Synopsis: You wake up in a bedroom following important treatment. You're so exhausted, you can barely make out your surroundings. But you can sense that your special someone's there, waiting for you . . .

Theme(s): Fluff, Comfort (Angst if you want to interpret it that way).

Relationship: Can be dating, engaged or married.

Word Count: 1546

A/N- I'm deliberately keeping it vague what Reader got treatment for. It could be something like wisdom tooth removal, maybe she got some nightmares eaten in the Aisa Bathhouse. Or it could be something more intense like a lifesaving operation . . . totally up to you what you want it to be!

Enjoy! ;)

Waking Up

Your body felt so heavy. Even your own eyelids felt like they were weighed down. When you finally manage to open your eyes, you're immediately blinded by the bright sun. You whine softly, burying your face into your pillow . . .

Pillow . . .

Where even are you?

You try to force yourself to open your eyes and look around. But everything is so bright. And you can barely move your body, let alone your heavy head. All you can make out is that you're in a bed somewhere. And though you can barely see, you get a sense that someone's watching you . . .

"Y/N! Hi . . ."

You stir slightly. You know that soft voice . . . A familiar warmth surrounds you, taking up one of your hands, sending that warmth up your arm, down your chest, all the way throughout your body. You finally manage to open your eyes (just about), and are met with two glistening green ones gazing lovingly at you.

"Thoma . . ."

"Yeah . . . I'm here . . ." You don't even have to finish opening your eyes. You can hear his soft smile. Squeezing your hand in one of his, he reaches up with his other hand and rests it gently on your forehead.

"How are you feeling, m'love?"

"Mmmm . . ." The weak moan is all you can manage. You're exhausted, that's for sure. Other than that . . . you don't know. You shudder under the duvet, squeezing Thoma's hand as much as your body can manage.

". . . feels like something's missing . . ."

"Does it?" With an empathetic expression, Thoma leans in to lightly kiss your forehead. "That's normal, m'love . . . that's perfectly normal . . ."

In your weary, vulnerable state, you suddenly start to tremble and well up. "It . . . it feels strange . . ."

"Awww, sweetheart . . . Ohhh, baby girl . . ." Before you even shed a tear, Thoma's leaning in so close to you, half his body nearly ends up on the bed. He rests his forehead on yours, tightening his grip on your hand.

"I know it feels strange. Feels like part of you is suddenly gone, does it?"

You whimper and nod. You don't even realize you're crying until he wipes your tears away with his thumb.

"Shhh, m'love . . . shhhh . . ." He cradles your head with his other hand, nuzzling his forehead off yours as he whispers soft reassurances into your ear.

"I know it doesn't feel quite right now. But I promise you once you get your strength back, you're gonna feel so much better."

He plants another feather light kiss to your temple, running his thumb along your knuckles, running his fingers through your hair.

"Do you know how brave you were to come here? To go ahead with that treatment? You were so scared . . . but you still did it . . . Everything went great . . . they're all saying how well you did back there." Thoma rests his head on the pillow so he's face to face with you. It gives you a good look at the warm smile on his face, the way his green eyes glisten for you. He heaves a blissful sigh and whispers,

"I'm so proud of you, m'love . . . So so proud . . ."

You don't know what it is- if it's your sleepy state, the strange post-treatment feelings, whatever you were put on before the treatment, all the praise (maybe all of it combined)- but you suddenly burst into tears.

"I'm sorry-"

"No, no . . . shhh, that's okay." Thoma's smile shifts from sunny to sympathetic. He only holds onto you even tighter.

"It's okay to cry . . . You've been through so much . . . and it's all catching up on you. So you cry as much as you need to, okay?"

You do just that, burying your face into the pillow, crying a little harder, Thoma's soft shushes and reassurements humming in your ear. He makes soft subtle shifts back and forth, attempting to rock you as best as he can.

"Shhh . . . that's a good girl . . . that's my love . . . you just have a good cry . . ."

He leans in closer, his lips resting on your forehead. You feel little flutters of his hot breath, his hand squeezing yours tight, his fingers tenderly brushing your hair. You snuffle in your sobs and shuffle closer to him with what little strength you have.

"I love you, Thoma . . ."

"Awww." Thoma's soft smile grows a little. You feel a wave of warmth radiating from his body. "I love you too, Y/N . . . I love you so so much . . ."

He notices the way you try to get closer to him, try to tighten your grip on his hand, the way you whimper for more of his affection. He shushes you softly, brushing strands of hair out of your face. "It's okay. I'm here . . ."

You let out a small croak, suddenly finding just enough strength to look him in the eyes and seal contact with him.

"You're gonna stay, right?"

Thoma's facial expression softens at your question. He nuzzles his forehead off of yours, squeezing your hand a little tighter.

"Of course, m'love . . . of course I'll stay with you . . ." He kisses you on the forehead again and lays his head back down, keeping his glistening green eyes aligned with yours.

"I'm never gonna leave you, okay, Y/N? Never . . . I'm always gonna stay with you . . . make sure you feel safe . . . and warm . . . and loved . . ."

You sniff, trying to reach over for him with your other, heavier hand.

"I wanna go home . . ."

"Shhh . . . I know you do, sweetheart," Thoma whispers. Keeping his eyes on yours, he takes your other hand so he has both of them now, squeezing them tight in his. His gaze remains soft and sincere.

"When you're fully recovered, and you've got your strength back, we'll go straight home. I promise. I'll light the fire, give you all the cuddles you want . . . And I'll cook your favourite meal. Or we can order from your favourite food stall. Which one would you like?"

"Mmm . . ." Your gaze drops as you take a moment to think about it. Then you glance up at him and murmur with a quiet confidence,

"Food stall."

Thoma lets out a lighthearted chuckle. "Ohhh I see . . . Don't wanna put too much pressure on me?"

You attempt to shake your head- it's so heavy, it barely shifts. "More time for cuddles."

"Awww!" Thoma laughs again and pats you on the head. "I knew my girl was in there somewhere!" He sighs happily and beams at you, his face glowing with love and pride.

"My brave girl . . . you're gonna get better very very soon. And I'll be here with you, yeah?"

A heavy croak is all he gets from you. He sits up and immediately notices you're on the verge of dozing off again. Thoma chuckles softly and your sleepy dopey state. He reaches over to gently pry your eyes shut.

"Get some rest, m'love . . . You deserve it."

You're practically blacked out, which makes Thoma only smile even more. This is the best sleep he's seen you have in ages. But just in case there's still a teeny tiny bit of you listening in there, he leans in carefully to whisper in your ear.

"Sleep well, m'love . . . my strong, brave girl. I'll be here when you wake up, right here by your side . . . holding your hand . . . stroking your hair . . . keeping you safe."

He plants a gentle kiss on your forehead, your body not even flinching. Thoma sighs and continues to whisper ever so softly,

"And when you're back to your normal self, we'll take on the world together. We'll conquer Fontaine, Liyue, Natlan, Sumeru... maybe even Mondstadt?"

He chuckles lightly to himself at the thought. He's not even sure you can hear him at this point. You haven't budged since you fell asleep, unless one would count the steady rise and fall of your chest.

But just in case, Thoma squeezes your hand and leans in to whisper one last thing in your ear,

"I'm proud of you, Y/N. And I love you . . . I love you so so much . . ."

He doesn't know if it's his mind playing tricks on him, but he could have sworn he saw the corners of your lips curl upwards. It gets a small gasp out of him, his eyes flickering, his heart skipping a beat. He tightens his grip on your hand, his other palm resting softly on your cheek.

"Oh, Y/N . . ."

Thoma heaves a blissful sigh and rests his head on the pillow face to face with you, his beloved. His favourite girl is in there, sleeping soundly as she recovers from the day.

Thoma gives you a warm smile, enhanced by the bright rays shining through the window. He can't wait to see you again when you wake up.

SO I WASN'T DEAD! I just got sidetracked real bad and didn't get as much time to write as I would have liked. After the story quest and event with the latest Inazuma character, Yumezuki Mizuki (a very welcome addition I must say), I wanted to do some sort of story in the Aisa Bathhouse (even though I've already done a hot springs story lol), and then sappy old me wanted an excuse for some more comfort. Also, this felt a fitting metaphor for me suddenly coming back after a long time, haha!

So please let me know if you have any ideas you'd like to see me write. The Thoma recognition has certainly gotten a lot better, but there's always room for improvement!

See ya! ;D