skystones:

it’s well past midnight when a knock on his cabin door has balthier quirking his brow across the room.

“yes?” he intones, though it is no mystery who it is. without waiting for permission to enter, vaan makes himself perfectly at home by waltzing right in.

“i can’t sleep,” the dalmascan announces to balthier, who remains on his bed with a book in his lap. his quirked brow has not budged, even when vaan shuts the door behind him and ambles further inside.

“and that’s my problem how, exactly?” it’s too damn late to entertain desert brats, but vaan is eyeing the empty side of his bed with a blatancy bordering obnoxious, and balthier relents – with a sigh he pats the gap, and vaan burrows into his blankets like a pleased sandbug.

“tell me a sky pirate story,” he demands, practically nudging the book off the bed when he hooks a leg over balthier. balthier snaps the tome shut, and puts a contemplative finger on his lips.

“very well,” he says, and vaan lifts his head from the pillow to stare at him, ever starry-eyed. “once upon a time there was a tired sky pirate who was never allowed a moment’s rest because an annoying southern boy was always clamoring for his attention at all odd hours of the night.”

vaan yawns, and nuzzles deeper into the pillow – balthier’s favorite pillow, as it were, and rubbing his round little nose right into it. “that sucks,” he muffles, his voice deadpan from the plushy down cushion. “what’d he do about it?”

“he pushed him out the hatch, ne’er to be seen again.” there’s a dreaminess to balthier’s voice as he entertains the thought. vaan nudges him with his leg, still peering up at him from his buried vantage point.

“that’s messed up, balthier.” 

“you wanted a story, you got one.”

“do you have another one?” vaan prods. “maybe one that doesn’t suck?”

“i’m afraid that’s all the stories i have,” balthier laments, gesturing vaan’s leg off him with a swat of his hand. “ now – if that’s all, why don’t you head off to bed?”

“way ahead of you,” vaan yawns again as he burrows further down into the comforter. balthier’s eyes narrow at the lump next to him that is a damnably warm and insistent little thing.

“only for tonight.” balthier’s warning at this point is hollow. vaan can see right through it, as the agreeable noise he makes is suspiciously sarcastic. 

“hey balthier?” vaan says a few moments later, voice veiled by the sheets he’s buried himself into. “you’d never throw me out the hatch, right?”

balthier hums thoughtfully. “darling vaan,” he tuts, “it is best not to ask questions you don’t want the answer to.”

he pushes the chit off the bed, and though vaan takes the covers with him in his tumble, it’s worth the lark.