This wasn't the first time Hide woke up late after a long night. And it wasn't the first time she had this pit in her stomach. Of course, the last time was when the True Scions decided to be stupid and not only kidnap Eriko, but used Hide to get to Akihiko. But now? Well, Eriko wasn't kidnapped or anything. She was taking charge and making sure something potentially dangerous didn't fall into filthy pirate hands. So things were already looking a lot better this time in that regard.

Still, all Hide really could do after waking up was sit up and eye the bag she had stashed her armor and rifle in... Just in case. Something had told her she might need them here and she's glad she listened to her gut on this.

It was a long night and Eriko was naturally beat from all of that investigation at the slums. There was a lot of work to be done today but at least knew that she wasn't going to get anything done if she didn't get any sleep. However, consciousness eventually had to find her and she laid there looking at the ceiling for a long moment before turning to see Hide also up.

"Heeey," she would greet her in a groggy sleepy voice.

Hide turned to face her wife as she was greeted, which prompted a smile from the Matsu. Something about seeing Eriko in the morning made Hide’s worries dissipate. She laid back down next to Eriko, comfortable as ever.

“Hey there. Did I wake you?”

Eriko reluctantly moved from the comfort of the sheets to sit up. Seeing as Hide wasn't exactly sleeping at the moment, she took the opportunity to hog all the sheets and wrap them around her body like one would do a pancho or a cloak. That was always her master plan if she was allowed in bed. She was obviously without her face paint, dressed in only a tanktop and her shorts.

"Well...yeah, you did. Could you maybe not think so loudly in the morning? That'll be great, thanks." Eriko grinned at her with sleepy half-lidden eyes. She then leaned in to give her a quick kiss. "Good morning..."

“You’re lucky I don’t need nearly as many sheets as you do. I’m like my own radiator.” Hide grinned in response, leaning in to give Eriko a quick kiss in return. “Though, the cocoon look you got going on is pretty cute.”

Hide also had on a simple tank top… But her shorts were really something else.

At least they were meant for sleeping and would only be seen by Eriko.

Eriko basked in her self-made cover for a moment before realizing something. "...You know, these sheets aren't exactly as great when I have them all to myself. There's kind of sweeter when you get most of them but not exactly all of them, just a little bit tugging at the end to know that you've basically gotten all of it but not all of it, you know?" She chuckled.

"...Anything on your mind?" She said with an obvious look of concern.

Hide reached over and tugged at a bit of the sheets, just enough to make it a bit snug. “Better?”

Eriko’s concern was met by Hide weakly smiling. “Ah. Yeah. Just… Thinking about later tonight. Nerves, I guess. Tension? I’m not great at explaining these things.”

"Hey! That did the trick!" Eriko couldn't help but giggle at the tug and she gave a few sound nods in approval with an earnest smirk held on her lips. "Very much better, thanks!"

She raised her brows at that and scooted closer so that she could put an arm around her shoulders, dripping her in the make-shift blanket poncho she was wearing as a side effect as well. "Mmm, I think I get you...I don't know how you couldn't. You must have done this a thousand times but this one's different, right? Not exactly great, I'd admit."

She let out a sigh as she moved closer to give Hide a blanket-covered hug.

"Last time... Back on Asakaze. It felt fucking awful. This isn't nearly as bad for me, given the circumstances." Eriko could feel the tension dissipate from Hide during the hug. The weak smile she had gained strength. "Kind of hope that asshole from before is there so we can put a few holes in his head."

"That might have been partially my fault to put you through that," she let out a sigh on that note. "Here, I was thinking I'd spare you the pain of my fuckups from getting in trouble to only do more harm than good. I guess I'm a pretty stubborn girl like that but yeah, turns out I wasn't really thinking about the people that cared about me. Nothing like that now, between the both of us and we're going in together, right?"

She chuckled a shrug and followed that with a nudge of her shoulder. "I know your answer but I'm not going to take it personally if you've ever said no, you know."

"You know me. I'm not gonna ever let you go in alone." Hide chuckled, obviously feeling a bit better now. "I mean, we're also joined by all the people that agreed to help us out. Safety in numbers, yeah? And I trust in each of their abilities. I've never served alongside them, but they show guts volunteering to shoot asshole pirates in a very dangerous place."

"Joined by people that I don't know why they would even agree to such a thing..." she sighed softly as she looked up at the ceiling of their room. "...and I don't even know how to thank them for their help even if we manage to get out of this somehow. It's going to take a lot of pats on the back or drinks to make up for it, probably years. I trust them very much in the short time I've known them or even heard about them. I think anyone else would have seen what was going on and cut and run a long time ago, not even stepped foot in the slums. They know I'm not exactly someone who can grant them a promotion or whatever sort of points they're gathering for Winter Court. I guess the fact that I haven't burned any bridges yet with them is a good sign too, right?"

"Hey, for someone who has been able to gather people to go on wildly dangerous adventures with her twice now, you sure seem insecure with your people-skills. You organized this." Hide leaned against Eriko as she gave her a big grin. "And most importantly you have me! Though, in this case, I think Koyuki-san is the more useful contact to have."

"Haaah, well," she chuckled bashfully on that note. "I felt it might have been easy pickings over at the miai because a bunch of people just didn't want to be stuck in town and wanted to do some adventuring. Might have been a different story if we knew what was in those ruins. Nishida approached me directly and I called Koyuki. Everything just fell into place afterwards. I'd say that your presence still had something to do with that, still!"

"I mean, I know Yurei-san and Koyuki-san as well, so maybe. I'm just glad to be of help to you, y'know. I don't think I've ever felt so... Valued? Is that the right word for it? Hmmm." Hide tried to hide her slight embarrassment of revealing a bit of her insecurities by trying to find maybe a different word to describe them. She's a terrible actor, though.

Eriko gave two blinks at that and quietly reached out to put a hand on her cheek. It might have been mistaken as an affection gesture at first until she started to pinch her cheek a little. Those Kuni senses of her were tingling a bit. She just had to check if Hide was wearing a mask and it was someone underneath. You could never tell when spending time in a Scorpion world. Maybe even a bog hag!

"Heh. Oh, sorry about that..." she chuckled at herself. "You're the most valued person in my life, Hide. I swear I've been constantly hitting you on the head with that thought. I'm not saying that because we're walking into danger and you're willing to be by my side but also when you're willing to give me your chicken, the bedsheets, or just willing to have a cheap date at the gardens. You're very valuable to me."

She had a bit of a laugh at her cheek being pulled, taking that in hood humor. But as Eriko went on, Hide was touched. Emotionally, that is. As her wife finished, Hide pulled her into a huge hug. “Thank you. I… Really liked hearing you say that.”

Eriko happily returned the hug with a happy loud laugh. "Aw, listen to me jibber jabber on and on about this! If it wasn't obvious already, let me put it very simply for you. I love you, Hide! I love you so very much!" She gave her a squeeze at those very earnest words.

“I love you, too, Eriko.” Hide couldn’t help herself but smile so bright and wide. “And… Whatever happens after this, know that I have your back. Always. That’s what happy loving danger-finding couples do.”

Eriko beamed at the returned words and leaned in to give Hide a soft kiss on the cheeks. Her arm brought her closer for another squeeze. "That didn't need to be said, I just know it. But hey, not that I mind it being said either! Also, I don't I go out and find danger, danger just happens to follow me wherever I go. Danger, I could do without, let's just be clear! But regardless, those are semantics! Do you know what happy loving danger-coincidentally-finding couples also do?"