Wander wasn't in a good situation. There were no physical threats, though. There were no armies, bounty hunters, ravenous aliens, laser guns, dangerous chemical hazards, or seemingly magical phenomenon within miles of him or Sylvia. No, nothing but peaceful fields of silvery blue grass rolling and glittering in the brilliant moonlight as far as the eye could see. Yet, Wander was still scared… well, no, not scared, anxious would probably be the right word. That was part of, or perhaps the complete reason that Wander was in the insomniac state that he was. Oh, he had tried his usual methods of inducing sleep, most of them involving Sylvia. These methods had always helped calm the giddy butterflies in his tummy when they had just gone through, or were about to go on, another exciting adventure. He was currently resting his head on Sylvia's tummy, using it as a pillow as he often had on countless past nights. He would listen to her breath and feel the soft rise and fall on his head as he rest it on her, or listen to her heartbeat, just knowing that she was still there and wouldn't be going anywhere anytime soon made him feel a lot better. Sometimes, these small assurances would help lull him into a peaceful sleep. If he was lucky, he would sometimes be able to hear Sylvia say something funny in her sleep, whether it was about jellyfish pies, fighting monsters, blowing bubbles, or him.
He didn't know if it was selfish or not put he particularly liked it when she would talk about him. Sure, when she was awake she would talk about him; in fact, it was pretty common. When she was asleep however, whatever she said was completely honest. Not to say he suspected her of fibbing, no sir, it was just that when she was asleep she didn't have to think about what she said, when something popped into her head she would just say it as it was. Wander liked that sort of openness when he spoke to others; he wished people would just say what was on their mind instead of being worried about offending him or spoiling their reputation. Even when she was tired, she would occasionally let things slip. He smiled as he remembered the rather recent night on Globnart IV where she had tiredly gave her goodnight but with a little something extra.
"Goodnight Wander, have sweet dreams buddy, I love you."
He silently stifled a laugh as to not wake his sleeping partner. That was one of the rare times that he had seen her blush and boy he could tell you it was quite the sight to see the normally blue Zbornak turn beet red in the face. She had stuttered apologies, awkwardly fiddled with her fingers, shuffled away, avoided eye contact, lowered herself to the ground in a bow, started to sweat, and went as far as to offer to sleep somewhere farther away from him. His smile turned into a small, contemplative frown as he remembered some of her uncharacteristically fearful and timid behavior. It had made him very happy to hear her say that. Why would she act like that? It was like she thought that he would scream and blow up at her or grow three times his regular size and beat her in some horrible way. How had saying three measly words to him turned her from the strong, determined and intelligent, leader he had come to know into a submissive, fearful and dare he say it, pathetic looking girl he had seen that night?
He wasn't going to deny it, he found her very cute when she had blushed and acted timid like that. Cute usually wasn't one of the things that others would associate Sylvia with, though. Not to say she didn't have nice qualities when she wasn't flustered, she was strong, smart, and maybe not as cute but still… pretty. Wander had a small collection of old magazines for those times he was required to stay in one place for an extended period of time. In some of these magazines there were fashion tips for females, he never paid too much attention to those as they did not pertain to him but had skimmed through them regardless. They seemed to associate the word "pretty" with jewelry, clothes or makeup and being honest, neither of them had much of either. He thought back to how pretty Sylvia had looked in that beautiful pearl necklace he had got her. He had even sold his hat to get it for her! Of course, they had to go on some grand quest to get it back but that's a story for another time…
Yes, Sylvia was a lot more than just his pillow at night. There was a near endless list of things that he loved about her. She could be serious enough to focus on a single task for an extended period of time, and she was also strong and brave enough to defend both of them which was a huge blessing. She wasn't just all business though. She had a smile that Wander swore was brighter than some suns, and she was fun enough to play typically childish games with him, like water balloon wars and snowball fights. Oh, and that laugh, that wonderful, just amazing laugh, he would give anything just make her laugh. Maybe someday, he might just consider, as much as it was uncharacteristic of him to think this… settling down. As long as she was there with him, as long as she could guide him through that, with luck, he might be able to manage it. Not now though, maybe not in several years, but maybe, just maybe, in the kind-of-far-but-not-impossibly-far-future. Sylvia suddenly shifted, her arms reaching around wander and slowly wrapping him in a surprising but not unwelcomed hug. Wander smiled and closed his eyes, for now, this was enough for him.
"I love you too Syl."