Disclaimer: I don't own D. Gray-man.
Chapter 22
Miranda's gentle suggestion of spending sleepless nights together was soon acted upon. Marie was unable to sleep, yet again, and had heard Miranda tossing and turning throughout the night. Her pulse assured him that she wasn't asleep, yet. Marie had been hesitant, at first, to disturb Miranda, but eventually decided that it would probably do both of them some good to not spend the night laying awake with nothing to do but hopelessly roll over.
He made his way quietly to her door, and knocked softly.
He was greeted by a tired sound, and soon the door was opened. "Oh, hello, Marie. Sorry, did I wake you up with all of my tossing and turning?"
"No, I couldn't sleep. Would you like to go to the library?" Marie offered in a soft voice. It would do no good if they woke someone else in their sleeplessness.
"Yes, that sounds nice," Miranda agreed quietly, "Hold on, let me go get shoes on." As clean as the halls were, no one trusted the cleanliness and lack of sharp things like rocks or glass carried in on shoes enough to go barefoot in the halls of the Order. She slipped on a pair of flats she often wore around the Order when she wasn't in uniform. With a yawn, she followed Marie to the library. She held his hand as they walked. When they got to the library, Marie held the door open for her.
Miranda thanked him softly and walked in. They both settled on the usual couch that they occupied during their reading times. In a soft voice, Miranda asked, "Would you like me to read to you?"
"No, let's just stay like this," Marie declined softly. His arm was gently wrapped around her waist and her head rested against her shoulder. After a few moments, he said, "Would you like to hear a song? Perhaps it will help you sleep."
"Oh, you really don't have to! Your fingers are still so swollen from playing so much, the other night," Miranda said. She wanted to hear him play again, sometime, but not when the tips of his fingers were still raw, swollen, and red.
"I've grown used to playing like this. It won't trouble me. Are you sure?" he wanted to try and help her sleep. He knew plenty of songs that often lulled people to sleep very quickly.
Miranda hesitated a moment, "If it really won't hurt your hands to play more, then I would love to hear something..." She could hear his steady breathing and pulse the way her ear was pressed to his chest.
"Of course," he offered the barest hint of a smile. He anchored the strings of Noel Organon to the floor of the library, and gently began to strum out a quiet rhythm. It was a melodic tune that had a lullaby-quality to it. Soon, he began adding soft, barely audible words to it.
Miranda could feel Marie's chest vibrate softly with his words and hear the way his pulse and his breathing mixed in with the music. Despite her previous sleeplessness, she could feel her eyes drifting shut. She matched her breathing to his, and the slow breaths served to make her feel even more drowsy. It was a nice feeling, finally being able to feel herself fall asleep.
Once Miranda had fallen asleep, Marie carefully moved to lay down, with Miranda laying against his chest. It would be far less painful for both of them to sleep that way, than the way that they had been. The quiet of the library proved to allow his brain some calm. The only sounds were his own breathing, Miranda's breathing, and their pulses. it wasn't an overwhelming mix, like the sounds of everyone in surrounding rooms.
Focusing in on the sounds Miranda made helped him begin to doze. He should have thought to go to the library when he couldn't sleep more often. These thoughts barely had time to drift through his thoughts before he as falling asleep completely.
Miranda took a few long moments to wake up, before she began registering she was in the library. She stayed still as soon as she realized she was laying on top of Marie. It just wouldn't do to wake him. She glanced at the clock across the room. She could barely make out the hands through the darkness, but they had only been asleep for an hour or two. It was morning, though.
The door to the library barely opened, and a finder poked his head in. He became quite flustered about interrupting the two, whatever it was they were doing, but he said, "Miss Exorcist, Mister Noise Marie has a mission. Could you wake him, for me?"
"Oh... Yes," Miranda nodded slowly. She carefully shook Marie's shoulder.
Marie was sleeping deeper than normal, so it took him a bit longer to wake up. When he did, he gave a tired sigh, "Did you need something, Miranda?"
"Yes, there's a finder that's come to tell you you have a mission," Miranda said softly and sat up. She stood up so that he could stand up, whenever he was awake enough.
Marie's words were directed at the finder, "If it's not urgent, could you tell Chief Komui I might be a bit slow to the briefing?" He didn't quite feel like getting up, yet, so if he could afford it he would take his time. He didn't rarely take long to get ready for missions, but he figured, since the finder hadn't been overly excited about trying to wake him, that the mission wasn't crucially urgent.
"Yes, I'll go tell him now. I'm sorry to have disturbed the two of you," the finder quickly nodded and left to tell Komui that Marie might be a bit late.
"Are you feeling okay, Marie?" Miranda sounded worried. "You're not feeling unwell, are you?"
"I'm fine, Miranda, don't worry," he assured in a soft voice. He didn't quite feel up to offering a smile, yet, but he didn't want her worrying. "I was just sleeping deeper than normal. I'm tired."
"Do you want me to go get you some coffee?" Miranda quickly offered. She wanted to help him however she could. The thought of him going out on a mission scared her. What if his head wasn't clear yet? What if he accidentally made a dangerous mistake because he still wasn't back in full emotional health? She tried to keep herself from panicking just form thinking about what could possibly go wrong.
"No, it's fine. If you'll walk with me, though, that might be nice," he said softly. After a few moments, and a few yawns, he stood up and offered her his hand. "It's always nice to have company just before you have to leave on a mission. I think so, at least. I know some people find it bothersome." Marie tried not to think that "some people" referred to Kanda. he wouldn't think about that. Grief during a mission wasn't a good thing.
"I think it's nice, too. Especially when they're sudden missions, like this," Miranda nodded. The walk to his room was quick, and both wish it had lasted a smidge longer. "I'll wait out here for you to get your things ready, then I'll walk with you to Komui's office, if that's okay."
"Of course, sorry you have to keep me company," Marie nodded. He kept a suitcase ready for short-notice missions, so he didn't have to do much. Miranda was glad to see that she wasn't the only one who did that.
"I wonder what your mission will be," Miranda said thoughtfully.
"Who knows. I'm sure it won't be anything too intense. Komui tries to give us all a bit of time before we're given harsh missions after losing someone. He's good about that," Marie sounded grateful. He probably was. It was Komui who had seen to it, once he was saved from the Second Exorcist project, who saw to it that he had the proper time and help to relearn how to fight without his sight. He would be grateful to him for as long as he lived, thanks to that.
"Yes... He's good about making sure we're given as much down time as possible when we need it," she offered a nod of agreement, "I just hope this mission isn't too soon for you. Are you sure you'll be okay?"
"Yes, Miranda. I promise I'll be fine, you don't have to worry," Marie promised. Soon, they had reached Komui's office. "I'll see you when I get back, Miranda. If I have time before I leave, I'll come say goodbye to you, again."
"All right, if I don't see you again before you leave, I'll see you when you get back," perhaps it was silly. Maybe it was just stupid superstition or gnawing anxiety, but Miranda couldn't help feeling that so long as she said she would see him again that he would come back alive.
"I'll see you, too," on the other hand, maybe it wasn't so silly. It might have just been something she picked up from other exorcists.
"Good bye, Marie. I love you. Please be careful," she said softly and gently hugged him, "I'll see you around..."
"I promise I'll come back, Miranda, don't worry. I'm not going to leave you. Hopefully it's a short mission, and you're still here when I get back," he gently returned the hug. When he pulled away from the hug Miranda's arms dropped away from him. There was no use in prolonging the goodbye. After all, it was a necessary part of their job. They couldn't afford to get too emotional about having to go.
"I know," she said softly, "Have a safe mission, Marie." With that, Marie went the rest of the way to Komui's office for his briefing.
Miranda decided it was probably time to go get breakfast. Although she never had much of an appetite in the morning, she could at least get coffee. Maybe, she decided, she could go see if Johnny needed any help with making uniforms after she had finished her coffee. No use in letting herself be idle simply because Marie wasn't there.
A/N:Thanks a bunch for reading!
