Hayate shot an irritated glare at Percival. He did know when he was being teased about Himeno. (After all, his own knights had started doing it fairly recently, themselves.) Under any other circumstances, he would be denying it futilely and cursing, but that was fairly less important at the moment. There were more pressing matters to attend to than his dignity (or lack there-of).

He glanced down at Himeno, who had tightened her grip on his uniform and had started murmuring, which he only caught a few words of. The Leafé Knight of Wind forced himself to manage to sit down and caught the Prétear rather less than gracefully as she fell against him.

The Knight hugged Himeno to him before shifting her in his arms as he silently berated himself. Protecting her? I haven't been protecting her if this is the result! The Wind Knight gently laid the Prétear down on the fake grass, his eyes shining as he cupped one hand to her cheek, brushing the pink locks with his thumb. Finally, the knight managed to say softly, "I'm a failure as a knight. Even if I don't want to admit it."

Hayate knew he would likely never live this down in front of the other knight, but there was only one way to wake a sleeping princess and he knew it, especially one with such a low level of leafé. The knight leaned over and kissed the Prétear with one simple, silent wish, Leafé. Bring back her smile once more. Drawing away from the kiss, he sat back and hoped.