#HAPPY BDAY LINI I HOPE ITS A GOOD ONEEEEE

[hirokiyuu]

Nem/Sym 12. Snuggling with my jacket, peacefully asleep (I couldn't not pick this)

She doesn't stir. Again his mouth opens, her name resting once more on his lips, but this time he finds himself stopping, because for once Anemone looks... peaceful. It's an expression that's become a more common sight, these days, but somehow it still strikes him each and every time he sees it.

Instead he leans over, taking her in. She sleeps with her lips just barely parted, eyelids parted, and a single curl rests itself on her cheek. He reaches out, brushes it back; the texture of her hair is different from Solanaceae's, and instead of pulling away as he'd meant to, he finds himself lingering, taking in the feel of it against the pads of his fingers.

A breeze blows; she shivers. Early Pollen isn't quite cold, but it still can't be entirely comfortable, hidden in the shade as she is. The solution is simple, then: he shrugs off his coat, places it carefully atop her.

It occurs to him only as he's finished settling it over her arms that this may be overstepping, somewhat. Their tentative truce is still a new and fragile thing; only in the past few months has she begun to greet him with a hesitant smile, and even then there are days where she has to turn away.

But before he can lean down to take it back, she reaches up, tugging it closer around herself, and as she does some tension Sym hadn't even noticed loosens in her shoulders.

...Alright. In that case, he'll leave it. Still, despite the fact they've begun to get along these days, he's not certain how Anemone would react if she were to wake and see him leaning over her. Best not to risk it.

He stands, careful and quiet, and finds himself looking over Anemone just one more time: her fingers tight on his jacket; the mess of her hair spread beneath her; the faint rise and fall of her body with each breath she takes, and as he does it strikes him just how far they've come. Himself, and the Gardeners, and the colony, and her. All of them, learning from each other, growing, and though he doubts his curiosity for these beings will ever be fully sated, he's grateful every single day he's being given the chance to learn. Grateful that Anemone, in particular, is trying.

He finds he's begun to smile. "Sleep well, Anemone," he murmurs, and leaves her to her rest.