Work Text:
Life on the Somniel could only be called idyllic. A floating sky paradise, nestled among the clouds, safe from the dangers that lurk on the hard earth below. It was pristinely kept, its beauty undeniable, and that beauty came hand in hand with a feeling of peace, so different from all that Nel had known on her original world. Nel herself was not immune to the feeling, the beautiful blue sky loosening her tense muscles and dropping her guard somewhat.
Perhaps that's why Nel could partially understand Alear's strange habit of falling asleep in random places all over the Somniel. Today's location is the stables, the dragon napping among the hay and horses. Quite literally, seeing as how several horses were cuddled up to the Divine One's side, seemingly basking in her warmth. How overwhelmingly whimsical.
One part of the Nel, the one so unfathomably weak to the Divine One's charms, could only stare, taking in her sister's sleeping visage. The very picture of relaxation, so open and vulnerable and so disgustingly cute. The weakness in her told her to let her sleep, that Alear was safe and sound were she was, where no harm could find her. The practical part of her told her it would be unbecoming of The Divine Dragon to be caught napping among farm animals.
Doing her best not to disturb the slumbering horses or the slumbering dragon, Nel gently picked up her snoozing sister and left the stables with Alear in tow. Doing her best to be as quick and quiet as possible, Nel carried Alear up to her chambers, luckily avoiding the eyes of the chatting patrons in the dining area.
Slipping inside the Divine One's resting place, Nel crossed the room and carefully deposited her sleeping sister onto the bed. Her eyes, as they so often do nowadays, were stuck to Alear's sleeping face, mapping out the slight curves of her jaw, the smooth fluttering of her eyelashes, and the soft exhalations of her sleeping breaths.
Nel's heart stirs, an arrhythmic beating in her chest coming alongside quicker breaths and the twitching of her fingers. Her heart knows what it wants, to touch her sleeping sister's divine form. To let her fingers know the sensation of the dragon's ever-warm skin. To know the smoothness of those soft, supple lips, parted slightly, as if waiting for a kiss.
Nel understands why one would choose to worship the sleeping dragon. She is so breathtakingly, heart-wrenchingly beautiful that feelings of devotion spring forth so easily. She does not blame the little ones for choosing her as their goddess.
Her hands ache to feel the Divine One's skin, and she watches her traitorous hand move to cup her sister's warm face. Her heart aches a little more when Alear leans into her touch, those pink lips curving into a pleased smile at Nel's touch.
She should leave. She should leave before she does anything even more unbecoming than she already has. She just needs to remove her hand, turn around and leave. That's all. It's simple really, so simple. She just needs to regain control of her hand. It's simple, it's her hand, it should listen to her commands, regardless of whether her hand is luxuriating in the feeling of her wonderful sister nuzzling up against it or not. She should be a responsible person and leave.
It's a herculean task, but she does manage to pry her hand away from that soft skin, and she makes it as far as turning around to leave before she is stopped by a grip on said hand. It's a light grip, one she could easily escape, but she can't. She's stuck, forcibly held in place by the warm, callused fingers holding her own.
"Nel..." Alear groans softly, a pleading tone coating her words, "Stay..."
"I cannot Divine One," Nel struggles to keep her voice neutral, "I have duties I must attend to." Nel cannot name a single one at the moment, but she can always find something to do, far away from her tempting sister.
Alear moans in anguish and, in a move that catches Nel off guard, suddenly wraps her arms around Nel's midsection and pulls, forcibly sitting her sister down on the bed, before snuggling up to her side with a pleased hum.
"Stay." Alear says with finality.
Nel wants to feel exasperated with her sister's sleepy antics, but all of her brain is focused on the strong grip around her body and the way her sister's nose rubs against the fabric of her clothes. She feels so pathetically overwhelmed by her sister's affection that her first instinct is to flee. She moves to stand and escape, but at the first sign of movement, Alear pulls her again with a strength she usually reserves for battle, forcibly laying her sister on her side before cuddling up against her back, nuzzling against the faint hairs on her neck.
"Mine. My Nel." comes a faint whisper against Nel's skin.
She has a few moments where her whole world is surprise, fear and elation before Nel succumbs to darkness.
. . .
Veyle jogs up the steps leading up to her sister's chambers, slightly hurried by the task she's been given. Alear is needed, urgently, for a strategy meeting, and Veyle is nothing if not diligent in her task. She can't keep the smile off her face as she imagines her sister, who's more than likely napping away in her chambers. Ever since joining her sister's army, she's quickly learned just how much of a sleepyhead she is, and Veyle can't help but find it endearing.
She's prepping her wake-up speech as she opens the wooden doors to the Divine Dragon's lair, but the words are wrenched from her mind at the sight laying before her.
Her Fell sister from another world, who was stoic and reserved at the best of times, was seemingly peacefully sleeping on Alear's bed, with a cozy Divine Dragon cuddling against her back. It's all so startlingly out of character that Veyle can only stop and stare, dumbfounded. Alear is content to stare at Nel's sleeping face before she notices Veyle's presence, but all she does is raise a single finger up to her lips in a shushing motion, before resuming her cuddling against her sleeping Nel.
Veyle's face burns as she hurriedly leaves the room, as quickly and quietly as she can, before storming away as fast as possible.
She'll just have to tell Vander that Alear was busy.