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Erend was tired.
The day had been a relentless grind of gruelling drills that had melted into the kind of hot, sweaty evening that made him long for the cool nights of The Claim. The streets were empty as he dragged himself back to his apartment, and the chalky dust that stirred beneath his boots floated up through the night and coated his sweat soaked body like a second skin. He was ground down to the bone, burned through to charcoal.
Exhausted.
He reached his apartment door, forcing his heavy feet up the stairs and yanking open the door. The air inside was cool and still as he fumbled in the dark with the buckles of his armour, letting it slither to the floor and leaving it where it fell. He was far too tired to worry about it tonight as he pulled his shirt over his head, grunting as it caught on his earring, and then dropping that to the floor as well.
His hands were at his belt buckle as he kicked open the door to his bedroom…
And then he froze.
Something was off.
Just as he was trying to figure out what had changed the pile of furs on his bed moved and he jumped, one hand grasping uselessly for the hammer that he’d left at the training grounds as the other went to his chest. The pile shifted again and then stop moving as he wearily approached the bed. He carefully gripped the edge of his bedspread, internally swearing to all that was holy that if one of those damn raccoons had gotten into his bed again he would –
He tugged back the blanket and almost had a heart attack.
Curled up in his bed, one hand under her cheek, the other gripping her bow, was Aloy.
For a second all he could do was stare as his heart pounded so hard against his ribs he thought they might explode.
It was Aloy.
Aloy was in his bed.
Something warm and bubbly started to stir in his belly as his eyes tripped over her sleeping form. She was dirt streaked and dusty, a smudge of something dark streaked across her cheekbone and her eyelashes sent little dancing shadows over her skin. Her braids were messy, strands of hair fell forward, framing her face and spilling across his pillows in an auburn halo. He’d pictured this so many times, but seeing her like this, curled up in his bed, was more perfect than anything he could have ever imagined.
Erend stood there staring for a moment longer, not entirely sure what to do. He hadn’t seen her since she’d left after he run in with that Thunderjaw and hadn’t even known she was back. Which, he realised with a jolt, was probably because she hadn’t told anyone else she was in the city.
Which meant she’d come straight here.
To see him.
His heart flip-flopped in his chest, and he swallowed painfully, trying to get a hold of himself. Whatever her reasons for coming here, she was here now, and he couldn’t let her sleep with her bow. At the very least he should try to take that off her so she could sleep better.
He reached down, managing to ease the shaft out of her hands, but before he could pull it away warm, calloused fingers wrapped around his wrist and when he looked up a pair of confused, green-gold eyes met his.
“Erend?” The word was sleep locked and a little dopey and it twisted his heart even harder.
“H-hey.” He stuttered, clearing his throat.
“What are you-“ she cut herself off with a yawn and his heart constricted. “What are you doing here?”
That made him smile, the sort of smile that burst up from his stomach and flooded his nerves with warmth. She was fucking adorable.
“You, uh, you wanna rethink that one, Aloy?” He asked, hearing the tease in his voice and loving the deep furrow of her brow followed by the little “oh” as she realised where she was.
“Goddess, Erend.” She said, sitting up quickly, flushing a bright pink that made the freckles on her cheeks even cuter and forgefire, if it didn’t make him feel a little light headed. “I’m so sorry.”
She started to get up and without thinking about it, Erend put a hand on her shoulder to stop her.
“Hey, don’t worry about it.” He said, trying for casual and coming off as a little desperate as he suddenly realised she was going to leave. “You’re always welcome here, you know that.”
She looked at him hesitantly, fingers worrying with the straps of her armour, and he gave her the best honest look he could muster.
“Please.” He said, holding out his hand and gesturing for her bow. “Stay. If you don’t you’ll offend my deep-rooted sense of hospitality. The others Oseram will shun me.
“Shunned, huh?” She asked, eyes sparkling, and something cracked in his chest. Fire and Spit he loved her.
“Yep.” He croaked. “I’d never be able to drink in the good alehouses again.”
“Well I wouldn’t want to be responsible for that.” She said, apples of her cheeks bunching as she tucked her legs up to her chest with a grin, and it dawned on Erend that she was so close that he could count every freckle. He reached for her bow, but so did she, and the soft brush of her fingers on his was almost enough to give him an aneurism, especially when she didn’t immediately pull away.
“Uh.” He said stupidly, as she trailed her fingers up his skin to rest gently on the thick band of ink that encircled his forearm.
“These are nice.” She said, so softly that he could barely hear her as her hand moved up further to trace the pattern on the inside of his elbow. “They suit you.”
“Aloy…”
She tilted her face up to him, a tenderness there that made his heart hurt, and smiled.
“I uh –“ he tried, as she moved closer. So close that her breath ghosted over his skin as she let out a little sigh. God he wanted nothing more than to close the gap and feel the warmth of her lips on his. He caught her chin, the softness of her skin and the hard line of her jaw sending electricity straight to his navel. Her eyes widened but she didn’t move, soft gaze searching his as he brushed the pad of his thumb along the length of her cheekbone.
He wanted to close the gap.
He wanted wanted to close that gap so badly that his stomach ached.
But he couldn’t, he just couldn’t, because the only thing worst than not kissing her right now would be discovering she didn’t want him to.
He let her go and stood up.
“I’ll be downstairs if you need me.” He breathed, tearing his gaze away from the look on her face that was doing nothing to douse the fire that was stirring in his belly, and crossed the room.
“Erend?” Her voice was hesitant and when he turned reluctantly turned back to look at her she suddenly seemed very small in all those blankets. There was something in her eyes that he couldn’t quite place, something beautiful and uncertain and it almost made him go back. But then the look, and the moment, passed and she smiled at him. “Thank you. For, um, for letting me stay.”
“Yeah,” he said, smiling back, heart pounding, “Don’t worry about it. I’ll see you in the morning.”
And without looking back he padded back down the stairs to get ready for a long night on the sofa alone.