Gyrus awoke from his nightmare with a gasp, heart thundering. He shook his head frantically, trying to dislodge the terrifying feeling of being chased by a Shadow through cramped hallways.

A soothing hand touched his remaining arm. Gyrus glanced up to see a bare-chested Kodya kneeling over him, brow furrowed with concern. Gyrus pulled away and blurted, "Wh-what are you doing here?"

Kodya didn't respond; he merely shuffled closer and softly cupped Gyrus's cheek. Gyrus belatedly noticed that this Kodya's hair was short – another hallucination, then. Gyrus sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. Informative as the memory-hallucinations were, he sorely missed the real Kodya—

Gyrus's thoughts fizzled as a pair of slightly-chapped lips tenderly touched his. He sighed contently and leaned in; Kodya always knew how to relax and support him, even now, after the nightmare getting the eleventh sword turned out to be—

Then the situation caught up with him.

"Asfashifeinw they were together?!" Gyrus shrieked. He scrambled backwards on his three surviving limbs and tumbled disgracefully off the bed, taking all the sheets with him. His face felt like it was on fire, and he moaned in embarrassment. He really should have caught the romantic cues earlier. And now that he was thinking about it, Kodya really did look beautiful without a shirt…

No, no, no! Gyrus shook his head furiously. I can't be thinking of him like that, not after everything I did! Not after the way I betrayed and hurt him and his friends! He buried his face in his hand and huddled into a ball.

I didn't deserve you, Kodya, Gyrus thought miserably. There was no way he was getting back to sleep now.


I didn't deserve you, Kodya. Kodya's head snapped up as far as the shadow restraints would allow. It was a mere echo of a whisper of Gyrus's voice, tinged with anguish. Kodya couldn't decide whether his first response to such a statement would be to punch Gyrus in the face or call him a moron and kiss him senseless. Maybe both.

Is he here? Kodya wondered. I miss him. Both the unstable veteran and the growing rookie.

But then there was no more time to think as the Shadow returned, slipped around his body, and carried him off. Kodya clung tightly to his warm memories, like a talisman to ward off the feelings of cold, vulnerability, and violation. And just before his vision went black, he saw a black gloved hand and frustrated purple eyes reaching for him.


Bonus:

"Preeeeeetty sure he was seeing Kodya," Feather drawled. "I mean, it makes sense, since Kodya's soul is in him…"

"There are things no man in this world should have to witness," Anan whimpered pathetically.

"Don't be a baby. Barely anything happened," Feather scoffed.

Ragan seemed speechless, for once, from watching the footage, so Don took it upon himself to answer the two. "Thank you two for taking the night shift," he said diplomatically. "Keeping a close eye on him is very important."

Ragan found her voice. "There is no way he's just being seeing Kodya," she snarled. "Re-interrogating those rookies needs to be a priority!"