Audition Pt 1 Zarek

With a startled gasp, Zarek bolted upright in his bed. He was drenched in a cold sweat and after a few seconds of panicked breathing, he realized his entire body was trembling with an all-consuming, undeniable fear. Raking his shaking fingers through his long midnight hair angrily, Zarek reflected on the cause of his sudden and horrible anxiety: dreams. Dreams of the past that had been not quite resolved, but put to bed for the most part. At least, that's what he liked to pretend.

In reality, the past was always there. Even in the days of living with his star.

Astrid was waking up because of his movements and the sound of his breathing. Though her blue eyes were clouded with sleep still, she rubbed them and propped her slender torso up by one elbow resting on her pillow. Her long blonde hair was a mess and the sight hardly ever failed to make him smile- she was beautiful no matter what, but in his eyes there was just something heart-warmingly intimate about waking up next to her. She didn't put up defenses. She was vulnerable and trusting. Even without the amazing lazy-morning sex they had sometimes, waking up with Astrid was something Zarek never would take for granted.

But tonight, it didn't chase away this feeling.

"Zarek?" She mumbled. She observed his frustrated and frightened state, and sat up completely. Now she realized something bad had happened and she gently reached out to him, placing a delicate hand on his shoulder to pull him close. "Come here," she breathed. Zarek allowed her wordlessly to embrace him. She held him as if she was promising to fight of any bad dreams he had. The thought pierced through the sharp breaths and fear he had and calmed him. He closed his eyes for a few seconds and focused only on her bare skin touching his, and the warmth of her body transferring to him, and the sound of her breath she exhaled gently. After a few minutes, Astrid judged he had sufficiently relaxed, then spoke up.

"Can you tell me what happened?"

He didn't really want to. Not because he didn't trust his wife, but because he wasn't very used to sharing feelings.

"I don't feel like starring on Dr. Phil tonight."

"Good, because I'd like to think I'm way prettier than a balding, older-middle-aged American talk-show host. And for the record, it's not nighttime anymore. It's two thirty in the morning," she answered, squinting at the digital clock she had set up on the nightstand next to the bed. Zarek grimaced.

"Sorry for waking you up like this." To that, Astrid merely stroked his soft hair with her fingers with a gentleness that took Zarek's breath away.

"I'm here for you in good times and bad, love," she murmured. "If you are hurting, my spidey-senses will tingle and I'll get up and weather the storm with you. Count on it." Zarek knew that she meant it, and it calmed him down more. His wife was a wonderful, caring person and he often felt like he didn't deserve her.

He pressed his hands to his face to cover his eyes and take more deep breaths.

"Let me in, Zarek." Her voice was like silk rustling over his skin. He uncovered his eyes and looked over at her, and Astrid was surprised to see the fear and anger and hurt paining his eyes.

"It was just a dream," he whispered, and Astrid had a feeling he was trying to convince himself of that more than her. "I just… You know how vivid my dreams get." And she did. Zarek, on top of having nightmares that would drive anyone to insanity, saw them in super HD on steroids. As if it were happening in real time.

She held her delicate fingers to his cheek, feeling the warm skin. He savored the sensation of her contact.

"I do know," she replied softly. "And I wish I could chase away the dreams of your past."

"I…"

Astrid frowned. Something was wrong. "Zarek? Was it a dream of your past?"

"I… Kind of," Zarek frowned deeply. "It was about… My brothers." He grit his teeth together, the phrase forcing itself out of the spaces between his teeth. "They came and they…" He wrapped his arms around Astrid's bare waist. "They took you away from me." Astrid held him close. "They took you away from me and I never saw you again. I can't have it happen. I can't!"

"Zarek," she hushed him gently as she heard the ring of panic in his voice. "Nobody's going to take me away. I promise. Okay? All your family is dead except for Valerius and he won't hurt us."

"What makes you say that?"

"Because he's a Dark-Hunter, sworn to protect the innocent," Astrid replied softly. "And I judged you innocent."

"You don't know my brothers like I do, Astrid. It never mattered to them what was officially said. I was the whipping boy. I was the cripple, the shame of the family, and for that I deserved to be tortured. They went out of their way to rip away my happiness. Astrid, my family is them, being innocent just means you are easier prey. That it would be easier to take away what makes life worth living."

"Do you remember when you told me about your vengeance?" Astrid asked. "When you became a Dark-Hunter, you got revenge on your father. You stormed his home, looking for him, and you saw Valerius. Grown up. The pride of the family. He looked at you, and didn't attack, remember? He drew his sword and gave it to you to get your revenge. You could have killed him, too, and I don't think he would have resisted. Are those the actions of a brother who would deprive you of your happiness now?"

"He has before," Zarek whispered bitterly. "He won't anymore, though."

"Zarek, I hope you're saying that because he knows you're an immortal with a soul and god powers, and not because you're planning a nasty surprise on your brother." But the look on Zarek's face confirmed Astrid's fear. She sighed.

"I won't kill him or hurt him," Zarek told her. "But I'm going to remind him every day about how much more powerful I am than he is, so he never gets the idea of coming for us." Astrid shook her head.

"Zarek, please don't. I don't know Valerius personally, but what makes you think he's going to come to Bora Bora take out a hit on me?"

"I'm just going to scare him away from the idea, Astrid. I can't risk losing you, I can't risk having someone else hunt us like Thanatos tried. He got so close to hurting you that I'll always have nightmares about it. Just... allow me this, alright? If I go too far, you can stop me. And I'll listen to you. I promise."

Astrid knew that ultimately, she couldn't stop Zarek from using his powers to hurt his brother. Those were his decisions. His free will. And that he outgunned Valerius was an unfortunate thing for the Dark-Hunter. Astrid didn't want Zarek messing with him, but sighed. She would keep a close eye on Zarek and how he used his powers.

"If you hurt him at all, Zarek," She turned his face to look at her. "I promise that you're sleeping on the couch for a month. For every cut or bruise." She saw the look on Zarek's face. "And I mean it."

"Okay," he sighed. "No hurting him. I'll just mess with him. Maybe I'll make it rain on him, but only on him. Oh, and I can hurt his cars, right? I'll make the engine drop right out from the bottom."

Astrid rolled her eyes. Zarek smiled at her, and reached up to her with his now-steady hands. He tucked back her gold hair behind her ear, leaned in and kissed her on her plush, warm lips. Their kiss was passionate, comforting. Loving. When they broke away, he promised her, "I'll be careful not to hurt him or others. No cuts, no bruises." Astrid sighed.

"I guess that's all I can ask for." They kissed again. Then they went back under the covers of the bed. Zarek was spooning her from behind, his arms wrapped around her sides and his fingers threaded with hers by her stomach. Astrid looked over at the digital clock. Two forty-five. Yep, time to sleep. She snuggled against Zarek and he held her close. Slowly, together, they drifted off.