It was as though she'd never intended to leave in the first place, Ace wondered to himself, smiling, as his own eyes began to close. The hand that had at one point moved to rest against the back of her shoulder resumed to idly stroke the girl's hair for a moment, before finally stopping.

"Every thought counts." Knowing that he would have been present in her mind for one reason or another already felt like a reward on its own, but nothing else could compare to how it felt to hold her like this, in this particular moment and place.

"... Good night, Mystearica."

Her real name had so frequently snuck into his own thoughts, that in the end there was nothing deliberate about his sleepily mouthed wish. It did not even occur to him after he had spoken, for an accidental switch surely would have earnt stronger of a reaction than the small, soft hum that followed.