#34--Restless--Spice And Wolf--General
Title: Dreams
Fandom: Spice And Wolf
Characters: Lawrence and Holo
Prompt: #34. Restless
Word Count: 500
Rating: G
Summary: They spend their sleepless nights talking about the dreams they should be having.
Disclaimer: It’s not mine, and I’m not making a profit from writing this.
Notes: Written in the wee hours of the morning, so that would explain it if some things didn’t make any sense.
There’s an unexpected atmosphere of calmness surrounding the air tonight; the wind is at a standstill, the air warm and thick.
They can’t enjoy it, however. They are so deprived of sleep that it's impossible to enjoy anything, for that matter.
“I can’t sleep,” she complains to herself, burying her face into her discarded robe. “How vexing.”
She doesn’t know that he’s listening quietly, his eyes trailing up to the stars. He can’t count the months that they had been traveling together, and somehow they never got used to the various problems they ran into. They bickered all too often on possible solutions, ending in them never getting anything done.
“That won’t work.”
“And who are you to say?”
“Because I’ve seen people try it before!”
At this, she’d silently concede defeat, pride severely wounded. She would hold a grudge against him for all of an hour before being decently amicable once more.
That was just her nature, he resolved.
“Is it really so difficult to just shut your eyes and drift off?” Lawrence asks, turning over in the cart to look at her. Her eye twitches slightly, and he laughs. “I would think that the warm air is enough to put someone like you to sleep.”
She looks away, pouting like the little girl she truly is (at heart, anyway). “Couldn’t you say the same for yourself, fool?”
He can’t hold in a laugh as he reaches over and ruffles her hair. “I suppose I could.”
She squirms under his touch and digs deeper underneath her robe, using it as a cover. “Fool…” she whispers under her breath, squeezing her eyes shut.
“I don’t think you’ll be able to fall asleep that easily.”
“Of course not, when you keep trying to wake me!”
“Do you dream?”
At this, her ears shoot up and she emerges from underneath the robe, staring at him with those intense crimson eyes. “Dream?” Holo looks uncomfortable for a moment before regaining her composure. “I suppose I do from time to time.”
“About?”
“I don’t remember, usually.” She shoots a skeptical glare at him. “Why, do you recall yours with unyielding clearness?”
They lay like that, looking at the stars in silence. There’s not much else to ruminate on-mindless chatter is their only option if they want to bore themselves to sleep. He turns over so that his back is facing her, stretching out. After a few awkward moments of stillness, he decides to grace her with a response.
“Sometimes. Most of the time, no.”
She nods. “That’s how it is for me too.” Inching a little closer to him, she suddenly frowns and looks annoyed.
“What?” he asks, not knowing if he did anything wrong.
“We should spend more time trying to dream instead of just talking about it,” she mumbles before drifting away.
He stares at her sleeping form a little while longer before smiling, more amused than he should be. He’d give anything to see what she dreamt about.