He's not quite sure what woke him. Just a quiet sound, one that jolted him from 'sleep' to 'someone is about to stab you' in half of a second. Tense, ready, hand sliding to his knife… but otherwise still. Pretend to be asleep. Wait for them to approach. Wait for them to get close. Strike when their guard is completely down. Then-

"Lily, don't hover over him…" Syna's gentle whisper, however, instantly made him relax. "I don't want to wake him…" Little late for that, sadly, though he's touched she tried. And he's tempted to pretend to still be asleep. But he has a feeling Lily is well aware that he's awake, so instead, he takes his hand off his knife, reaches up his hand for Lily to flit to, and blinks his eyes open. "Or… I could've already done that."

"Sorry, beloved, but I am a very light sleeper," he replies, glancing towards her voice as Lily gives him the usual check-over. She smiles sheepishly by the door, and he pieces together that the quiet sound had been the 'click' of it shutting. "Welcome back. You weren't expected for a couple more days."

"Oh, I lied to Alphinaud about how long I'd be so that I could sneak back and have a couple days with you," she explains, slipping off her boots and taking off her armor. Only when Lily poofs away, confirming his good health, does she actually comes to sit on the bed beside him. She regards him with a smile before leaning down to kiss him. "Before you ask, Krile was with him and let me get away with it."

"Of course she did. She can tease us later about it." When she pulls back, he chases her for another, longer kiss. He'll never get tired of her pleased little hums, or her shy smiles when he pulls away and strokes the scales on her cheek. "Still, when I wake to such an enchanting sight, I can't complain."

"Ah, yes, the enchanting sight of Lily floating over you." She nods sagely and he chuckles before… well, almost pulling her down. It's only then he remembers he'd been reading before falling asleep. Probably why she hadn't already laid down. "I should've knocked, though. I'm sorry."

"All is forgiven." He marks his place in his book and tosses it gently onto the nearby table. Then he pulls her down, kissing her once more for good measure. She laughs into the kiss and stretches out against him, chin resting on his chest and kicking her legs up. Her tail swishes from side-to-side playfully before teasingly curling around one of his legs. "So, since you arranged that, I shall assume your exploration of unknown territory did not lead to further trouble?"

"You make it sound much more exciting than it is. I was just fighting kobolds at Pharos. I've been there before." Because what else was she going to do but help out the Maelstrom after ending a thousand-year-long war. Though, to be fair, it had apparently been something they'd needed help with for a while, but her responsibilities towards Ishgard took priority. "Kept expecting that damn siren to show up again, but seems she's actually dead-dead." She frowns at the memory. He… tries to piece together just when she would've fought the siren at all and comes up blank. "Honestly, the nerve! Using songs to lure people to their deaths!"

"Slight reminder that you're a Bard." Among a lot of other things.

"My battle songs are used to support my allies. They are not used to enthrall the mind." She frowns even more at him, clearly sulking. "Don't be mean. I'm not a siren."

"I don't know. You're certainly as enchanting as one." Since she's still sulking, however, he takes her hand and kisses it in apology. "However, the point is made and, thus, I shall retract the statement."

"Good." She still looks cross, but relents after he turns his hand to intertwine their fingers. "Wait, you think I'm enchanting?"

"Oh, very much so." If he's to be honest, he's found her attractive since he first saw her by the Sultantree, chatting away with the disguised sultana. By the time he recruited her to the Scions, he could easily admit that if she'd wanted, he would've gladly had no-strings-attached sex with her. It's only later, while she helped him recover after Lahabrea and they worked together more frequently, that he found himself thinking of her far too often for simple attraction and lust. That the feelings might be something more. Then the damned banquet happened and everything was confusing, but he pieced things together and… well, after reuniting with her and the others, it became almost too obvious to him. Still, no reason to chat about that yet. "Alluring as well. I believe you once asked me that directly."

"Hmm?" She frowns a little in confusion, no doubt trying to find the memory. He's not surprised it takes her a moment. It only stands out to him because that had been one of the last conversations he'd had before Lahabrea… "Oh, right! When I helped Tsubame at Bronze Lake. She said that the pirates we wanted to interrogate wouldn't be able to resist an alluring woman like me, and I was confused."

"And you asked me about it via linkpearl." He still remembers choking on a yelp. "You had a similar reaction when I called you 'pretty'."

"After you finally woke up following the Praetorium." Honestly, he's a little surprised she remembers that so clearly. She'd been exhausted. "You said that you were glad to wake up to such a pretty sight, and I thought you were talking about the tent. Or, you know, being in control of your own body."

"While I was looking right at you." As he is now, and seven hells, she's beautiful. "Is it a surprise that I find you enchanting as well?"

"I'm still surprised you're in love with me." She smiles shyly at him, blushing faintly, before she pulls their clasped hands closer to her to brush a kiss over his knuckles. "So, yes? Maybe one day, I'll get used to it, but I doubt it."

"And why is that?" He racks his brain, desperate to think of how he might reassure her. After all, he is still shocked that out of all the people who pursue her, of all the people who would gladly court her if she so much as suggested it, she chose him. Him, the spoony bard of a rogue who couldn't protect anything and always failed when it mattered most. If nothing else, he wants to at least be certain she knew just how much he adores and loves her.

"Oh, I find myself falling more and more in love with you by the day." She says the words easily, simple fact, and even though the words are often used in stories and songs, the sincere honesty in them is enough to make his heart skip a beat or three. "I would read such things in stories, but I didn't realize how true they were until I met you. So, I doubt I'll get used to it."

"...You…" He struggles for the words he wants before he gives up and yanks her forward for another long kiss. "You truly are the most enchanting person I have ever met." He hopes he can gather his wits together soon and try to parse how he feels much the same. But clearly, today is not that day. "So, a couple of extra days where everyone thinks you're out battling?"

"Yep." She giggles and kisses his nose, his cheeks, and his forehead. "Whatever shall I do with the free time?"

"I suppose we'll figure that out in the morning."

"Yes, that sounds good." With one more kiss, a proper one, she rolls off of him and off the bed entirely. "I'm stealing some of your clothes for the night. I don't feel like unpacking, and I don't want to go to my room and clue someone in." Before he's even comprehended what she said, she's gone through his dressers for a shirt and pants and disappears into the bathroom to change and clean up before coming to bed.

So, he sighs and stretches to retrieve his book to at least attempt to take his mind off the enchanting and completely oblivious woman he adores and the thought of her wearing his clothes. It's the only way his self-control is going to make it through the night.


Author's notes: I swear that I work on other stuff. But these are too much fun to leave in my head? aha?