He considers it a pleasure just to be at her side, but there's more to it than that.
"Edea! Default!" Ringabel yelled as the woman beside him took yet another blow from the Myconid that had just newly spawned, and watched helplessly as the she was forced to kneel from exhaustion. They had been unprepared for this battle, and out of potions, a terrible combination when trying to travel back and forth from Florem. Tiz was holding his own, and Agnes's healing could barely keep up. As soon as they ended this battle, maybe they could make a run for it...!
But that wouldn't help her now. He felt sick seeing her so hurt, and though his current asterisk did not give him the ability to cover his allies, he jumped to the side in order to stand in front of her anyway as the Myconid shuddered to prepare for its next attack. He'd rather keep her safe than worry about absorbing any damage. He had to keep her safe, that need to protect screaming though his body. It was instinctual, almost. She had gotten wounded before, and it made his heart ache in his chest every time.
"Ringabel, what do you think you-" Whatever she might've said was cut off, his vision going red as he received the next blow instead, the Myconid tearing through his defenses as though he were wearing nothing but paper. He might as well have been. His head exploded with pain.
Thief was something of a glass cannon, after all. But there was nothing to regret, he thought in a haze, as the ground rushed up at him and the sounds of the battle faded to white noise.
It felt like just a short time late that he woke, pillowed in a bed he couldn't recognize. Edea was sitting beside him with her head down, her eyes bloodshot and her nose red… as though she had been crying. She sniffled as he watched.
And Ringabel felt like the most despicable person in the world. Perhaps he did have some regrets.
"Edea? What's the matter? Are you all right?" His mouth felt like cotton, but he had to say something. Her head snapped up when he spoke and fresh tears appeared in her blue eyes. He swallowed hard, his stomach churning at the sight of her beautiful face so downcast.
"Oh, you…! What do you think is the matter?" She shouted at him, and his head began to throb. It didn't help when she grabbed him by the collar, yanking him up out of bed. He noted with some vague confusion that he had been stripped down to his underthings. Very odd. "You stupid idiot!" Edea continued, and his attention drifted back to her, trying to focus past the haze in his head. The sky behind her shoulder was dark… more time had passed than he thought. "You didn't have to take that blow for me! You shouldn't have!"
He shook his head as best as he could. "What sort of gentleman would not protect the woman most dear to him?" He asked her, trying to smile, his hand hesitantly touching her wrist. Was that what she was crying over? Did she not expect him to do such a thing?
Edea let go of his collar and with her no longer holding on, he fell back onto the bed, crying out when his already throbbing head hit the pillow. As soft was it was, the impact jarred him, and he gingerly lifted a hand to grab at his hair. He would not whimper - he had endured headaches as long as he could remember (which of course, wasn't very long), but a noise escaped his mouth.
"Ah- Ringabel!" She was still upset, but she felt remorse over hurting someone who was already injured, even if that person was a notorious lecher and womanizer who stuck his nose into other people's business. "I'm sorry, I didn't- I mean." As he rubbed his temples, pressing his fingers into them in an attempt to help with the pain, she hovered over his bed. "Don't ever do something like that again. I don't need you hurting yourself for me." She threatened him, though there was little bite to her words, and her face was solemn.
"I… won't," he managed to grit out. A promise he did not intend to keep. He'd made a vow. When, he didn't know. But he knew he had.
But now Edea leaned over him and smoothed his sweat damp hair back from his pale face, messing up the carefully styled locks more than they had already been. Her touch was surprisingly gentle and soothing, all things considered, her fingers light and careful against his scalp. It felt a little nice. "You'd better not, or I'll pummel you with the Monk asterisk next time. Then you'll really be hurting.," And she paused. "Now get some more sleep - we had to carry you all the way to Florem to get a potion, and you probably didn't get any true rest while you were unconscious."
Ringabel sighed with some relief, her fingers cool and light against his aching head, trying not to lean too obviously into the caress. "Yes ma'am. Whatever you say, milady." The smile that he gave her was… sincere, if still not masked somewhat by his headache. He doubted that he'd be able to really sleep, and he'd much rather be out meeting women, but if Edea looked at him with such concern again, he would gladly stay in bed for days (preferably with her, but beggars couldn't be choosers).
She glared. And then... she hesitated, before leaning over his bed and pressing her lips against his furrowed brow for but a moment. They were everything he thought they would feel like - warm and soft and her scent surrounded him. His headache vanished at the kiss.
"There," She said triumphantly as she leaned away, pointedly ignoring his sudden stutters and the blush that bloomed across his face and all the way up to the very tip of his ears. Her own face looked a little bright. "My mother used to kiss my pains away. Get some sleep now."
As she mentioned her mother, he thought briefly of a woman with long blonde hair, gentle and kind… and waved the mental image away. Edea's mother was likely just as beautiful as her daughter, and he hoped to meet her someday, along with the rest of the girl's family. He meekly nodded instead, his throat hot with embarrassment as she busied herself with tucking him in to the bed, her hands light around his battered form. It felt… affectionate. Loving, even. His memories may be gone, but to his body, actions of such affection are foreign. Foreign, and yet deeply appreciated.
Perhaps he'd have a good night's rest for once.
"Thank you, Edea," he was finally able to bring himself to as she began to exit the inn room. She paused in the doorway, haloed in soft light that peeked through her hair. His heart jumped at the sight. Beautiful.
"I should be the one thanking you… so thank you, Ringabel." Though he could not see her face well, shadowed as it was, he thought he saw the tiniest glimpse of a smile before the door clicked shut behind her, leaving him in blessed darkness.
Once she was gone, Ringabel lifted a hand to his brow, as though her lips had left a burning mark upon his skin. He wondered if the others could see. "I'm not going to wash for days," He said to himself, rolling over and burrowing under the blankets, heeding Edea's orders. She had done so much for him, whether she knew it or not; he could do that much for her.
