Jean-Jacques awoke to a coldness beside him in bed. Where there should have been another body there were instead sheets thrown back and a pillow threatening to tumble to the floor. He turned at once to the desk in the corner of the room, eyes fixing upon the candle guttering feebly on its surface.

The candle's light clung hazily to a hunched figure seated at the desk. The figure was immobile, Jean-Jacques couldn't even be sure they were awake from behind.

He pushed himself up and lurched out of bed. The rug on the floor was soft beneath his feet but it was cold. The tile past its edge was even colder. He glanced at the window as he passed it. There was nothing to be seen beyond the glass apart from an impenetrable darkness.

He reached the desk.

"Chloé."

She raised her head a little but did not turn to look at him. "I must finish this."

Jean-Jacques looked at where her quill was pressed absently to the paper in front of her. A large blot was spreading from its tip, creeping over what little writing hadn't already been crossed out haphazardly. He hadn't any idea what Chloé was working on, and he wasn't sure she did either anymore.

"Come back to bed."

"You first."

"How long have you been awake?"

"Since yesterday morning. I couldn't fall asleep." Chloé swatted her hand around her head, miming the futility of beating back her racing thoughts.

"It's cold without you."

"If it's blood you want–" Chloé thrust her free arm toward him, still not looking his way, staring fixedly at her scrawlings.

Jean-Jacques wrapped his fingers around her thin arm and kissed her wrist. "No, Chloé, I'm not asking for blood. I think you know that."

"Attempting to sleep in this state is futile. Better I put myself to use rather than waste time." She snatched her wrist back from him.

With a sigh Jean-Jacques lowered himself to kneel beside her chair. He placed a hand on her leg, rubbing circles into it softly. "You mustn't push yourself."

Finally Chloé looked at him. The faint candlelight exaggerated the shadows under her eyes so she seemed to have massive bruises seared deeply into her skin. Her mouth was pressed in a severe line, and she would have appeared supremely angry had her features not been twitching subtly with uncertainty.

"Come back to bed," Jean-Jacques repeated.

"It is not that I am reluctant to sleep. I cannot."

"All right," he conceded gently. He was aware that Chloé occasionally took a turn for the worse out of nowhere. It wasn't often and it never reached the severity of her breakdown after the d'Apchier family died, but she needed support despite the fact she never thought to ask for it. "In that case I will go fetch your sleeping draught."

Chloé's eyes shifted to the floor, her expression turning bitter. "I've run out. Neglected to brew more. Put it off for more important matters."

"Okay. Will you lie down with me until I fall back to sleep at least?"

"Only until you're settled..."

Jean-Jacques stood up and pulled Chloé's chair away from the desk. After a moment of hesitation she slumped out of it and onto her feet beside him. She stretched her arms with a tiny groan, obviously glad to no longer be hunched over her paper even if she didn't realise it. Jean-Jacques tucked the desk chair back in place.

"Do not blow out my candle."

Jean-Jacques paused where he was bent to do just that. Slowly he straightened once more. "Very well."

"Good boy."

Chloé drifted back to their bed and gingerly climbed onto it, sitting with her back against the headboard. Jean-Jacques followed, slipping into his own side of the bed and pulling the covers over himself as he settled into the pillows.

"It will be more comfortable if you lie down too, Chloé."

"I would prefer to stay like this."

Jean-Jacques nodded and closed his eyes as Chloé started to slowly pet his head. He would have liked her to relax further, although he hadn't given up on getting her to do so yet. It seemed wiser to ease her slowly back from whatever headspace she was in than try to force it. She already seemed a little better as she went through the motions of carding her hands through his hair.

"Are you asleep yet?" Chloé muttered.

Jean-Jacques couldn't help it, he snorted. "You're going to have to be a little more patient than that."

"You're a terribly needy child."

"Is that such a bad thing?"

"No."

Jean-Jacques held his breath as he felt the bed shift under him. Carefully he cracked an eye open to confirm Chloé was actually laying down. She was. He watched as little-by-little she lowered herself down with her back to him. Her progress was fitful but he was pleased to see her eventually fully flat on the mattress, no matter how tense she still was.

He shuffled closer and pulled the blankets over her as well. Chloé's shoulders bunched slightly defensively before jerkily easing up. Jean-Jacques waited a moment before allowing an arm to curl over her abdomen.

"Let go," she whispered.

"Do you want me to?"

Rather than answer she buried her head in her pillow, hiding her face. Jean-Jacques could see the tip of her ear was red.

"It's all right," he soothed, caressing her stomach idly. "You can push me away or tell me to stop if you don't want me to touch you right now."

"Just go to bed," groaned Chloé. "Then I'll be free."

"Undersood."

Jean-Jacques smiled softly, holding Chloé just a bit tighter. No matter what she said he thought it unlikely she'd be leaving the bed again that night. Even if she truly couldn't find it in herself to sleep he was sure she'd rest next to him, too sufficiently distracted by his clinging to allow other concerns to overwhelm her.