Current mood:	creative
Current music:	"Be Like Water," Sarah Fimm

Fic: Don't Shut Your Eyes
Title: Don't Shut Your Eyes
Rating: So very, very G
Pairing: Theodore/Tracey
Word Count: 539
Summary: He can tell the question wasn't one she expected.
A/N: Written for the prompt "if you wanted honesty" on my 7spells table only like two years later.

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When Tracey gets home from work she finds that for once Theo has beaten her back, finally returned from wherever he's been for the past week and a half. She stops just inside the bedroom doorway, the sight of him unanticipated, and closes the door quietly behind her. Theo, deeply asleep, does not stir; she can't remember the last time that happened. She can see exhaustion still etched in his features, though, and she settles lightly on the edge of the bed and smooths the blankets over him, brushes his hair back from his face with gentle fingers. He does shift a bit, then, not waking but leaning into the touch in his sleep, and Tracey smiles softly to herself and stays beside him, fingertips lightly, absently worrying a curl of his hair.

It is only when she's been sitting there long enough for her legs to start going to sleep that she moves, shifting to get her blood flowing properly and resettling herself. The movement, however, jars the mattress enough for Theo's eyes to flutter slowly open, and he looks up at her with a faint, sleepy smile. "Hey," he murmurs, voice still a little sleep-rough.

"Hey," she answers, "I didn't mean to wake you, I'm sorry. Go back to sleep."

Theo glances at the clock and shakes his head. "I've been asleep since I got back around noon. Don't worry about it." He draws her down on to the bed beside him, turning to face her. "I missed you."

"I missed you too," Tracey says softly, sliding her arms around him. "I always do when you're off Merlin-knows-where risking your neck for work."

He is quiet for a moment, gaze a bit searching. "Would you rather I didn't?" he asks, and there's an odd note in his voice, the unsettling sense that if she asked him to, he really would give it up. She lets out a breath.

"How am I supposed to answer that?" she says. "Of course I don't like you being in danger, Theo, I love you, and I can't even begin to think what I would do without you. But I couldn't in good conscience ask you to give up the Department of Mysteries, I know it's important to you. And... and I wouldn't want you trapped doing something you don't like because of me."

"I could never resent you for wanting me to be safe," Theo murmurs, still watching her, and she hates when he does that, when he knows exactly what she isn't saying. Tracey drops her gaze.

"I just want you to be happy," she says softly, after a moment. "Honestly, that's all I've ever wanted when it comes to you. And there's already so much that I can never fix, never change, and... and I don't want there to be more."

"And what about what you? Are you happy?"

He can tell the question wasn't one she expected by the way her eyes widen, startled. "I... I hadn't thought about it."

"No. You never do. You get so caught up worrying about other people you forget about yourself entirely. Be selfish, Trace."

She looks up at him. "I'm happy with you," she tells him softly. "The rest can wait."