Warmth (Sting x Reader)

Chapter 6 - Words and Sheets

Rogue and Froche had left the room, leaving you and Sting sitting on his bed, with you cradling Lector like a child. Sting finally broke the silence, determined to tease you some more. To your displeasure.

"I don't know how I'm not supposed to find this cute! Its like your doing this on purpose!" He whisper-shouted, in an attempt to not wake the exceed you were currently petting. You rolled your eyes and put Lector down on the pillow. He curled up into a little ball. Eliciting and "awe" from you.

"No, that was cute." You responded to his statement. That earned you a chuckle from Sting and you turned back around the face him only to realise that his face was not centimetres from yours. You froze, and upon doing so, colour rushed to your cheeks.

"I'm gonna go take a shower, you can join if you want." He cooed. You rolled you eyes and finally composed yourself, moving away from him before speaking again.

"I'd rather not, thanks. So I'm just going to sleep on the floor." You answered, you were not sleeping with him again. He turned to walk to the bathroom before looking back at you.

"If I come back in here and you're on the floor, I will carry you to the bed, so don't bother." He deadpanned, before returning to the bathroom and leaving you alone. You rummaged through your bag for a bit, before finally finding your pyjamas. You say pyjamas, but it was really just an oversized T-shirt that went to your knees. When you heard the water turn on in the bathroom and were sure that the pervert wouldn't just emerge randomly. You removed your outfit and slipped into the large T-shirt.

Deciding against having Sting carry you to bed because of your stubbornness, you made your way to the large bed that Lector was currently sleeping on. You settled yourself into the covers and curled up with the exceed, the familiar fuzzy warmth calming you. You found yourself thinking about what you had told the two dragon slayers today. That story was one very few people in your own guild knew, let alone your rival guild. But, to be fair, they traded you fairly. You were surprised to hear Rogue's story, it was kind of cute, under that emotionless exterior he actually had a heart, it was comforting to know that.

Before you could dwell on it any longer you heard the water cut off and a few minutes later Sting emerged, along with a cloud of steam. His hair was still wet, so instead of its normal spiked appearance, it draped across his face, it was... different. Not to your surprise, his shirt was absent, though you were expecting it, a light pink dusted your cheeks and you curled back up into the covers.

"Too bad, I was looking forward to carrying you into bed." He teased. You groaned and pulled the cover back over your head.

"Does the little dragon need her rest." He chuckled, flipping the light switch and climbing into bed.

"Yes she does." You replied. He chuckled and you didn't even have to look to know where he was, you could feel the heat radiating from him the moment he climbed into the bed. You turned to face him, curious as to his lack of speaking, he never shut up that fast. When you did, you found yourself centimetres from his face one again. You could feel his breath on your face and a small smile graced his lips.

"You didn't freeze," He chuckled "Looks like you're getting used to me."

"Well, we have done this before." You replied.

"True, however last time we were planning on doing something much more fun, but miss lightweight had to ruin it." He teased.

"I'm glad I did, however I wish that I hadn't gotten drunk at all, then I wouldn't be here right now." You mumbled.

"Someone like you? Trust me, I would've found you one way or another." He said, moving his face slightly closer and brushing your hair out of your eyes. That made you blush slightly, and against your better judgement, you didn't push him away, resulting in his hand resting on your cheek.

"Ah, but you see Sting, I'm nothing special, neither power wise or personality wise. I'm hopelessly average. Worse, actually, I was weak enough to lose my best friend, what kind of person does that make me if I couldn't even save Genie?" You sighed. "My guild isn't weak, but I'm certainly not anywhere near as strong as my comrades." You finished.

"Well, I can't say anything about your magic power, as I have yet to witness that, though I am looking forward to it." He began. "But you should know that I've never met anyone like you before, who looks at the world and chooses to only see the best side of things, even though they know the worst. That's not weak, not in my eyes." He spoke quietly, almost at a whisper, as if he was afraid that someone else from his guild would hear him. I wonder what would happen if someone did? Ideals like that are more than frowned upon in guilds like this one. You were thankful for his words though, you didn't know he was capable of this kindness, it was refreshing.

"Thankyou" You whispered, it was sincere and he knew that. Your eyes drifted closed as you succumbed to the comfort of the sheets and Sting's warmth, though still awake, you drifted on the edge of dreams.

Sting took this opportunity to pull you into his bare chest, something that went half-noticed in your sleepy state, what did become abundantly clear though, was the increase in warmth that followed his actions. Because of this, you found yourself snuggling against the heat source. A small chuckle escaped Sting's lips at that, and he ran his fingers through your hair, over and over, while his other hand found its way into your oversized shirt, running up your side before drawing circles on your stomach, it was almost rhythmic, further lulling you into sleep.

The last thing you remember was the small touch of his lips to your cheek as you drifted off to sleep.