It happens every time it storms.
Every time cracks of thunder rattle the foundation of the entire inn and the wind howls throughout the entire night like a woman in distress; every time lightning strikes illuminate the sky at random intervals and torrential rain pelts the windows relentlessly.
Zelos is used to it by now.
It's only when he has finally returned to his room following dinner with the rest of the party that he glances out the window and notices the dark clouds congregating quickly in the sky. Ozette is, after all, not the driest or cheeriest of environments, but at least now he knows what he can expect to happen next.
About thirty minutes after he initially spotted the the ominous clouds gathering, Zelos is laying on the bed with his arms crossed behind his head, having shed both his long totally-not-pink-Lloyd-you-asshole tunic and his patterned gloves. His boots also lie discarded next to the bed, splattered with mud from walking outside prior to arriving at the inn. He's not really thinking about anything in particular when he hears the soft knock on the door of his room.
Sitting up and swinging his feet over the side of the bed to plant them on the floor, the redhead stands up and strides over to the entrance, knowing all the while exactly who is on the other side.
When he pulls the door open leisurely, Zelos feigns confusion like he usually does— he quirks a brow and aims his gaze directly down at the dark haired girl standing in front of him. Her eyes, however, are downcast as she plucks at her gloves nervously with her fingers in what seems to be a poor excuse for her not to look at him directly.
Zelos simply crosses his arms over his broad chest and leans against the right side of the doorframe, waiting for her to ask the question he's accustomed to at this point.
When Sheena finally speaks it's so soft that it's almost inaudible, and she still refuses to make eye contact.
"…Can I come in?"
Instead of responding to her verbally, Zelos steps aside and gestures into the room. Sheena edges inside, clearly feeling both nervous and embarrassed in tandem. Honestly, Zelos isn't sure why she still feels that way when she shows up at his door now— this is a well established routine at this point, initiated as soon as she hears the first hint of thunder rumbling in the sky.
The door shuts behind her and Sheena is standing in a rigid, awkward position still within the vicinity of the entrance, her posture screaming tension with a side of anxiety. Zelos walks right past her back towards the bed, plops himself down on the side of it, and then looks at her expectantly. For a few moments, there is nothing but palpable silence in the room— although Sheena is actually looking at him this time, for what it's worth.
And, of course, it just so happens that she's looking at him with what is unquestionably his least favorite expression of hers— the one with her completely incurable sad, empty eyes accompanied by an occasional bite of a quivering lip to hold back tears. It's completely unbearable, so Zelos lets out a sigh and speaks up at last.
"What is it, Sheena?"
For a moment her brown eyes flash dangerously— Sheena hates it when he asks her what it is she wants at times like this, because she knows full well that he revels in the feeling he gets when she seeks him out— but then they settle back into her muted gaze and she finally manages to spit out the question they both knew was inevitably coming.
"Is... Is it okay if I spend the night here?"
Zelos' facial expression morphs into one of smug satisfaction and he sees a look of frustration pass over Sheena's face as a result, but whatever irritation she may be feeling doesn't seem to be enough to convince her to withdraw.
"Duh," is all he says, rolling his eyes in what is clearly an intentionally overdramatic manner while pulling his legs back up onto the bed so he can lay down once again.
After his disarming and simplistic response, he can sense some of the tension disappearing from her body— Zelos knows all too well how to expertly use his humor (or stupidity) to disarm her when she's teetering on the edge. In fact, he could argue that he knows her better than almost anyone else alive, but he's completely and entirely sure that she would break his nose without hesitation if he ever said that out loud.
Though he may have succeeded in easing her nerves slightly, it still takes Sheena a few moments before she begins making her way across the room towards the bed, her footsteps light and cautious. In an attempt to further soothe her obvious anxiety, Zelos folds his arms behind his head once more and closes his eyes, making a point not to stare at her so she doesn't feel any kind of pressure.
On his left side he can faintly hear the quiet rustling of clothing— Sheena always removes at least her gloves and boots before she joins him. It doesn't take long after that for her to climb onto the bed; he can tell when she does so by the sudden feeling of her weight settling onto the mattress. As soon as he can safely discern that she's crawled under the blankets and that she's inched over next to him, he opens his blue eyes to see her sitting up right by his side.
There's a pretty pink blush blossoming on her face— and he would normally smirk or make a snarky remark upon noticing it, but right now he firmly suspects that if he did that he would end up with one hell of a black eye. Sheena seems more hesitant than usual, so when he begins feeling what he believes is slight impatience (or what is definitely maybe totally NOT concern), Zelos reaches out, extending his hand to her in an attempt to nudge her onward.
After a beat, Sheena places her hand in his and he gently tugs her down onto the bed next to him. Following that, Zelos does not move, instead letting her wiggle around and snuggle up to him into what he assumes must be a comfortable position before he wraps his arms around her and holds her in a firm embrace. She's shaking, so he slides one hand up the curve of her back, leisurely letting his nails gently graze against her along the way. Once his hand reaches the top, he begins tracing circles on the soft skin around the nape of her neck until she's significantly stilled and her breathing has become calm and consistent.
There are no more words exchanged between the two of them— mostly because there doesn't need to be.
Sheena has been coming to his door whenever there's a storm for quite a while now— it began roughly a month or so after Zelos had joined (or rather, forced his way into) the party in Meltokio. The first time she had knocked on his door he had been completely dumbfounded, and he was especially careful that night not to make any kind of move as she fell asleep with her arms around him and her head resting on his chest.
And while she was peacefully laying with him that very first time, Zelos made up his mind that he wasn't particularly keen on the idea of sabotaging the chances of Sheena showing up at his door again, so he would simply stay the course and let things play out over time. It's been about three and a half months since then and she's spent a fair number of nights in his bed— always because of the weather, she insists.
Of course, he's most definitely had indecent thoughts more than a few times (far, far more)— he is a typical 22 year old male, after all, and more than that, he's... well... Zelos. However, to his credit, it's very difficult not to have those thoughts whenever her chest winds up pressed against him, or when she turns over at night and moves her body against his unknowingly, or when he can see pieces of her skin that are not normally visible as her clothing falls into disarray overnight.
While it is undeniably true that Zelos may come across as incredibly stupid almost all the time, the actual reality is that he is much, much smarter than he lets on.
Given that fact, he's well aware that if he fucks up this routine even once, she'll most likely never show up at his door again. The very idea of her not coming to his room, crawling into his bed, and craving his comfort anymore makes Zelos' chest tighten uncomfortably for a stupid reason that he can definitely identify but doesn't want to admit. The redhead tightens his hold on the girl slightly, squeezing her tenderly for just a moment.
Sheena makes a soft, sleepy noise of contentment and it's music to his ears.
It doesn't take long at all before she's fast asleep in his arms, having entirely forgotten the thunder that is still rumbling outside and the lightning that casts brief flashes of light through the window every few minutes. Instead, Sheena chooses to focus on the repetitive, comforting sound of Zelos' heartbeat and his warmth surrounding her from all sides— just like she always does.
It happens every time it storms.
Zelos is used to it by now, and frankly, he wouldn't trade it for anything.