Summary: It's barely been more than a couple of days, and Chilled is already suffering from nightmares courtesy of his past. Thankfully this time, he isn't alone anymore to go through them.

Warnings: Mentions of discrimination against Monukos, platonic SeaChaos (though I guess you can see it as romantic if you squint...maybe...), and POV changes.

"A-a Monuko! He's a Monuko!"

"All this time, this...this monster has been living amongst us!"

No...please, it's not what it looks like-

"That fire...that fire could destroy the whole village!"

N-no, I'd never-

"Someone, call the hunters now!"

"Get out of here, you monster!"

I...I'm not-

"Monster, monster, monstermonstermonstermonstermonstermonster-"

STOP!

A gasp escaped my lips as I suddenly sat up in terror and I looked around, taking panicked and shaky breaths in the process. Glancing about, all I saw was soft cream walls and white carpet floors, a wardrobe, drawers and full body mirror in one corner and a simple desk with a chair in the other, a window to my immediate left and a door to my right.

It took me a couple of seconds to realise where I was, and I gave a shaky sigh of relief and collapsed back on the bed.

It was just a nightmare. I'm not actually there. There are no hunters around...

I'm at Adam's home.

I tried to take deep breaths to calm my beating heart as I turned my head to look out the window. It was clearly night, as the stars were shining against the dark black sky. Slowly sitting myself up against the headboard, I could see some lights in various buildings and in the distant streets as I could just about see a couple of people just...living their lives.

I couldn't help but wonder just how many people were outside tonight. How many of them were human...how many of them were Monukos...?

"...You know, you could stay here."

I looked down at my cupped hands and I carefully lit a small ember in the palm of my hands, holding it closer to my body. For most of my life, I've had to live in fear, holding back my gift, my so-called curse from the people I had grown up with, had slowly begun to care for and maybe even love...

...But then they all found out, and my life had turned into hell.

"Wh-what? But...but how could I...?"

My hands began to shake as the memories of that horrible day, the source of all my nightmares and fears kept playing back in my mind. All the name calling, being chased out of the only home I had ever known, the hunters chasing me for what felt like forever...

Monster.

...Am I really a monster for being born with this curse?

"You can stay with me. I have a spare bedroom you could stay in back home...if you like."

I blinked away the building tears in my eyes and I closed my hands, putting out the ember as I glanced over to the door, biting my bottom lip in thought. Adam's room was almost adjacent to mine, and he did say when I first moved in that he was here if I needed anything.

...But should I? He's very likely asleep at this time, and I don't want to bother him with something as silly as a nightmare of all things.

I fell back down on my bed and closed my eyes, trying to will myself to fall asleep. Trying to blank out the nightmare...and the memories that came with it.

"...Okay. I'll...I'll stay...for now."

A quiet knock on my bedroom door woke me from my light sleep. I slowly sat up on my bed, wiping my eyes in the process as I glanced at the clock to my right.

2:43 AM

I felt confused as I glanced back at the door. Who would sneak in to my house but then just knock on a bedroom door-?

"A...Adam...?" I heard a muffled voice coming from the door. That was when the realisation slowly came to me.

Oh yeah. Chilled's living with me now.

"It's open.", I managed to call out from my bed. After what felt like a minute, 'was he hesitating...?' the door opened and I saw Chilled shuffle through the door, his hair having a case of 'bed-head', and he clearly looked...uncomfortable for some reason. I felt a wave of concern flow through me at the sight. Why was Chilled doing up in the middle of the night? Did something happen? "Is something wrong?", I immediately asked.

I saw Chilled bite his lip and look away from me, choosing to look at his hands instead. "I...", he started, sounding so very hesitant. "I...kind of had a..." He trailed from his words as he trembled slightly from where he stood. I looked at him in concern, trying to understand what could possibly have happened in the short time I'd left him in his room for the night. Managing to catch his gaze and seeing his eyes filled with guilt and fear, I started getting an idea of what might've happened.

"...Nightmare?"

A slow nod confirmed what I had thought.

"And now you can't get back to sleep because of it?"

A pause, before another slow nod.

I frowned and I tried to think of what I could do for Chilled. To be honest, I wasn't really experienced with a situation like this. I did take care of young kids in the quite distant past, but I had no experience in talking to, let alone taking care of a clearly traumatised Monuko. But then a thought came to my head, something that I used to do sometimes with kids who had nightmares and couldn't get to sleep.

'Let's hope the same thing works here.'

"...You wanna sleep here with me?"

Immediately, Chilled's gaze shot up to mine and for a second, I thought I could see a faint blush across his cheeks. "You-you wouldn't mind?", he asked almost disbelieving. "I mean, I don't want to-"

I shook my head and smiled at the sight, interrupting him in the process. "Of course I don't mind.", I answered as I scooted to one side of my bed to make some room. "Come on, I won't bite."

I watched from my bed as Chilled slowly closed the door behind him and quietly shuffle over to my bed. After looking at me for confirmation and me nodding in approval, he slowly climbs under the covers of the bed and lied down, pulling the covers over him. For a while, we just stared at each other as I lied down with him, and I wondered if maybe there was something I should say. Should I ask what his nightmare was about? ...No, I probably shouldn't.

"...Adam?"

I blinked from my thoughts as Chilled looked away from me, looking at the covers instead. "Do you think...I'm a monster?", he asked quietly, never once looking at my face.

Monster.

Immediately, my hand went to cup Chilled's cheek, making him look back at me in surprise. "No.", I answered quickly. I don't know why I reacted so suddenly to what Chilled asked, but somehow I just knew what to say to him. "You are not a monster, and you will never be a monster. ...Was that what your nightmare was about?" Seeing him nod, I continued, "Well, whatever it is that happened, I'm saying it right now. It's wrong." I paused to make sure it was getting through to him. "I mean, look at me, for example. You don't see me acting like a monster, do you?"

A shake of the head.

"Exactly! And I've seen enough from you to know that you're not either. It doesn't matter if you have control over fire or not, or can turn invisible like me. It's who you are on the inside that counts, and if no one can see that...then they don't even deserve you. ...Because what I see right now is a person who cares, and just wants someone to talk to."

When I finished, I heard Chilled breathing somewhat heavily and I looked at him, seeing a growing smile and a tear going down his cheek. As soon as I wiped the tear off his cheek, he immediately wrapped his arms around me, making me freeze up as he hugged me tightly, his head tucked underneath mine. "Thank you...", I heard him whisper. "...for being the first person who cared."

I could've sworn my heart started beating a bit faster than normal, but I just put it as me being surprised at the sudden hug. I smiled as I looked down at him and began to hug him back.

"Anytime, Chilled."

And as I felt Chilled slowly begin to relax in my arms, only then did I become aware of a faint warm tingling in the back of my eyes. A sign that my eyes were glowing. I blinked away the glow in my eyes in confusion. That's funny...my eyes only tend to glow when I feel strong emotions.

Why did they glow now?

AN: Uh-huh...yep. I put in more of the angst.

...But this time, I ended it with fluff! So that's good.

Anyway, I've finally added a timeline list for this collection on my profile, in case you have no idea when something is set. So hopefully that should help in the future.

But yeah. I hope you enjoy.