In her world, in her time, there had been little to no thought in Gretel's head or future for the love of a man- not besides the companionship and partnership she shared with her brother, and their combined mission in life. There had been the occasional body to warm her bed when she needed it, far less often than Hansel- who made a habit of plying their notoriety to bed happily willing barmaids and shepherd girls. But a family, like the one their parents had ripped away from them, was never in the cards. Not until the unique circumstances of this place and meeting Sam had she even fathomed the highs and lows of it. She had reigned herself to a lifetime of loneliness (cut short by a Hunter's death) for so long... Now that she had it, Hansel had recognized it, and knew it had been missing from her life as much as she did.
At his words and the twitch of a smile, she cracked a soft laugh, cut off by a kiss she could feel had shifted in feeling- she still returned it, but kept her hands on his face for the same reason she'd kept herself at his side on the way to her bed; he was drunk. Emotions were surging, unleashed- that was fine with her, in the relative privacy of her room, where they could (hopefully) share them in peace- and drunk sex wouldn't have been fine, too- except she wasn't drunk. The moment was too important to sully, and she knew Sam would agree with her later.
Each time he said it, she still felt her stomach flip; excitement and heartache rolled into one. Gretel smiled against his lips, their brows together still.
"I want you to sleep, now-" she whispered after the perfect heaviness of the moment eased away. "I'll be right next to you the whole time-"
One of her hands moved from his cheek; she pulled away from his brow just enough to trace a certain set of sigils on his forehead with the pad of her middle finger, whispering words written in her mother's book to send the magic in her blood through Sam, to wrap around his consciousness like a warm, protective blanket, and lull him into a restful sleep.