Frostfruit Inn, Room 15 [Monday morning]

[pasunereveuse]

Celia had changed overnight (and she'd argue that it was for the better, thank you, when she was awake enough to do so.) Of course, Celia was also a very, very deep sleeper, and probably wouldn't have woken up if they'd experienced an avalanche, much less something as subtle as this

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[not_called_icky]

It had taken Ichabod a long time to fall asleep the night before. Listening to Celia's breath so close to him - even if she wasn't quite herself - was making keeping him awake, and he tried not to move so as to not wake her.

So by now he was fast asleep, although some part of him was sensing the cold, which was why his unconscious decided that he needed more of that blanket.

[pasunereveuse]

Celia murmured a protest at that, because being warm was the only thing that mattered just now. So if her blanket was going to be tugged away, she was just going to have to shift closer to the person taking it.

If she had been more awake, she probably would have been much more cautious about this. But as it was, she was just going to nestle herself close against him, because it was much warmer this way, and she could worry about consequences later.

[not_called_icky]

Having another person close was even better, not that it was a coherent thought, because Ichabod would have been a little more concerned then. But it was indeed nice and warm, and with a sleepy sigh, Ichabod wrapped an arm about whoever it was.

[pasunereveuse]

Celia offered a very eloquent, "Mrph," at that, sighing a little herself as she curled closer and tucked her head against his chest.

That was much better than a pillow, she thought, in that it was also warm. Warm was clearly a priority, here.

[not_called_icky]

Ichabod sighed again in his sleep, because it was indeed much better. Well, until long, tangled hair got in his face. That was a little itchy, and he sneezed, which brought him closer to consciousness, but not quite enough to wake up.

[pasunereveuse]

"Bless you."

Apparently Celia was awake enough to process that that was what one said (or mumbled, in this case) to someone who had sneezed, and she vaguely batted her hair away from his face courteously, but she wasn't quite awake enough to actually call attention to the fact that she was fairly sure this was not how she'd fallen asleep.

In several ways.

She draped an arm around him, snuggling closer and resisting wakefulness for just a little longer.

[not_called_icky]

"Hmmm?" Ichabod mumbled, now closer to waking up. He shifted a little, his hand moving up to stroke her hair while his eyelids slowly opened. He blinked, trying to remember where he was, and more importantly, why he wasn't alone.

"Celia?" There was a hint of sleepy fear in his voice.

[pasunereveuse]

"Mmm?" All right, now someone was talking to her, and she couldn't very well just sleep through that. Particularly since now she was vaguely remembering the circumstances under which she had gone to bed, and who she was pressed against, and --

She blinked, blearily, and raised her head to look at him a little sheepishly. "...good morning."

Well, she wasn't going to move now. It was warm here, propriety be damned.

[not_called_icky]

Ichabod looked back, eyes widened. Celia, sleepy and with tangled hair, was leaning against him, and she looked so adorable and it was very very wrong.

"Did you sleep well?" Because he had to say something.

[pasunereveuse]

"Mmm-hmm." Celia could feel herself blushing, just the tiniest bit, though it was hard to feel all that embarrassed at the moment. "In spite of the cold, yes. Did you?"

She still hadn't pulled away -- she didn't want to pull away, even if she felt a little like they might be caught doing something they oughtn't. She had noticed that she was female (it was a bit difficult to ignore, now that she was starting to be more aware of her surroundings), but she didn't feel the need to point it out. He'd probably already noticed.

[not_called_icky]

"Eventually." He didn't really want to tell Celia that her presence kept him awake.

It was no surprise that sharing a bed was far beyond the boundaries of propriety, but it was indeed very very pleasant. Ichabod had never been this close to Celia without her wearing a corset and he could feel the shape of her body through the shirt she was wearing. Unfortunately it was also enjoyable in ways he preferred not to think about right now, and he certainly didn't want Celia to notice that.

Which was why he decided this was a good time to find out if she was ticklish.

[pasunereveuse]

The answer to that was immediately clear, given how Celia burst out in surprised giggles and tried to squirm away.

"Ichabod!"

Of course, the wriggling she was doing to resist tickling was probably not helping the fact that she was corset-free and close. Celia blushed a little pinker, and not just because of the tickling -- she was just now realizing what she had gone to sleep wearing last night, and what she foolishly hadn't anticipated having back in the morning. Maybe he hadn't noticed?

[not_called_icky]

It wasn't helping at all, but Ichabod noticed that a little too late, and thus failed at being a gentleman and just stared at her chest, the colour of his face deepening. Perhaps he could blame not being quite awake?

[pasunereveuse]

Celia blushed deeper to match him, feeling somewhat shy under his gaze. She wasn't especially inclined to fault him for any lapses in chivalry this morning -- particularly considering that she'd never admit it, but she really liked when she got that sort of reaction from Ichabod, self-conscious though she felt.

Torn between the thought of changing or magicking something more appropriate to wear and...not, and seeing where this went instead, Celia decided to stall. And granted, her stalling tactic was to shift closer (for reasons that had absolutely nothing to do with warmth, this time) and kiss him, so maybe she was leaning more toward the latter option.

[not_called_icky]

That was quite irresistible. Ichabod wondered if one could ever get used to this, waking up in the arms on one's beloved and kiss before hardly a word had been said. Right now, he saw very little reason not to spend all morning here.

He returned the kiss, then pulled back for a moment, smiling before leaning in for another one.

[pasunereveuse]

Celia hummed appreciatively into the kiss, threading her hand up to gently run her fingertip along his jawline. As thrilling -- and distracting -- as it was to be in bed with Ichabod, particularly dressed as she was, there was a certain calm to this all the same.

She couldn't imagine a more natural place to be than kissing Ichabod in bed on this very, very cold morning -- and considering how very terrible it theoretically was for them to share a bed in the first place, Celia was going to have to give that some serious thought later, when she wasn't otherwise occupied.