The flower wreaths had been finished long before night fell.
It was because of that, that the trio was now enjoying a lazy time of doing what they wished; Zeitwächter and Churchgrim dozed in the moonlight, Kongō wandering aimlessly around the area.
From time to time she would gaze at the sky and the bright moon, let the wind twirl her hair and part of her dress.
In all honesty, she didn't know what she was feeling right now.
There was still pain, of course, there would always be pain and sometimes it would flare up and be unbearable, but she felt slightly better.
Well, maybe – maybe her feelings were just a bit muted currently.
She heard soft pawsteps behind her and turned halfway to acknowledge Churchgrim.
He had obviously stopped dozing and was now standing motionless with a cocked head.
They looked at each other for a while, until the dog moved and pushed against her hip, whining a bit.
Kongō was surprised by his strength, catching herself as he actually pushed her: "What is it?"
His ears lowered and he whined again, pushing at her lower body once more.
She didn't know what he wanted, of course, Churchgrim couldn't talk nor could he use the Concept Communication System to relay information, but he was a part of Zeitwächter – carrying a part of her Union Core and all – so maybe a bit of Zeitwächter logic could be used on him?
Kongō lowered herself to Churchgrim's height, mimicking the movement of his head slightly: "Did you sleep well?"
Churchgrim didn't like talking, almost as if his own barks were too loud to him, so instead he had adapted to making little sounds one had to learn first.
"That is good, do you want to eat something?"
Of course not. Unlike his sister, who was always starving, he didn't feel hunger at all (like a Mental Model should), so he shook his head.
"Do you want attention?"
Now he started becoming a bit impatient, shifting his weight around and stepping on the spot.
Kongō felt a bit frustrated as well.
What can I do?, she asked herself.
Churchgrim evidently wanted something from her and it annoyed her that she couldn't find out what it was.
The dog moved forwards, pressing his head against her chest and straining to reach further.
It was in that moment that realisation dawned on the blonde: Churchgrim was big, easily confused with a wolf as he reached Zeitwächter's (who was two metres tall) hips – when bumping into her, he had lowered his head to the height of her Union Core and now, he was also trying to get through her crouch and bump that place again.
"Are you trying to reach my Core?"
He yipped, perking his ears and wagging his tail softly.
She furrowed her brows: "Why?"
He looked like he was about to cry.
Right, yes no questions only.
Kongō supported her chin with a hand, petting the heavy head in her lap with the other and wondering what could interest Churchgrim so much.
Her Union Core was just an Union Core like any other: it wasn't cracked, it wasn't missing pieces and it possessed the full ability of supporting her – so what interested him so much?
"Are you mayhaps worried about my Union Core's functionality?"
Assimilating Maya and the Nagaras had put immense stress on it, after all.
Churchgrim made his little affirmative sound, cheering up instantly when Kongō ruffled his neck fur: "Don't worry, I'm fine. In fact, thank you for cheering me up."
He looked extremely happy, wagging his tail, panting and trying to give the Mental Model a kiss which she deflected.
Little did they know that a certain someone was spying them from in between two trees, nails almost digging into the bark, eyes narrowed.
Zeitwächter decided to leave them be and turned back, thinking.
For Churchgrim to act like that was… unusual. She would have to ask him later about what he actually had wanted from the fast battleship.