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the two had been cuddling a few minutes, ready to sleep after a long day of post-war repair work, when noire broke the peaceful silence.
“i want to be inside you.”
“noire…?” severa started. somehow, little timid noire could catch her off guard even without the influence of that talisman.
“like… i want to crawl inside you.” she pressed a kiss to severa’s head. “in your heart.” to her collarbone. “in your lungs.” to her sternum. “in your stomach.” she trailed down, further and further, to just above the fabric of severa’s pants.
noire stopped, settling against her girlfriend. severa was almost disappointed. “i want to be closer to you. as close as i can.” she tucked her head down, shy. “…that sounds weird, huh?”
“not for you.” severa winked. “but I think I get it.”
that seemed to satisfy noire, and she beamed up at severa, before scooting closer to her face.
“still, super weird way to say it.” severa said.
“how would you say it?”
“i dunno.” she thought for a moment. severa laid a hand on the small of noire’s back. “probably ‘i love you.’”
“…sappy.”
“d-don’t you criticize me!” she whined, faking annoyance. “aren’t you gonna crawl up in my heart and live there or whatever? sap.”
“heh… i love you too, severa.”
noire laid her head down on severa’s chest, but she could still feel noire’s smile, her tongue poking at the side of her cheek as she tried to settle into a comfortable position, her hands nervously hovering before wiggling them under severa to wrap around her.
“they’ll fall asleep, idiot.” she chided. she let out a giggle, that sound reserved just for noire—not her cruel laughter she put up as a front when inigo or owain or cynthia did something stupid. noire laughed back, snapping severa out of her reverie before she could go down the slope of self deprecation.
“then you’ll have to cook for me… and change me… and bathe me…” noire said, sleepily.
“i might get handsy, then.” severa joked. she lifted her other hand to cup noire’s head with it, stroking her soft hair.
“mhm. but you’re comfortable, so it’s worth it.”
“guess you really do love leaning on me.”
“you enable it.” noire said, slowly. then, again: “i love you.”
“love ya too.” severa said, pressing a kiss to the top of noire’s head. she’d fallen asleep, breathing at a snail’s pace.
noire looked peaceful, in that way severa would never have seen before. she didn’t tremor, or fall asleep only after making fresh tear tracks, or grab severa so hard her nails drew blood. she just… slept.
severa carefully pulled the blanket over them both, moving noire’s hands out from under her before she lost her circulation. with a soft, soft smile (to anyone else, she’d deny even being capable of making such a face), she snuffed out the light.
noire’s was the only light she needed, after all.