He holds her close, positioning them to lay against the bed in a loving cuddle before pulling away to look at her face. Her arms slack to find themselves against his chest once more as she feels his thumb groove across her lips. She squeezes her eyes shut as she feels his breaths glide across her lips, he leans down to connect with her again. Her heart skips too many beats for her to keep track of as he deepens the kiss, she simply melts in his embrace.
He drags her chest closer to his, loving the feeling of her heart thumping against his empty hollowed chest. He misses possessing a heart, and she has one… she has one for the both of them. He’ll make sure to keep it beating, to keep her heart loved and protected, because she didn’t deserve for it to be hurt any longer. Her heart didn’t deserve to be broken, ripped out and torn like his was all that time ago.
When air became something Nayrorei needed, she pulled away, discovering that either her Knight had really good lungs or Crystalians didn’t need air as much as organic creatures did since he remained composed.
“Are you okay?” He whispered. She was only able to nod while trying to catch her breath. With a low chuckle, his lips trailed down her neck while she caught her breath, eliciting quiet, adorable gasps from her whenever his lips brushed against her sweet skin.
“Z-Zhafir— mmph!” She’s interrupted by his lips again as he swooped down for more. Slender arms wrap around his head to possibly bring him closer to her, deepening the kiss they shared. Every part of her body yearned to be close to him, as if she was to break away from him, she’d simply fade from existence itself.
They lose track of time, only able to think about being close to one another to the extent they could manage. Even in Nayrorei’s slumber did she truly find peace, sleeping in the arms of her Knight, snuggled underneath his chin. She was beyond comfortable and safe, he was truly her sanctuary that warded off evil from her doorstep. He was the prince of her castle that whispered the sweetest of his love and adoration on her skin.
She fell for him, and she fell hard. She didn’t regret it, he was everything she ever needed. Even in her dreamland, he served as her sole reason for her happiness.
So there she was, tangled into his arms, his hair mixed with hers, his legs in entangled protectively with hers. He wanted to sleep beside her, he hasn’t had any sleep ever since The Shadowing first awakened, he tried to ward off the nightmares that clawed his very being.
‘You promised to show us sunlight when all you gave was darkness,’ The Maiden promised them paradise, when all she gave was hell. ‘Promising us the sky as you shattered the stars in your wake.’ Upon the descent of The Shadowing’s awakening, the fall of Goddess Alyntherra’s deteriorating body as she severed her Domain from the linked worlds of her kin. Disheveled and weakened, she had no choice but to run. A flicker of memories awakened within him, one of him not getting the chance to wave goodbye to his sibling before his Zodiac friends severed the links to their Domains to keep The Shadowing away from them for good.
Nayrorei would have loved the sun, but it was impossible now.
His hand caressed her arm, traveling up to her shoulder and then to her ear, watching it flicker while she’s deep in her slumber.
An innocent girl who deserves nothing less than the world itself.
“Tir ambru teuyu, Nayrorei...” He whispered against the skin of her forehead, like a prayer, before gently placing his lips against her. He swore to never make the same mistakes again, even if The Shadowing’s grin haunted him beyond belief, he would do anything to protect Nayrorei away from what he witnessed the two times he saw The Shadowing’s corrupted form.
Even if it meant the countless lives he could have while she is alive.