Milli - Connor and Faith - in Scotland
She's sleeping, dreaming, making soft noises that probably mean it's a good dream, smiling in her sleep. Dreaming of him, and her powers returned to her, but he was going to stay with her even though they weren't sure her powers would come back, and she was so grateful for that. She thanked him, and he said she didn't owe him any thanks, that he wasn't going anywhere. His hand was on her cheek, his thumb resting on the corner of her lips, and she smiled and spoke four words she's never said when she was awake, except she doesn't just say them in the dream, she says them aloud, sofly, but loud enough for him to hear.
"...I love you, Connor."
He's partly awake, head propped in one hand, slightly hovering over her sleeping form, stroking hair out of her face, listening to the soft sounds as she dreams. It's nice. Pleasant. Quiet. Then he hears it... hears her say the words.
He smiles softly, leans down to kiss her forehead and whispers, "...love you too."
She's maybe not entirely asleep, because when he says the words, she smiles...and then bolts straight up in her seat, wide-eyed. "...what? What did you say? What did I say?"
"Hi," he says with a tired smile, but doesn't answer her question.
"...hi..." She blinks at him, nervous, brushing her hair away from her face. "Was I talking? In my sleep?"
He nods. "Dreaming. Obviously something good." He's still smiling.
"...yeah." She smiles back, cautiously. "It was. You, uhm...heard...what'd you hear?"
He sits up, arms around her, lips against her ear. "What do you think I heard?" Really, he just wants her to say it again.
Even Kakistos didn't scare her this much. But she finds the nerve, somewhere, to speak the words again, very softly. "...I love you, Connor..."
Still whispering in her ear. "Yeah, that's what I thought you said." Yeah, he's still smiling too. He kisses her shoulder, her neck, the side of her head, and against her ear, he repeats, "...love you too," softly.
Faith closes her eyes and leans against him, sighing with relief. "You do? Really?"
He closes his eyes and inhales her scent - so uniquely her, but combined with the familiar scents of 'home' - the Highlands. He pulls her closer. "Yes." Then he presses his lips to her neck and shoulder. "Yes. I do."
"...good." This is an understatement, but it's all she can really manage, verbally. Orally is another matter - she can do quite a lot, orally. And she does, pulling him in, kissing him, laughing from sheer giddy relief because she's never been the first to say the words before, not with guys, not with anybody but her mother and that had ended very badly indeed, so she was so afraid...but he said the words too, and she knows he wouldn't lie to her, not Connor, not about this, so she kisses him, because she could burst with the joy.
The kissing means good things. The giggles mean happy things. So, something's going right - this he knows well. He also knows that the sitting up is hard to do for long, so he pulls her down on top of him and lets her continue the kissing. He just keeps his hands on her - in her hair, stroking her sides, touching whatever he can reach.
She goes happily along, does some touching of her own, 'cause hey, we like the touching. And he can probably reach quite a lot, as she's pressed tight against him, kissing his mouth, his jaw, nipping his earlobe, murmuring the words over and over because now that they've been said and returned she can't stop saying them.
It's, honestly, been a long time since he's said it to anyone, much less heard it in return and he's remembering the feeling that comes with it. It's nice. Warm. Happy. Mostly, for a few moments, he closes his eyes and lets her move and speak. He listens and feels.