hoarse "good morning"s whispered in the soft dawn light, hands clumsily finding each other through the haze of sleep
disclaimed
...
It's the first morning in their apartment—the day before had been spent in a haze of giddy excitement, their family and friends helping them move furniture and boxes until it was late, until they were both dead on their feet, falling into bed and into sleep before they could really revel in their independence.
Maya wakes first, sprawled over her half of the bed; the pinks and golds of dawn creep through their window—not a bay window, but it's almost with the little couch they'd pushed up against the wall beneath it. The soft light streaming into their room—their room!—turns Riley into something celestial, glowing like the sun lives within her. Not for the first time, Maya wishes she could freeze frame this moment, could manage to paint it just as it is now; she wishes she could capture the way the sunlight sets Riley aflame, catches the reds and golds in her hair fanned out over her pillow, spilling onto Maya's half of the bed as they had progressively moved closer to one another throughout the night.
As if sensing Maya's eyes on her, Riley wakes, blinking slowly in the early morning light. "Good morning," she sighs happily, voice still sleep-rough. Her hand slides across the sheets, searching for Maya's even as her eyes flutter closed.
"Mornin'," Maya murmurs, fumbling for Riley's hand as she dozes off again, the latent exhaustion from the day before catching up to both of them with a vengeance.
Drawn by some invisible, unfathomable force, they each shift closer to the center of the bed, hands finally meeting in the middle, fingers tangling. Maya whispers, "We should get up," even as sleep, warm and heavy, threatens to pull her under again. They've got a mountain of boxes to unpack—cable and Wi-Fi to set up, groceries to buy. Adulting they need to get to.
She doesn't complain, however, when Riley drops her hand in favor of wrapping her arm around Maya's waist to pull her closer; they both rearrange themselves to fit better and when they're settled Riley kisses her softly, blindly, her eyes still closed but familiarity making it easy to find Maya's lips with her own. "Let's stay in bed a little longer," Riley hums afterwards. "It's still early."
Maya can't argue with that. Instead, she settles against Riley and lets the deep, even breathing of her girl lull her back to sleep once more.