Rhyiona Week 2023 Day One

Rhyiona Week 2023 Day One

Prompt: Dream

Stars Fading

Stars fading but I linger on, dear Still craving your kiss

- Dream a Little Dream of Me

“Fi?” Her sister’s voice quietly prodded Fiona awake. “Wake up. It’s your turn to drive.” 

Slowly awakening from her slumber, Fiona blinked the sleep from her eyes as Sasha gently shook her shoulder. Yawning, she sat up and waved her sister away. 

“You good?” Sasha asked, brows raised. “You were pretty out of it. Twitching and mumbling.”

“Hmm? Yeah,” Fiona replied, stretching as she got to her feet. “Just having a weird dream.” 

Earlier, the steady hum of the caravan in motion had quickly lulled her to sleep. While she dozed, she had fallen deeply into a dream. However, upon waking, she was left with only the vague memories of half formed images as to the events that had taken place. Now a haunting impression of the warmth and intimacy that had permeated her rest lingered in her mind like smoke. The undefinable, but nevertheless gnawing desire to feel the return of that sanctuary she had briefly experienced echoed through her. 

“As long as you’re awake enough to make sure we don’t run into anything,”  Sasha spoke, pulling Fiona’s attention back to the present, “I’d say it’s best if you give Rhys a break. He’s trying to pretend like he’s not exhausted but with all the swerving he’s been doing…” Sasha shrugged. 

“I’m on it.” 

Fiona stepped around the little table that sat in front of the caravan’s couch where she had been resting. Glancing over, she saw poor Vaughn was still frozen in paralysis. They had tried to make him as comfortable as possible, placing his stiff form onto couch cushions, but there was little else they could do. 

Eyes closed and arms crossed, Athena leaned against the rear wall beside the ladder leading to the roof hatch. It astounded Fiona that not only could the older woman sleep standing up, but that she was steady enough to do so in a moving vehicle. 

“I’m gonna check on the bots up top,” Sasha said, pointing a finger to the roof. “Make sure they haven’t blown away.” She flashed a grin before turning to the ladder. Careful not to disturb the slumbering vault hunter, she climbed up and disappeared from sight. 

With one final jaw-popping yawn, Fiona made her way in the opposite direction, towards the front of the wagon. Rhys turned at the sound of her boots scraping against the short steps that lead up to the raised driver’s area.

“Hey,” he said softly with a sleepy half smile. 

Bizarrely, something squeezed in her chest as she nodded a greeting. The unusual echo that lingered from her dream seemed to grow stronger in the moment their eyes briefly met before his attention returned to the task of driving. Caught off guard by the potency of that mysteriously continuing sensation, she brushed her fingers through her bangs and regarded him quietly. As Sasha had mentioned, he must be exhausted; the dark circles under his heavy lidded eyes and the large yawn he tried to stifle behind his mechanical hand confirming it.

“Come to keep me company?” he asked, glancing at her over his shoulder, a strange gleam in his tired eyes.

“As if.” She was quick to scoff at the notion, despite the butterflies that blossomed in her stomach at his hopeful tone. “I’m kicking you out. We’re getting complaints about the ride. Apparently, it’s not as smooth as expected. I’m replacing you.”

“Are you accusing me of being a bad driver?” His tone was full of false shock. “Unbelievable.”

“Not a bad one,” she corrected, tilting her head as she gave him a soft smirk. “Just a tired one. C’mon. Go get some rest.” 

“Ah, all right,” he relented, huffing out a sigh. “If you insist.” 

She stepped closer, putting one hand on the wheel. He unfolded his lanky body from the driver’s seat and edged around her. For the briefest of moments, the pair brushed by each other. Despite sharing the same space for less than a breath of a second, it was still long enough to awaken a lost memory from her dream. 

Although unclear as to the circumstances, Fiona remembered the whisper of his touch against her body and overwhelming sense of security that had flooded her. Shaken by the recollection, she plopped into the driver’s seat unceremoniously, her butt hitting the cracked leather with a plop. 

“You okay?” Rhys asked, “I didn’t trip you, did I? Curse of these long legs,” he muttered jokingly. 

“Uh, no. No, I’m fine,” she reassured him. “Just, uh, lost my balance for a second.” 

As she readjusted herself, she turned to concentrate on the landscape that whizzed by through the windshield, and tried to push the memory of that lingering dream away. 

Beneath her, residual body heat radiated from the seat, warming her along her back and behind. She squirmed, desperately attempting not to dwell on the idea that it was his body that had generated this heat.  Almost as if somehow he knew of her discomfort and was taunting her, he began to stretch nearby, much to her silent dismay. Irritated at her own internal reaction, she pointedly tried to ignore him but that little annoying ache still persisted within her. The temptation proved too much. 

She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. The long line of his body, the arch of his back as he reached up towards the ceiling overhead, completely pulled her focus from the road, causing her hands to follow her eyes. The caravan began to swerve to the left. Quickly, she caught herself and corrected the wheel. 

Thankfully, no one, especially Rhys, had seemed to notice. Shaking her head to clear her obviously still sleep-addled brain, she cursed herself for getting distracted so easily.

Beside her, he finally finished stretching with a soft little grunt that set Fiona’s teeth on edge. Reaching the top of the short steps, he stopped. 

“Fi?” 

The sound of her name spoken in his hushed tone sent a zip along her spine. Poker face firmly intact despite the maelstrom of emotions that plagued her, she glanced his way. 

He gave her a friendly little salute, “Thanks.”

Despite herself, she was charmed. The tension that bunched across her shoulders melted as she realized how ridiculous she was being, letting a stupid, fleeting dream get the better of her. She acknowledged his gratitude with a half smile. 

“Sleep well, Hyperion. And, uh,” her cheeks warmed as she uttered, “sweet dreams.” 

my spineless courier <3

about to turn maliwan into maliwas amiright

nothing could possibly go wrong right?...right???

· • —– ٠ ✤Cursebreaker ✤ ٠ —– • ·

they..were serious?? i thought it was a joke