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Romani closed the door behind him and sighed. Of course, it was another long day filled with concerns and worries, with files and failed transmissions to Seraphix.
They were supposed to receive some magical energy to be supplied today but none of the staff seemed to have picked up their calls. Usually it takes two months, one if they were truly lucky for them to contact back.
Today marks the day of them contacting back, to report their status and send over the mana gathered at the bottom of the sea so they could convert some of it to replenishable resources and power for Chaldeas, Sheba, Laplace, and the summoning system.
Whoever was mysteriously supplying them with sufficient mana enough to run their systems deserves a huge reward or some sort.
After all, with the way they were rayshifting between major and minute singularities back to back, they should have run out of magical energy at the third singularity.
Shrugging off his coat and hanging it behind his door, Romani thunked his head against the metal wall.
He was so tired, so sleepy…
But he has to do maintenance in a few hours from now, check the ventilation system, their reactors, their back-up generators, double check the cryofrozen masters, help the unfamiliar staff with some of the controls in the command room, confirm with Da Vinci about the state of the currently-wrecked simulator, do Mash’s monthly check-up, and-
The doctor froze on the spot upon seeing red-orange hair splayed out across his pillow.
His heart thumped loudly in his ears.
Slowly approaching his bed, Romani swore that he didn't know if his poor heart was dying or running a marathon…
Because before him was Ritsuka herself, her outer white Master uniform was removed, leaving nothing but her in a black shirt that matched his, her skirt and tights. But that wasn’t the only thing that seized his chest.
She was wearing his coat, which looked extremely large on her small stature.
Romani clutched at his table and covered half of his face, to steady himself and calm down before he did anything irrational to his girlfriend while she was sleeping so adorably on his bed.
He sighed heavily. He knew she was out and about the entire day, training with the Servants, continuing her lessons, learning combat skills to compensate for her lack of magical knowledge and ability all to make sure their operations ran as smoothly as possible during this perilous Grand Order.
Guilt seized his aching heart, mixing in with the fondness he felt for her. He had no other choice but to depend on the sole Master left in this doomed world. But it couldn’t be helped, as acting director, he wants everyone to stay alive by the end of this, even after defeating Solomon and taking back their future.
With the back of his hand, ever so gently, Roman tucked a lock of her hair behind her ear and smiled.
For her he will do his best and run alongside her no matter how terrifying the future and his visions are.
A yawn escaped past him and he glanced at the clock. 1:42 AM , it read.
…Well, it wouldn’t do if he sat idly and simply stared at her all evening. And if he did not get enough sleep, everyone was going to scold him and put him to sleep. Ugh.
Careful not to jostle Ritsuka too much, he slid his arms underneath her knees and her back, to give him enough room so they could sleep side by side.
But his plan went out the window the moment Ritsuka clutched at his shirt and whined his name, her warm breaths fanning his neck.
Romani closed his eyes and breathed.
There was absolutely no way he could let go now. Dammit Ritsuka.
It took a little bit of effort but he managed to move her without waking her up while his body was close to her. With the space now open for him, Roman moved to climb on it and lay down, fully intending to make sure Ritsuka had wiggle room to move-
Only for her arms to wrap around his body once again, her face buried in the crook of his neck.
This time, Romani couldn’t help but huff out a laugh. “Ritsuka, you’re awake, aren’t you?”
Her response was a muffled grumble against his chest and her hugging him tighter.
He sighed. She must have missed him a lot… He did, after all, do nothing but run and run around the facility doing his job and only stopping to eat for a bit.
While he heard from the others that Ritsuka had been trying to approach him, only for unfortunate circumstances to arise and always make them part.
Roman smiled and wrapped his arms around her in return. If they’re sleeping like this, he doesn’t mind at all. It was welcome even, as her warmth brought him a kind of peace and relaxation he could really get addicted to if she always made herself comfortable on his lap or on his bed.
In his embrace, he felt her move a bit, to which he faced down… and met her amber gaze and cute pout. “Did you really think we’ll end up sleeping without cuddling?”
He bit the inside of his cheek, and closed his eyes with a blush, “W-Well, I wanted you to be comfortable…”
“I'm happier if we sleep like this though.”
The way she said it without hesitation has his heart beating wildly in his chest. If it goes on like this, then he won’t be able to sleep and he’d be more inclined to be awake and dote on her.
He brought a hand up to pinch her cheek lightly, “Aren’t you cheeky today?”
“‘Cuz you took so long to come back,” She points out, his hand now cupping her cheek as she nuzzles it, “and I had planned to surprise you.”
Eh? A surprise? It wasn’t really unusual for her to hang out in his room or sleep here. There weren’t any trinkets or tricks on her which meant…
His cheeks burned at the mere thought of it, his smile was wobbly yet filled with tender affection, as Romani realized as to what that surprise was.
“So it was the jacket, after all.”
He did express silently how many times he glanced at her figure and his coat, wondering how she’d look wearing it… but as he was too embarrassed to ask such a thing, it seemed that it had become obvious enough to her that she picked up on it.
Good grief. This girl was not good for his heart.
Like a cute, angry kitten, Ritsuka grumbled against his shirt, burying herself even closer to his embrace, and he did what she wanted in return, to be held close and to hold her close…
Romani didn’t disappoint.
With a quiet yawn, he kissed the top of her head with a soft smile, eager to spend the night wrapped around such comforting warmth.
Ritsuka reached up and pecked his lips in return for persisting and coming back to her no matter how tired he got when he finally fell asleep.