Chapter 1
It was ritual for her by then. When she'd finally managed to convince the tactician that she could work far more efficiently, both on and off the battlefield, if she got an adequate amount of sleep, and to let her take some of the work load, Robin was normally in bed nearly an hour before her every night, and sound asleep by the time Tharja finished transcribing the tactician's hurried scribbles into something legitimately useful to the army. But the dark mage would simply crawl into bed behind her and drape an arm over her waist, adjust her silvery white hair so it didn't smother her, and whisper “I love you” into the soft skin of Robin's shoulder before drifting off to sleep herself.
Robin never responded, but then, she'd always been dead to the world once she could finally be bothered to let her body rest.
Tharja didn't mind. For her, it was enough to be able to fall asleep and wake up with Robin in her arms. It was all the more rewarding to hear that their arrangement made the tactician's sleep more peaceful, less troubled by the nightmares of war that dogged her every step.
So she expected much of the same that night as she closed the tome, setting the quill back with its brothers and corking the ink bottle before putting it away in the drawer of the desk. She crossed to the bookshelf and put the tome away, walking back to the bed and sitting down on the side to remove her shoes before crawling under the covers and slipping her arm over Robin's waist. She was pleasantly surprised, however, when the tactician snuggled back against her. “Did I wake you?”
“Yes, but it's all right,” the tactician replied, letting out a soft sigh as Tharja kissed her neck gently. “I love you, Tharja,” she murmured. “Thank you for always looking out for me.”
“Of course, my lady,” the dark mage said, squeezing Robin's waist gently. “I love you. It's only natural I would look out for you.”
Robin chuckled softly. “Sorry I'm such a handful.”
“Don't be. If I didn't enjoy it, I wouldn't stick around,” Tharja said. She pushed Robin's hair out of the way gently. “Now, get some sleep. We can talk more in the morning.”
“All right. Good night, Tharja.”
“Good night, Robin. Sleep well.”