Warmth. [break][break] The dark hour ended hours before, light threatening to slip past the night sky and bring forth a new dawn. She'd been watching over Minako since the clock struck three. That nights raid on Tartarus was reckless at best, dangerous at worst. Something was happening with her, but she couldn't understand what. A stirring, fitful swishes from one side of the bed to another. A nightmare, perhaps. Symptoms correlate. Connecting problem to visual, a lack of sleep could lower inhibition and cause reckless planning to create greater risk of harm falling upon someone. Her run on analysis is slowly becoming an annoyance, even to herself. The important part is simply the concept of nightmares ruining the nights for Minako.[break][break] Quietly, as sneakily as possible for something so heavy and loud, Aegis slipped upon bed and crawled close to the slumbering Leader. Metal hands gripping human shoulders. Leaning in for forehead to press against forehead. Blue gaze scanning expression to try and comprehend what it is she must be experiencing. Only capable of drawing fear, yet more than enough to encourage her actions. Synthetic voice, a quiet whisper filling the silent room. "Do not be afraid. I am with you. Even after everything passes and the world grows older, I will be with you." A repeated proclamation. She's sworn her oath in the past. Several times, often just to hear the words herself. It was different, somehow. The weight of her fealty heavier than simple mission requirements or circuit board commands. There was something growing into its own within the artificial intelligence. [break][break] Quieting analysis inquiries and protocol. Aegis silenced that which made machine of her existence, this newfound voice whispering amidst the back of her cranium carrying all the words slipping past lips. She didn't understand it. But she spoke regardless. "The world is on your shoulders, unfair as it is. I cannot hold the weight for you, nobody can. However, I will hold you. Each time there is a crack in your beliefs or confidence I will hold you together. Will you trust in me to do this?" No answer would come, she knows this. Gaze remains unwavering regardless, hand reaching to cup the girl's cheek in soft embrace. Metal softly grazing along skin. She's been under the sun, burning out her internal engines, and touched by so many of the household before. Its never warm until Minako's the one she feels. The Fool makes her feel warm without even trying, evidence by this very encounter. [break][break] Analysis. The fits have stopped. Breathing regular. Peaceful expression slowly forming across a sleeping face. Happy. Aegis yearned for little more than to see the woman happy like this forever. Even if it took everything from the blonde, she would work to ensure that happiness. She would spend an eternity beside her, AI's single wish for a world known to never answer them. It was still fine. She'll savor each minute until they come to an end. Perhaps the next life will be kinder. Grant her humanity at birth, let her spend the years tracking down whoever Minako becomes and spend another lifetime gazing at a face she'll never forget. Life after life, perhaps a true eternity awaits between them if she's lucky. She doesn't know, no one thought to upload religion or reincarnation to something thought void of consciousness. But even she's realizing something more is burning in her core. A sliver of soul ignited by the presence of one so whole. Potential not zero percent, she'll accept that fact. Bury it all for the moment. She'll bring it up after they save the world from whatever comes next. A simple promise for now.[break][break] "My everything is yours. I'll never forget you, through anything that may happen. So remember this deep down. I will always find you, because that is what completes me."