[ HUDDLE ] from Demon. Warm boy wants u to stay warm too.
"That bounty wouldn't have taken any time at all to complete, and you know it."
Despite their protestations while seated diagonally across Zmeu's lap, the man's bulky arms wrapped around them securely with every refusal to let go. This arrangement was... odd, really. If anything, Sypha hadn't wanted or needed a companion to accompany them on their crusade against Carmilla after leaving their friends behind, but when they'd crossed paths after he'd put down a boyar in a local hamlet who had been outed as a vampire, they'd wound up fighting together and utterly obliterating the corrupted forces who'd turned their hearts to darkness long ago. Though the hamlet had been freed and a new leader chosen, Zmeu was branded as a traitor for turning on the man he'd once sworn his life to. A tale as old as time, and one Sypha had encountered a thousand times over when they and their monkish brothers had traveled across Europe to chip away at the stranglehold Dracula had gripped the whole of Eastern Europe in.
And now, on the promise of safety through evading his captors, Sypha had expected this arrangement to fizzle away once they'd put enough distance from the beleaguered little village. Instead, he'd followed them from town to town in their search for Carmilla, transitioning to accompanying when his affinity had become undeniable.
If anything... the formidable guard could hold his own and didn't hold them back, becoming a shield for the bombastic wizard and someone who could keep up with their admitted recklessness.
It was... odd. Usually, their enchanted cape was enough to keep them warm against the elements, and the odd bit of wards and barriers did more than just prevent them from becoming uncomfortable because of inclement weather. Human warmth was... different. Sypha remembered how they used to huddle for warmth with their monkish brothers, but they were well and truly family. This was different. Though they had half a mind to dissect as to why, as Sypha gazed long into the hypnotic, dancing flames of the campfire, their eyelids inexorably became heavier.
...Morning. They'd question why Zmeu's temperament had changed come morning.