Fallout of the Heart

Chapter Seventeen

One minute I was sound asleep, the next minute my mind was on high alert, and I laid there in the darkness, body stiff with just a little bit of a fine tremor as I strained to listen and see what had woken me up. Hancock murmured sleepily, and I felt the rumble of him speaking under my cheek. "Mmmm... it was just a pack brahmin cupcake, go back to sleep." My hand convulsed, and I opened my eyes in confusion.

"Are you sure?" I whispered, a little groggily, my mind not quite catching up with everything yet. Before he could answer, I heard the low bellow and the jingling, and I felt some of the tension leave me. But only just a little, because I had a whole new dilemma on my hands. Or under my hands, I should say. "Oh." I muttered, fingers curling up just a little, then flattening back out again. I felt a hand fumbling with the pip-boy on my wrist, then a sigh under my cheek.

"Told you, princess. There's still about two and a half hours before dawn according to your clock, time for plenty more sleep. I'm definitely planning on it, though if you'd just..." he trailed off, and I immediately started to get up from where I'd somehow nestled myself into the crook of his arm in my sleep. That arm tightened on my back, holding me in place, causing my pulse to speed up and my eyes to widen. "Nudge your leg over this way... no, here, let me just..." he murmured, as he slid his left leg in such a way that my left leg slid over his, coming to rest between his legs. This also caused me to settle more firmly against his chest, nestled nice and snug against him as he wriggled just a little under me. "There, that's just perfect." He murmured, and I could feel his breathing settle back down under me.

Try as I might I wasn't able to settle back down like he had, and I couldn't get my pulse or my mind to stop racing. After a little bit, the arm at my back came up and started rubbing up and down gently, startling me even more. "Talk to me, sunshine. What's bothering you?" He asked, his voice full of sleep. Great, not only had I somehow made the decision that he'd make a great pillow at some point in my sleep, but now I was keeping him from falling back asleep. "I can feel your pulse and how stiff you are. I know something's rattling around in that brain of yours. Is it pre-op jitters?" He asked, and I just shook my head. I could feel him shift a little under me, which caused me to shift a little, then he made a noise and I immediately stiffened up even more.

"I'm, I'm sorry, I should just..." I muttered, preparing to move away from him, unable to keep that little thread of fear at his reaction to me curling up on him out of my voice. Both of his arms tightened around me, holding me in place.

"Nope, absolutely not. You're not going anywhere, sunshine. You're just as tired as I am, if not more, and if I need more sleep, then I know you do too." He said softly, and wriggled around underneath me a little bit more. "Hmmm, so warm. Just the way I love to sleep." He murmured, his hands relaxing just a little bit.

"You... don't mind?" I asked, with just a tiny bit of trepidation still hiding in my voice.

"That you finally feel comfortable enough and safe enough around me to unfurl yourself and slip out of combat mode while you sleep? I'm flattered, and honored. Why would I mind?" He asked, a thread of puzzlement in his voice. "Wait, have you never slept with anyone like this before?" He asked, incredulously, and I finally shook my head. He sighed, and his hands splayed across me. "Oh, doll, no wonder you're so stiff. Ness, if I was remotely put off or offended by the thought of you using me as a pillow, I could and would have made my own sleeping nest. Your concern for my delicate sensibilities is incredibly touching, but I'm capable of defending my own honor you know." He remarked, a bit of a chuckle in his voice.

I honestly had a hard time believing him, but at the same time, why the hell would he lie about something like this? I finally forced myself to relax a little, my body sinking into his warmth once I released that death-like grip on my self-control. The noise that he made this time, I could only describe it as contented, and I felt the barest hint of a flush creeping up my cheeks. Maybe he really was enjoying himself. We lay there in gentle silence for several heartbeats, before he spoke up again. "You really never slept with anybody else like this, not even your husband?" He asked, and I shook my head sleepily.