Chapter Text
Twotime tried to sleep, they really did, but their mind seemed to be fighting against them.
They hadn't had a true sleepless night since the cult had burned down. They had nightmares, but they could still sleep. Tonight seemed to break that blissful pattern.
Even with Azure sleeping next to them, they couldn't bring themselves to sleep. Even with locked doors and windows, they couldn't bring themselves to sleep.
Even with the peace that came with knowing they could keep Azure, and that Azure was alive, they couldn't sleep.
They had a guess as to why. It wasn't the past memories or the unused blade that still lie beneath their bed. It was their dreams as of recent.
All were dreams related to the cult, but older ones had been of the daily and repetitive tasks or rituals, that had changed. It wasn't domestic, slightly off-putting dreams that made fear through the quiet dread Twotime had often felt in that place.
The new ones, they were different.
Twotime had gone from slightly shifting around in their sleep to waking up entirely. They'd become a shaking, screaming mess and it felt unbearably embarrassing. To just think of how Azure saw them.
Despite Azure's insistence that he saw Twotime as equal, Twotime simply didn't believe it. They felt pathetic and probably seemed it as well. Regardless of the truth, Twotime appreciated the pity Azure had for them.
Azure was too kind, and it scared them.
For their entire life, Twotime had known of the importance of dreams. It was one of the things that stuck with them after leaving the cult: dream interpretation.
As of recent, dreaming had started to leave a bad taste in their mouth. The night of their freedom was not something Twotime enjoyed recalling, let alone dreaming of. There was a lot about that night that Twotime couldn't remember, they remembered what happened but not the details. Not that they wanted to remember details. It was that night that Twotime thinks their dreams morphed into nightmares.
Now, they were at their worst. Having a nightmare of Azure in that field was what they would consider the worst nightmare they could ever have.
Why?
Why, by the good in the universe, would their mind have thought to make them dream of such a thing? Why did their mind constantly remind them of what could of happened?
It didn't happen.
it didn't happen.
Why couldn't they forget?
It was a memory they never even made, yet they hadn't been able to move on from it.
Twotime turned over, staring at the ceiling was getting boring. They lay on their side, facing Azure, hoping that he wouldn't wake up now to them staring at them in the dead of night.
A few minutes pass like this, Twotime staring and thinking. They were tired, and watching Azure had calmed their heart rate, so they decided to move closer. Twotime nestled themselves into Azure's chest, hoping that being closer would calm them even more.
Their hands felt up and down Azure's back, just to remind themselves that they hadn't been hurt. Once they were satisfied, they finally stilled for good, deciding to stay like this until their body inevitably pulled them into sleep, no matter how long it took.
The silence in the night gets comforting when you stay in it for long enough, which Twotime had. The thing that doesn't ever feel good to be in, for Twotime, is the dark. The edges of rooms that become gateways, corners that veil secrets and dark footpaths that lead to places you never want to find. It's why they leave the bathroom light on through the night. Even with the door mostly closed, the light that melted through the crack was enough to sooth Twotime's fear.
What it didn't do, however, was illuminate the outside. It didn't break through the curtains enough to disprove Twotime's overpowering sense that the shape that they were seeing outside was a person.
Of course it wasn't. It couldn't be. Who would even be outside at this time? Who would look into their window? Some murderer? Kidnappers? Stalkers?
Once their mind outlined the shape, Twotime couldn't pull their eyes from it, they couldn't help but stare and hope that just by wishing it to leave, it would.
It didn't work.
And Twotime was growing desperate for rest.
They pulled themselves cautiously from Azure's arms, so that neither Azure, nor the figure would notice. They moved as slowly as possible, blinked as little as they could. They probably looked mad. Well, when did they not? Point is, they seemed crazed. Frazzled hair, eyebags highlighting wide, unblinking eyes and a flat expression probably seemed crazed to anyone with sense.
On one hand, it probably made them seem at least slightly terrifying, but on the other, Twotime was sleep deprived and unfocused. Despite this, they kept crawling closer to the window on the wall behind Azure. It was easy to avoid the bed squeaking as they made their way over Azure, but even if it had made a sound, they wouldn't have heard it over their own thoughts.
Their mind hadn't thought this far. They were sitting directly opposite the shadows, only a window and curtain separating them.
But what now?
Their knife was under the bed, they'd have to crawl back to the other side to get it. Even if Twotime did have it, this person was on the other side of the window and-
Person?
No, not a person.
This was just their eyes playing tricks on them, they tried to convince themselves as they reached to the edge of the curtain.
It's just the trees.
Just shadows.
It wouldn't be a person.
Even telling themselves this did not help as much as they'd hoped.
Regardless, Twotime swallowed and frantically pulled aside the curtain.
Nothing. Not a person in sight. Just the night. Twotime took a long sigh at that, pulling the curtains back to their original place and plopping back into their place beside Azure.
They'd gotten themselves worked up for nothing. They were safe. For once, they actually felt like that statement was true, and they couldn't be happier.