Chapter Text
Laios is a big guy. Anyone could see that. If not for the fact he is well over 6 feet tall, he's also built like a fucking tank.
Which means he is prime cuddling real estate.
One night, when it got really cold in the dungeon, (with the structure being underground and made mainly of stone, it was bound to happen) you sidle up to Laios' sleeping bag.
"Laios?" You whisper. All you hear in return is a loud snore. Typical.
Time to step it up a bit. You don't want to wake up the rest of the party, after all. You're sure they've noticed the way you watch your leader and you don't need any more awkward conversations. Senshi and Izutsumi would just kinda stare and squint at you. Even Marcille's romantic daydreamy blabbering was manageable, but Chilchuck?
You shiver, partly from the cold and partly from the memory of Chilchuck telling you off about how romances in a party just complicate things. You were not excited about possibly reliving that experience.
You reach out and gently shake Laios' shoulder, which manages to make his eyes open up blearily.
"Wh-" he interrupts himself with a yawn, "What's goin' on? 'S there a monster nearby?" His face brightens up with a sleepy hopefulness.
"No..." You shuffle your feet awkwardly, trying to avoid his eyes. "I was just wondering, since it's so cold and all, if you'd be willing to cuddle?"
He blinks slowly, his sleep-fogged brain clearly trying to process what you said. He gives you a thumbs-up and gestures you closer.
"'M warm like a furnace, Falin always told me. I'll warm you right up, mkay?"
You lay your sleeping bag next to his, positioning yourself with your back against his chest.
Falin was right. You can feel the warmth radiating from him just like a furnace. Soon enough, you hear his breathing start to fall back into his rhythmic sleeping pattern. He shuffles slightly, putting his arm over you and bringing you closer to his chest.
It's a comforting sort of weight. Combined with his warmth, you feel yourself start to drift off to sleep.
You can't tell if it's a dream or not, but you seem to feel Laios nuzzling and kissing your neck, making small hums of sleepy contentment.
You wake up to the sound of Senshi getting ready to cook breakfast. You try and sit up, an action blocked by the heavy arm of Laios. You attempt to gently move his arm off of you, but he just whines and grips you tighter.
Hearing a stifled laugh, you look over to see Marcille trying not to burst out laughing.
"He's holding you like a stuffed animal!" she whispers. You try to muster up a glare to shoot her way, but your rising blush and grin betray you.
"You're enjoying this, aren't you?" you whisper back. She nods, a bit too enthusiastically.
"Do NOT tell Chilchuck about this, or I'll-"
"Don't tell me what?" You crane your head back to see the halfling himself, arms crossed, eyebrow raised, looking none too happy with you.
"Shhhh, Chilchuck! You'll wake up Laios!" Marcille hisses.
"All the better to stop this nonsense."
Basically helpless, you watch Chilchuck stalk over to pick up a pan and spoon, presumably to wake up your sleepy captor.
"Now, kiddo. It's quite rude to wake a sleeping couple," reasons Senshi, already making to move his cooking equipment. "Laios will wake when he smells the food, and we should give them some privacy."
"First off, I'm not a kid, they're NOT a couple, and only Laios is sleeping. I'm not picking up that sword to defend us if something comes by." Chilchuck's face is contorted in a mix of shock and disgust at the whole situation.
"I'll stand guard, Chilchuck, don't worry!" Marcille pipes up too readily. "We will wake him if there's an emergency, right?" She looks over to you for confirmation. You nod, happy to get to spend a few more minutes this close to Laios. She winks and gives you a thumbs-up.
You shuffle around, turning to him so that you're chest to chest, praying you don't jostle him too much.
He smells kind of... nice. Like steel, burning wood, and maybe more than a hint of sweat. Maybe it's not everyone's most favourite smell in the world, but it's a distinctly *Laios* sort of scent.
"I wonder what everyone else smells like. I wonder what I smell like," you murmur.
"Senshi smells like meat and spices. Chilchuck smells like leather, rust, and old beer. Marcille smells like explosives and pears. Izutsumi smells like fish," Laios surprises you by answering sleepily.
"Thought you were asleep."
"Chilchuck talks loudly."
"You heard all of that?"
"Heard it, yeah. Dunno what was being said, though."
"Ah. It was just some nonsense, anyway." He hums as a form of answer.
"D'you wanna know what you smell like?" His honey-coloured eyes shine in excitement. What could it hurt?
"Sure," you breathe. He leans in, nosing at the juncture of your neck and shoulder. You feel his hair brushing against your lower jaw and it suddenly hits you that you are *very close* to Laios. You find yourself very tempted to run your fingers through the short hairs on the back of his head.
Somehow you resist as you hear him take a deep breath in.
"Mmmmm, ink... old books, and..." he takes another whiff, "warm dirt." That made sense, since you were researching the plants that grew in dungeons. He leans back, looking you in the eyes. He's so close that you can feel his breath. You could literally just lean in and-
"LAIOS! THERE'S A COCKATRICE!" He bolted upright and grabbed Kensuke.
Damn. Maybe next time.