So this request was for Harlock/Daiba in the prompt carols, and I officially caught up just in time for Christmas Eve. Just two more to go!
My breath whistled from my throat in sharp gasps, a cold sweat building across my back. Nightmares shouldn't have scared me after so many so often, but before I even caught my breath, I slipped out of bed. Tucking my pillow under my arm, I headed for the door with my blanket dragging behind me. The weight of my harmonica hung in the corner of my pillowcase, just for nights like this.
Everyone in the halls slept like the dead, and I stepped over them with ease. It felt like second nature at this point. My eyes stung with the need for rest, but I knew I couldn't sleep anywhere but the computer room tonight.
My feet padded across the chilled metal floors that vibrated with the soothing hum of the computer. I was so entranced by it I didn't notice Harlock standing in front of the glowing tower until the door closed behind me.
He looked back over his shoulder at me, his brows knitted. "You're not sleepwalking, are you?" he asked.
"Kind of," I mumbled. I felt too tired to care that he saw me and too tired to wonder why he was standing there in the middle of the night. Instead of asking or explaining, I walked the rest of the way to the computer's side and laid my blanket and pillow down beside it.
"You're going to sleep here," Harlock said. It wasn't a question, but I knew he wanted a reason.
"Easier to sleep here," I said. I lied down and wrapped the blanket around me with my arms sticking out to pull my harmonica from the pillowcase. The metal didn't compare to a mattress, but the rumble of the computer and the heat from the lights made up for it. In the cold silence of space, the computer was warm white noise and the best sleep aid this side of asking the doctor for a tranquilizer.
"That can't be comfortable," Harlock said as the ringing of his spurs neared me.
Sure, it left aches and the occasional bruise by morning, but that went away. I offered him a shrug as I laid on my side, my harmonica up to my lips to play myself a lullaby. But Harlock's arm slipped under me to drag me up. I opened my eyes to find him sitting beside me, pulling me to lean against his side. His arm stayed around my shoulders, so I guessed I was stuck.
"Hey, Captain," I greeted as if I'd just seen him. I wasn't sure what else to say.
His eye stared straight ahead into the wall. Lights from the computer shone against his hair and bathed the black of his outfit in splashes of yellow and red. "What are you going to play?" he asked.
My harmonica hovered in front of my open mouth. All I managed for a second was a drawn-out "uhh." I needed to play something nice for him in return for his company. While I tried to think, I rearranged my blanket to fall over his bent knees along with mine. "I can play a Christmas song," I said, my tone prodding for approval. "It's almost Christmas and stuff."
He blinked. "Is it? Hm, I guess it is. Alright, go ahead."
I didn't think he cared one way or the other, but I needed a song to put me to sleep. I tossed Christmas songs through my head, trying to recall one that wasn't obnoxiously cheerful. "What's a slow one?" I sighed.
His eye rolled up in thought for just a moment. "Stille Nacht," he said with a nod.
"What?"
For the first time since he sat down, he looked at me. "Oh, I'm sure you've heard it. It's- ah, what is it? Silent Night?"
I felt my eyes widen further as I stared at him like an absolute idiot. Maybe I had heard of it, but I couldn't remember with the heavy fog of sleep weighing on my mind. He didn't give me the reaction I expected. Instead, he gave one of those rare smiles that warmed his eyes. My cheeks warmed at the sight of it, and I turned to face forward like that could hide my blush.
"Come here, so I can do this right," he said as his arms once again slipped under me. I froze in utter disbelief, tensed like a coiled spring even as he settled me across his lap. He laughed, little more than a bouncing breath, and led my head to rest against his shoulder. "Is this alright?" he asked.
It had to be wrong. I was still stuck in a dream, or my exhaustion had me hallucinating. Still, I leaned my face closer to his neck and breathed in the musky hue of his scent, mixed with an ashy touch of a gun blast and the spice of mulled wine. "S'fine," I mumbled.
He took a deep breath, and his chest rose against me. Then he sang, a low rumble from his chest almost like the constant hum of the computer. But this swayed and swelled with each word of a song I couldn't understand. It could have been about anything. That didn't matter. All I cared to hear was his voice, and I held on to every passing note. My eyes drifted shut to hear better, and the song seemed to circle around me, until it was all there was. I would have given my soul to hear all of it, but it carried me to sleep just as easily as he held me there.
