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The air was slightly damp, the room was almost pitch black except for the artificial light that came through the window. The dungeon was hard to get used to, whenever you looked out a window or through a door, your mind expected to see fields or the sky, only to be greeted by another brick wall. You felt sick these couple of days, you missed the surface with all your might. Ever since you’ve been thrown into this world, it was slap after slap, breaking your reality further more. You felt more irritated than usual— you just wanted to go back home to your world but you resisted, you needed to help them find Falin first.
You couldn’t exactly tell them all about your world, the real one you considered. You had to give them white lies, you felt awful doing so but it was to protect them. You weren’t going to tell them they weren’t real in your world, they wouldn’t believe you anyways and if they did, you’d shatter their perception of reality. So, you just told them they were famous in your world when they asked you how you knew their names before introducing themselves.
You didn’t deny the fact that you were another mouth to feed; you didn’t want to push them back, but you didn’t want to get separated from them. They suggested you went to the surface, you urgently denied, begging to stay with them. They decided to take pity of you by letting you join their party and teaching you how to survive in the dungeon. The last thing you wanted was them risking their lives for you. You helped Senshi with the food, you couldn’t learn from Marcille since her book was written in a language you couldn’t understand (you were scared of magic), you asked Chilchuk to teach you how to identify traps, and Laios taught you about monsters and how to defend yourself from attacks.
You were surprised at how eager he was compared to the other members of the party. You liked Marcille, Senshi and Chilchuk, they have grown fond of you as well, but they were very skeptical about you at first. Izutsumi started to like you as well, even if she kept her distance. You obviously understood their suspicions and regardless of that, Laios didn’t question you as much as them. Or at least you thought he didn't. You felt he was looking at you intently, even if you tried to ignore it. You understood the first time since you were a stranger, but he kept doing it after the others started to trust you. You caught him staring, you couldn’t decipher his expression. It lasted seconds after you caught him, and even if he looked away instantly that didn't discourage him from continuing. You wondered what he was thinking— was he still suspicious of you? He wasn’t someone to be this doubtful, he talked to you normally all the time like he talked with Marcille or Senshi or Chilchuk or Izutsumi. Did he believe you were a monster?
…Was he wondering what you tasted like?
You shook your head feeling a shiver run down your spine. No he couldn’t believe that, could he? Pain shot through your belly once again, making you fold within yourself going into a fetal position, grimacing. You knew that eating fish-man’s algae salad wasn’t a good idea. It was the first time you got sick after eating in the dungeons, which surprised you because of how different the diet was. You were fatigued, you pushed the covers away from you with your feet while you changed positions trying to feel comfortable. You furrowed, this pain felt familiar. It wasn’t on your stomach— you put your hands on your lower belly pressing gently, feeling an overwhelming warmth that wasn’t there before.
Your eyes widened in horror.
You immediately got up, quietly walking over a snoring Senshi to go to the fountain outside of the room you were camping at. You checked hiding behind a corner, making your fears come true.
You completely forgot about periods.
Of course periods would happen here, you were still human! That’s why Izutsumi kept smelling you and looking at you weirdly these past few days. There was a bathroom nearby but it’d be pointless without nothing to change into. You were pacing around, holding onto the wall for support. The cramps had to hit extra hard this time, too. You grunted, trying to think. You could ask Marcille, she was a girl after all. Sure, she was an elf but she could still get periods… could she? She was like, a hundred years old. Technically she would be in her 20’s. They can live up to 1000 years though, so could female elves get menopause? They still had the same reproductive organs as humans. But then— did she get her period monthly? You never heard her talk about them, makes sense since most of the party are men, but she would’ve told you, right? Maybe she doesn’t get it monthly since they age slower, would she get it once a year? or twice a year? She was friends with Falin and she was human, so she might be familiar. Was it taboo to talk about them? After all, this looks like the medieval ages but with magic as far as you knew. You noticed your pants were stained as well. You wished Falin was around.
You shook your head trying to regain your train of thought, wincing because you shook it too hard. You sighed, your frown deepend. You were going to ask Marcille to help you how to manage and ask for a spare of clothes, you could only buy two pairs of pajamas and this one was the clean one— wait. She was skinnier than you. Her pants wouldn’t go over your thighs even if you tried.
“Y/n?” Your eyes widened, whipping your head to look at the voice’s source.
You contained a gasp, you turned around to fully face Laios. You kept your hands behind you, feeling heat creeping through your whole body. You prayed to God that he didn’t see.
“Laios! What are you doing here?” He was looking at you, his eyebrows pinched together with his head tilted. His eyes darted from your face to your side where your hands were hidden.
“I just went to drink some water... Are you okay?” Your breathing quickened, there’s no way he didn’t see it. Your pants had to be white too. Your eyes quickly darted around, you gave him a contained smile “Yeah! I just wanted to use the bathroom is all.” If you acted like it didn’t matter he’d drop the whole thing.
“But,” He paused, pointing at you. He was a bit groggy, but after seeing you it seems his drowsiness went away. “your pants…”
You opened your mouth— just to close it again like a babbling fish. “Erm, umm, it’s probably some wound I got earlier! Don’t worry.”
“But we didn’t fight anything today.”
You just stood there searching for an excuse to make him forget. You looked at the ground, searching for something across the floor. You sighed in defeat, feeling a cold sensation run through your core, of course he knew what that was. He wasn’t born yesterday.
“Wait here.” He left the room in a rush. Was he going to tell the others? You wondered what he thought. He looked concerned. Having a human with no abilities was something, but one that was actively bleeding was a risk. You didn’t know how they managed periods here, you wished you would’ve fell with a pad in your hand. And he had to be the one waking up. Why couldn’t it be Senshi or Chilchuk? You grunted and covered your face, your cheeks were burning. Your ego got completly shattered after being thrown into this, but now you were just humiliated.
You heard rushed footsteps approaching you, Laios appeared from the shadows with a towel and a pair of pants folded neatly on his arms. Your eyes jumped around his arms to his eyes. He had a gentle expression, his honey eyes were soft.
“Here you go. We should buy you more clothes once we go to the surface again.” He handed you the clothes, you just stared at him dumbfounded.
“Thanks,” you stayed glued to your spot, your eyebrows furrowed. “B-but you don’t need to bother! I can ask Marcille for spares.” He just waved you off.
“Don’t worry about it.” He smiled at you softly. “Marcille’s clothes wouldn’t fit you anyway, and if they did, they’d be too tight.” You gave him a look. His eyes widened. “I-I mean, not like you’re fat or anything. It’s just, you know, you both are different sizes and she often wears tight clothes-” You huffed an amused giggle.
“It’s fine, Laios.” He sighed, smiling once again as he scratched his nape.
“And mine are too big, but I think you’d be more comfortable sleeping in them. I used to lend them to Falin when it happened to her. She used to forget to bring spares, so…I’m used to.” He shrugged sheepishly, making you smile. Of course, Laios and Falin were close siblings, you were scared for no reason. You felt warmth inside of your heart. He was so kind, but you still doubted him because of how scared you were. Not scared of the place, but of being hurt by them. By him.
“Thank you, Laios. I appreciate it.”
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You sighed in relief, feeling clean once again. As you stepped out of the bathroom a pulsating pain started to act in you lower belly, making you groan and hold onto it, furrowing at the uncomfortable sensation. You kept walking just to be greeted by Laios resting next to the fountain were you left him, his arms crossed as he looked at his feet. He perked his head once he saw you. “Hey,” He smiled at you. “feeling better?”
You reciprocated his smile with a weaker one. “Yeah, thank you-” You grunted again gripping onto your belly tighter. Laios approached you with a concerned look on his face.
“Are you okay?”
You sighed, the pain subsiding slightly. “Yeah… It’s just the cramps are acting up.”
Laios exhaled, putting his hands on his hips. “Hmm…” He looked at the ceiling in thought.
“We could prepare an infusion with healing herbs, but the pots are all stored away and it’d make too much noise."
“Tea doesn’t help me…” You said meekly. He nodded, holding his chin. “Okay, so… Falin used to put something warm on top of her. She used to put warm water bags at home, but now she’d use magic to heal. She still liked the warm sensation, so she’d put a hot towel. Again, we’d need a pot for that…” His eyebrows rose, his eyes lightened. He snapped his fingers, he had a smile on his face. “Are your hands cold?”
You looked at your hands in confusion. “Yeah…” Laios hummed, looking at his. “We don’t have anything warm but… would you let me?” You raised an eyebrow at him.
“Let you what?”
“Touch you.”
Your eyes widened at him as heat creeped into your neck and cheeks once again. You swallowed, your mind couldn’t think straight. You just nodded, your eyes kept darting all around him. Suddenly, it felt like time was going slower. He approached you carefully, as if approaching a scared animal. Your face was in front of his chest, you looked down at his broad hands while they carefully lifted your shirt. Your heart was hammering in your chest, your breathing became shallow.
He softly pressed his hands into your lower belly, you could only stare at his hands. The warmth of his hands were inhuman, how could a person produce so much heat? You sighed in relief, your shoulders relaxing as the pain started to ease. You laid your head on Laios’ chest instinctively, your breathing calming down as he kept pressing onto your belly.
“How does it feel?” He said softly tilting his head to look at you, his expression content. His voice was so sweet. “Much better…” You sighed once more, smiling lazily at him.
He started to massage the area, making you groan into his chest. You muffled another thank you, making him chuckle. You were beyond embarrased, you’ve never been this intimate with anyone like this before. Sure, there was no tension, he was relieving you from your pain, but he was so gentle. He was treating you like a fragile treasure that could break at any minute. You’ve never had a moment alone with him because of how busy you guys were, and you knew it wasn't good for the party. You understood, but you’ve always watched him when he didn’t look. You knew he looked at you, it did disturb you because his expression was so indeciphereable. You knew he wasn’t the type to take advantage of people. You wondered what was going through his head.
You tilted your head to look at him. Your cheeks were tinted with a deep shade of pink, his were sprinkled with it too. He was looking at you, and even though you couldn’t tell what he was thinking, he smiled down at you. He was blinking slowly, supporting your weight against his body while transmitting all of his warmth to you— his fingers kneading at your lower belly. You looked down at his hands, biting your lip. You couldn’t do anything. You couldn’t take advantage of his kindness, you didn’t want to and you would never do. For someone else this levels of help would be unthinkable, but you guessed he viewed intimacy differently. Has he ever had any sort of romantic intimacy? You never held hands, and now you’ve got him massaging your belly. You felt terrified, but so relieved at the same time knowing he was this way. You felt him laying his cheek on top of your head, a sigh escaping him.
You put your hands on top of his. He looked at you, you could see the exhaustion on his face. “Laios, you should go to sleep.” He pouted. “But what about your pain?” Right, the pain was stil there. It won’t probably go away until a day passes. If the pain was as strong as earlier you wouldn’t be able to sleep. You sighed, holding onto Laios’ hands. “We could…Could you…I don’t know…” You looked away, too shy to even mutter what you wanted to say. Regardless, not sleeping could risk tomorrow’s mission if you had to fight monsters.
“Could you sleep with me?” You closed your eyes tightly.
His silence, even though it lasted 5 seconds, made your nerves spike. You looked up at him, you just wanted to hold his face and kiss him. You kicked yourself mentally at the thought.
“We can share my sleeping bag if you want.”
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The warmth of his body against your back shielded you from the cold of the night, his rough hands against the soft skin of your belly kept the pain away. His breathing soothed your mind. You felt so warm inside out, you felt your eyes warming as tears threatened to escape. You wondered how he felt for you— if only he knew what you thought of him. Right now, though, your mind was starting to request its rest, making you slowly drift away into your dreams.
“Sleep well.” His voice rumbled through your body like a soft purr, making you smile in your slumber. You didn’t worry about the explaining you’d have to do in the morning, for you were at bliss.