"It's cold."
"I'm here, my beloved."
It was a cold night, and the heater had stopped working. The decision, in this prospect, had been to pile extra blankets on the bed and sleep very close together. His arms wrapped around the girl's slender frame, her head pressed gently against his chest. She sighed with content, listening to his heartbeat. It was immensely soothing for unknown reasons.
"Can't sleep?" Kiril's voice was a gentle whisper, and he gently began to rub her back. Elluka smiled weakly and leaned her head up, giving his neck a light kiss.
"Not really… Haha."
"Well, would you like to talk instead?"
"That'd be nice, darling." She snuggled closer, tugging the covers a little more over the two. Kiril smiled, resting his chin on her head.
"Mm, then what do we talk about?"
"I don't know. But it doesn't really matter, because hearing your voice is perfect enough for me." She smiled with a yawn, then buried her face into his chest. Kiril laughed and kissed her head, smiling back.
"Really, now? Irina always said I had a girlish voice."
"..Sing for me~" "
Eh? Ah, well, alright…" He looked at her for a moment, then tightened his hold on the girl and began to sing a soft lullaby. Elluka recognized it as something from Marlon, mentally deciding he learned it on one of the trips over for clockwork supplies.
She listened, clinging to the words as she fell into a deep slumber.
…
It was a cold night, and the heater had stopped working. The decision, in this prospect, had been to pile extra blankets on the bed and curl under them tightly. Elluka yawned, blinking her eyes open to see only darkness. She reached out, intending to curl close to Kiril again and listen to his heartbeat.
Cold sheets met her touch. Elluka sat up, rubbing her eyes and looking about. She was no longer in the quaint bedroom. The vision that filled her eyes was a cluttered bedroom in one of the higher towers of the Lucifenian Castle. A harsh snowstorm blew outside, causing a small shiver.
His name hung on her lips, ready to be spoken with a questioning tone. Then, it hit. He wasn't there— He hadn't been there in centuries.
She was alone.
Elluka slowly laid back down, staring at the ceiling with wide eyes as the wind howled outside. Right… The catastrophe, the destruction… Kiril died… Everyone else was dead. But Kiril… No more heartbeats, no more soft songs in the night or gentle hugs.
Before she knew it, tears were falling. Elluka turned on her side, curling up and pushing the soft blankets in her face as the first of many sobs ripped at her chest. She continued like this, sobbing and shaking, until the early hours of the morning. Only then had she fallen asleep, into darkness where no dream would reach. Maybe it was better that way— No dreams of the past that would make her wake in pain, no nightmares to scare her. Just darkness, endless darkness..