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It was a quiet night in Blazewood. Most of the denizens of the small town had already retreated to their residences to sleep by now, the Sons of Calydon being no different. While they were accustomed to making do with setting up camp outside or sleeping inside of Steeltusk, nothing could beat the comfort of a proper bedroom.
But for one of them, that comfort wasn't enough tonight.
While Luciana De Montefio had abandoned that name and all its benefits and burdens, she had not abandoned some of her finer tastes. She knew, for instance, the importance of a night of proper rest, the need to get one's beauty sleep.
Yet she felt something was missing. And that feeling kept her awake tonight, laying on her side under the covers of her bed. So she tried to think about what it could be that she was missing.
Her helmet was set up on the rack by the door, her Calydonian jacket hanging just below it. The rest of her clothes were neatly put away in the closet positioned at the right wall. The whip she occasionally carried was on the small table on the opposite side of the room, her metal bat resting against the side of it.
All the belongings she needed day-by-day were there, yet something was missing.
What also didn't help was the footsteps she could hear in the hall outside, followed by the sound of her bedroom door slowly opening.
“Uh… Lucy? Are you awake?” The destroyer of proper rest said quietly, likely in case she was still asleep. But she wasn't, of course, to her annoyance.
Lucy sighed from under her covers, not shifting her comfortable position. “I am… What do you want, Caesar?”
The woman in question seemingly faltered for a bit, stammering as she mustered the courage to speak her piece. “W-Well… I couldn't really sleep, so… is it alright if I join you?”
A scoff is now what came from under the covers. “Really? Why, did the mighty Overlord have a nightmare?”
The Overlord in question stepped further into the room, clearly not intent on taking no for an answer. “No, of course not! I'm just… kinda lonely, I guess.”
Lucy now decided to shift, glancing over the blanket at Caesar. She could see that she was just wearing a simple nighttime shirt and shorts, standing there sheepishly with a hand on her head waiting for an answer.
“Really? Lonely? It's just a night of sleep. Are you seriously that dependent on me? And close the door behind you, will you?” Lucy said, laying her head back down afterwards.
Caesar smiled, closing the door behind her as instructed before making her way to the bedside. “Thanks Lucy.”
It was not long ago that Lucy had finally confessed her feelings to Caesar, the woman who had freed her soul, yet captured her heart. It was a messy confession, laced with lingering hot emotions from the incident at Cinder Lake. But nonetheless, it ended well.
One detail Lucy hadn't expected though was just how clingy Caesar would be. She was always an absolutely hopeless romantic, yet now that she actually had someone she shared feelings with it seemed like she was almost desperate to enjoy that closeness herself.
And yet Lucy somehow couldn't bring herself to complain about it.
She felt the covers shift behind her, the weight of the bed shifting along with it shortly after. The bed was luckily already king sized, now rather fittingly as well, so there was space between them. Meaning Caesar wouldn't interrupt her own attempts at sleeping.
…Yet something was still missing.
“Hey Lucy… Is it alright if uh… we cuddle?”
Asking to cuddle. She really is utterly hopeless, isn't she.
Another sigh comes from Lucy. “Fine. Just don't… squeeze too much, I'm having enough trouble sleeping as is.”
She felt her shifting again, before two arms wrapped around her, the warmth of Caesar's body pressing against her back. She moved a bit to get herself comfortable again, before settling with a slow exhale. She would never say it of course, but this… this was nice. It felt more comfortable than before, with a strange sense of safety.
Caesar pressed her forehead against Lucy's hair, taking in her scent before turning her own head slightly to softly whisper into her ear. But what she said was not at all something Lucy expected to hear.
With the most gentle tone Lucy had ever heard Caesar speak, she uttered only three simple words. Three simple words that were utterly foreign to her.
“I love you.”
Lucy jolted then froze up hearing it. Did she really just say that? Did she actually, genuinely just say that? To her? And why did it feel so… so…
“Uh… Lucy? Are you…”
“Say that again.”
Lucy was surprised by herself saying that so sternly, like a desperate command she didn't realize she wanted to give. And it was met by silence. Of course it was. Why would she-
“I love you.”
Lucy turned in Caesar's arms, the larger woman letting her hold loose a bit so that she could. She was now facing Caesar, one hand placed against her stomach while the other wrapped around behind her, Caesar's own taking her back into her embrace.
“Again.”
“I love you.”
She shuddered, despite the comfortable warmth that surrounded her within the gentle hold.
“Again.”
“I love you.”
The muscles on her face began to ache and her eyes stung, fighting a losing battle against emotion more powerful than her. Her voice became more shaky, far less demanding than before and more desperate.
“A-Again.”
“I love you.”
The battle was lost, Caesar claiming yet another victory over her as tears ran down her face. She gripped Caesar's shirt, her own soft sobs now filling the room. Then, she felt a hand on the back of her head as Caesar held her close with all the love of her words and more.
“I love you.”
“I didn't tell you to say it again…”
“I know, but… I wanted to say it. Because I really do mean it, Lucy. I love you, more than anything else.”
Never in the life of Luciana De Montefio did she ever hear those words spoken to her before. No matter how well she performed in class, no matter how well she played piano, no matter how much she did as her parents demanded of her, those three words never left their mouths.
And yet here, Lucy has now heard it so many times simply because she asked. Simply because Caesar wanted to say it.
Simply because she was loved.
She realized now what it was she was missing.
Wiping her tears with a final sniffle, Lucy mustered up every bit of courage to return the favor at least once.
“I… I love you too.”
Held in the arms of the one she loved, listening to the sound of her rhythmic heartbeat, Lucy slowly but surely fell asleep, finally surrendering herself to it in the comforting safety of her lover's embrace.