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“We’ve just gotten married and you’re intent in joining me in undeath already. How very eager of you, wife.”
Jaina slowly swam back to consciousness, her mind still foggy from the impromptu nap she had taken while filling out reports. This peace they had brokered was still new and fragile, and the amount of paperwork she had to deal with on a daily basis would probably have driven a lesser person to madness. It was just lucky that Jaina actually enjoyed her work, though perhaps a bit too much, if some people were to be believed.
She felt soft hands threading delicately through her hair and combing it gently, nails scraping lightly at her scalp and making her toes curl. If she were a cat she would have been purring with how heavenly it felt. There was only one person bold enough to approach her in her sleep and actually touch her, and Jaina welcomed her at all times, asleep or awake.
“Keep doing that and I will join you wherever you want. It feels amazing.” Jaina murmured softly, noting absently that she was no longer hunched over her desk, but was instead lying down and with her head resting on a cool surface that she would bet her staff was her beloved’s lap. She could open her eyes to verify, but it felt like too much work at the moment. That and the feeling of hands in her hair was much too lovely to make her want to miss a second of it. Instead, she sighed and burrowed further into cool, pliant flesh.
A raspy chuckle was her answer, and the amused quality of it made Jaina smile.
“Easy to please, aren’t you?” Sylvanas murmured back, her tone matching her wife’s so as to not break the magic of the moment just yet. She continued gently scratching at Jaina’s head, enjoying the soft little noises at the back of Jaina’s throat that she was certain the mage had no idea she was making. Moments like these were few and far between, the both of them being much too busy keeping their newly-forged peace going, putting out fires before they got out of hand, attending meetings and hearing petitions, and just generally having to be world leaders. Sylvanas hoped things would calm soon, but considering how her life had a tendency to go it wasn’t very likely. She bit back a sigh and focused on Jaina again, her own shoulders relaxing at the contentment she could feel radiating from her wife.
They stayed like that for a few minutes before Sylvanas spoke again. “You work too hard.”
Knowing that the moment was broken and not wanting to have this argument with Sylvanas again, Jaina turned to face the Banshee and gave her a tired look. “Can we not? We were having a nice moment here.”
“And we could have more nice moments if you weren’t constantly buried in paperwork, my heart.” Sylvanas replied immediately, genuine concern coloring her tone and her ears flicking lightly. “I don’t want to argue with you either, but you’re human, Jaina. You need food, you need sleep, and you need to not stay up until you pass out at your desk surrounded by reports and missives. I’m a Banshee but you might as well be a ghost for all I see you out of official meetings and work-related matters.”
Were she not exhausted, Jaina would have argued. Instead, she flopped back onto Sylvanas’ lap and grumbled into her beloved’s stomach. “It’s not like you’re much better, you fiend.”
Sylvanas chuckled and tugged lightly at the braid she was undoing. “Yes, but like I said, I am a Banshee. I don’t sleep, so I might as well do something productive with my time.” She hummed thoughtfully before adding, “And I only work nights when you’re not in bed with me.”
Jaina made a low noise of contentment at her braid coming undone, the pressure on her scalp lessening and giving her a sense of relief. “Sleep is for the weak. I miss out on all the fun when I sleep.”
Sylvanas sighed and shook her head in light exasperation. “You are the only person I know who thinks paperwork is fun in any shape or form.” Her hands now moved to her beloved’s neck, massaging gently. “Sometimes ‘fun’ is worth missing out on. Have you ever considered that you cannot work if you’re dead?”
Jaina moaned low in her throat at the feeling of knots she hadn’t even known were there being worked on. How Sylvanas always knew where and how to touch her, she would never know, but she would be eternally grateful for it. Those hands were magical. “Says the dead Elf constantly putting in overtime.”
A grumbling ‘tsk’ was her only reply as Sylvanas worked on a particularly stubborn spot, and Jaina almost keened from how good it felt. In that moment, Sylvanas could have asked her for anything and Jaina would have been unable to deny her. It felt that good.
“You know I worry about you, don’t you?”
Jaina turned one eye to her wife’s face, seeing nothing but genuine concern and worry in those deep, red eyes that always seemed to look into her very soul. It used to make her uncomfortable. She couldn’t imagine living without them now.
Her hand went up to caress Sylvanas’ cheek softly, her thumb stroking her love’s skin in a slow, gentle pattern. “I know, my love. I promise I will try to work less once things have calmed down somewhat. For now we simply have to grin and bear it. There’s too much that requires our attention for me to really slow down just yet.” At Sylvanas’ unconvinced look, Jaina pressed on. “Look at how much we’ve accomplished already. Disputes between Horde and Alliance have significantly decreased, new trade routes have opened, no major fights have broken out since our marriage, Genn is actually behaving for once, and our people are finally beginning to flourish again. We’re starting to thrive, my darling. Isn’t that worth a few sleepless nights?”
Sylvanas sighed heavily, lowering her face so she could press her forehead against Jaina’s own. “I would be less concerned if it truly were ‘a few sleepless nights’ instead of having gone on for months. Have you looked in a mirror recently, dalah’surfal? You look like you haven’t slept since the Third War.”
“That was definitely the moment my sleep quality went straight into the Maelstrom, yes.” Jaina sighed before trying to steal a quick kiss that soon morphed into something a lot longer and sweeter. Her hands went to the back of Sylvanas’ head and pulled her closer, wanting to deepen the kiss.
Gods, how long had it been since she’d last gotten more than a quick peck from her wife? How long since she’d spent a night in those strong, cool arms and forgotten the problems the world expected her to handle on a daily basis? How long since she’d simply laid with her wife and listened to her breathing, traced the plains and valleys of her body with her eyes and hands, since she had her fill of this beautiful, broken creature that was so imperfectly perfect for her?
It was truly tragic that she couldn’t actually remember. Maybe Sylvanas was right when she said Jaina worked too hard.
Jaina held the kiss for as long as she could, but her humanity betrayed her in the end and she needed to break it off to breathe. She pulled back panting, and opened her eyes only to have the breath stolen from her again.
“Tides, Sylvanas…”
It was completely unfair just how beautiful the Banshee Queen was. Her hair was a mess from having Jaina’s hands in it as they kissed, her lips were smeared with Jaina’s lipstick, she was breathing hard, and her eyes…those eyes blazed with sheer, unadulterated want. It would never stop awing Jaina just how open Sylvanas was with her, how she no longer hid anything from her. They had to work hard for their love in the beginning, but the reward was so sweet and so very worth it.
Jaina’s hand went back to Sylvanas’ cheek, a small thrill going through her when her beloved closed her eyes and nuzzled into the palm, pressing a gentle kiss to it. “Have you been missing me, my love?”
Sylvanas’ eyes opened again, and this time they held a hint of fond exasperation in them. “What clued you in, my heart? My constant attempts to get you to work less, the way I make excuses to see you throughout the day, or the fact that I cannot kiss you without wanting to do much more than that?”
The mage chuckled softly, tugging her wife back down for another kiss before murmuring in her ear. “I suppose I have been neglecting my wifely duties. And I am nothing if not thorough.”
Sylvanas shivered as Jaina’s warm breath hit the shell of her ear, heat beginning to pool in her belly. “Is that so? I don’t know if I can quite believe that, my dear. It has been quite a while since I last enjoyed your full attention. You might have gotten rusty in the interim.”
Jaina sat up abruptly at that, whirling to face her wife, indignation plain on her face. “Me? Rusty?” She would have had more to say were it not for the way Sylvanas was unable to keep a straight face and broke into happy peals of laughter. Her eyes narrowed at the smug grin on her beloved's face. “That does it, Windrunner. I’ll show you who’s rusty.”
Sylvanas’ grin only widened as Jaina’s eyes glowed with power and they were both teleported into their bedchambers. Clearly, her plan to catch herself a mage had worked perfectly, and she intended to savor the fruits of her labor long into next morning.