Work Text:
Harkun woke up groggy and confused. However, it didn’t take long for him to realize why he was awake in the middle of the night as Inibri, who was curled against him, was shaking. “Inibri?” Harkun asked quietly. His panic grew quickly when Inibri whimpered, as if he was hurting, and pressed closer against him. Harkun called out his name again and carefully shook his shoulder.
“’Bri, please. Wake up, will you- Ah!” In a way, Harkun should have expected to be flung across the room since he knew fully well how Inibri tended to react when surprised. But the force of the push was unexpectedly strong and Harkun wasn’t sure if he had even been able to stop it if he had known to expect it in the first place.
He huffed and pushed the pain aside from his side that had hit the wall hardest. He was about to rise but froze when saw Inibri. He was awake now but clearly still frazzled by whatever had happened. The glow of his eyes was intense and the Force around him so murky that for once Harkun could feel its oppressive presence press against him too.
“Leave,” Inibri snarled. His voice was hoarse and body incredible tense in the curled position it was, ready to bounce at any danger like a cornered beast.
Harkun swallowed and rose up, maintaining the eye contact between him and Inibri. The thought of leaving here did cross his mind, but it was quickly over-ruled by his almost compulsive need to stay when he fully took in the panic that was slipping from the cracks of Inibri’s defenses.
He couldn’t leave, not now, when Inibri needed him the most.
He slowly moved back to the bed, making sure not to make any sudden movements. Inibri’s Force presence was still spiky and made his knees buckle dangerously but aside from glaring him under his brows, Inibri didn’t do anything else. Harkun pulled him carefully into a protective hug and sent calming ripples through the Force, hoping they would help.
Inibri remained tense against him at first, like a marble statue, but the tighter and longer Harkun held him, the more relaxed he became. A quiet, distressed huff slipped from Inibri’s lips as he loosely wrapped his arms around Harkun and leaned his head against his chest, closing his eyes.
Harkun softly petted the blue lekkus that began wrapping around him as Inibri’s heartbeat slowly calmed down.