"Take a deep breath." Her voice was soft as usual, and it never failed to let his body relax. "C'mon, slow and gentle," Athena ordered him on the other end of the line, tucking the cell phone in between her cheek and shoulder as her small hands rubbed at her sleepy eyes.

This was the fourth time this week that Simon had called her at around two in the morning, his voice usually calm and cool, and asking her what she did to fall asleep quickly. Her responses varied from a glass of warm milk, listening to music, take some sleeping aide, and get himself as comfortable as he could and pretend to sleep.

But this time was different. Simon's voice seemed… urgent and anxious. The moment she managed to gain most of her consciousness, Athena noted his heavier than usual panting, and raspy tone of voice when he called out her name through the intercom of the phone.

Simon's breaths were low and shaky. Truthfully, he was able to fall asleep for about two hours. Unfortunately for him, it resulted in a treacherous nightmare… involving her screams of agony. It was so traumatizing, the experience made it difficult for him to even hold the cellular device on his palm to swipe her call.

"Simon?"

He was able to relax when her groggy voice answered the call. The prosecutor felt guilt bite at his insides –she was probably having a nice, comfortable sleep, all which he had interrupted. "Athena," he breathed out, fisting the bedsheets under him.

"Simon, are you okay? You keep spacing out when I call out to you," she whimpered quietly.

His body sulked at her whimper. "I'm fine," he answered, breathless. Albeit he knew that he wasn't completely okay, at least knowing that the dream he suffered through was what it was—a nightmare, and she was perfectly fine. Anxiously, his wrist rubbed along his knee, feeling pressure on the scars from the chains all those years painting his skin. "Hn..." Now, he was directing his gaze to the side, the phone held aloft by his face. Cheeks tainted with a soft, reddish rue. Lips puckered with yet, another sigh. "Cykes-dono..."

The sounds of muttering and shuffling caught his full attention. Blackquill quickly pressed the device back against his ear, blinking. "Er, Cykes-dono?"

"Unlock your door, because I'm coming over."

"Athena."

His ears could hear the door being slammed open. "I'll be there in about ten minutes."

CLICK!

Mouth agape, his eyes merely gawked at the phone as he lowered it. Athena was coming over. Simon glanced at his boxers nonchalantly, sighing as his body straightened up, then dragged its way to his drawer to pull out some pajama bottoms. Slipping those on (he took quite a while doing so), Blackquill loomed over to the living room of his apartment, then the door. The mere idea that she was coming over had already relaxed him; his breathing was calm again, and his body had quit quivering in anxiety.

Athena jumped as she was about to grab for the doorknob once Simon had opened it. In an instant, her arms looped around his torso as the two connected into a hug. Face within his chest, she muttered, "Take a deep breath, and relax, Simon. I'm all here for you."

"Thank you..." Simon managed to swallow, face tucked into her orange locks on the crown of her head. "Athena..."

The sensation of her, safe in his arms, was the most reassuring thing at that moment, because she wasn't screaming in agony, nor was she dying.

a/n: I have motivation! ^^ And also another first-timer to this fandom. c: