Isekais Don't Exist, You're Just Trapped in a Social Experiment

7: Easy Target

"Ow! It's cramping up!"

Tighnari frowns as he waits for the elevators to open to the seventh floor, your arm slung over his shoulders as his own arm rests around your waist. Although there were some initial objections on your part, he eventually managed to convince you to carry that little metallic beetle that bit you.

Your calf muscle has inexplicably started to cramp up after the bug bite, quickly and agonizingly. It incapacitates you to the point Tighnari has to support you to keep off of your bad leg.

"Your room is a similar distance from the elevator...I don't want you walking on it anymore, you might end up pulling a muscle and causing more damage," Tighnari decides, surprising you into turning to face him.

He says that, but...then how are you supposed to get back to the hotel room? Roll like a barrel down the hall? Find a wagon or wheelchair? Presumably, all the wheelchairs are at the reception desk downstairs, and there's no point walking all that distance when your room is closer anyways.

Oh, is he going to let me climb onto his back like he did in Chinvat Ravine?

"Alright then, turn around and I'll just-" you start, only for Tighnari to shake his head, more than confusing your initial assumptions. "No?"

"No. Not like that," he confirms, before surprising you by readjusting his hand against your shoulder blades and scooping you up by the underside of your thighs.

There's still a soreness from how they were grabbed the other night by the worst lover known to man, but it's almost as easy to ignore as the pain of your cramping calf when you find yourself linking your free arm around Tighnari's neck for an anchor. Once you find your balance with his help, your eyes flick back to him where his face is now dangerously close for someone who's essentially still an acquaintance.

At the very least, he doesn't seem to concern himself with the state of your shirt.

"Like this," he simply answers, meeting your gaze with little concern for the proximity or the fact he's got you in his arms bridal style. You can feel a warmth roll over your face and body, but Tighnari is otherwise unaware of how nervous you've gotten. "It's easier to support your thighs this way. If I carried you on my back instead, my hands might slip forward and apply pressure to your calf."

I don't think that's any different than what might happen here. His hand still might slide forward as he walks.

The elevator doors ding and slide open into the hallway, Tighnari turning so he can carry you out without hitting your legs against anything.

"A-Aren't I too heavy like this?" You ask nervously, somewhat ashamed at the thoughts that relentlessly cloud your mind when you do. He carried you easily the last time, it's just...this position holds a more intimate connotation.

At least based on all the romance manhwa you've binged in the past month. It makes the butterflies in your stomach all the harder to ignore.

Furthermore, even though your physique doesn't often bother you, the culture that surrounds you still sinks in its claws occasionally after years of hammering beauty standards into your mind. Weight, fitness, body structure- it's a toxic mindset you fight to push away when it rears its ugly head. Half of the time, you know logically that it's criticizing something that's not a concern in the first place.

Tighnari gives you a funny look after the elevator doors shut behind you. He pauses in his stride and makes a point by gently bouncing you just enough to get a better grip. You tremble a little, worried he'll drop you.

"Exceedingly," he answers with all the dryness of a crisp brown leaf in the fall. "Why, I wonder how I'm able to even pick up my bow and use it."