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The hammer… Ah, there it is! Leo reached over to the hammer and secured his tent into the ground. He repeated the process an extra three times before rising up and admiring the tent he had finished putting up.
“Leo! I see you’ve finished! Cool tent. But I finished first.” Asta says with a smile.
Leo looked over at Asta and his previous exhaustion immediately left his body. “What? No! I totally finished my tent first!”
Asta shook his head. “No, I—“
“Can you two be quiet? You’ll give me a headache.” A voice interrupted. The two boys looked over at Noelle who wore her usual scowl.
Mimosa and Yuno were standing a few feet behind her, staring at the two with a similar look. It seemed that their tents were almost finished.
When they had been planning their weekend camping trip, Noelle and Mimosa had decided that they might as well share so that they’d carry less. It was a rather good call.
The walk there took a while, and it was uphill too: an extra tent would’ve definitely made it more difficult. Though Asta probably would’ve taken it if Noelle or Mimosa were struggling with their bags.
One of the many things Leo could really appreciate about Asta. He bets that all of their bags combined had nothing on Asta. He’s seen Asta carry the heaviest things and not break sweat.
“Sorry.” Asta replied.
Leo looked into his tent. Yup… It was a tent. He picked up his bags and set his things up. It was kinda hot, but nothing that would be too bothersome… not to Leo at least. He can already hear Noelle complaining about both the heat and the bugs.
Leo climbs out of his tent and zips it up.
He glanced over at Asta’s tent and took a few steps towards it, peeking inside. “Hey, are you almost finished in here?“
Asta’s head perked up and he offered a kind smile. “Yeah! Almost done.”
“Cool! I was thinking about heading to the lake.” Leo said. Asta stood up and he looked more excited than before.
“The lake? That sounds fun! Let me put on my swimsuit.” Asta started to take off his shirt and get into his bag. Leo’s cheeks heat up a little bit and he couldn’t help but avert his eyes. He’s seen him shirtless before, but this just gave Leo a different feeling… One he couldn’t quite explain. He knew why, but not how…
“Okay… I’ll go tell everyone else then.” Leo muttered as he closed Asta’s tent. He let o it a long sigh and composed himself once again. Noelle and Mimosa were setting up chairs around the fire pit while Yuno was out of sight. He seemed to be in his tent.
“Hey, we’re about to head out to the lake if you guys wanna come!” Leo announced as he made his way to his own tent. Mimosa and Noelle looked up at him, then at each other.
“Oh, okay! We’ll get changed!” Mimosa replied.
Everyone emerged from their tents after getting into their swimsuits, Mimosa held the bag of towels.
“Yuno? Where’s your swimsuit?” Asta asked.
Leo tilted his head and followed Asta’s gaze to notice that Yuno, indeed, was not wearing a swimsuit.
“I’m good. I’ll stay here and make a fire.” He answered.
Asta shrugged. “Alright, suit yourself! C’mon, Leo!” Asta casually placed his hand on Leo’s shoulder, beginning to walk towards the lake. Leo felt as if Asta’s hand was melting into his skin… though he was unsure if it was something he felt or just wanted to feel…
Asta removed it after walking for a few minutes, and Leo immediately yearned for it back.
Everyone happily chatted down to the lake, Leo made sure to chime in every few minutes. Though if he was being quite honest, the conversation didn’t interest him much. He was more focused on trying to subtly move closer to Asta as they walked.
Leo is very aware of the fact he has a huge crush on Asta… maybe even too aware. It wouldn’t hurt to think about it less often… Not that he wants to think about Asta less. Something he’d never admit is the fact that he falls asleep easier when he thinks of him.
Being around Asta doesn’t bother Leo though! He’s quite proud of the way he’s so well composed around him.
As they approached the lake, Asta put his arm around Leo. A clear friendly gesture, but one that makes his heart skip.
“We’re here! Huh? Leo, are you alright? Your face is super red.”
Leo tries to offer a response, but the only thing that comes out is a voice crack. His entire body was tense. He was already beginning to feel dizzy.
He was snapped out of his frozen state when he heard Mimosa giggle a little bit behind them.
“I’m fine… Yes, I’m great!” Leo took a step back and kept his eyes everywhere else but on Asta.
“Oh, okay. I was just making sure.” Leo couldn’t help but feel like Asta didn’t believe him. It was strange because if that were true, it’d be completely out of character from Asta… Unless Asta was paying close attention to him or something.
Was he?
Leo fiddled with his fingers.
Why would Asta be paying attention to Leo specifically though? It’s not as if he likes him or anything…
Hm…
No, he doesn’t.
Leo shrugs it off and begins a quick sprint to the water. “I’ll race you!”
Asta gasped and followed after him almost immediately. “Hey! That’s not fair, you got a head start!”
Although Leo was ahead of him, his legs carried him right to the water just as Leo made it. “I WIN!!” Asta yelled proudly.
Leo didn’t seem to agree. “No, I made it before you!” He put on a fake angry face.
“It seemed like a tie to me.” Mimosa said from behind them.
“I wasn’t paying attention.” Noelle flipped her hair.
Leo sank down. “A tie, huh…?”
Asta watched as Leo sank lower and raised an eyebrow. Until Leo splashed water in Asta’s direction, causing a gasp to escape him.
Asta smirked and retaliated immediately, throwing water back in Leo’s direction.
Leo laughed and the two began a treacherous battle of the lake, the water their weapon.
Noelle looked into their bag, probably searching for sunscreen. “Not even a full minute and they’re already going at it…”
Mimosa laughed a little. “Yeah… it doesn’t really surprise me anymore though.”
Asta dived underwater. Leo stopped for a moment, confused as he scanned the water. However, by the time he spotted Asta, he was pulled under.
They both came back up, Asta sat on his knees to get a breath. After rubbing his eyes, he opened them and saw Leo sitting just below him. Leo was doing the same, though he had a small smirk on his face as he looked up at Asta.
Asta coughed awkwardly and smiled. “Guess that’s a win for me!”
Leo sighed. “Man… I guess so. Next time! I’ll win next time.”
Asta offered his hand and helped Leo up.
They spent the next two hours enjoying their time by the lake. By the time they were finished, it was much cooler than it had been before.
Leo looked up at the sky on their way back. It was pretty cloudy… and they seemed darker than usual.
“It looks like it might rain, doesn’t it?” Asta said. Leo turned his head towards Asta. He must’ve noticed Leo staring at the sky. Asta spoke in a quiet voice, keeping the conversation between only the two of them.
“Yeah… it might get cold tonight.” Leo let out a small yawn.
Asta nods his head in agreement. “If it gets too cold, you could come to my tent.”
Leo found himself blushing yet again. He didn’t give an audible reply… just a small nod.
It was starting to get dark. Yuno already had a fire going. They sat around the fire and took turns telling numerous stories.
Leopold paid attention to most of the stories… except for the ones Asta told. It wasn’t as if he did it on purpose or anything. But listening to Asta tell a story was a whole excuse to stare at him for a while. This wasn’t something Leo did often, but sitting so close to him… being able to smell his scent made it rather difficult to focus on almost anything else.
During one of Asta’s last stories, he must’ve noticed Leo spacing out because he had tapped Leo’s back to snap him out of it. He felt a bit embarrassed… but it must’ve been a story Asta wanted Leo to hear which made him wonder if Asta knew he was tuning him out the entire time. Or… is Asta truly that oblivious that he just so happens to always do the right thing?
Because once Leo could finally pay attention, he laughed a lot… because the story Asta told was hilarious. Funniest one of the night.
It wasn’t long until everyone headed back to their tents to sleep for the night. So Leo did the same, saying goodnight to Asta.
Once he was in his tent, he got into some comfortable clothes and crawled into his makeshift bed. It was warm enough. Leo stared up for a while before turning his lanturn off and drifting off to sleep.
However…
When Leo opened his eyes, it was definitely not morning. Not only that, but he was freezing. And wet… It took only an instant before he realized that it was raining. And that the rain had soaked through his tent a bit… his blankets were a little wet and so was his hair.
Compared to the hot weather during the day, he felt like he was in the middle of a snowstorm with his teeth chattering and his body trembling. He rubbed his eyes and turned on his lantern. Almost all of his things were wet…
He sighs.
He rose up and put on his now squishy shoes. They were far from comfortable. He peeks out of his tent with his lantern. It seems that his tent was the only one who couldn’t handle the rain… Guess that was his fault for getting a cheap one. He didn’t think it would make THIS much of a difference!
A wave of cold air washed over him and he shivered. He felt slightly embarrassed having to do this… but he didn’t seem to have any other choice.
Leo slowly walked over to Asta’s tent. The rain fell onto him which made him hurry over. He unzipped Asta’s tent and crawled in, closing the tent behind him. He set his lantern aside and sighed again.
He heard Asta’s gentle breaths… saw the rising and falling of his chest. Leo frowned as he realized he’d have to wake Asta up if he wanted to be warm tonight…
Leo crawls over next to Asta’s sleeping back and reaches his hand forward, gently poking him.
Asta mumbled something, but didn’t wake up.
Leo reached his other hand forward and shook Asta slightly. Asta started to stir and rolled over.
“Hm…?”
“Asta…” Leo whispered.
Asta yawned loudly and sat up. He stares at Leo for a moment.
“Leo…? What are you doing here?” Asta muttered. Leo hung his head.
“The water got into my tent… and it was really cold, so…”
Asta seemed more awake now. “You’re wet…” he said in a concerned tone.
“Huh? Oh, I guess… I’m fine though.”
Asta shook his head. “No, you’ve gotta be freezing…” Asta looked around for a moment and grabbed his nearby towel, carefully wrapping it around Leo’s shoulders. “There you go…”
Leo gazed up at Asta. “Thank you…”
Asta pulled Leo closer immediately. “You can stay with me tonight if you want.” Leo knew his face was red. He could feel it. He was so close to him…
“Are you sure?”
Asta nods confidently. “Yeah! C’mon, we can share my sleeping bag.”
Leo froze in his spot. “Share… your sleeping bag? Together?”
Asta nodded again. “Mhm. Come on.” Asta opened his sleeping bag and slowly took the towel off of Leo. Leopold wanted to argue simply because this had been so sudden, but… Seeing Asta just waiting there for Leo to… sleep with him… literally! Sleep with him LITERALLY! Not in any other way! Leo crawled into the sleeping bag with Asta, a flustered expression on his face.
Asta zipped it up and they laid there… against each other. “Sorry… I didn’t bring another pillow.”
Leo gave him a small smile. “It’s okay! This is enough.”
Asta frowned. “I don’t want you to be uncomfortable though… Would you be okay with using my chest as a pillow?”
Leo almost gasped, his lips pressed against each other tightly as if trying to prevent him from even attempting to speak.
“We could do it the other way around if you want—“ Asta is quickly cut off.
“No, it’s fine!” Leo sinks lower into the sleeping bag and rests his head on Asta’s chest. It was softer than he thought it’d be. It was nice. He listened to the soothing rhythm of Asta’s heartbeat.
He felt Asta’s arms wrap around him almost in a possessive manner. Leo almost wanted to question him, but he chose not to. Instead, he did the same by putting his arms around Asta.
It’s at the point where they’re completely cuddling… All snuggled up together sharing warmth.
Sharing Asta’s warmth.
He feels like he loves the feeling of cuddling with Asta a little too much. The stress of waking up in a wet tent where all his things were soaked was stripped away… Listening to Asta’s heartbeat soothed him.
Being coddled in Asta’s tight embrace had him feeling completely calm. If he was being honest… he was in complete bliss. He hasn’t felt this peaceful for so long. He couldn’t help but cuddle up against Asta more. Once he realized he had done it, he was overwhelmed with embarrassment.
“A-Asta…! I… I, uhm…”
Asta chuckled gently and patted Leo’s head. “Don’t worry, it’s okay.”
Leo felt Asta rubbing circles into his back. It felt oddly intimate. A little too intimate.
“Goodnight, Leo.” Asta whispered, planting a kiss on the top of Leo’s head before he turned the lantern off.
This time, Leo let out a small gasp. Asta kissed him.
Asta actually kissed him. What did that even mean?! Thousands of thoughts went through Leo’s head. He had no clue what to say. He could hear Asta laugh again under his breath, holding Leo close.
Leo took a few breaths and listened to Asta’s heartbeat again. Maybe he didn’t have to say anything right now… Asta didn’t seem to be expecting it from him anyway. Maybe they could just enjoy each other’s company for a while…
With a bit more confidence, Leo snuggled closer to Asta with a long sigh of content.
Leo fell asleep soon afterwards, relaxing in Asta’s comforting arms.