Title: Quiet
Author: keadeblue264
Pairing: Kain/Cecil
Summary: There are times when Kain is so quiet, so out of focus from reality, that Cecil wonders if he'll ever speak again. Kain/Cecil.
Disclaimer: Final Fantasy IV belongs to Square Enix. I make no monetary profit from this fiction. This written work is my own and may not be copied or reposted elsewhere and permission will not be given for either.
Warnings/Notes: slash, slight alternate reality, angst. Post-FFIV.
It mostly happens at night, when the castle is silent and everyone else has already turned in. Cecil thinks he's the only one who knows about it.
Kain is quiet, quieter than usual, so quiet it's almost like he's a walking dead man. Even during the day his silence sneaks in as an unwelcome guest. But the silence mainly happens at night, and Cecil can't help being quiet in return. He doesn't know what to say.
Cecil doesn't know what's on Kain's mind anymore. It's as if the cage around his thoughts finally slammed itself shut and locked the door tight. Any leeway he had into Kain's thoughts is gone now. Kain won't share them, stopped sharing after they returned home from their journey.
He wonders if Kain is afraid. He wonders if Kain is sad. He wonders if Kain is still blaming himself over things he couldn't control. He doesn't know, and he can't make Kain tell him.
As much as he wants to, Cecil can't force him to divulge his feelings. But at night, the silence is so unbearable that he almost needs to make Kain speak. But Kain is stubborn; he won't give in just because Cecil wants him to. Whatever it is that's making him quiet, he plans to deal with it alone.
And that alone makes it difficult for Cecil to witness.
Cecil remembers back when they used to speak at night, lowly even though no one could hear them. They would just talk about nothing in particular before falling asleep in each other's arms. Kain still holds him, but they don't talk anymore.
Sleep is hard to come by nowadays.
He tries. He tries to get Kain to speak without seeming insistent. He wants to help more than anything. And Kain isn't completely quiet, but hearing his voice is a rare occurrence.
Kain's smiles, however few and far between they were before, are completely existent now, and it makes the silence almost two times as worse. He only holds Cecil at night. Kain won't kiss him anymore, or hold his hand. Kain hardly ever looks at him, and he seems ashamed of something he won't talk about.
Sometimes he isn't sure if Kain still loves him. He hasn't heard Kain speak those words in months.
Cecil doesn't like to think about it, but he thinks Kain will just stop speaking altogether one day. He doesn't like to think about it, but he thinks Kain will leave him behind one day and never come back.
Kain is quiet, and all Cecil can do is cling to him, hoping for the better, hoping for a Kain that will talk to him again.
He isn't sure such a day will ever come.
Oops. I spilled angst everywhere.
Review please.