Meliodas was good at bottling up his emotions until he broke down over a couple (many) bottles of ale. Too good. It was extremely frustrating for his comrades, missing all the signs because he was just too damn good. Thankfully, Meliodas doesn't do this often, but when he does it's for good reason. Now, it's not his fault in all honesty. He was like this even before Liz came into his life. When he was with his brothers, terrible ones at that, he was never allowed to express anything other than anger and contempt. It was a miracle that he could even smile after years and years of suffering. That miracle that blessed Meliodas was actually Baltra Liones. That one man had somehow led him to meeting Liz and later the only seven people, and one pig, on earth that he knew he could trust. Then again, those events had led the sin of wrath to his predicament at the moment.
oO-Oo
Elizabeth was wringing her hands nervously as she walked up to Ban. The bandit was donning an apron as he cooked a meal large enough to be considered a feast, only with the absence of a celebration. The atmosphere had been heavy for a couple days anyway, so it was much harder to have a spontaneous party. Elizabeth looked up at the sin of greed one more time before taking a deep breath and setting her shoulders. He looked to be in a good mood, so she knew her presence wouldn't be a burden. The princess tapped his shoulder and spoke up, "Sir Ban? If it isn't too much trouble I'd like to speak to you please," as Ban wiped his hands on his apron she took the opportunity to clarify, "about Meliodas." Ban's shoulders drooped for a moment and he turned to look at the small woman.
"What about him?" he asked in his singsong voice, even though he knew what was going on.
"Ah…you see, I'm worried about him. He's drinking more than usual and I think he hasn't been sleeping for a few days straight," her eyebrows scrunched together with apparent distress. Ban sighed and his whole body slumped down bit lower as though the negative atmosphere was physically affecting him.
"Cap'n does this sometimes but none of us can ever catch on soon enough to confront him. The only hint we get at what happened is when he ends up shitfaced over a bottle of his best alcohol. Even then he won't spill his guts," he trailed off then sighed, "After so many failed attempts I've given up. Now all I do is get him water and some painkillers for his hangover." Elizabeth had never seen such blatant defeat on the impossibly strong man before her. He was the Undead Ban for the god's sake; he should never look so helpless. Elizabeth's hope was snuffed, but she steeled her resolve, promising herself that she would try her best to cheer up Meliodas.
oO-Oo
Meliodas refused to sleep. Not this week. Not when his dreams were filled with and only about Liz. Her face invaded his sleep, the peaceful days when they could be normal lovers passed through his subconscious but the day that his wrath had taken over had replayed over and over anytime he slept. He could almost feel the rain stealing away her body's heat. He remembered the anger that had bubbled up, the white-hot, consuming rage that stole away the precariously balanced peace, and left a crater of regret in his chest. He knew that he'd had to struggle through the week and then be back to normal, but at the moment he felt like shit.
At least drinking helped him through the day, making him hazy and warm and allowing him to push off the emotional stress that was building. He was saving his best ale for when all that snowballed until…well he'd have to wait and see just how to deal with it. He'd tried to hide his drinking for at least a day until he found that he just couldn't bring himself to care. So, all he could do was try to keep up his carefree attitude, which usually felt natural, but now he had to force his smiles. At least it would wear off in about 5 days. But, for now, he'd have to struggle through this mess. His hand crept down to his hip where he kept his flask. Taking a swig, he let it burn and enjoyed the way it sat in his stomach. It was too warm that day and no matter how hard he tried to ignore how comfortable the grass was under him, Meliodas felt himself getting sleepy.
That week they'd stopped Hawk Mama about half a mile from a village. The weather was perfect, sunny and hot but with enough wind to keep you cool. The rolling hills stretched to meet the mountains dotting the horizon. Everything was picturesque, and even the village was orderly and had very hospitable people. The villagers had come to visit last night and Meliodas silently appreciated the excuse to stay up, saying that he was tending to his customers. Currently, the bar was empty except for the sins and Elizabeth preparing for another night partying with the villagers. So Meliodas had decided to take a break and try to enjoy the scenery. He was starting to regret sitting in the sunshine when his eyed started to droop, but after drinking so much and staying up for two days straight, he was getting tired. The sin's eyelids drooped until finally, they closed.
The gentle breeze tickled Meliodas' face as he lay next to Liz. Wasn't I in front of the Boar's Hat? Wait…that's Liz…then I must've fallen asleep, he thought to himself. He sat up and tried desperately to end it early, pinching himself and rubbing his eyes and muttering that it isn't real. No matter how hard he tried to wake up he only ended up dragging out the good days, making her death more and more painful. And yet, the scene didn't change instantly. A montage of sorts played through his dream and an impossible amount of memories flashing in front of him in what seemed like the blink of an eye. Despite that, Meliodas felt as though he was living each and every single one again. No. No. No no no nononono- he tried to close his eyes but nothing happened. The pitter patter of rain turned into an angry downpour and before him laid the love of his life, the life bleeding out of her. There was a sad smile on her face and her words echoed throughout the ruins. Not unlike the rest of his dreams, he'd missed her final goodbye, not hearing anything but the blood roar in his ears. Suddenly, the uncontrollable wrath coursed through his small frame and pure darkness exploded out from him and swallowed up his conscious.
Meliodas shot up on the grass, his chest heaving as though he'd just run a marathon. He turned his head to and fro, frantically looking around. The Boar Hat was only yards away and the sun had edged toward the horizon and sky was tinted gold. Despite having gone up against countless of demons with no worry, Meliodas couldn't help but curl into himself, his chin on his knees and his arms wrapping around his shins. Aside from his nap, the rest of the week went just like that. Each day, the sleepless hours piled on his smaller-than-average shoulders until he spent his days in a daze and everything seemed surreal.
oO-Oo
Diane called him into the bar. "Coming!" he yelled over his shoulder. It turned out that Ban was ready to cook and wanted to confirm with the captain that Diane needed to "get her ass out there and attract a shit ton of people before I fall asleep". Apparently there had been an argument going on for quite a while, yet somehow Melidoas hadn't been woken. Ban's leather clothing had some holes and tears and there were craters littered around the bar. Thankfully, whatever they'd argued about was resolved as soon as the sin had given the order to get the bar running. When the sun began to paint stripes of pink and gold and the moon spilled its ink on the edges of the sky, customers arrived in groups no less than 3. With all the ruckus and laughing, it was easier to smile and it felt more natural. With the help of a drinking contest with a particularly resistant young man called Blake, Meliodas felt his smile turn to a grin. It was around 3am that the party began to slowly die down on account of Hawk reminding them all that they had to leave at 10 am to get to their next destination soon. It was half an hour later that King, Elizabeth, Hawk, and Merlin had started to clean up the bar. Diane was asleep and couldn't help anyway, and both Ban and Meliodas were so drunk that the chance of them throwing up at the smell of cleaning products wasn't ruled out. They'd been deposited near the river where they could heave up the alcohol and food as much as they wanted.
Meliodas had a deep flush in his cheeks and he was staring off into the distance, his back to the rock revealed by the short indent from a certain sin's tantrum earlier. His legs were splayed out on Ban's lap where they'd slipped from his bent knees. Both were still giggling a bit about a joke that wasn't that funny. The blonde's head was spinning slowly but in a split second it felt as though the sky was under his feet. The only sign he gave that his world was swaying like a dingy in a storm was his grip on Ban's leather shirt, or more accurately, a strip of leather still attached to his torso. His head lolled until the taller man's shoulder stopped its movement and the combined warmth from the rum and the body next to his made his eyes droop. He was tired, so, so tired, and after going pretty much a whole week without sleep, his eyelids felt like lead. A hand came up to pat his head and ended up rubbing his face. It was Ban's hand, which had meant to lull him to sleep, which confused Meliodas to no end. After a few moments of drunken pondering, he looked up at the fellow sin.
"Sleebf, cap…cap'n. Yer do'n it again." He slurred heavily, apparently reading his mind. Meliodas looked at him, puzzled. "You a'ways...no, mmm- ya never tell us an'thing.," his face dropped and his relaxed slurring corrected itself slightly, "You…never let us help you…even though you always hel' us!" Ban looked to be in great distress and he grabbed at his captain, pulling him close. The smaller man let himself be hugged and melted into the warm arms that tightened around him, careful to not squish him. "Jus'…let us help you once, cap'n. Just once."
"I see her when I sleep," he murmured, still struggling to keep his eyes open. There was no need to clarify who he was talking about. The two had talked countless times and tried to heal the wound that the absence of those two women had left.
"I know. I do too. But they're gone and we're here so we have to live for them. She wouldn't want you to do this." Meliodas nodded, not trusting himself to speak. Something in him snapped and a few hot tears rolled down his cheeks and there was a lump in his throat, but he was too exhausted to wipe them away. Ban rubbed his back soothingly when he felt the small body tremble.
"Will you be here when I wake up?"
"I'll always be here." Meliodas was asleep the moment his eyes fluttered closed. He didn't see a single red hair in his dreams. There were, however, sharp-toothed grins and pink eyes.
oO-Oo
A/N: Oh dear, I'm so sorry for uploading sooner! I've been stressed out and other things are happening but its okay because I guess things are getting better. Anyway, I need you guys to give me requests for my other stories, or more accurately An Early Confession. By the way I'm going to be working of Red String of Fate as well, so don't worry. I hope this was long enough for you to forgive me for the lack of stories! I really love this anime and there is definitely not enough stories on here. I'll be writing more stories on my ships.