Chapter Text
It was a dark cool starry night, not many travellers passed by this night. You were camping somewhere in between Dawn Winery and Stone Gate.
You sat by a small fire. Your eyes fixated on the fire crackling.
You look up at the night sky, counting the stars to pass the time. You were not tired, more bored than anything. After a few minutes, you notice the stars become less visible. You knew it was just about to rain as you felt a drop his your fire. Not too soon after that, it began to rain heavily.
"Shit."
You mumble, standing up and packing your things away. Once you fit everything into your bag, you stroll the path, the light rain turning into heavy rain. You rush to find another place to stay. After some time, you find a cave. It wasn't big but wasn't too small either. You dump your bag down and slide down against the wall, closing your eyes to listen to the rain carefully.
After some time, you set up your tent and a small fire. Letting out a big sigh, exhausted from the day. You forced your eyes to stay open, thinking; about being in a safe hotel room, in a comfy bed, with no worries in the world. That thought left your mind as you realized you heard someone approaching, you move your right hand to where your polearm was laying.
A soft voice spoke from the darkness.
'Excuse me, miss?' You looked up to see a tall man, soaked by the rain, standing at the entrance of the cave. He moved a bit close, the fire casting light upon his face. He was completely drenched and his hair dripping onto the fire. He was breathing quite heavily as he had just run far to get out of the weather. Your eyes were wide, your hand gripping onto your weapon.
"May I join you for a bit? I need to get out of this rain before I get sick." He chuckled and a small grin formed on his face.
You tighten the grip on your polearm. After a few seconds, you nod, he dropped his things before he sat down in the cave.
You look at his clothes and back up at his face. He had a smirk placed on it.
"I should've checked the weather before heading out"
He looks at you, tilting his head back against the cave wall. You look at him with a blank expression then continued to look at the fire.
"Not much of a talker?" He tilted his head to the side.
"Thanks for letting me rest here, I’ll head out as soon as the rain stops"
He watched your face, focusing on the fire.
***
An hour had passed, neither of you speaking until.
“You might as well stay the night"
He flinched at your words.
“And she speaks!” He softly smiles at you.
You look at him, slightly stunned by his reaction.
"I’m not good with talking to strangers."
You look down at your hands, fiddling around with them.
"No worries, I understand"
He stretches his arms, slightly flexing.
“Are you cold? Your clothes are soaked"
You look at him, awkwardly watching him.
“A little, I’ll be fine though” He rests his head back.
“Do you want to take off some layers at least? You’ve got a lot going on there”
“If you want to see me naked, just say it, maybe you can remove some things too..” He smirks.
“God, ew, no!” You smile at him and sit back down.
You stand up, clearing a space for him. You place a towel down.
“You can put your stuff here”
“Alright, thank you.”
He starts to remove his layers, and you look away from him. He notices and smiles, continuing to remove them. All that was left on him was a red button-up, his pants, vision, and socks. He stood up, placing what he took off onto the towel.
You yawn softly, rubbing your eyes.
“You need to sleep? I can keep guard” he says softly.
You look at him, you felt somewhat comfortable with him yet you were cautious.
“Why would I trust you? Trust you won’t steal my things and leave” You comment, glaring at him.
“Why would I take off all my layers just to put them on again? those are a pain to wear, y’know?” He replied.
“True, if you are going to keep guard then I’m going to sleep”
“Go ahead, I can protect you” He pointed at his vision. To be honest, you felt safe around him. It's been a long time since you've felt that.
You packed up your things a bit and opened your tent, entering it. You moved your vision out of your pocket and placed it outside of your tent while rearranging things.
“A cryo vision? Do you have a vision? damn, I thought if we got attacked, I could be all heroic and save you.” He chuckled a bit while you cringed at his words.
"Yes, I use a polearm" I look at him and grab my vision, sliding it into my pocket.
“What about you? what weapon do you use?” I slide into my sleeping bag, watching him.
“Well, I use a bow but I can also form blades with my vision.” He grinned.
“You can make...hydro blades..? Weird”
After some silence, he awkwardly looked at you.
“Why don’t you get some sleep? I’ll be fine, I’ve spent the last few nights alone. I’ll be fine even if you’re asleep.” He smiles softly, sitting down again, only closer to your tent. You reach out to his hand and grip it firmly. He directs his attention onto you, not saying a word.
“Thank you,” You mumble, just loud enough for him to hear.
He nods, smiling. You zip the tent up and lie down, listening to the rain as it hits the tree leaves. After a few minutes, you eventually fall asleep. He rests his head back and closed his eyes, resting but not sleeping.