❀ ﾟ. ༄ ┊ SEE YOU IN THE DREAMSCAPE ;
characters: childe / xiao / thoma
↬ childe ࿐ ࿔
in your dreams you see the abyss : deadly in its wrath and elegance, welcoming & alluring in a siren’s song, and horrific in the manifestations of survival ; twisted in the ways it shapes what was meant to be human.
it frightens you.
childe wakes to the sight of you stirring restlessly in bed, your vision adjusting to the darkness as you wake from a nightmare. you stare wordlessly at the ceiling, brows furrowed ever so slightly in contempt and confusion as you try to hold onto the memories of a fleeting dream. ( you will forget the abyss soon, but somewhere, it will stay with you, just as it stayed with him. )
“nightmare?”
natural is the way he takes you into his arms, touch made of warmth and comfort and the faintest linger of bloodshed unforgotten. you feel anything but solace from it, and you wish you could, but something else haunts your mind, prods you to succumb to curiosity.
“i guess you could call it that.” you answer, uncertainty in quiet tones. you hesitate, tension in your body that he is too aware of, and take the jump. “do you miss the abyss?”
time stills in the waiting. the seconds pass but they don’t ; the clock ticks and the sound echoes until it is drowned out by a weighted silence. you are overwhelmed with a trepidation so solemn that it slows your heart, the blood in your veins flowing with sorrow unspoken.
“you’re not answering me, ajax.”
your voice almost breaks. his lips curl ever so faintly, bittersweet.
“i don’t think you want me to.” he answers – cautious, gentle, and his smile changes into one of self-deprecation and pity. “ignorance is bliss, isn’t it?”
the moon shies away. the room grows darker. he wishes he could read your expression.
“it is, yeah.” you pause, regret and unrest filling your mind. “let’s just go back to sleep, okay?”
his hands are cold. you don’t like the feeling.
his lips press against your temple, and in the night, you hear the faintest i’m sorry, and you almost wish you didn’t.
↬ xiao ࿐ ࿔
you fail to dream of better days lately, nights filled with memories unwanted and nearly forgotten. you’re not sure what is worse– the waiting game of the haunting or the vivid images that creep into the heart and rip out all the strings.
you miss xiao dearly; you always do. but there are too many burdens he carries, too many tasks to be accomplished, so you find it selfish to desire his presence.
( but you are never selfish, he says, and should you ever need him, then he’ll be there in a moment’s notice. you know this. you understand this, and still – )
you close your eyes, inhale and exhale deeply.
“xiao.”
a gust of wind, an open window, and the presence of an adeptus at your bedside. you open your eyes, relieved at the sight of him.
“you’re quick.”
“it’s necessary for an adeptus.” he clears his throat, sits beside you. there is a questioning look in his eyes as he studies you intently, nodding slightly to himself when he confirms that you are uninjured and not in current distress.
a silence fills the air. you shift nervously, wondering if this was a mistake. you should say goodbye now, let him get back to his duties. your lips part, dismissal in your intentions, but he cuts to the chase first.
“the dreams have been unkind to you.”
you should have known he already knew; xiao has always been one to understand you, even when you keep everything to yourself.
“more or less, yeah. i thought it might help if i saw you before i went to sleep.”
the yaksha raises a brow, amused. “few would agree with that idea.”
“i think it’s a good one, don’t you?”
the way you look at him forces him to gaze elsewhere. you are an enigma to him, truly. he has always found you to be bizarre in the way you actively seek out his company, singing your praises for him when there are hardly any to be found.
“you speak of strange things too often.”
you’re grinning now, and xiao silently hopes that he is not blushing. he clears his throat, places his hand on the bed.
“rest. i will not leave you. should the nightmares revisit you, i will be here.”
it takes a moment of hesitation before you put your hand in his, and the way he holds it is one of utmost tenderness. you smile, close your eyes.
“thank you, xiao.”
↬ thoma ࿐ ࿔
“are you okay?”
thoma knows of love and comfort like it is a means of survival in a brave new world, his fingers instinctively lacing with yours when you wake in a panic. the words don’t come to mind– the right ones don’t, at least, because your mind is jumbled and filled with a thousand thoughts all at once ; you cannot even register anything but the feeling of drowning in dark ocean waves.
he turns on a gentle light, afraid to overwhelm you further, and pulls you towards him. it is a silly question to ask, he thinks– because you’re not– you’re far from it, but it’s such an instinctive question that holds so much more. are you okay? what can i do for you? how can i let you know that you are safe with me?
he squeezes your hand just the smallest bit – enough to bring you back to him, to keep you grounded, to let you know that you are still here.
“you’re okay.” he tells you, his voice a lighthouse in the depths of relentless tides. “you’re alright.”
you lie together for minutes, hours– time blurs and the panic fades with each passing moment, with each time you hear his comforting voice, and with each time you hear the beating of his heart. it disappears, leaving fatigue in its wake. but even then he does not stop, his hand tracing circles in the small of your back as he continues with peaceful words, and eventually, you feel sleep revisit you again.
you fight it– you do, because you want to tell him thank you, apologize for having such a dramatic reaction from a nightmare. but he smiles, understanding, and you know he would tell you that there’s nothing to be sorry about, anyway.
he drapes the blanket over you, kisses your nose, then your forehead.
“you can go back to sleep. i’m not going anywhere without you.”