Winding Down

 Wind rattled the window, threatening to bust it open and all the sheets of rain to come inside.

 Lightning and thunder filled the sky as the storm continued to rage on throughout the night.

 Sira lay in the bed, curled up tightly in a ball.

 She clutched her cat plushie firmly as another loud crash of thunder echoed through the air, aiding the wind in shaking the windows.

 With the power still out, the heater was still out of commission, causing a chill to over Sira's body.

 Contrary to Azul's bedroom, the guest room felt much brighter using tones of grey, purple and yellow.

 It was clear that it wasn't used often, it smelled a bit musty, although the blanket covering the unused bed was quite warm, although not warm enough.

 Sira tossed and turned, trying desperately to go to sleep, but the chaos outside and the freezing temperature, mixed with her general fear of the dark and scary noises were proving to be too much.

 She bit her lip, wondering if she should go to Azul's room.

 'Will he think I'm weird if I ask if I can sleep with him tonight? What if he takes that as I want to do something instead of just sleep?'

 Back and forth she went believing it to be a good idea and then a bad idea, considering all of the possible outcomes she could.

 Finally, she sat up and held her plush tight to her chest.

 'I'm his wife now…so it should be fine….I'll just use it as a bonding experience…'

 She stood from the bed, shivering harder as she left the slightly warm shelter the old blanket had provided.

 The PJs she had packed had proven to be less than satisfactory, so Azul had given her some of his sweatpants.

 She headed towards his room, the drawstrings of the thick, gray pants swung as she walked down the hall. His long-sleeved t-shirt practically swallowed her whole, causing her to pull it up to her wrists.

 'Should I knock? What if he's sleeping? Maybe it's better not to….'

 Sira took a deep breath as she placed her hand on the doorknob.

 After slowly opening it, she peaked inside to see the faint outline of a lump in the bed.

 'Seems like he's sleeping….I hope he won't be angry if I wake up him.'

 The door creaked as she pushed it open, and she carefully closed it behind her with a soft 'CLICK'.

 Her socks shuffling across the flooring was barely audible over the elements that were attacking the exterior of the building.

 Azul lay there, completely unaware that his 'wife' was by his bedside, inspecting his face to see how fast asleep he was.

 That is, until, he felt a tickle on his face.

 "Azul...Azul….AZUL!" she whispered as she gently shook his arm.

 He furrowed his eyebrows, her hair fell on his face, tickling his cheek.

 "Mmmm….?" He groaned as he was pulled out of his peaceful slumber.

 "Azul…can I sleep with you? It's too cold and the noises are scaring me…"

 Azul slowly sat up and rubbed his eyes, yawning as he did so.

 For a moment, she braced herself, expecting him to get upset.

 Instead, he scooted over and pulled the blankets back for her to get in.

 A large smile appeared on her face as she slid in, quickly seeking refuge from the freezing temperature.

 Without hesitation, Azul threw the blanket over her and laid down next to her, pulling her close and covering her ear with one hand.

 Her eyes widened as their bodies pressed so closely together, his warmth beginning to seep through her clothes.

 The way he protectively shielded her ear with such consideration for her, even though it was probably uncomfortable for him, made her heart pound in her chest.

 His chest slowly rose and fell with each of his breaths, the sound and feeling of that breath caressing the top of her head just fueled the fire in her heart.

 The more she thought about their closeness, the way he took care of her without the skip of a beat even though he was half asleep caused a deep red hue to slowly begin to color her face.

 Along with the recoloring of her face and the fire burning in her chest, the rest of her body began to heat up as well.

 Suddenly, the feeling of being squished against his chest, with only her plushie and clothes between them was too much to bear.

 Her chest twisted and her stomach flipped, her lungs now beginning to malfunction.

 Thankfully, another crash of thunder drowned out the sound of her sharp gasp.

 Assuming the sudden jerk of her ribcage was due to fear, Azul stroked her side gently with his hand that was wrapped around her.

 His touch sent a feathery feeling along her skin, causing her to squirm.

 She twisted in his embrace and turned her back to him, causing him to just pull her tighter against his chest.

 While she no longer had her plushie as a barrier, and they were somehow now making more contact than before, not having her face pressed against his chest felt a lot less stifling.

 Hopefully he wouldn't be able to feel how hard she was trying to catch her breath either.

 It took what felt like forever for her heart to calm down and for her breathing to return to normal, but when it did, she drifted off to sleep.

 So they slept, both their chests rising and falling peacefully in sync with one another, the warmth of their bodies pressed together getting them through the freezing night.

 The next morning, Azul slowly opened his eyes to a still gloomy morning.

 Morning rays were coloring the gray clouds, and the rain had calmed down.

 The wind was no longer knocking on the windows and the thunder and lightning had already passed.

 Despite this, he pulled Sira closer to him, his arms wrapping tightly around her waist as he gently nuzzled her.

 Then, for a reason he couldn't explain, he had the urge to press his lips against her forehead, and so he did.

 With a forehead kiss that felt more natural than filling his lungs with oxygen, Azul lay there, cursing the storm for clearing so quickly.