[The moon rises properly in Alenroux, unlike how it cannot defeat the suns that never seem to set in Springstar. It feels more natural here, to have the dark and light come in cycles. That is part of why she had chosen to live there, even with the monsters and the risk of accumulating Discord away from the base of Meridian power. She sleeps easier here despite all of that. But when she sleeps laying on her side on a proper bed, she needs to awkwardly turn over every few hours in order to keep herself comfortable and breathing easily.
Now... it is almost second nature to account for someone else when she does that. Gently untangling limbs, lifting her head from a chest, pulling away from warm arms... Whatever needs doing, she feels softly in the dark for Claude's body to make sure that she did not roll over onto him or disturb him overly when she shifted. These days, she doesn't even worry about waking him too much. He's grown used to it, like she has.
Tonight, though... after she rolls over and returns to his side, laying her head back on the pillow near his shoulder and settling back down with no need to worry about accidentally tugging on a strand of her no-longer long mane... She does not slip easily back into slumber. She watches him through the one natural eye she has left, the one that could see decently well in the dark. She listens to him breathe, until she is sure that he is sleeping deeply, soundly enough that he will not truly hear her when she whispers,]
Khalid... ?
[A test. She is silent after his name, heartbeats too loud in her chests, almost not breathing herself until she is sure it did not wake him. Once she is... Surely, if he is sleeping, she can... She can practice. She can say it.]
Khalid, I...
[She almost manages it. It's just two more words, they're so short, they should be so easy to form with her lips and her tongue, but something... Something holds her back. She doesn't know what it is, that leaves her quiet and embarrassed in the dark. Isn't it... She knows other people probably do not need to. Claude certainly hadn't. But practicing would make it easier to say when it was actually proper to, would it not? If she cannot even get the practice out...
Ruddy-cheeked and frustrated with herself, Hayame eventually gives up for the night, curling in beside her bedmate and letting her eyes fall back closed. Maybe... She will just try again another time. That is all.]
in the middle of the night ♪
Now... it is almost second nature to account for someone else when she does that. Gently untangling limbs, lifting her head from a chest, pulling away from warm arms... Whatever needs doing, she feels softly in the dark for Claude's body to make sure that she did not roll over onto him or disturb him overly when she shifted. These days, she doesn't even worry about waking him too much. He's grown used to it, like she has.
Tonight, though... after she rolls over and returns to his side, laying her head back on the pillow near his shoulder and settling back down with no need to worry about accidentally tugging on a strand of her no-longer long mane... She does not slip easily back into slumber. She watches him through the one natural eye she has left, the one that could see decently well in the dark. She listens to him breathe, until she is sure that he is sleeping deeply, soundly enough that he will not truly hear her when she whispers,]
Khalid... ?
[A test. She is silent after his name, heartbeats too loud in her chests, almost not breathing herself until she is sure it did not wake him. Once she is... Surely, if he is sleeping, she can... She can practice. She can say it.]
Khalid, I...
[She almost manages it. It's just two more words, they're so short, they should be so easy to form with her lips and her tongue, but something... Something holds her back. She doesn't know what it is, that leaves her quiet and embarrassed in the dark. Isn't it... She knows other people probably do not need to. Claude certainly hadn't. But practicing would make it easier to say when it was actually proper to, would it not? If she cannot even get the practice out...
Ruddy-cheeked and frustrated with herself, Hayame eventually gives up for the night, curling in beside her bedmate and letting her eyes fall back closed. Maybe... She will just try again another time. That is all.]