North x Northwest

With the side of his head buried in the pillow, Ed could open only one eye. 

‘This is clearly my pillow, so why do I see black hair? No, in the first place, my hair isn’t long enough to be seen when I’m lying down…’ 

With a frown on his face, Ed raised his heavy head. His eyes opened wide directly after. The scene in front of him seemed so unrealistic, that he wondered if he was still dreaming. But no matter how many times he rubbed his eyes, the view remained the same. Finally accepting the fact that he was holding Lil in his arms, Ed froze, not knowing what to do. Lil moved in the meantime and made his arm her pillow.

The recollection of last night came back in bits and pieces. 

‘We spent a long time discussing how to infiltrate Gualtiero… And I remember Liloa getting a fever, so I put her to bed. I must’ve stayed near to nurse her before falling asleep myself. No, but how did I end up crawling all the way into the bed… This can be misinterpreted in so many ways… Even if I never intended to do such things, in Liloa’s book I’m already mistakenly known as a pervert. It’s clear that even if I claim to be innocent, she won’t believe me…’ 

Ed peeked under the covers to check just in case. Both of them were still fully dressed.

He then moved the arm, on which Lil’s head was resting, with caution. Her hair slipped down the sleeve of his shirt until her head landed safely on the pillow. He had to get his body out next. Fortunately, because only the edge of the blanket covered him, it was simple to remove. It was then that Lil reached into the air, grabbed the cover and pulled it towards her. For a moment, Ed assumed she had woken up and hardened, before exhaling a sigh of relief when he realised she hadn’t. 

‘I didn’t know she had the habit of pulling blankets. She really has such a cute side to her… Then, from now on, I just need to prepare two blankets, right? … No, what am I thinking?’

Ed brushed off any disrespectful thoughts. 

‘I have to get out of bed as quietly as possible.’

He tried to move his shoulder subtly, but suddenly Lil grabbed him by the collar.

“…Hmm?”

Startled, he made a sound without realising it. Amid his confusion, Lil started pulling on his shirt and Ed was helplessly drawn to her, pressing his lips tight to keep himself from making any more noises. He could have resisted, but if he did, he was sure Lil would wake up. Putting his head on the pillows next to Lil again, he realised.

‘It’s because of this… She isn’t just pulling blankets, it looks like she tends to pull everything her hands can grab…’ 

It was because of this habit of pulling that made Ed, who had been sitting at the bedside and fell asleep last night with only his upper body resting on the bed, woke up in the middle of it. 

‘Isn’t that actually a very dangerous habit? Who knows who may be next to your bed?’

“Ugh…”

Lil, who would never know such concerns, was in the middle of a deep sleep while making incomprehensible sounds. 

‘I could never be this cute if I grunt and frowned the way she’s doing while dreaming… But why are her lips so tightly pursed? …Shit. I was about to die from shock when she suddenly pulled me back down again. However, it’s lovely to see her sleeping with her messed-up hair and mountains of blankets. Even if I need to move away now, I don’t think I can…’ 

Forsaking his conscience, Ed eventually stayed there.

The hazy morning illuminated Lil. Due to the curtains flowing softly back and forth, the brightening light occasionally hovered over her eyes. Ed had been watching Lil sleep for two months, but there had never been a day when he was as excited as today. The Lil in front of him was full of life even if she was sleeping. And it was self-evident that she would wake up healthier than she did the day before. Ed’s chest tightened as he imagined the day she would finally be able to stand, walk, and run in the howling wind…

Eventually, Lil’s eyelids twitched and wriggled… till she finally opened her eyes to the world.

Ed greeted her, looking at her blue irises.

“…Hi.”

Lil blinked dully. Every time she moved her eyelids, her lashes fluttered wildly, as though they were about to take flight. 

Rubbing her still blurry eye, she muttered.

“…Uhmm… Hello…”

“…”

The hand that had been rubbing the corner of her eye stopped abruptly.

“…Huh?”

“…”

Lil dropped her arm. As she was laying lower than Ed, the first thing she saw was someone’s throat. Her wide-open eyes looked up at Ed, before going down the nape of his neck, checking for the presence of his clothes. Though she saw that he was still dressed, she appeared confused as to whether or not to be relieved and quickly opened the blanket. However, even after confirming she was wearing her negligee, her eyes were still wide open as if they were about to jump out.

“…What the hell is this?..”

“…”

Lil’s voice, which had just awoken, had a mumbling tone. She tried to speak forcefully, but her pronunciation was not as loud as usual, which was rather endearing. Ed chuckled because of it, feeling like he’d discovered something revolutionary. 

Lil twitched her brows before drawing them together.

“Why are you laughing? Do you want to die?”

“Look at your right hand.”

Her hand holding Ed’s shirt twitched. Lil shook her head quickly, refusing to believe she was the one who had pulled Ed in. Still shaking her wrist. she shouted.

“Didn’t you make it like this?”

Ed laughed out loud this time. It was a rare spectacle whenever Lil panicked from embarrassment and uttered gibberish.

“Isn’t that a bit far-fetched?”

With a flushed face, Lil shoved Ed on the shoulder.

“Get out of here, now!”

Ed first thought about rolling out of bed and leaving the room right away, but Lil’s whines were so amusing that he decided to stay and lay down for a while. When Lil couldn’t push him away with her hands, she pressed Ed’s side with her feet. Ed, however, couldn’t stand the tickling sensation for long and twisted his body. He then grabbed Lil’s ankle in a reflex and she immediately started screaming and jerking her leg…

Then, out of nowhere, the door burst open. The two turned their heads toward the entrance simultaneously, not knowing who between the two was the first to spot their visitor. Perhaps the three of them met their eyes at the same time. 

Levi dropped the silver tray she was holding and yelled.

“What are you doing as soon as you wake up!”

Pushing Ed’s face away, Lil sat up.

“Ah! No, it’s not like that!”

“Get out now!”

“..?”

It appeared that Levi screamed at Lil. Confused that she was being ordered to get out, Lil pointed towards her chest. However, Levi continued her strides towards the bed and kept shouting.

“Get out!”

“..?”

Lil looked left and right in bewilderment. 

‘Where did Ed go?’

Lil then turned her head over her shoulder and spotted a man hiding behind her back. It was an absurd sight to see. A man as tall as him, laying on his stomach making himself as small as he could. 

“…You need to get out of here.”

“Stop her.”

“I really think you’d better get out.”

Ed made a pitiful face, but Lil simply shrugged her shoulders.

***

Levi threatened Ed, who suddenly insisted that he would take over the morning care from today, to have Linhardt escort him back to his hometown*. It was clearly enough a threat as Ed trudged out of the room, feeling sorry for himself. But even after he was kicked out, Levi could hardly calm down. She walked around the room with her arms folded tightly in front of her chest.

Levi even made Lil sit on the bed to scold her.

“Ugh, what were you doing right after waking up?”

“It’s a misunderstanding.”

“…A misunderstanding?”

“Yes.”

“Do you think I’ll let it go just like that? Last time too! Huh? Yesterday, I heard you let him tie you up and do… things!”

“…What?”

“I was going to let it go without mentioning it to you, but… hah! I’m really, really baffled! I know he’s an amazing person in so many ways, really. But I didn’t know he would do this much.”

Lil thought Levi was having a big misunderstanding. A huge misunderstanding that she couldn’t even imagine nor wanted to imagine. Lil shook her head, not even knowing what she exactly was denying. Nevertheless, Levi continued to rebuke her with her sternness.

“Lil, it’s the same for you! No, no matter what, what if it becomes so rough as soon as you wake up? I told you to be careful and gentle with your body!”

“What the hell are you talking about…”

“How dare you deny it? I heard it all! Elodie brought me that shawl!”

“Shawl?”

“She said you were tied on the cembalo’s brace! Oh my God! And your garter belt was found right in front of the door! No, was it that urgent that you two began as soon as the door closed? Ugh! Really!”

Levi covered her face with both hands in embarrassment. Lil, who finally understood Levi, closed her eyes tightly. 

‘What kind of scandal is going around in this house?’ 

Lil, who initially wanted to clarify that she was the one who tied Ed up, eventually shut her mouth, for the more she would try to explain, the more her soul would dry up.

***

 – – – – –

Levi threatened Ed, who insisted that he would take over the morning care from today, to have Linhardt escort him back to his hometown*… = As in back to the Northern Continent, far away from Lil.