He couldn't bring himself to get rid of her belongings.
Keeping everything clean and tidy hurt, but somehow the maintenance hurt less than pretending he had a spare bedroom. Aaravos had already cried his ocean, but it didn't make the tightness in his chest any less painful.
The primal stones she'd made had been the first things he'd packed up that first day back, taking care to wrap each carefully and set them aside, their uses already swirling in his mind- but he wouldn't think of such things in her room. After that, he'd folded and put away other toys and clothing, leaving everything set for her to come home, which she'd never do.
Now, he just dusted and kept the place clean.
He changed the bedding for something to do, throat aching as he did so. Then, he pulled out a toy chest full of stuffed animals, sniffling as he did so.
She'd had a meticulous schedule laid out for which stuffed animals she held at night so no one got left out. He wondered where she'd left off.
Aaravos took a deep breath, wiping away another tear as he set all of the stuffed animals on the bed, going through the motions of tucking them in. Her favorite had always been a unicorn plush, but she'd also insisted to him that she wouldn't tell the other plushies that, and he'd agreed to keep her secret.
Even creatures made of stuffing had her full love.
If only, if only, that had been her only secret.
He stood there for a long time, how long was impossible to say, but eventually he caved. What was missing was warmth, and he was the only one left to provide it. Leaving the bed empty just felt... too sad.
Her bed was long enough for an average adult, but Aaravos's ankles hung off of the edge of it even as he curled up around the armful of plushies, as if he could close his eyes and imagine she was back, but they weren't warm enough or alive for it to work. He clutched them close, as if to make up for the lifetime of love they'd all lost.
Aaravos had already cried his ocean, but that didn't stop him from letting tributaries of tears slide down his cheeks as he waited for the mercy of sleep.