[The slight hesitation in his face vanishes and his expression blossoms into unadulterated affection. He squeezes the hand still threaded with his own and curls closer to her.]
You too. You'll never have to face anything alone.
I know. [ he doesn’t need to reassure her. he has proven it with every song he has sung, each time he speaks to her just so she can listen to a different voice, each time he returns with a rare treat or trinket he thought might amuse her. he has been proving it every day that he stays.
she settles her head against his shoulder. her hand drops from his face to his chest. his heart drums a steady beat beneath her fingers.
her voice is quiet, barely more than a whisper, when she says, ] Thank you.
[When he'd first arrived on the Ximilia, the casual touch between men and women he'd encountered had been one of many parts of his culture shock. It wasn't that he didn't understand it (on the hardest nights in the burial mounds, sometimes he would reach for Wen Qing's hands and she wouldn't swat him away) but it took him some time to realize that it was acceptable. Now, he doesn't feel even the slightest hesitation as he lays an arm around Gwen's side, hand resting on her shoulder and casually drifting up and down her arm.
It doesn't feel scandalous. It feels right. It feels warm and important and good.]
Mmm. Go to sleep. I'd braid your hair while you sleep but you'd wake up to a tangled mess.
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You too. You'll never have to face anything alone.
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she settles her head against his shoulder. her hand drops from his face to his chest. his heart drums a steady beat beneath her fingers.
her voice is quiet, barely more than a whisper, when she says, ] Thank you.
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It doesn't feel scandalous. It feels right. It feels warm and important and good.]
Mmm. Go to sleep. I'd braid your hair while you sleep but you'd wake up to a tangled mess.
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Thanks to you I end up with an undercut.
[ and wei wuxian is not allowed to like her haircut. ]
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