You woke in the darkness and rolled over to snuggle up against your boyfriend. To your disappointment, his side of the bed was empty. You pressed your hand against the sheet to find it cool to the touch. He'd been up for awhile. 

With a sigh, you tossed the covers back and snatched a shirt from the floor. Nik's oversized Henley hung to your knees. It covered all the important bits and that's all you cared about. You stepped quietly through the room and left the door open as you went into the hall. After almost a year of dating the Original hybrid, you were used to waking up alone in the middle of the night. 

He would lay with you until you went to sleep and would usually join you before you woke in the morning, but the hours in between he spent doing who knows what. You headed toward his study as that's where he spent most of his time when he wasn't with you. You knocked lightly on the door even as you opened it. 

As you'd expected, he stood at an easel across the room painting. He glanced up when you stepped into the room and gave you a genuine smile. "Hello, sweetheart. Miss me?"

You kept your hands tucked in the sleeves of his shirt as you nodded and gave him a small smile of your own.  He laid down his brush and stepped back. He opened his arms and you hurried over to wrap your arms around his waist and rest your head against his chest. He hummed in contentment and hugged you tightly. 

After several moments of holding you, he leaned back causing you to look up at him. "You want to sit on the stool while I work, love?" he asked. 

You grinned. "Yes, please."

He placed his fingers under your chin to tilt your head back. His kiss was soft and slow making you feel loved and cherished. When he pulled away, he moved to the side of the room, coming back with a shorter bar stool. He placed it in front of the easel and waited for you to perch on it. 

Once you were settled he picked up his brush and closed the space between the two of you. Now you could lean back against him while he painted the canvas in front of you. He wrapped his free arm across your chest and rested his chin on your head as he thought. 

You'd done this often enough now that you could no longer remember the first time. As always, you sat silently just watching the brush move across the canvas and reveling in the warmth of your lover behind you. This was one of your favorite things to do with him.

It wasn't because you loved to watch the muscles move in his arm as he danced the brush across the painting. It wasn't because you loved just being in his presence. And it wasn't because you got to see his art come to life. All those things were true but what made these times so special to you was that Nik told you he'd never done it with anyone else. 

Your boyfriend was 1000 years old. You'd be a fool if you thought there was much he hadn't done in that time. So when he told you that you brought him peace, that he could paint with you like this because you calmed him, your heart had soared. His art was something he'd long done as a way to disappear into his own head. To separate himself from the world around him. He considered it private, but he let you in. And you weren't about to take it for granted.

**

A/N: Sorry this is short, it was just a little idea that popped in my head.