It was late when Tonks arrived back at the flat. About a quarter past one. Or was it 1:30? Either way, she had to navigate in the pitch black of the rooms.
She usually breezed right through the maze of furniture and miscellaneous, semi haphazard piles of items strewn across the floors. But that was on a good day and when the sun was up or the lights were on.
But at that moment, luck was definitely not on her side.
She had just gotten off a double shift at work and somehow managed to talk her way out of a triple. Insane, yes, but she had done triples only a handful of times before.
As she pushed past the door, her shoe snagged on the rubber on the floor that soundproofed the inside from the neighbors when she was home, causing her to stumble into the flat.
Silently cursing herself for knowing better, she tiptoed the rest of the way in and shut the door behind her, locking the deadbolt and the doorknob.
She yawned as she cautiously inched her way in, her left hand pengaliming into one of the three bookshelves that lined up against two of the walls. Hissing in pain, hoping that the sound didn't stir Remus, she clutched her hand to her chest as she took a half step to the right.
Though hungry, sleep was rapidly winning and she wasn't even a third of the way in the flat.
She made for her wand and took it out of the holster, murmuring "Lumos," which allowed the tip of her wand to emit a soft glow.
Straining her eyes ever so slightly, Tonks weaves in and out of the piles of files, coffee table, the occasional heap of books or three, and five towers of music albums she had yet to finish reorganizing.
With her eyes threatening to close at any moment, Tonks nicked her shin against the corner of Remus' supply kit for when he transformed. She quickly covered her mouth to muffle the pained sound that nearly erupted from her lips, tearing up a bit as she stood there.
She shut her eyes as tight as she could as the pain faded into a dull throb, a single tear escaping from her lashes as it trailed down her cheek. A shaky groan pushed past her lips and through her fingers as she opened her eyes, resoluting to tidy up the place the moment she had a free day or two.
With what little energy she gained from the adrenalin surge she got from the collision of person and inanimate object, she opened the door to the bedroom and slipped in.
She shut the creaky door behind her and pulls off her work clothes, tossing them in the general direction of the hamper. Not caring if they made it in or not, she made her way to the conjoined dressers her and Remus shared, peeling off her undergarments and tossing them carelessly aside.
With her free hand, she pulled out a pair of blue, flannel pajama pants of hers and a worn shirt of his. She places her wand on top of the dresser and quickly slips into the comfortable warmth that the nightwear provided.
She sighs contently as she turns to face the bed. There, she manages to make out the sleeping figure of Remus, the man who owned her heart and provided her everything she could have ever asked for and more. He looked so peaceful sleeping there in bed and she wondered how on earth she was lucky enough to be his.
Despite his furry little problem, she felt safe with him, though she could fend for herself. But he was different. He provided her comfort, love, reassurance, and so much more. He was patient, kind, loving, understanding, and a pain in the butt at times. But he was HER pain in the butt.
She smiles again as she yawns, turning only just as she grabs her wand from the top of the dresser and lightly pads to bed. Climbing in as subtly as she can, she freezes as Remus suddenly shifts around in bed to face her, making soft sleepy noises as he does so.
He smacks his lip a few times as he settles back into the mattress and pillows, tangling himself in the sheets. She mutters "Nox" and watches as the light from her wand slowly fade, allowing the blackness of the room engulf them once more.
She places her wand on her nightstand then wiggles herself under whatever is left of the sheets. But whatever she manages to cover herself with was just enough as she moves into Remus. His body, though it it's unconscious state, molds into hers as his arm runs up and over her body and settles on her hip, his leg slipping between hers.
In the dark, her fingers trail from the forearm that was resting on her hip, up his bicep to his shoulder. From his shoulder, it danced against his neck. From his neck, she traces his jawline with the pads of her fingertips. From his jawline, her fingers slide up against his cheek, allowing her palm to cup his skin. She notices how scruffy he feels, as if he hasn't shaved in a few days. But she didn't care as she rather enjoyed the feel of his bristles against her soft, barely calloused palm.
Her fingers settle around his ear and into the nooks and cranny his scalp provided, his soft, sandy brown hair that was littered with gray resting around her fingers. Her thumb ran gently back and forth against his cheek in the dark. She could feel every single scar that she had touched before, all of them with a different story and she loved every single raise that they made.
She felt the crevasses of a couple of newly forming scars, some in the beginning stages of scabing over. One or two, she noted, would have a little deeper scabing and repairing.
Her other hand settled on his left peck, just below his shoulder as she laid there with him. She didn't dare move that hand as she was afraid that the subtle touching she was already doing with her thumb may wake him.
Sighing softly into the nothingness that separated them, feeling the soft breath that flowed in and out of him, Tonks places a light kiss on his forehead as her heavy lids begin to close.
Her weariness finally overcame her as she slips into a deep, dreamless slumber. But a dreamless rest was nothing as she would give up all of her unconscience dreams for the rest of her life if that meant she could sleep in the arms of her lover.