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“Sing to me, please?” Selene’s voice broke through the silence of the night as she curled her limbs into a tight ball on the hammock they were sharing.
Gladion froze. “What?” His fingers had been threading through her dark hair methodically, but now he paused, loose strands falling from his grasp.
“Sing to me?” Selene repeated. She looked up at him with her wide gray eyes, her head resting on his lap.
For a moment, Gladion fell silent, considering the situation and thinking through all his options. But when she blinked up at him, he knew that he couldn't refuse her.
The night was calm, and palm trees swayed out in the breeze. The subtle sound of waves crashing against the distant shore was soothing to the ear. Every once in a while, a soft sigh would escape Selene’s lips, the sweetest thing he'd ever heard.
And soon, Gladion’s lips were moving on their own accord, and his voice carried on the wind in a haunting sort of lullaby. With one of the most precious people in the world resting in his arms, he thought for a moment about his father.
Though his mother had been distant and sometimes cruel, what little memories Gladion had left of his father were fond. As Gladion registered the lullaby Mohn would sing to him and Lillie when they were younger leaving his throat, he glanced down at his girlfriend.
The serene expression that stretched across Selene’s face caused the tension to slip from his limbs as he continued to sing.
When he finally stopped, the last notes of his song floating off into the wind, Selene sat up, looping her arms around his waist as they lay there together on the hammock. “That was beautiful,” she whispered. “I didn't know you could sing.”
“I can't,” Gladion replied shortly.
“I disagree.” Selene rested her head against his chest. “It was a pretty lullaby.”
As Gladion resumed playing with her soft hair, he sighed. “My father used to sing it to me and Lillie… before he disappeared.” His heart seized in his chest. “It was my favorite.”
Shifting so that she could curl herself around him protectively, Selene held his hand, gently kissing each and every single one of his knuckles. “Thank you for sharing it with me, Gladion.” She continued humming his lullaby, late into the night, and it was a comfort to him.