her heart beats in time with his, watching as he slumbers atop her chest with her fingertips delicately carding through white strands. she watches the way the lighthouse's perpetual day dances across his skin, casting prisms against hers from the way she twirls a lock of tulin's hair into the warm light. she wears contentment beautifully, longing to never leave this room again as she feels the way his strong arms slowly tighten around her. it has her leaning forward just enough to press full lips to his hair, whispering into it lovingly, ❝ don't wake, my love. we've nowhere to be but here. ❞
there's only a single place more comforting than the bed he'd claimed in the lighthouse, and it is in the arms of the person responsible for it. gwendolyn, although most burdened among them all, slices the gloom belonging to him with her light. in her arms he sleeps like an ordinary man tired of the long day, and not an assassin who is ready to leap when a call comes.
he twitches occasionally, muscles chronically overexerted, and somewhere between sleep and consciousness, he squeezes to make sure gwen is still there and no harm has befallen her. this time tulin hears her clearly and understands the words but does not obey them. at least not fully.
he searches for a more comfortable way to rest his cheek on her breast — an excuse to nudge it just because — then takes a deep breath. he knows he must be heavy atop her but she has not complained — on the contrary, she wishes for him to remain there. and so he does. but before sleep drags him away from her lips and her scent, he manages to express his gratitude in a barely audible whisper, ❝ ti amo. ❞