The Guide is Actually a Body-Switching Esper [BL]-Chapter 452: Huddling for Warmth

The guard duty passed fairly uneventfully.

If you can consider fighting against the monsters trying to approach the camp to be ’uneventful’. Lane, at the very least, could, since it hadn’t been challenging to him in the slightest. The lizard monsters were less active at night, so even when they had approached the camp, they did it carefully, trying to sneak in rather than attacking with their full force. As for the other monsters, they were much weaker, so they were hardly worth mentioning. He could have done it all night, alone, and he still wouldn’t have even broken a sweat, not really!

Damien wouldn’t have made him stay on guard all night, though, even if Lane was okay with it. After five hours, they woke up the second shift and withdrew back into the camp to get some sleep.

Everything was already pretty much prepared for them. Since half of their team had already had their sleep time, there were parts of the rocks that had been nicely swept, some even deliberately flattened with various abilities. All that they had to do was to unroll their mats, take out their sleeping bags, and lie down as soon as possible, so as not to waste their precious time...

But how could things have gone so smoothly with Lane? He had been on edge the whole day. Earlier, he had been able to distract himself with the monster hunt, but ever since his evening conversation with Damien, his mood had taken a massive dip... The fact that the monsters’ attacks were slower, as well as the darkness surrounding them, didn’t help. Even when defending the camp, he had more than enough time to dwell on the unpleasant tension between him and Damien.

And there was no way that he was just going to endure it any longer. Even if he had no excuses which he could use to ’explain’ his joining the Association to Damien, he had to resolve the situation in some other way.

For example, by...

Physical affection and proximity.

Of course, sex would have been even better, but he doubted that Damien would let him drag him away from the camp, let alone do it when their teammates (and Damien’s sister!) were sleeping just a few feet away from them.

Just because Lane had to ’behave’, though, it didn’t mean that there were no lines he would be able to cross...

He waited until Damien unzipped his sleeping bag, while pretending to set his own spot right next to him. And the moment that Damien lay down, getting into it, he quickly ducked under his arm, sliding inside before Damien could zip it back up.

"..." For a moment, Damien just stared at him, completely speechless. Even he hadn’t expected it. They were supposed to go to sleep, but here Lane was, sitting on his lap, as if that was where he belonged...

Well, he kind of did. But there was time and place for everything, and this wasn’t it.

"Lane..." he finally sighed.

But Lane just pushed him down in response, still on top of him. "Let’s sleep together, yeah?"

Then, with a wave of his hand, he zipped up the sleeping bag.

With his ability. Even though he shouldn’t be using it. Not for something like that...

"Lane..." Damien sighed again, not even knowing how to respond. It was one thing to cuddle in bed back in the Eldenveil, when they were alone in the room, and another thing to squish together when they were out in the open...

Because they were pretty squished. Although the sleeping bag could somewhat fit both of them - it was a new sleeping bag that Lane had gotten for Damien, so it was bigger than the one that Damien used to have - there wasn’t much space left. Enough for Lane to roll to the side, but even then, they would have to cuddle while sleeping.

Needless to say, that was highly inappropriate.

And Lane knew it. But he still only pouted in response, "Please? I’m cold... Let’s huddle for warmth, yeah?"

Huddle for warmth?

Damien’s frown deepened at Lane’s words.

What kind of ridiculous excuse was that? The dungeon was warm to begin with. Even at night, when the temperature dropped, it was fairly pleasant. And even assuming that it was only subjective - thanks to his ice ability, he was also more resistant to the cold, and while he still could tell when the temperature was low, he didn’t experience it as intensely as others might have - Lane still had a high-quality sleeping bag that would serve him well even in freezing weather. There was no need for cuddle to Damien just to stay warm.

He was about to reject Lane and ask him to go sleep in his own bag, so that Damien could maintain at least a bit of his professionalism as the Team Leader...

But something in Lane’s eyes made him stop before he even said a word. There was something almost desperate in his gaze, something that Damien didn’t really see often in the man... In fact, the only time he could recall when he had seen a similar expression was when Lane had told him about his awakening. A kind of madness that came from suppressing his feelings, a fear of being rejected after opening up about things he might have been insecure about...

Although this time Lane hadn’t opened up to Damien about anything, Damien HAD partially stumbled upon more of his secrets. Not having any idea what they might be, but realizing that Lane was still hiding a lot of things from him.

And Lane was afraid of Damien’s reaction to it. Even if he himself wasn’t aware of it.

"Alright," Damien eventually gave in. At the end of the day, Lane’s feelings were by far more important than his sense of propriety. Or knowing what Lane was hiding from him. Surely, Lane would tell him about everything once he was ready... "You can sleep in the sleeping bag with me... But nothing more! We’re in public!"

"Mn. I know!" Lane instantly relaxed, a smug smile playing on his lips. He rolled over to Damien’s side, wrapping all of his four limbs around the man like a sticky octopus...

Once again, it was his victory!