ever since coming out of her tent, and that made him rather happy as well. She wanted to be near him.
To Arrion it felt a bit like a dream. But it also felt real. He knew he was fully awake. But this was everything he had ever wanted, and he had finally gotten it.
He heard his wife's sigh and felt her hand touch his face. He looked sideways with a smile into her lifted face. She was watching him, her eyes gazing at his own, a soft smile on her face.
She looked happy. To the point that even her usual aloof demeanor was nowhere to be seen. A soft smile curved her lips up, and it reached her eyes. It was nothing like the smile that she had sometimes displayed for him over the course of their marriage. Nor was it the one she had been trying to force lately.
It was a genuine, absentminded smile that she was not even thinking about.
Arrion found himself just enjoying looking at the rare expression on her face. He had always found her beautiful. But right now, she was even more stunning than normal.
It was really true that a woman was at her prettiest when she was in love.
He leaned towards her and bumped his nose against hers. He did not even really think before doing so, he just felt the urge to show her affection.
He heard her giggle and she pushed him away. But her eyes crinkled up, and he knew she did not actually mind the action.
So, instead he just stole a kiss from her smiling lips. Only it wasn't so much stolen, because she saw what he was doing and actually kissed him first.
He laughed when he pulled back from her, and then just snuggled her deep in his embrace. Cuddling Dawn had long been a favorite pastime of his. And one that he was pretty sure she had never hated either. He was pretty sure deep down, she had even enjoyed them. Not that he would ever fight her if she denied it.
He was really looking forward to being back in Lumna. Sure, there was something fun about having this slight vacation and just traveling around, but out here in the wilderness was not really conducive for all the ways he wanted to reaffirm his feelings to his wife.
Showering Dawn with love was something he was looking forward to. But it was a bit hard out here. There was quite a bit he wanted to do, and he was not real picky on the order either.
He smiled to himself, wondering if she had any particular order for what she wanted to do when they got back. If, she did, then he would gladly accommodate her. That was a given though.