Gabriel/f!MC A quiet morning

Comfort was not the usual thought I had upon waking in the morning. Most mornings were a groggy slog to get downstairs and start the fire. The unnatural cold that had settled across the Night Market was a bit more concerning than I’d like to admit, but it was low on the list of things I needed to pay attention to.  Yet, this morning, there was no cold that greeted me. No sound of the wisps running against the side windows. The faint smell of last night's fire did not linger in the air.  Blearily, I opened my eyes, seeing the soft line of dark blue sheets and the swell of a pillow that I had grabbed in the middle of the night.

The evening before came back to me. The feel of Gabriel moving against me. The soft planes of his skin and the jagged raised scars where his wings used to be. I could still smell him on the sheets.  Burying my head in his pillow, I breathed deeply, hiding a smile within the satin confines. There was a pleasant soreness about me and the brief thought of perhaps doing it all over again instead of leaving the house today was a tempting thought. In the end, if I could convince Gabriel to stay in bed with me, it would be a feat all in itself. Part of me wondered if the man had snuck off to work already.

It was the soft clatter in the kitchen that roused me fully. The telling sounds of someone trying to be quiet filtered through the house. Looking around, I spied Gabriel’s discarded shirt before slipping out of bed and tugging it over my head. It comically fell down past my knees. I took a moment to glance at myself in the mirror, noticing a few new red splotches on my neck and shoulders. Gabriel, it turned out, was a biter and I couldn’t say that I minded. I tried to smooth down the matted areas of my pink hair, tucking the loose strands behind my braids. There was nothing I could do about the state of my eyes at this point. Other than perhaps trust Belladonna when she claimed she knew a guy.  But that was most likely opening a door I did not want to walk down.

Exiting the room, I tiptoed down the hall, not wanting to announce my presence just yet. Gabriel’s back was to me, his pants slung low on his tapered hips.  The two wing scars he bore stuck out this morning. The puckered skin created jagged white raises against his otherwise dark skin. He was humming something to himself this morning. Eggs sizzled in the pan before him and a plate of fried bread was off to the side.

I leaned against the door frame, content with watching him. There was something so much different about him here. A relaxed nature I didn’t think he often allowed himself to have.  His hair had long since fallen out of the gel hold he had it in and black locks curled slightly above each of his ears.

Taking the pan off the stove, he turned to go to the ice chest, spying me in the doorway. He froze, pan of eggs in hand, as he blinked at me.

I smiled softly back at him. “Did you forget I was here?” I teased.

“Of course not.” He set the pan of eggs aside and walked towards me. I had to crane my neck up to look at him as he settled a pair of warm hands on my hips. “You should be in bed.”

“Oh?”

“Yes. I hear it is important after a night like ours, for the partner to sleep in.”

I tipped my head to the side. “Are you suggesting I need to recover?”

“And hydrate.”

I couldn’t help but laugh a little at his serious tone. Something that became all the more pronounced as he frowned at me in complete confusion. I ended up scooting forward, pressing my face against his bare skin. In response, he wrapped his arms tighter around me.

“It smells good in here,” I sighed.  I was becoming obsessed with the feel of him beneath my fingertips. Tracing the lines of each muscle was something I felt I could get lost in for hours at a time. “I thought you didn’t know how to cook.”

“I do not know how to cook anything fancy,” he claimed. “But, I can make eggs. And bread. Perhaps tea.”

I nuzzled my face against him. “I know you know how to make tea.”

“Not to Miss Hazel’s specifications.”

“To be fair, no one can make tea to Hazel’s specifications.” Pulling away from him, I let my hand slip inside his as he tugged me to the kitchen table. There, he pulled the chair out for me, sitting me down.  

Within moments, I had a plate of eggs in front of me, bread, and a tall class of juice.  Eagerly, I stabbed the contents, realizing how hungry I actually was. There hadn’t been a lot of time to eat yesterday, and once we got to Gabriel’s house, we were a bit distracted by other things. Without asking, Gabriel stood and began making more eggs.

“Why do you not cook like this for yourself?” I asked. Gabriel was a known non eater, but I didn’t think it was by choice.

He shrugged as he one-handed cracked a few more eggs, and I had to admit that it was slightly impressive. “I am usually in a rush in the morning hours.”

“You barely sleep,” I pointed out to him. “How can you be in a rush?”

“It is important to be on time for your job, Maeryn.  I cannot set a good example to my colleagues and underlings if I am taking my time eating breakfast.”

I pointed my fork at him. “Some would argue that you are setting a good example by proving that self-care is equally important as diligent time management.”

His lips twisted up in that little way that said he clearly did not agree with me.  “I do not know or trust these people you speak of.” Flipping the burner off, he set down another plate of eggs in front of me, just as I was finished with mine.

“Aren’t you going to eat?”

“I will,” he said, getting himself a glass of juice. 

I glanced back down at my eggs and his empty plate. “So why aren’t you?”

He actually looked a bit sheepish at that.  The cold glass was pressed between his palms and he was looking down at it with some amount of embarrassment that I couldn’t quite place.  “I like to drink a glass of juice in the morning before eating.”

“Okay,” I started slowly. There was something far more to it than that.

Gabriel sighed, taking a sip of his drink. “When I had first fallen, I had to learn how to eat. Or at least eat the food that was available here. I did not stomach it very well. However, Elias would sit with me every morning while Reese cooked, and we would have a glass of juice together. I hated the taste at first. Far too sweet for my liking. But it brought such joy to Elias, and soon I found that it was the ritual of the matter that I ended up enjoying the most. It was an example of family to me.”

Reaching across the table, I rested my hand on his. His eyes lifted to meet mine and I offered him a gentle smile. “I think that’s lovely,” I told him. Relief flooded his face and the tension in his shoulders dropped a bit.

We finished the rest of breakfast in relative silence, exchanging a few pleasantries but mostly just enjoying each other's company.  When I couldn’t eat anymore, Gabriel stood. But instead of clearing away the dishes, he held out his hand.

“Stand, if you will,” he beckoned.

I placed my hand in his, marveling at the contrast of our skin.  His fingers curled around my own, helping me up before his arms went around me.

“Would you dance with me?” he asked.

I looked up at him. “There’s no music.”

“We shall make it,” he assured me. “I have had a silly thought in my head since holding you for the first time, and I would like to make it true today.”

Smiling, I molded my body to his. “You’ve wanted to dance with me that long? You should have just said something.”

“The moment needed to be perfect,” he murmured, leaning over to rest his cheek against the top of my head. “I needed this to be perfect.”

And it was. As the two of us began to sway back and forth in the small kitchen, I couldn’t think of anywhere else I’d rather be. Gabriel was warm against me, dirty dishes sat in the sink, and the scent of breakfast still lingered in the air. Both of us looked sleep addled and as I closed my eyes just to feel, I couldn’t help but feel the coaxing tendrils of sleep try to beckon both of us back into bed. But instead, we swayed together. A soft hum came to my lips from a song that I had heard long ago. Gabriel tightened his hold against me, continuing to rock us back and forth.

Tomorrow would bring something different. It would bring strife and confusion and an ever mounting block of stress. Today, however. Today would bring this. A newfound comfort found in the arms of this man.  It was more than enough.