A Series of Rune Factory 4 One-shots

Time in the Bath(Doug x Dylas)

Doug had never thought much of the bathhouse sitting near the edge of town. It was a place where he bathed and relaxed, sometimes with other guys around, and that was all there was to it. Well, at first that was all there was to it.

Then, Doug met Dylas, and his attention in the baths slowly turned away from himself. He didn't know if Dylas noticed how often he stared or not, but he never looked back at Doug, leaving the dwarf unnoticed enough that he thought it was okay to continue staring. Dylas wasn't particularly muscular; Doug that the Bado might even have more muscles. But the horse-eared man was definitely toned and lean; Doug briefly wondered if fishing all day long was all it took for him to stay fit.

Doug also noticed that his blue hair looked very nice when it was wet. It darkened and some of the fluffiness died down and the shortest pieces clung to his face and yeah, it was kind of hot.

And once Doug thought that, he felt just a bit uneasy about admiring Dylas in the bath. Doug only ever argued with him outside of the bathhouse. When they were alone in the baths and Doug felt somewhat attracted to him, he wasn't really all that happy about it. What good were Dylas's looks if he had an awful personality? Doug told himself that he shouldn't stare anymore; there was no point.

But somehow, he just ended up staring more.

Then one day, Dylas spoke to him, despite seemingly ignoring Doug's presence every day before that.

His face was red, and his back was to Doug but he still covered his face with his hand. His tail was swinging back and forth, dragging across the water.

"Look, pebble brain. I-If... If you keep staring at me all the time, I'll get self conscious."

Doug had thought of many ways to describe Dylas before this moment: annoying, mean, crude. But now a new description wormed its way into his mind. The horse man was cute. Especially when he was blushing.

And soon, Doug found himself staring at Dylas even when they were outside the bathhouse. Sometimes, Doug thought he could see the blue haired man staring back.

Then, there was a new development in town. A new man moved in, a man with many fox like features. Leon was his name, and he was tall and tan and muscular and eager to tease. Doug didn't really care much about him. At least, not until he saw him in the bathhouse. Not until he saw Dylas staring at Leon the same way Doug stared at Dylas.

And Doug was... scared. He looked down at himself and knew that he wasn't even as fit as Dylas. If Dylas wanted someone muscular and attractive, then Leon was the obvious choice. He was no match for the fox man at all. And in terms of their friendship, they weren't great friends, but Leon definitely got along better with him than Doug did.

Doug didn't know what to do. Would he give up? Maybe he should've tried to confess his attraction before Leon had appeared. If he confessed now before Dylas and Leon got any closer, would he stand a chance? Did Dylas even like him back, even a little bit?

At first, there had been practically nothing. Just Doug thinking about how Dylas was sort of hot. But soon he found himself talking about him all the time, complaining about him, gushing about him, trying to find out all the things he liked. Then, he was trying to see him when he was alone, trying to work up the courage to talk to him normally. Wondering if he was being hated.

It was too late for Doug's feelings to disappear. He didn't want anything bad to happen.

And then something bad happened.

"So, Dylas, what is it about my body that you find so interesting?" Leon asked one day.

Dylas's face seemed to go up in flames and he glanced at Doug before turning away from all the men in the room.