Nari (my character) and Apheliion ( - their character) share a moment when Apheliion has a rare moment of lucidity after Nari has fallen asleep.
Who: Nari and Aph (With Steel's permission)
What: A single moment
Where: The Vault
Nari slipped down to the Vault, exhausted and dirty from an impromptu spar with one of the court guards that had escorted him home. His thin body was sore but, he wanted to keep going until he felt Apheliion's anxiety rising. After sending the guard on his way, he walked into the dungeon,looked towards Apheliion once his eyes had adjusted and frowned, his heart breaking..
Apheliion was against the wall, his arms and face sapping horribly. He was whispering in the corner, head down, hands clawed into his fronds. The voice raised to a yell occasionally, but stayed low most of the time. It is obvious that he is listening to the voices, ears twitching occasionally, the entire body twitching in it's normal spasms.
Sighing, knowing this might be a while, Nari sat down and started to write in his journal. It was almost calming to be able to just sit and write near Apheliion, even though the chaos through the temporary bond kept trying to press down on the Duke. When his lover started to get more agitated, he stopped and looked over. "Beloved, I'm here," he said gently.
When he heard Nari's voice, Apheliion looked up slowly, then stood, moving around in his jerky manner. The whispering continued, frantic and louder. Nari didn't even bother to try and listen. He didn't want to know, just wanted to be able make it better. Lowering the journal, white eyes tracked the Mad Poet. Groaning, the thief stood painfully. "I'll be right back dearest," he said quietly, "I have to bathe, I feel gross."
He could feel the black eyes on him when he left. The calm permeated his empathy, feeding it through a link he could easily break to protect his lover from his own bouts of insanity. There are another few groans as he made his way up the stairs to where the tub was. Keeping the room dark while the tub filled, Nari moved around to gather the items he needed to wash up. He sank into the hot water with a sigh of relief, his aching body finally silent.
Humming to himself, Nari kept the link open, pouring his calm into the shared bond. He could feel Apheliion relax as he washed, so once finished, he closed his eyes and fell asleep.
He was jolted awake to absolute fear and agony through the link. Shaking himself, Nari crawled out of the tub, grabbing a towel and his loose house clothes. Dried and dressed when he arrived at the cell, he immediately grabbed his head at the sheer weight of Apheliion's empathy. Whimpering in pain, he staggered to the cell door and sat.
The larger male paced the cell floor, his mutterings getting louder. Long nails dug into his arms, peeling off strips of bark. He wasn't looking at anything, save the arm he was currently trying to destroy.
Nari stepped closer. "Apheliion, stop..." He said quietly.
His reply was a high pitched giggle and an incoherent scream. The empathy weighed down on Nari, so he waited for the necromancer to calm.
"My sanity, my heart," he said quietly, "you are going to feel horrible when you come out of this. Please dearest, go to sleep...I need to rest as well."
The screaming, pacing and self harm went on for a bit longer, Nari's own head threatening to explode. Finally, finally, Apheliion fell to his knees near the cell door. For a split second, Nari could see the recognition in the deep cold eyes. Then the Desert Walker passed out, lying close to the bars.
He stared at the unconscious man for a few minutes before breaking down. The crying was quiet, no one would have known if they walked in. His empathy retained it's calm, but it was strained. Curling up next to the cell, pulled a nearby blanket over him and closed his eyes to fall into a restless sleep.
He woke several hours later to something holding his hand. Initial reaction was to pull away until he woke up more to notice his surroundings. Apheliion had curled up on the other side of the bars and reached out for Nari's hand. The tired thief squeezed the hand tightly and shifted to lay his head on both. Once he was comfortable again, he let out a soft purr, getting as close as he could to his lover. "My Beloved." He murmured, falling back to sleep.
This is cross posted to Archive of Our own under my other name, Borne_Trickster