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The Nightmare Realm is a dark place, a forest that goes as far as the eyes can see. The whole land is covered by tall sequoias that cover the view of the always black but yet starry sky. The only light source is a big full moon that glow silver in the sky, its light passing through the treetops and giving a gray coloring to the ground. The shadow moves in the Nightmare Realm and the winds whispers scary secrets as they revolve the dry leaves on the ground.
A sunbeam follows the path made of silver stones that crosses the forest, golden cloak rustling against the ground with the wind. A tall man, striding through the path, sun kissed hands with long fingers holding the hood over the man’s head. He’s careful to not look around, his eyes on the silver stones under his feet.
The man is Akaashi Keiji, the Guardian of the Dreams, the one responsible to safely walk humans through the nights with the help of nice and lovely dreams. He’s really good at his job and that’s why he’s walking through the Nightmare Realm.
The Nightmare Realm is ruled by Kuroo Tetsurou, the Guardian of the Nightmares, the one responsible for all the darkness creeping on humans’ minds while they sleep. Kuroo is Akaashi’s counterpoise, because humans need equilibrium so they can live. But sometimes, like this one, Kuroo weighs his hand too heavily over humanity and in a world full of disgrace and stress darkness can be stronger than light.
When things like this happen, Akaashi is forced to go down from the Dreams Land to the Nightmare Realm to talk to Kuroo, to remember him that equilibrium is needed.
“Follow the path. Follow the path.”, Akaashi keeps repeating inside his mind, his eyes on where he’s stepping.
The silver path is the only safe way to cross the forest if you’re not from the Realm. It goes from the big Gates of the Spirit all the way deep into the forest until the Nightmare Castle, where Kuroo lives with his people. There are nightmares lurking in the shadows around the silver path, big and strong, feeding on the despair of humanity. Every single dark and bad emotions sinks in the grounds of Earth and feeds the darkness of the Nightmare Realm. Even Akaashi would have problems dealing with the monsters that surround the forest, and that’s why he follows the path.
Akaashi lifts his face when the shadows of the Nightmare Castle’s gate towers over him, his metallic blue eyes following the extremely tall grid until the pointing top; there’s the form of a pair of big cat’s eyes cut into the black metal of the gate. The full moon hovers exactly over the castle, all its peaks pointing up to the giant illuminated circle. Silver light slides through all the castle’s angles, casting shadows on the intricate details of the structure. The Nightmare Castle, unlike the Dream Castle, resembles a lot of a gothic cathedral, full of angles and spike points, tall windows and big double doors.
The gate opens when Akaashi approaches and he enters the castle grounds, relaxing a little when he hears the gate slowly closing behind him, the hard sound of the gates being locked startling him a bit. He looks up at the castle again, sighing exasperatedly before walking up the long stairway towards the wooden door that tower three or four meters over him. The doors slide open when he climbs the last step and he enters the castle.
Akaashi walks down the long hall as the doors close behind him, his steps being muffles by the fluff black carpet that runs over the silvery marble floor from the doors to the staircase. The tall black walls go up fifteen meters until they meet the cathedral ceiling where stained glasses allow the moonlight to enter, casting patterns on the floor of the nave. The staircase goes up for two floors before dividing into two different sets of stairs, one going left and the other right. There’s a double door made of glass and steel right where the staircase splits in half and it’s where Akaashi is aiming to go.
He walks up the steps, opening the double door and stepping inside the place. It’s a big open space with glass walls and cathedral ceiling the offers views from the forest and the internal part of the castle. The whole place is lit by the moon that reflects directly on the silvery floor and gives the great room an ethereal aura. The only furniture inside the place is a two meter tall lustrous black circle on top of a slightly high part, the bottom half closed with wood while the upper half is void.
There’s a person sitting on the circle, leaning against the curve side of it. He’s wearing black tight pants and a black vest, pointing boots and a long cloak that falls all the way down from his chair to the middle of the room, so black that the moonlight seems to not reflect against it.
“Oh, well… To what do I owe the honor of the visit of the great Guardian of the Dreams?”, the person asks while throwing a deep red ball in the air over and over again, catching it with his long pale fingers with black claws.
“You know way too well why I’m here, Kuroo.”, Akaashi says, his hands finally pulling down the hood. Akaashi’s glows a soft golden tone all around his body, like a way too visible aura. “You’re messing with the equilibrium again.”, he says.
“Oh, am I?”, Kuroo asks, catching the ball one last time before placing it on the chair and getting up. His steps echo inside the glass walls as he slowly walks towards Akaashi. “You came all the way down to my castle just to scold me, Akaashi? I’m flattered…”
“Yes, you are and you know it.”, Akaashi frowns, crossing his arms over his chest. “I wouldn’t need to come if you haven’t messed with our equilibrium. You can’t play with humanity, they are fragile.”
“Humanity needs fear, Akaashi… Is what makes them good.”, Kuroo says softly, walking around Akaashi slowly, his cloak moving like a serpent on the floor.
“This is not true… They are good.”, Akaashi defends, following Kuroo with his eyes.
“Now, you know that’s a lie. The whole concept of heaven and hell… They need fear to keep them in check.”, Kuroo smirks, still walking around Akaashi, slow steps that almost look like a dance. “Forget about humanity and their issues… Have dinner with me.”, he asks and when he completes another turn around Akaashi the whole room had changed, a long black wooden table took the place of the chair, a enormous variety of food over it.
“I won’t have dinner with you.”, Akaashi snorts in annoyance. “You need to stop giving them more nightmares than they can handle.”
“And here I thought we could have some fun.”, Kuroo sighs dramatically, grabbing a blood-red apple and biting into it.
“If you wanted time with me…”, Akaashi starts, stepping on Kuroo’s cloak and making it disappear in a small explosion of light, “… you should have asked, Tetsurou.”
“And losing the opportunity of seeing your annoyed face, Keiji? I would rather die.”, Kuroo smiles like a cat, biting the apple again and sitting on the table.
“Stop messing with humanity.”, Akaashi asks again, the corners of his lips slightly turned upwards.
Kuroo looks at him for a long time, his legs dangling from the side of the table in a slow rhythm. “Spend the night with me.”, he asks, rolling the half-eaten apple on his hands.
“This is not what I came here for.”, Akaashi says, his shoulders already relaxed from the straight line they were before.
“C’mon…”, Kuroo smiles, jumping from where he was sitting and walking towards Akaashi, letting the apple over the table. “I stop messing with your precious little humans if you spend the night with me…”
“No, you won’t.”, Akaashi says, slightly amused.
“No, I won’t.”, Kuroo agrees, chuckling. He reaches for Akaashi’s face, caressing Akaashi’s warm and soft cheek with his knuckles. “I missed you, Keiji.”
Akaashi closes his eyes, leaning lightly against the cold touch of Kuroo’s fingers. “I missed you too, Tetsurou.”, he whispers, closing his eyes as Kuroo leans in and takes his lips in a kiss.
The kiss is soft and small. Kuroo press his lips against Akaashi’s, carefully as if afraid that Akaashi might break. Akaashi sighs softly, uncrossing his arms and placing his hands on Kuroo’s chest, holding onto the chains that decorate Kuroo’s vest. Kuroo unlaces Akaashi’s cloak, allowing it to slide off of Akaashi’s body to the floor.
Kuroo steps away and when Akaashi opens his eyes the whole room is changed again. There’s a circular bed floating half a meter above the floor, a fluff black carpet under it. There’s a fireplace on the corner, seeming completely natural against the glass illusion of the walls; a pair of armchairs sit comfortably near the fireplace. Bookshelves fill some spaces on the wall near the door, a bit chandelier with dark crystals hung down the glass ceiling.
“Can you stop walking us through the castle by the shadows without warning me?”, Akaashi asks, no real heat on his voice.
“Not my fault if you get too distracted because of me.”, Kuroo says, holding out his hand to Akaashi. “Come with me…”, he invites and Akaashi accepts his hand.
Kuroo leads Akaashi to the bed with calm steps, stopping by it and pulling Akaashi closer to another kiss. Akaashi deepens the kiss, pulling Kuroo closer by his nape, intertwining his fingers on Kuroo’s messy locks. Kuroo smiles against the kiss, spinning them slowly until he can carefully lay Akaashi on the bed.
Akaashi sighs in surprise when he feels himself softly falling on the mattress, swallowing Kuroo’s chuckle inside the kiss. They part ways, Akaashi sliding back to the center of the bed while Kuroo crawls to him. The fact is that they miss each other, and Akaashi is more than ok with postponing their conversation if this means having Kuroo close again.
Their affair is old and strong, but since both of them have quite busy routines they end up not having time to be together; which leads them to these moments where Kuroo messes with their equilibrium just enough to give Akaashi no option besides getting down to the Nightmare Realm to talk to him. Kuroo can’t step inside the Dreams Land since darkness is stronger than light and he would end up poisoning the good dreams, so they always met at the Nightmare Castle. Kuroo built the silver path just so Akaashi can get safely to the Castle every time he wants to visit.
“You sure Lev won’t fly over us again?”, Akaashi asks, his hand sliding down Kuroo’s back as Kuroo climbs over him.
“They won’t do anything stupid. They know you are here.”, Kuroo says, nibbling on Akaashi’s bottom lip.
“They do?”, Akaashi asks, sighing softly as Kuroo slides down through his neck with slow kisses.
“We always know when one of you are inside the Realm.”, Kuroo whispers, sighing when Akaashi runs his nails over his back.
“You knew I was here and let me walk alone all the way down to the castle?”, Akaashi frowns, exhaling heavily as Kuroo sucks a small mark on his neck.
“You’re coming to scold me and you wanted a ride?”, Kuroo chuckles, lifting his face to look at Akaashi. “I spoil you way too much…”
“Yes, you do.”, Akaashi agrees, tipping his head back and offering his throat to Kuroo as Kuroo starts to slide down a path of wet kisses over his skin.
“You can’t be away from me for that long, Keiji…”, Kuroo whispers against Akaashi’s warm skin and Akaashi pulls him closer.
“We have jobs to do…”, Akaashi says with a sigh, looping his legs around Kuroo’s hips, locking him there. “You need to stop messing around just to force me to come here.”
Kuroo chuckles. “But it’s the only way that I have to make you pay attention down here.”, Kuroo says, lifting his face to steal a peck from Akaashi’s lips.
Akaashi lets Kuroo go, only to place his feet against the mattress and force himself up, dropping Kuroo on the bed and climb over him, his legs straddling Kuroo’s hips. He leans over, kissing Kuroo’s lips softly. “I’m always paying attention to you, Guardian of the Nightmares.”
“Are you really?”, Kuroo asks, lifting his hands through Akaashi’s side under his shirt, pressing his long nails against the skin, making Akaashi arch his back and sigh deeply.
“Always.”, Akaashi nods, nibbling on Kuroo’s bottom lip.
Kuroo smiles, turning them around once again so Akaashi is under him. Akaashi chuckles, holding onto Kuroo’s shirt and sighing deeply as Kuroo lifts his hand under Akaashi’s shirt. They kiss again, sloppy and long, without caring about the time around them. Things can work well for the few hours they stay together and away from their responsibilities, so they can relax together and enjoy the small intimacy time they can have.
“You know…”, Kuroo says from the bed, watching as Akaashi walks around the room, completely naked if not by one of Kuroo’s overcoats. “You should live down here with me.”
Akaashi chuckles and looks over his shoulder to the man lying naked on the bed. “ And how would the Dreams Land work without me there?”, he asks, walking towards the glass windows to look at the forest.
“You could come every day… I would pick you up at the Gate….”, Kuroo says, getting up from bed and walking towards Akaashi, not caring about his state of nudity.
“It’s not that simple, you know that…”, Akaashi says, turning around so he’s facing Kuroo, leaning against the glass window as Kuroo gets close.
“So unfair…”, Kuroo whispers, leaning into Akaashi’s space and kissing him again.
Kuroo’s hands travel down to Akaashi’s thighs, holding onto it and pulling Akaashi up to his lap. Akaashi sighs between the kisses, deepening the contact easily every time. Kuroo walks back to the bed, dropping Akaashi on top of it. They still have time before Akaashi needs to go back to his land so their equilibrium won’t get messed up, so it’s only fair that they enjoy their moment together.