Falling asleep is simple enough, thanks to being exhausted from drills, ops, and off-seeing as a soldier. But ever since that day in the valley, being on the run and racing the clock, the newfound addition of Noah's grief adjoining her own memories, it's not easy to stay asleep. Mio's gotten used to waking up at odd hours of the night. Sometimes she'll watch the stars, and sometimes she watches the flickering embers of their campfire. Today, she's startled awake by something tickling her nose, finding herself having rolled onto a bedroll that isn't her own, wrapped up in some sort of warmth despite the cold ash of the fire. Belatedly, she realizes she's clutching onto Noah, who's sound asleep yet still returning the embrace, his usually tied-back hair let down.
This is different.
Being this close to someone, reaching out for them when unconscious, is entirely foreign. Hugging Sena is warm too, but Noah is broader and somehow sturdier in an inexplicable way (despite the fact that Sena could easily outmatch him in a contest of strength). Similarly, waking up in a jolt as she's reaching for Miyabi on the other side of the hatch is much different than waking up groggily to find herself pulled into a sense of safety. Not that Mio minds the closeness, outside of the embarrassment she'd feel in the morning but opts to shelve in the cover of night.
She drowsily traces the outline of a scar along his back, the various old wounds that she only knows about thanks to the ghosts of memory that swirl about them in that golden space where emotion armours them as they melt together, and he sighs and presses closer to her clavicle as warm breaths tickle her skin.
Mio flushes as feels a blush creep up her cheeks in the dark as her ears crane about, swiveling for any sound from the others before moving close to place her lips gently on the top of Noah's head, like they saw how other pairs did in the City. This is probably part of that "romance" thing they learned about in the City, and it doesn't surprise her that she feels the way she does. After all they're simply two kindred spirits with a common goal, a destined bond helped along in no small part due to the Interlink. Still, though, this somehow feels more intimate than being joined by their minds.
In spite of her limited time, the moment feels like it lasts for a sublime eternity before Mio slips into the first truly restful sleep she's ever had.