Milim Nava spotted her little knight friend the moment she stepped into the courtyard, and joy flashed across her face like sunlight on glass. Before Jason could even finish straightening the tiny cape over his shoulder, Milim Nava scooped him up with effortless strength and pressed him tightly against her chest. "Jason, you are far too cute today, and I have decided that this is now a hugging emergency, so you are not allowed to escape until I am completely satisfied,"

Jason let out a startled breath as Milim Nava hugged him even tighter, though there was more warmth than danger in the crushing affection. His face turned red beneath his helmet fringe, and he tried to keep the dignity of a knight while being held like a plush toy. "Lady Milim, I would like to respectfully report that a knight can only maintain his composure for so long while being squeezed this hard, and also that you are absolutely not taking my silence as permission to continue forever,"

Milim Nava leaned back just enough to look at Jason's face, but her arms never loosened. Then she began counting aloud, as if conducting a grand experiment that only she could truly understand. "One minute, two minutes, three minutes, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten... hmm, no, this is not enough at all, because every second I hold you, you somehow become even more adorable, which means the count has to keep going until I solve this very serious problem,"

Jason tried to fold his arms in protest, but it was difficult while pinned in such an enthusiastic embrace. Even so, he lifted his chin and answered with all the solemn bravery a small knight could gather. "Then I must object on the grounds that your counting method is unfair, because if the experiment changes the subject by making him red-faced, flustered, and unable to breathe with proper knightly rhythm, the results cannot possibly be trusted, and I demand a review by a neutral authority,"

Milim Nava laughed, bright and wild, and hugged Jason close enough to make his cape crumple between them. To her, his indignant little speeches only made him more precious, like a tiny hero trying to command a storm. "Denied, Sir Jason, because I am the authority, the witness, and the genius conducting the test, and my official conclusion is that I could hold you for twenty minutes, fifty minutes, a hundred minutes, maybe even until the moon is high, because you are my little knight friend and you are simply too sweet not to cuddle,"

At last Milim Nava's grip softened from a fierce squeeze into a warm, steady embrace, and Jason felt the teasing energy give way to something more tender. He sighed, no longer struggling quite so much, and rested in the crook of her arms with reluctant acceptance. "If you truly intend to keep counting, then at least let it be known that I endured this with honor, and that any knight who is captured by affection this overwhelming deserves to have the event recorded as a noble and unusually embarrassing trial,"

Milim Nava smiled at that, softer now, and gently lowered Jason just enough so his boots brushed the ground without fully letting him go. She counted a few more seconds in a whisper, as if each one were a treasure she wanted to keep. "Then I will record it properly: Jason the brave survived the longest cuddle in the courtyard, remained adorable from beginning to end, and will absolutely be hugged again another day, because some things are too precious to measure, even when I try to count them,"