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Shamazaki was running. Minegishi was screaming. They were screaming and screaming and he couldn’t sense them at all. He tried to follow their voice, he tried to teleport closer, but he was lost. There was nothing around to orient him. No objects, no people, no sounds. Or maybe there were sounds, but all he could hear were the awful shouts of pain. He ran faster. Minegishi called his name, begging him to save them. They pleaded and wailed for him to come, but still he couldn’t find them.
He gasped awake.
Shimazaki lay in bed, his breathing strained and loud. The nightmare still gripped his racing heart. Without hesitation, he rolled over and reached for Minegishi. His trembling hands found nothing but cold sheets. He hadn’t heard them get up, though. He always heard them get up. His stomach dropped -- he couldn’t feel their aura around him. At all. He could sense nothing from the plants he knew surrounded the bed.
Something must have happened. They were gone. Completely gone.
Maybe he hadn’t been dreaming after all.
Because there was nothing giving off any auras in the room, it was completely dark regardless of his gifts. There was nothing of substance around him. There was nothing around him but void. He was utterly alone.
The complete silence of his surroundings allowed for Minegishi’s cries to echo in his ears still. Shimazaki couldn’t move. He could feel his heart race picking up again. Each new breath was harder and harder to take. He heard them saying his name. He hadn’t saved them. He wasn’t there. It was his fault. It was all his fault.
Jarring music broke the silence. Shimazaki flinched at the sound. It was his phone; he’d accidently left it in his sweatpants pocket. He fumbled around with it before managing to answer the call.
“H-hello?”
“Ryou, you son of a bitch!” It was Minegishi. They were furious, but Shimazaki was too distracted at hearing their voice. “I thought we got past this!”
Still disoriented, he mumbled, “Toshiki...?”
“Don’t play dumb with me! You promised! You said you would tell me before you teleported somewhere! Especially if you were going out in the middle of the night! You’re unbelievable.”
“I...”
“Get your ass home, right now. You hear me?”
“I’m… I’m not home?” Shimazaki ran his senses over the room again, but received nothing. It wasn’t that Minegishi’s aura had vanished from the plants; there were just no plants at all.
Minegishi must have heard how troubled he sounded. They continued, a bit more gentle for their standards. “No. I was worried sick, Ryou. Come back.”
Without even hanging up, Shimazaki focused his scattered energy on the apartment. Suddenly, his partner’s aura flooded his senses from all sides, taking the shape of their various plants. He found himself in the living area. “Toshiki?” he called weakly, letting the phone drop on the couch beside him. He heard footsteps storm into the room, only to stop short.
“Ryou --” they hurried to him. All their anger had evaporated by now. “You look terrible.”
“I didn’t mean to leave,” he said distantly. “I… I had a dream.”
“I didn’t realize, I’m sorry.” It was very unusual for Minegishi to say that so quickly; both espers were so stubborn that apologies were a rare occurrence. They grabbed his hands.
Shimazaki released a surprised breath at the touch. He squeezed them tight, his shoulders relaxing.
He pulled his partner closer, and systematically checked them for any injuries. He ran his hands over them in an attempt to find broken bones, cuts, and welts. Minegishi waited patiently, planting a kiss on his forehead when they got the chance.
As soon as Shimazaki had been sufficiently reassured that his partner was safe, he began to relax.
He sank into an embrace. “You’re okay,” he breathed into their neck. “You’re okay.”
Minegishi almost laughed; they were supposed to be saying that to him. But they knew what he meant, and held him tighter.
“I am.” Minegishi rubbed his back as he let out a shaky breath. They pulled back slightly, earning a panicked face from Shimazaki, who refused to let them go.
“Where are you…?”
“It’s okay,” they began guiding the pair back to the bedroom. “I’m not going anywhere. I don’t have work today, so we can lay down.”
“Oh… yeah.”
Shimazaki allowed them to walk, but refused to be separated from them at all.
They both flopped on the bed, exhausted from their respective adrenaline rushes first thing in the morning. Although Minegishi was at an odd angle, they combed their fingers through his hair. They didn’t have much to say, but it didn’t seem like words could help as much as simple peace and comfort could.
Sure enough, lying together like that put Shimazaki at ease. Feeling Minegishi’s warmth, movement, and aura had fully brought him back to reality. He focused on the feeling of their hands. He focused on their chest, rising and falling against his. His tight grip on them gradually loosened as he began dozing.
Minegishi let out a relieved sigh. Shimazaki wrapped all around them as he fell deeper into sleep. They always enjoyed it when he did that -- whether awake or asleep, he had a habit of winding his arms around their torso and twist his legs with theirs. It made them think of the clinging tendrils of grapevines and such…
It took them a moment to relax as well. They’d been so worried about where Shimazaki had disappeared to. They hadn’t known if he was hurt, drunk, or violating their trust. (And at the time they didn’t know which they preferred.) It was a relief to know the issue was as simple as sleep-teleportation. Shimazaki was safe, healthy, and here in their arms.
Minegishi was in the middle of wondering if Sakurai could make a pair of teleport-proof pajamas when they, too, drifted off to sleep.