Caught by a Hunter

Chapter 13

Alderoth wasn't sure when exactly it happened, but at some point he too must've fallen asleep. He had laid down next to Hassian's bed, listening to the man breathing calmly while sleeping and he had closed his eyes just for a moment.

Now he was awake again, not at all sure how much time had passed and he was confused because of the situation.

He was being held in a tight hug, Hassian's arms around his waist and his head resting on his chest while still sleeping. Alderoth looked at the man and he chuckled quietly, trying not to move too much so Hassian wouldn't wake up.

"So you're a snuggler, huh?" he whispered, gently touching those blue dreadlocks. They were a lot softer than he thought they would be, Hassian was definitely taking good care of them. "It kinda suits you to be honest", he smiled, letting his fingers run along one of the long pointy ears, then carefully touching his forehead. It didn't feel that warm anymore which was a relief.

He wasn't planning on moving and waking up Hassian, but after a while he could hear scratching coming from the door and it was followed by a bark. Tau was back from the village.

Alderoth looked at Hassian who was still sleeping and he wondered if he could get up without waking him. He moved a bit and he was surprised when for a moment the grasp of those arms got even tighter. Alderoth had to cover his mouth so he wouldn't laugh out loud. Hassian was being really cute.

It was as if the hunter could hear his thoughts when those brows furrowed a bit and he grunted, finally opening his eyes. Alderoth patiently waited until the man managed to collect his thoughts for a second and then he finally looked up. Suddenly their faces were so close to each other, their noses were almost touching.

The expression he made with his face was priceless. He was shocked, confused, even a bit angry looking but also scared. Everything at the same time and when he realized he was actually hugging Alderoth, his face got pale.

He quickly let go and Alderoth laughed now, sitting up.

"Relax, nothing happened", he assured. God Hassian was looking like he was almost panicking. It was hilarious. "I'll go let Tau in", he smiled and got up, getting to the door.

Hassian's heart was still pounding like crazy and his eyes were wide open as he sat up too, brushing his dreadlocks out of his face. He had no idea how the hell everything ended up like that. For how long did he snuggle Alderoth? Had the man been awake this whole time?

He took a deep breath and tried to calm himself, hearing how the door was unlocked and opened. They were just snuggling, it happened. Some people did it while sleeping and no one would think anything of it. It seemed like Alderoth didn't think it was a big deal either.

That was a relief. That would've been a shitty situation to try and explain what he was feeling so suddenly. Especially if Alderoth had been bothered because of what happened or... Even disgusted.

Hassian raised his eyes when Tau came to greet him. The plumehound was licking his face, tail wagging and it made him chuckle a bit, scratching from behind his ears.

"I'm okay, Tau", he assured. "Just tired, that's all."

"It did feel like your fever has gone down", Alderoth smiled when he came to the tent too, carrying a bag with him this time. "Sifuu tied this on Tau. A care package."

Hassian sighed with a small blush, brushing his face with his hand.

"Mom's making a fuss."

"Isn't that nice, though?" Alderoth chuckled and he opened the bag, setting things on the small table. Some rice, a little bit of sweets, some medicine from Chayne and just simple things like that, nothing over the top. "Oh, she says here you like congee. That should be easy enough of a dish even I could prepare."