Work Text:
Syalis had been lying on Leo's bed for the past hour, waiting and her limbs seemingly starting to ache from the idleness. Or perhaps, it was just her persisting irritation from all the waiting. ‘Strange, he would always return on time,’ she thought to herself, the pout in her lips kept growing ever since her patience was at its last strand.
What was taking him so long?
Shifting her head, that was still submerged deep in the pillows, around and pointing her gaze to a side, she let out a sigh. There she saw the coffee table with a kettle. For quite some time now, no more hot puffs had come out of its spout and neither was the thin line of mist once surrounding the pot. The surface of said table was as clear as a mirror long before she set the kettle on it. Now, it was back to that state. The contents of the kettle had gotten cold, that she knew.
At the sight of it, along with her pouting, the frowns on her face deepened.
Fiddling with her fingers, two papery packets were caught in between them. What a bummer, she’d been looking forward to drinking a cup or two of herbal tea, from a demon plant she harvested in the Plant Zone, with him…
But he wasn’t here and for all the time she’d spent on waiting, so what was the point?
‘Guess this will be for later,’ she mused with bored-stiff shoulders. Lazily, she pushed open a drawer of the nightstand and stored the tea bags in there. Then, having it shut tight, Syalis slid herself off the mattress and walked toward the vents with both arms stretched out.
“If Leo’s not here,” she muttered under her heaving breath, inserting some force to pry the metallic lid open. With a huff as the thing fell to the ground, she continued, “then, he must still be working in the Demon Church.”
And so, she will get there by going inside the vents and crawling her way through its rat puzzle-like passage. “It shouldn’t take me long to reach the place,” was her final words before disappearing into her usual route.
.
.
.
Contrary to her expectations, he wasn’t here either.
The click of her heels was all the noise that occupied the area after minutes of pivoting her head left and right, feeling disappointed by the futility of her searching in the very place she thought he’d most likely be in.
With an irritated shrug of her shoulders, Syalis wanted nothing more than to retire to her cell. So she did, taking the first few steps to retreating from the long pathway of wooden benches in-between and right toward the entrance. Or at least she tried to, but such attempts were put to a stop once she felt muscle spasms coming from her legs.
Syalis stood in attention at once, observing a leg as she pulled one up and took another step. It ached a lot which got her wincing from the discomfort. The sudden sensations confused her for a moment until her head was given a good mental jog and she was reminded of her little endeavors for the day.
Right, right, on top of taking down the roots of said demon mint and harvesting from it, she also went around the entirety of Demon Castle searching for Hi-Potions and had brawls with the Ghost Shrouds that happened to get in her way. A set of strenuous activities would obviously result in physical exhaustion, hence the leg pains. And maybe, a little with her arms.
A twinge at her chest that carried her dissatisfaction with the current situation. Nonetheless, easing down these body pains was a must. Begrudgingly at that thought, she dragged herself to the nearest bench she could find and sat down. A slight creak from her and then the quiet came.
Her eyes soon began to twitch as it stared at nothing in particular. How dull, there was no little activity she can do to pass the time. ‘Except for sleep, that is,’ such was her passing thought, the rest of her felt like a sack of potatoes that swayed from side to side due to being placed in an unstable leaning spot. At this point, she was uncertain if she could muster the strength to sit up straight and not let her body crash onto the wooden surface. Or worse, the floor.
Then, there was the little issue with her eyes. The more time passed in her bored lonesome, the more they kept closing with that gradual pull to unconsciousness. Try as she might, it was a struggle to stay awake just as was with her not falling off.
And it didn’t exactly help that she was dreadfully so bored with what and where she was now. But come to think of it, the Demon Church was not an area that buzzed with crowding noises and steps. In fact, it was an abode of healing and mediation and whichever tranquil quality it all stood for. ‘Definitely the right place for napping,’ she mused in a mind drifting between waking moments and not.
‘Well, it wouldn’t hurt if I do just that…’ As her head was slowly succumbing to nodding off, she let herself be–
“Mrhm…”
Though a small sound, immediately her eyes shot up wide. The urge for sleep, now dominated to complete wakefulness by a curious mind. However, she didn’t react fast enough to prevent herself from falling straight into hardened mass. No thanks to such carelessness, her face dealt the impact. But on the bright side, it didn’t hurt as much as she thought it would. It was the kind of pain that would suddenly turn up and go away just the same.
Still, Syalis was sure there to be a possible bump in her forehead so she had a hand run down over it. And she felt it, a slight dent in an otherwise perfect facial angles. She clicked her tongue a result of her state, nonetheless it already happened and there was nothing else to be done about it. To appease some of her displeasure, she could only rub soothingly at it.
As she did just that, her ears strained to hear that sound again with her eyes wandering about. But as it turned out, the latter proved to be more useful; the too soft of a sound, which her once tired mind could only recognize as a murmur, was not to be heard for the second time. Still, between the gaps of the benches, she caught a glimpse of white and purple. With some night-like blue on the top of them.
Even though with the many benches between her and what she saw, making the latter seem the size of her hand, there was no mistaking it. She knew very well as to whose colors that belonged to.
‘Surely, he wouldn’t be in one of those moods where he feels like hiding from me,’ at that, she raised a brow. With her face still planted on a polished plank, she watched those colors stay firmly in place but without any of it peeking out of the bench and in plain sight. All it did was raise her suspicions, because why else would Leo not be sitting properly in his seat?
He was a man of an enormously tall stature, so the only way to mask his presence with the benches was either to crouch down or just lay himself on the ground. Exactly what he had been doing at the moment. Those few varying yet collective factors that led up to a suspected conclusion, it irked her more than it should. It had been almost a year since the last time he fled away and hid from her, so with a persisting absence of that…
She thought he wouldn’t ever try it on her, never again. But it seemed she was wrong in that regard. ‘Am I really that unpleasant to be around?’ Syalis couldn’t help the scowl forming in her face and the little bump seeming more of an eyesore to her. ‘If that’s the case, I won’t stop either.’
Bitterness was a great motivator to push herself up and on her feet, forgoing the aches still throbbing at her thighs. Her gaze sharp and locked on her target, then she bent her knees as if in a readying herself for a race. A second later and she took off, her legs taking her to where she wanted to go. Her dashing across the other end of said area was likened to that of a train in light speed, accompanied by what seemed to be steams coming out of her ears and feet.
It was brief moments of moving blurs till her line of sight cleared up when the heels of her shoes dug themselves deep into the marbled flooring. In an attempt to cease down her quick footwork, now that Leo was within her reaching proximity. She panted a bit, feeling a rush of her heartbeats from the exertion and sweat trailing down her cheeks. She wiped it off with a sleeve while so simply allowing her breathing to even out in their own pace.
That wasn’t so important right now, but someone else sure was. So if she didn’t make her next move–
He’ll just run away from her again…? Or so she thought.
Now that she had gotten closer to where he was, Syalis paused midway in her ‘objective’ and could only blink at the sight unfolding before her. In contrast to what she initially expected, his upper torso was slumped to the bench with both arms circling around the wooden surface and his head resting on them. Then, there was his lower limbs curled to a side in an ungainly fashion and definitely on the ground.
Oh, and obviously his eyes were closed.
So, he’d been sleeping here all along. The tight knots seemingly squeezing at her stomach and turning it upside-down, that she hadn’t noticed before, had grown all loosened and light. Such a feeling made it easier for her to breathe. Slowly, she looked down and placed a hand in her abdomen. Relief, that must be it. ‘I see, so he just ended up falling asleep,’ she reiterated that certain thought, giving herself a reassuring pat, ‘to think I got worked up over nothing.’
Though such sentiments were short-lived the moment she noticed more about him. Again, a frown made its way back into her face but for an entirely different reason. Leo wasn’t looking too well; his complexion, though paleness was naturally his color, was awfully whiter than the Ghost Shrouds. Not to mention, the dark spots that were right under his eyelids. ‘Has Leo been working overtime?’ When that mere notion came to her, she loathed it.
She much preferred him smiling all wide and carefree with a bit of healthy rosiness in his cheeks.
‘Because I missed out on dying today and our schedules never coinciding, I didn’t know.’ She previously waited for him to have tea together in his place, so foolishly unaware of his wellbeing. If she hadn’t gone here or worse… failed to hear his murmuring just now, she wouldn’t have known. At that, her brows inched closer to each other in equal measures of concern and irritation. But the more she stared down at him, the more she realized the former one was overpowering the other. After all, she saw where his sleepy head was pointed to, what he last saw until drowsiness overtook him.
Her head turned as well, following suit in that direction.
The Unholy Sanctuary, but more specifically where that platform held the very sacred thing. The Cross of a Demon Deity she hardly knew. The Dark Father, Leo so respectfully referred that entity as such. Although she was of no faith to her own nation’s deity, she still understood him. She prided herself in her royal duties as the Princess, Leo was just the same with his own as the Demon Cleric.
And his beliefs and faith were another major contribution to serving that role well.
With that notion in mind, Syalis raised a hand and touched the symbol that defined her role; the crown made of fabric and lace. Even if what she wore in her head now was amounted to a decorated yet temporary (which she heavily emphasized on) headpiece, it had its value. With it, the denizens of the Demon Castle recognized her as the Captive Princess…
Just as would they with the tall hat and necklace Leo always wore as the Demon Cleric. She had no clue what those two items were called, but that was beside the point. There was no need for her to memorize every unholy scripture nor take part in dark ceremonies to comprehend its importance to Leo. That she knew and understood.
But to the point of self-neglect? She shook her head in disapproval, watching the way his fingers would violently twitch and the tight skin folds in his face being more than smooth ones as he slumbered. Despite the unbearable soreness that was sure to catch up to her, Syalis knelt on one knee and moved said hand away from the makeshift crown…
Then, to his cheek. In an instance, she flinched, not quite expecting the icy-coldness to greet her hand when she touched him. Baffled and still concerned, her gaze kept wildly shifting between her hand and his face for a good two seconds before they finally settled on staring at the latter one.
If Leo was this cold, how long had he been sleeping here?!
“Princess!”
Oh, good timing.
Such difficulty she had in standing up as the aches coursed through her legs, she persisted nonetheless and faced whoever it was. Before her was a boy with twin bat-like shapes for cowlicks and a short cape. Remembering people was often a mental struggle for her, but she recognized him as one of Leo’s closest subordinates. The vampire boy, was it? Regardless, there was a pressing matter at hand that she shouldn’t ignore. Recognizing others will have to come later.
While he stood there frozen like a fish out of water, her eyes spied a blanket in his grasp. ‘Good, this will keep Leo warm,’ she nodded to herself before extending an arm outward and had the other one aimed its finger at the fluffy-bloated fabric.
“Uh, what?”
“Leave that to me and you go call the others.”
“Oh, right, right,” with an enthusiasm of a supportive junior, he was quick to entrust the blanket to her and to which she carefully received from him. It was much softer and warmer to the touch, she immediately observed. And much to her relief. “I appreciate the help, Princess.”
“No need–”
“But I truly mean it!” He cut her off in a clumsy manner, his body seemingly jumping with his toes pushing him up for an extra boost. Then, shrinking back to his original height, he continued, “well, it’s thanks to you that Demon Cleric has been working himself to death less.”
She stared blankly at him for a moment, surprised by the sudden praise thrown at her. What she did or said to Leo on a daily basis can hardly be called a power move, it was merely her wanting to spend time with him and kept ‘asking’ him until he caved in.
Still, her sharp gaze had softened a little in a downcast look once she shook out of an indecisive state and went over his words. So her hunch turned out to be true; that Leo overworked himself and quite often at that. Although she’d like it more if that was the one thing she wasn’t right about. Syalis, with not much to say on the matter, could only nod in response.
With a friendly wave and a boyish smile befitting him, he finally said, “I do hope that he continues to take it easy with you around. Anyhow, if you’ll excuse me.”
She blinked again, her viewpoint slowly falling down to elsewhere.
And just like that, the boy in a formal suit disappeared out of sight. Whether he ran out or transformed into something, she couldn’t tell. Her eyes were on the blanket she held onto, trying to process his meaning. What did he…
‘No,’ she quickly asserted, her grip on the thing tightening, ‘I can’t stay here idling,’ while so urging herself to a task far more important.
Turning on her heels, she returned to the bench where Leo slept on with a few steps. Bending her knees slightly, she had spread out the blanket to its full reaching capacity and then let it fall over him like a thick layer of snow but not quite. Instead of the coldness that his skin temporarily emitted, it brought cozy warmth to him. She made sure the blanket wouldn’t come loose by tucking the end of the fabric under his arms and legs. With that, Leo would feel more comfortable in this bundle until help arrived.
Knowing how much of a heavy sleeper he was, he’d surely sleep through it all. By that, she meant his subordinates carrying him back to his bedchambers. Strange, she found that image childishly endearing.
As he continued to slumber some time away, Syalis sat right beside him. She watched closely as his fingers didn’t twitch as much and his skin lost most of its discomforting tightness. Sleeping with ease was a better look for him, she smiled at the sight.
After a while and with nothing much to do, a curious hand ended up wandering until they settled themselves on the top of his head. She let her fingers run through those dark blue locks, finding how easily they slipped out of her grasp. ‘It’s almost like silk,’ such became her remark before proceeding to stroke his head in soothing circles. Every time she did this, the finger twitching and facial wrinkles from him grew less and less. She took it as him feeling more comfortable in his sleep, thus she went on with it.
In the middle of all the head stroking and patting, she couldn’t help but wonder…
Would Leo smile at her if he did wake up at this moment?