AN- It is good to be back after such a long absence. I hope to be a bit more active here than I was on my old account this past few years, so expect to see some updates in the coming days. Raven/Reese is my otp to end all otps and I just adore their relationship, so its only natural that I'd write about them. This fic was originally a Christmas gift-fic for one of my dearest friends whom I roleplay Raven and Reese with, but I figured I'd post it here as a way to ease myself back into the Zoids archive. A few quick notes- the Zoidian words used in this fic are in fact Gaelic, so if you want to see what is being said feel free to use an online translator. The very end references a belief I have that Reese was one of the people that found and helped Raven following the death of his Geno Saurer in the end of CC, although Raven doesn't recall this. Also, Slade is a kitten Raven and Reese had found and adopted, and I'm basing Shadow off of her manga incantation in which she is female. This might seem a bit awkwardly paced, but that's because this was originally supposed to fit between two roleplays my partner and I were working on so things didn't need to be explained in such detail. Anyway, I hope you enjoy the fic. It's a bit on the short side but I figured I would post it anyway.
Just Another Night
It was quiet, with darkness filling the house while snow from an early winter storm fluttered down outside the frosted windowpanes. The only sounds came from the occasional clicking of Slade's claws as he darted about, chasing imaginary mice in the shadows of the partly decorated Christmas tree. Both Organoids were curled up on the couch, Shadow only half-asleep as she monitored the doors and her partner in the upstairs bedroom. She was still adjusting to having the Zoidian woman and her Organoid in the house, but she welcomed their presence. She recognized it as something Raven needed.
He had described it as love. Love was a foreign concept to the Organoid; she understood the sort of love shared between mothers and offspring, but between mates? That was different altogether. Organoid pairs usually didn't display this love, with males being chased off early on in feral populations like the one she hailed from, so she merely interpreted it as some sort of human or Zoidian custom that was beyond her understanding.
Like clockwork every night, Raven started to have a nightmare, and tonight was no exception. She could sense it, even from across the house. She started to get up off of the couch to go and check on her hatchling, but stopped mid-action. The Organoid tilted her head a bit, as if listening, before slowly laying back down on the couch and curling up. Her eyes remained open for several minutes, and after she determined all was well she closed her eyes and went back to sleep.
"Raven? Raven, wake up." Another nightmare. The Imperial's eyes opened slowly, blinking as his vision came into focus. It took a moment for him to register that this was reality, and he only moved when his shoulder was gently shaken. He had recognized Reese's presence before she even touched him. It was something he couldn't quite explain; he had been able to sense people all his life, and he had a feeling it wasn't entirely normal. He would worry about it another time.
"I'm awake." Raven was almost startled at the sound of his own voice, quiet and broken as it was. Tonight had been particularly bad, the nightmare consisting mostly of the shattered fragments of memory following Razor's death at the hands of Flyheight. Even though everything was a muddled mess of colors and sounds it affected him just as badly, if not more so, than the vivid nightmares of Shadow and his parents' deaths. It was something he couldn't begin to describe in words, and the fact that he had little recollection of it made it that much harder on him.
Without another word the pilot pushed himself up off of the bed, sitting up properly. He quickly wiped his face on his sleeve, knowing immediately that he had been crying. Reese had seen it, he was sure of it, but the two had come to a silent agreement of sorts to not mention it aloud. He just sat on the edge of the bed, inspecting his hand idly. He felt the warmth of the blood before the pain; he must have clenched his hand into a fist in his sleep and tore the scar open once again.
"… sorry if I woke you up." his voice was almost back to normal, his gaze not wavering from his bleeding hand as he heard Reese get up from the other side of the bed and go into the attached restroom. One of her sapphire Mini-Sworders alighted on his knee; normally he would have jumped, but now he just watched it with an idle sort of interest. Tiny, jeweled red eyes glowed faintly in the dark, wings fluttering with a quiet metallic rustle as it swiveled its head about, as if looking for something. Without giving it much thought, Raven brought his scarred hand to it, tapping one of its thin legs with a bloodied finger. The metallic insect immediately clamored onto it, little metal claws scrambling to find purchase. He lifted it to eye level, holding it out a little bit so the moonlight shining in through the window caught it better. Even though he had seen them around the house ever since Reese returned, he had never actually looked at them before. They looked so delicate, so fragile, it was a wonder they were so powerful—
The tiny Zoid spread its wings and suddenly buzzed away, Reese sitting down next to the pilot on the edge of the bed, medical supplies in hand. A glance over at the Zoidian caught her expression; she was smirking, no doubt amused at having caught him interested in one of the insects that usually bothered him so. Raven exhaled a bit sharply, letting his hand fall to his side. "I just wanted it off of me." he muttered a bit, looking away to the window. Even though he wasn't looking anymore, he could just tell she was still smirking at him.
"Of course, dear." there was the slightest bit of teasing in her voice; she had learned over the past months that in times like this, talking about anything other than the nightmares seemed to help him to calm down. "You were just moving it." as she spoke, she pulled out some gauze and wrappings from the medical kit. Raven offered her his hand without looking from the window; this was such a common occurrence, it was almost second nature to the both of them.
"Well I was." Raven huffed, not moving as she started to clean the scar. One upside of the nerve damage was that he didn't feel any pain during times like this. "Besides I know you don't like it when I smash them." it was more of a tease than anything; he hadn't actually hurt any of them since the night she had returned his memories. He could tell the Zoidian had rolled her eyes without having to look to her. "So I figured I would try and move it instead." she was soon finished with cleaning up the blood, and was placing a pad of gauze over the torn scar. Raven had trouble tending to his scar, as looking at it, especially after a bad nightmare, tended to bring back more unwanted memories and make the situation worse.
"Sure, sure. I'll take your word for it, lon dubh." she replied jokingly using one of his Zoidian nicknames, wrapping up his hand to prevent him from tearing it any further. Within a minute or two she was finished. Raven pulled his hand back and looked it over a bit blankly; it wasn't that he didn't trust her work, it was more just accepting that he had someone to do this for him after spending so long tending to it himself. After a moment he let his hand rest at his side once more, looking out at the moons. The clouds were thinning and the snowfall had diminished, letting the pale blue-white glow of the moons shine through.
"… its beautiful out tonight, isn't it, t-éan gorm?" it was a somewhat sudden statement, a sign he was trying very hard not to think about his nightmare. He subconsciously found her hand, giving it a gentle squeeze as if to reassure himself that she was really there. Reese responded by intertwining her fingers with his and leaning against his side; they were at the point that they could communicate and figure out what the other needed without words.
Physical contact was one of the few things that solidly affirmed in his mind that he was awake. He had spent so long on his own following that ill-fated fight against Van that just feeling the warmth of another near him, listening to them breathe and to their heartbeat was enough to calm him down almost instantly, no matter how bad the nightmares got. Shadow had tried to her best to stand in for this while they were on their own, but an Organoid was no human and she had known that despite her best efforts it wouldn't be the same. It had worked well enough, but this, this was different.
Many nights had been spent like this, in contented silence watching the moons through the window. Most of the times it was because of Raven's nightmares or insomnia, but sometimes Reese had her own nightmares and Raven would stay up with her until she managed to fall back asleep. It was this quiet understanding of one another that allowed them both to deal with their nightmares and fears. Tonight, however, was a little different. Ever since being woken from the nightmare there had been a strange nagging at the back of his mind. Sometimes those nightmares were of things beyond his ability to remember, even with Reese's help, and those forgotten memories would try to manifest even though it was impossible. Tonight was one of those times, although it was stronger than usual. He felt like he needed to do something.
"… thank you, Reese." the words seemed to just appear of their own accord, the pilot speaking them before he even realized they were there, "For helping me." He wasn't even sure what he was talking about; at first he thought it was for bandaging his scar, but he quickly realized this was tied to his memories, or rather, to that nightmare, because as soon as he said it that nagging feeling vanished. He just needed to say it even if the reason for why he needed to say it escaped him. Maybe Reese knew why, as he felt her grip on his hand tighten slightly as she leaned against him more, her free hand grasping his sleeve. Maybe someday he'd be able to remember just what had happened, but until then, a simple thanks would have to do. He just hoped it was enough.