Jan 13, 2011 16:58
Title: To Sleep Perchance to Dream
Pairing: John/Helen
Genre: Fluff
Rating: G
Summary: Helen is lying awake, John tries to help her sleep. Inspired by a particular scene from For King and Country
Helen sighed as she tried to force her brain back to sleep. She wanted to get rest before tomorrow. A lot was going on right now. She needed to be fresh for the morning. Her mind, however, simply would not turn off.
“You’re thinking too loudly,” rumbled a voice slightly above her.
Helen didn’t have to look up to know that John’s eyes were still closed as he whispered into her hair. His hand tightened slightly on her hip. She reached one of her own down to cover it. “I’m sorry; I didn’t mean to wake you.”
John shifted slightly, pressing his chest more firmly into her back and curling more around her. He caught her almost gasp at his heat. “What is it that has you worried so?”
“How did you now I was worried?”
“Even a century cannot change certain habits. Your body always grew tight when there was something on your mind. Come now; tell me what it is so we both may sleep.”
Helen did her own shifting. She brushed her lips against his forearm where her head rested. She could twist and kiss him fully but somehow that would ruin this almost peaceful mood. She squeezed the hand at her hip and pulled her arm back to her body. “Tomorrow, I suppose. And everything that comes after it. I can’t help but try to run every possible scenario in my head. I expect that’s what’s keeping me up.”
John rubbed his thumb over the curve of her hip. They were both fully clothed so there was little passion stirring his blood. Of course when Helen was around, there was always some measure of heat in his loins but right now the fire was banked. He simply wanted to calm her so she would return to sleep. It was beyond rare that he slept with Helen Magnus in his arms. It gave a measure of peace to his fevered mind. Now he wished to give her the same. “Does your team have their instructions?” He felt the slow of her silken hair as she nodded. “And they will be in place tomorrow?” Another nod. John leaned down to brush a kiss to the top of her head. “Then sleep, Helen. Tomorrow will dawn and you’ll have your answers soon enough. What you need at the moment is sleep.”
Helen reached out to press her fingertips to his arm. Slowly, softly, she ran them all the way up to his hand. She spread it open so she could rest her palm against his. How small her hand looked nestled in John’s palm. It was odd. So many thought her larger than life but compared to John, physically at least, she was rather small. Perhaps it should have unnerved her but it didn’t. It gave her comfort. John would hold her, protect her. He was large enough, strong enough to take her problems along with his own. She felt sheltered with his larger form curled around hers. She turned to press another kiss to his arm. “Thank you,” she whispered. Even now she could feel sleep creeping over her.
“You’re welcome,” John breathed as sleep stole across him as well. His mind forgot their circumstances and their history as it turned to dreams. It only remembered that there was a beautiful woman in his arms that he never wanted to let go. “I love you,” he whispered as he dropped off.
Helen was surprised when her body didn’t flinch or seize up once again. Instead the lethargy continued to creep through her system as she grew more relaxed. She waited until the puffs of John’s breath that stirred her hair evened out. She pulled her arm back to her body and settled in for sleep. “I love you too,” she told him. With a smile on her face, she drifted back into sleep.
tv: sanctuary,
story: to sleep perchance to dream,
pairing: helen/john