Unintended

43

It was a heavy, peaceful sleep which Kotallo found himself in. It was a surprise, if anything, considering when he had been involved in other fights, other battles, the adrenaline wouldn't back off for a while, even with exhaustion nagging at him, he'd still feel so awake and alert that rest would be hard to come by. In a way, whenever he had been involved in other fights, the celebration part of success usually went straight through into the early hours of the morning. So, in truth, it was perhaps this aspect that was lacking which allowed him to fall into a peaceful slumber.

Though to get to that part, he did have to get Nureka out of his lap first, she seemed reluctant, regardless of the fact she seemed to wish to nag at him to rest. Sitting with her in his lap wasn't exactly restful, at least not for him. That wasn't to say he wasn't comfortable or comforted by her presence being so close, but the chair wasn't exactly the most cushioned thing in the world. There was a reason why Nureka had shoved homemade pillows from Zo in it, along with blankets to pad it out a bit more; years of disuse from when this base was abandoned had rendered most things a little bit tired and worse for wear, Nureka's chair was one of many that needed a hasty refit.

She needed rest too, she was still healing, regardless of if she hadn't paid much mind to her own injuries healing; Kotallo did, begrudgingly if he still had his other arm, he would've picked her up and carried her to bed. He doubted very much she'd appreciate being practically hauled over his shoulder and carried, though the thought was amusing, if only for how discouraged and huffy she'd be, but he avoided that. Calmly and gently, he coaxed her up and off of his lap, Nureka shuffled over to the bed, pushed little bits and pieces of her work off of it and tucked other parts away, she eventually curled up and sighed happily.

It clearly didn't take much to amuse her, Kotallo admittedly sort of already knew that, but maybe it was more comforting to know that he was in one piece; he could see from the moment he saw her earlier, that she hadn't slept, or rested. Yes, he already knew she was working on bits, she had admitted that, but he didn't like seeing her eyes look so tired, slight dark rings under them because she seemingly found herself unable to go to sleep. He did feel a little guilty for that, although it was completely out of his control.

Nureka let out another happy sounding content sigh, only because Kotallo had carefully stepped into her little bed-nook, he had tried to avoid stepping on her covered form, only to realise she had balled herself up. He frowned, even as he laid down onto his side and slipped his arm underneath the pillow that she laid on, being so tightly folded in on herself, he didn't think would be comfortable, clearly, he was wrong, even as Nureka's content sigh slipped out from her lips.

"I'm a little worried with what tomorrow will bring." Nureka could feel him tense a little as she slightly turned to look over her shoulder. Half his face was nestled against the pillow, though the one eye that was looking her way did blink slowly. A sigh came from Kotallo as he rolled slowly onto his back and stared upwards at the ceiling. Nureka turned too, placing her hands against his chest, she propped herself up a little.

"Three new guests aren't exactly a pleasing prospect; I can agree with you there." Kotallo moved his arm from where it was hidden under the pillow, placing his hand against the back of her head, his fingers loosely threaded into the brunette locks.

Nureka slowly smirked, causing Kotallo to look at her questionably. "And here I thought you'd be the first to greet all three."

"Sure, I'll be doing that, right next to you." He countered and got a quiet laugh from her; she swatted a hand at his chest and eventually laid down to curl close to him. "Zo seems to like greeting people." He furthered on while keeping his hand gently resting against the back of her head, his eyes slowly shut.

"She does it because she's the calmest out of all of us, I think." Even if she had a feisty side in her. They both fell silent then, they knew at least two people Zo would unfortunately but sensibly greet and show them to a room, Tilda was still the grey area for all of them. "I'm glad you managed to get back here, you must feel so shattered though; from the battle, to travelling, just...I'm just relieved to see you here, and not harmed." Nureka said quietly, an arm which had settled over his middle tightened considerably.