Work Text:
Xena looked at the bed, then back at Gabrielle. "So there's just the one," she said.
"Yeah but we've shared a bedroll before, this is no different." Gabrielle replied, turning to sit down on the edge of the bed and unlacing her boots. Xena thought she was taking this rather well, casually, like this wasn't a big deal. Which it wasn't, objectively, not for two people who lived and travelled together. But lately, she'd been feeling things more strongly than usual and she didn't think this whole 'sharing a bed' situation wasn't going to make it any easier.
When she realised that Xena hadn't actually moved or replied she looked up again, tilting her head to one side. "Hey, Xena," she was waving her hands around in front of Xena's face, trying to get her attention. Until Xena snapped and brushed her away.
"Yep," she said, walking round to the other side of the bed and collapsing into the soft furs. Night had already fallen and they'd had a long day, neither of them wanted to go downstairs and ask for a different room, that and they were too stubborn. Whilst Xena was busy working off her armour into a pile on the floor, Gabrielle was thinking about how they were going to make this work. They would just get through the night, like any other. Why did this have to be something it wasn't?
Because of the kiss. Neither of them wanted to admit that they needed to talk about it. After Xena died and her spirit controlled Autolycus' body, they'd kissed, Xena had kissed her and she couldn't work out what that meant. Everything with Perdiccas was still so fresh, his loss a thorn in her side. But Xena was Xena. All the kiss had done was show her that maybe there was something here. That maybe she felt more than she thought she did. For Xena, the kiss was just an accident she was trying to forget. It seemed like Gabrielle already had. She condemned herself for letting her feelings out, for taking a chance that Gabrielle felt something too. It was stupid, like showing her cards to her enemy. But Gabrielle wasn't the enemy, she was Gabrielle. She hoped the bard might come to her, might sleep a little closer to her by the fire, might find her own way to communicate her feelings. But there had been nothing to indicate that. Nothing from her for weeks now. They'd just gone on as usual.
As they both finished undressing to their underwear - a common sleeping arrangement when they were inside - they leant back against the headboard and sighed in sync. Gabrielle laughed lightly before reaching over and blowing out the candle on her bedside table. Xena hesitated as the room was plunged into semi-darkness, the candle on her side still lit. "Err, Gabrielle, this is fine right, you don't feel...?" She trailed off before she could work out the end of the sentence.
Gabrielle put her hand flat on the bed and sighed again, "it is fine. I don't snore, you don't snore-" Xena scoffed, "hey! I don't snore."
"Well, the ears that have to listen to you every night disagree." She let a small smile infect her face as she said it, feeling somewhat more relaxed than she had moments ago. It was now or never. Xena pulled back the layers of sheets and slipped her body beneath them. Gabrielle did the same, though she refrained from looking. "Well, goodnight then." She said awkwardly, blowing out the candle to her right.
"Goodnight," Gabrielle echoed quietly as the light went out. She felt small in the dark. As she lay her head back against the pillow, all she wanted to do was lean into Xena's side, or entwine their fingers, just to feel her warmth in some way would make her feel safer. Perhaps it was because they'd never been there before, or because it was a cold night, she felt out of place, like something was wrong. Gabrielle could feel the goosebumps rising on her skin. It made her roll over onto her side to face the door, to watch it. She doubted she'd get much sleep tonight, it was going to be a long night...
"Hey?" Xena whispered in the dark, almost making her companion jump with fright. "Are you alright? I can feel you shivering."
Gabrielle didn't know how to respond, but she did roll back into the middle of the bed. "I'm cold," she settled on. It was factual, not emotional. Something Xena could fix.
"Come a little closer, if you like. I don't bite," she said. Now that the lights were out she felt more like they were in the forest, like this was a normal night. The lights made everything stuffy, made the room real, made the double bed they were sharing real. Now she could pretend, and the awkwardness fell away.
"Okay," Gabrielle replied slowly, letting the word fill the small space between them. She scooched a little closer so that their arms were brushing, then she closed her eyes again. Sleep began to overtake her as all she could concentrate on was the warmth of Xena's skin, of how close she was. But as a bird called to its neighbour and something smaller, possibly a rat, started scratching against one of the walls. Gabrielle's hand flinched with the fright of the unexpected noise and clutched Xena's arm, her nails digging in a little too hard.
Xena held her nerve, forcing back a yelp as a wave of pain came over her forearm. And she managed not to make a sound until Gabrielle said, "sorry," under her breath.
"It's fine, just go to sleep."
And she did, for a while.
When next Xena woke, she found Gabrielle wrapped around her arm, not just lightly touching it. She'd woken because someone was knocking on the door, lightly, but still, with her years as a hunter, she could hear it. It was like they weren't even trying to wake anyone. She gently pulled Gabrielle's hands off her arm and placed them back down in the bed. But this only made the blonde snuggle into her pillow. Xena sighed and cursed the gods, taking a moment to gaze at Gabrielle's sleeping form. Xena had woken her in the mornings many times, but she looked different here. She looked like a child, more fragile than she did in the day. The knocking was getting more insistent, but she ignored it for a single moment to brush the hair from Gabrielle's forehead. An action so tiny and insignificant, but it made the hairs on her arm stick up.
She walked over to the door and turned the key slowly as to not make too much noise. She winced as the hinge squeaked and then glared at the man standing behind the door. "What?" She said pointedly, and the man (who was really a boy) shuddered under her harsh stare, so Xena repeated herself. "What. Do. You. Want?"
"Oh I um, I was just-" he pointed back down the stairs with his thumb, "it's your horse."
Xena raised a concerned eyebrow and followed him. Despite the fact it was the early hours of the morning, the tavern was still bustling with life, though there were a few warlord-looking-men spark out on the bar. Xena ignored a wolf-whistle and a couple of catcalls simply because she was dressed in her shift and nothing more. The boy lead her through an alley outside into the stables. Argo was rearing up against the gates and huffing loudly. Xena rushed forward, her hands going to the sides of Argo's face and calming her down. "Hey girl, what's the matter, huh?" Argo replied in a soft neigh, her head indicating the window to the left. Xena's head turned and spotted the cause of all the fuss, "Gods, Argo when are you going to stop freaking out over bats?" Her brushed her hand over her nose until she stilled, her breath warm as she nuzzled Xena's shoulder. "Can I go back to bed now?" Argo chuffed in reply.
The stableboy hadn't waited, so Xena slumped back upstairs alone. The door was still open a crack, so she crept in through the tiny gap and closed it as quietly as she could. Gabrielle was lying in the exact position she'd left her in, sprawled over her pillow. Xena looked between the bed and the floor weighing up which option would be the least trouble. She could try sliding into the bed, but the chances of waking Gabrielle up or crossing a boundary were too high. Well, if she was going to be sleeping on the floor, she could at least grab the unused pillow on the other side of the bed. She reached over and caught the edge of it with her fingers. Her arm was poised at a right angle to Gabrielle's torso, but she was still leaning a little on the pillow. Xena tugged at it lightly but in doing so, she brushed the bard's bare skin and she let out a small whimper. Xena froze, letting go of the pillow and retreating. Apparently she'd be spending the night laying on the floorboards with nothing.
She'd just laid her head on her hands and closed her eyes, attempting to fall back to sleep. Then Gabrielle murmured 'Xena' in her sleep.
Xena's head snapped up. The tone in Gabrielle's voice wasn't an innocent statement like she was dreaming about one of their adventures, it was deeper, throaty. A tone she'd never heard before (when she was awake anyway). She leant back down, closing her eyes and trying to ignore it, but all she could hear in her head was a strum of Gabrielle's voice over the syllables of her name. She bit her lip and sat up again, peering over the edge of the bed. Gabrielle had shifted slightly, closer to what had been her side of the bed, like there were magnets drawing them together. Gabrielle's eyes slowly opened, with all the tossing and turning she'd woken herself up.
"Xena?" She said in her usual way, her hands searching around the bed for her friend, but not finding anything. "Xena?" She called again, a little louder, hoping she'd just gone outside to use the communal toilet. It was then that she realised she'd meandered her way across the bed and was laying squarely on Xena's side. She cleared her throat a little embarrassed, not sure how she'd explain that one in the morning, and turned back to her own side. She was debating whether or not to wait for Xena to come back. She decided on the latter and closed her eyes again.
Xena, still on the floor, saw her opportunity to get back into the bed and pulled herself up. Assuming Gabrielle had drifted straight off to sleep again, she laid down closed her own eyes. The pair of them fell asleep before any other dramas could befall them.
Dawn bathed the room in a warm morning glow when it finally arrived. Gabrielle woke first, finding herself on her side, a warm body pressed into her back. Xena? She questioned, turning her head ever so slightly to catch the warrior princess on the pillow next to her. She didn't move for fear of waking her, wanting to relish in this situation for as long as possible. The past few weeks had left her confused, questioning Xena's tiny gestures and facial expressions for any clue as to her true feelings. She found Xena's arm draped over her own, pulling her closer so they could snuggle. She wasn't sure whether this had happened when she'd come back in the middle of the night, or whether it'd happened naturally. She wasn't sure which option she preferred, they were both equally revealing. She wiggled a little to find the perfect spot, her hips locking into place with Xena's behind her as she closed her eyes again, willing herself back to sleep so she could enjoy the comfort and safety she felt for a little longer.
Xena woke a little later, her eyes seeing Gabrielle's long blonde hair before anything else. She peered upwards, peeping over the bard's shoulder to try and work out if she was awake. Her mind was screaming at her for letting this happen, if Gabrielle woke up and found her like this, she could be horrified. A great oaf like her invading her space, almost holding her hostage in her arms. She panicked for a moment before deciding that Gabrielle was probably still asleep and this was still a manageable situation. She removed her arm from where it had splayed out and tucked Gabrielle's hair behind her ear. A signal that perhaps she'd just woken and found her like that, nothing untoward was happening. Then Xena remembered something. She'd kissed her a few weeks ago. And the girl was still here, she hadn't run a mile. That was clearly a good thing, and they'd been through a lot. This relaxed her a little, it gave her time to roll back onto her own side and get up before Gabrielle woke. It gave her time to chastise herself for letting herself think they could ever be more than friends, that she was any good for Gabrielle. Now all she had to do was wait.
Gabrielle opened her eyes almost immediately, the second the warmth behind her disappeared. She groaned quietly and rolled back, trying to find Xena. "Hey, hey. Gabrielle?" Xena said quietly from the other side of the room, her breastplate and leathers already pulled on. "How did you sleep?"
Gabrielle looked up at her and pouted a little, "fine, erm Xena can we er talk about last night?"
Xena finishing lacing up her boots and pushed down on her thighs to get up. "Why don't we go and get some breakfast first?" She said, knowing Gabrielle liked to eat early and hoping it would be an easy distraction from an awkward conversation she was not looking forward to having.
Gabrielle sat up and picked at her nails, "oh right yeah, we can do that." But she looked disparaged, something Xena decided she would have to remedy with the day's activities. Gradually Gabrielle pulled herself out of bed and laced up her front of her top and her own boots. All the while her face was a little downtrodden, she'd hoped that maybe Xena would give her something, some sign that this meant more than she was making it out to be, but that hadn't happened. So she decided she'd give a sign all of her own. She walked over to where Xena was standing and kissed her cheek lightly, whispering "it was nice to be close to you, Xena," before turning her back and leaving the room.
Xena's flesh pimpled all over, surprised and a little warmer than she had been a second ago. Her eyes trailed after the bard as she left, her hand brushing over the side of her face, the spot where Gabrielle's lips had been moments before.