@crestid: the dark feathers of her lashes stand out in sharp contrast against the smooth skin of her cheek. he worries them with his lips, gentle hands caressing sleep-weighted limbs. thin white sheets are a poor shield against the biting cold air of northern mornings, but with her gracious warmth against him it’s enough to soldier through. “i have to leave soon,” he murmurs and he *does.* he’s due in teutates on the morrow and so really he should have left the bed *already* but a weakened will and the rhythm of her breathing has had him yet to stir.
She wishes to be selfish—that should be allowed, shouldn’t it, for someone called hero and revered as some sort of savior?—and for a moment, she is, with the way her arms don’t slacken their hold in the slightest and her head remains firmly on his chest. Maybe on a different day, she would be telling him to hurry; that he’ll be late, that he has duties, maybe that the sooner he goes the sooner he can come back ( in general, obviously, but—to her, specifically ). But her eyes are still closed, and she feels more than anything the press of his lips to her face and his words against her scalp, and for a moment, Byleth almost asks for him to stay because it’s always so much colder without him.
Almost.
Asking him of that would be unfair to the both of them, really, because goddess knows he would actually try to stay a little longer and only prolong the inevitable of being forced to go. Better for him to leave now than to only exacerbate the already present reluctance. She allows herself a small compromise, though, barely peeking one eye open to look up at him as she scoots herself just a bit closer despite her thoughts, pressing a kiss to his chin before resting on him again with a sigh.
“Then you should,” she says regardless of the contradiction with her actions, words muffled slightly against him. Her hand remains curled over his heart as the slow thump, thump nearly lulls her back to sleep.
“... It isn’t for very long.” Or, it shouldn’t be, in theory—so he should go now, while she's settling with another small peck near his collar and before she changes her mind.
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