He exhales quietly at that, but says nothing. Just gets a flickery sort of expression that's hard to read, and it's a good thing her head's on his shoulder so she can't see.
(What's he thinking, really.)
But he will settle back, propped up against the pillows and mindfully atop the sheets while she stays under. So he can lean his cheek a little against her hair and let his eyes close. Because that...? It isn't a big deal at all really. Lenalee had slept on his shoulder before, too. And that hadn't even been for a reason like this beyond the fact they were comrades and comfortable with each other like that. (And for comfort as well, even if maybe neither of them would talk of it as such.) The reason he fussed—
...
Well, it doesn't matter now. ]
I think... [ He could almost sound asleep, so soft and at-ease is the murmur. And he'll turn his hand a little with how she lightly squeezes it. Not enough to clasp them; just enough to let their fingertips brush and her hand to rest in his.
(He knows.) ]
...it'd be okay to sleep for a while then. [ Peaceable and almost serene. After all, the battle is long over and everyone else is celebrating. And the brush of contact elicits only the gentlest cool wisps of his mana that hang close and tickle like the feeling one has when recalling the fondest of old memories. The ones you see behind your eyes as you drift off to sleep.
Like fragments of falling snow.
Because... only one singular pledge he'd made before? Ah, not quite... two to the same person. To Mana, to not stop, to keep walking. But also...
"Mana…playing in the snowy night with your dog, then going out in the streets with you—it was the first time I felt 'happiness' together with someone else. So this time it's my turn—"
...the first one. To acquiesce "okay, okay then" and willingly compromise part of yourself just for one reason...
"—to make you happy."
...is it ironic? (It has to be, because the realization actually leaves him a little sick to his stomach and why he'll stay awake for a while, even if she falls immediately asleep.)
no subject
He exhales quietly at that, but says nothing. Just gets a flickery sort of expression that's hard to read, and it's a good thing her head's on his shoulder so she can't see.
(What's he thinking, really.)
But he will settle back, propped up against the pillows and mindfully atop the sheets while she stays under. So he can lean his cheek a little against her hair and let his eyes close. Because that...? It isn't a big deal at all really. Lenalee had slept on his shoulder before, too. And that hadn't even been for a reason like this beyond the fact they were comrades and comfortable with each other like that. (And for comfort as well, even if maybe neither of them would talk of it as such.) The reason he fussed—
...
Well, it doesn't matter now. ]
I think... [ He could almost sound asleep, so soft and at-ease is the murmur. And he'll turn his hand a little with how she lightly squeezes it. Not enough to clasp them; just enough to let their fingertips brush and her hand to rest in his.
(He knows.) ]
...it'd be okay to sleep for a while then. [ Peaceable and almost serene. After all, the battle is long over and everyone else is celebrating. And the brush of contact elicits only the gentlest cool wisps of his mana that hang close and tickle like the feeling one has when recalling the fondest of old memories. The ones you see behind your eyes as you drift off to sleep.
Like fragments of falling snow.
Because... only one singular pledge he'd made before? Ah, not quite... two to the same person. To Mana, to not stop, to keep walking. But also...
"Mana…playing in the snowy night with your dog, then going out in the streets with you—it was the first time I felt 'happiness' together with someone else. So this time it's my turn—"
...the first one. To acquiesce "okay, okay then" and willingly compromise part of yourself just for one reason...
"—to make you happy."
...is it ironic? (It has to be, because the realization actually leaves him a little sick to his stomach and why he'll stay awake for a while, even if she falls immediately asleep.)
He made the same vow twice. ]