Arthur sighed softly in his hospital bed, hearing only the quiet, sterile drips, beeps, and clicks of the hospital in the air. That, and the sound of slow, steady breathing.

He'd had medicine in him, so he wasn't hurting. Nothing insomnia-based either. He just… couldn't sleep. It didn't feel right somehow. All he could do was lie still, staring at the empty ceiling.

"…Ey. You still awake?" He slowly turned his head so that he could look to his side. Through the darkness, he could see a familiar pair of violet eyes staring at him, capturing just the right amount of light with which to look at him. Due to the injuries caused by the Seraphim bombings, many of their hospitals and medical facilities were flooded with the sheer volume of patients. Being Paladin had its own perks in this regard, so he only had to share his room with one other. And, by a stoke of fortune, it just so happened to be Shura.

"Yes, love. I am. I couldn't fall asleep." He sighed as he thought about the current situation. "I really don't like hospitals."

"That makes two of us, then," he could see her smirk faintly as she looked over at him from where she was lying on her right side. "Just checking, seeing if those burns of yours were bugging ya'." He unconsciously touched his own abdomen as she mentioned his injuries. She hadn't been the only one to have been caught in the effects of the Seraphim explosion, though he admittedly hadn't been caught as badly as she.

"…And what of yourself? Are your injuries bothering you?" She had offhandedly stated that she was fine, and 'just wouldn't be wearing bikini tops for a while', but he still felt that she was more bothered by the injury to her abdomen than she let on. Her eyes shifted away as she tried to avoid looking at him.

"Ah, they're feelin' kinda shitty, but not so bad, I guess," she muttered. "Pain meds are keepin' most of it off… Just can't really sleep cause o' some things I've got on my mind."

"… You mean the son of Satan and the rest of your students?" he asked quietly. He still hated the idea of the older Okumura twin, especially with her working to protect him on Fujimoto's wishes. She'd gotten so angry at him when he'd cut off the boy's foot during trial just to keep him still. However, that argument had passed after a short time, and though the topic remained a tense one, he had come to accept that she cared about the boy's wellbeing. He supported her on that much, just as she did some of the unnecessary cruelties that he did in his own job.

"Yeah, all o' them." She grunted as she pressed her head into the pillow. "I still can't believe that fuckin' clown sent them out to rescue Kamiki all on their own. I don't know what the hell that guy is thinkin', but he's gotta be fuckin' nuts to send all of them out to take on the Illuminati. They're a bunch of goddamned kids fer fuck's sakes!" She weakly lifted her arm in exasperation, then let it drop beside her. "… I'm just worried. I don't know what the fuck that clown has planned, but whatever the hell it is, I don't like the feel of it at all. Feels like we're just a bunch of chess pieces on a game board, and he's the guy playin' each one of us. Makin' us move, forcin' us into positions where we have no choice but to act… Then shovin' us outta' the game when we can't be of any more use."

He could see her now, arms gathering up some of the blankets close to her to clutch them in her arms. She had a spark in her eye, lonely, a bit anxious. Both worried about the road ahead for her students, and what she was capable of now. And just the loneliness from her favorite person to hold lying in another bed. He'd seen her do this the previous nights, he knew what to do.

Without a word, he pushed off his blankets and got out of his bed. Before he even got over to her, she had scooted herself carefully back from that end of the bed to the opposite, making just enough room for when he had made his way over to her, lying down on his side so that their chests were just pressed together as the fronts of their bodies faced one another.

"Dumbass, ya' got burns on yer left side. Yer gonna' aggravate 'em."

"It'll be fine," he smiled as he gently draped an arm over her, his hand gently pressed against her upper back. "… It's going to be alright, Shura," he murmured again, but the tone of his voice said that it wasn't the discomfort of injuries he was talking about. One leg hooked around hers as he drew her close as gently as possible.

"… I really hope so," she sighed, nuzzling her face into his chest. In turn, he rested his face in her hair, as they lie together in the silence. It was warmer now, more comfortable with his beloved in his arms again.

"It will be fine, love," he murmured again, gently squeezing her in his arms as a show of comfort. "You just get some rest for now." After a few moments, he felt her relax into him, and he against her. This was what he needed, the feel of her body, warm and soft, against his, the soothing sounds of her breathing in his ears, and her signature scent of cherry blossoms perfuming his senses.

"…Love ya'," he heard her whisper softly, breaking the silence for the final time that night.

"And I you."

When the day staff came in the next morning, and found the two of them curled into each other on one bed for what was the third morning in a row, they decided it would probably be best for both of them to just keep the two beds close together, so as not to aggravate their injuries. No matter how they reprimanded or what they said, they just couldn't keep the two of them apart. Not even for one night.