Day 3: Love
He's never considered himself an analytical person, though, he supposes it's true. More than once he's found his way out of a sticky situation by using his brain first and brute magical force second. It doesn't escape him that he's also very good at galvanizing and earning – if not trust – the respect of those around him.
For years he's been compiling, calculating, collating, and collecting. His mind has never stopped... until now.
Now he sleeps late, and stretches out on his back as he draws fingers that have committed great evils through the scarlet hair that still captivates him even though it has been so long. Can darkness as thick as his be diluted with a bright enough light? He still isn't sure but he has done all he can and doesn't have it in him to stay away any longer. The way she smiles at him is enough. Everything else... well.
Erza is a clingy sleeper. She is always touching him and he isn't accustomed to it yet. He thinks maybe she clutches at him in her sleep because she is afraid he won't be there when she wakes. His new mission is to always be at her side in the morning.
She tells him she loves him with every breath. Erza has always given him the space he needs to grapple with himself. Now there is no quarter. And he will not ask for it. There are no more barriers between them and he welcomes the way she slips through his gates. They mingle and mix and merge until he can no longer imagine life without her.
He loves her more than anything in the world. And he is no longer afraid of what that means.