[Ah... It surprises her initially, but her hands all too quickly release their hold and slip between his arms and body, winding around his waist to return it. She turns her head to the side, pressing her cheek to his chest and feeling the warmth there and the life beating beneath her ear. Emotion blossoms in her chest, the back of her neck, her ears, sparking over her in an almost painful way.

He doesn't have any say at all, does he? It's a reality she can't bring herself to correct immediately. They were all sleeping, and none of them could have stopped what happened last night.]

I don't want to let go of you, but I don't know if I could. It would be hard to sleep there knowing why the bed was empty. [In the Colonies, they'd fill cots as they emptied. A vacated rank was filled, sooner or later, by another soldier transferring in from the Queen's endless supply. Mio doesn't want it to feel like that, sliding into the place once kept by a husk.]