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When you nearly die and nearly become nothing, reality has a way of being...unreal. Such was the case for Lio Fotia. There were moments where Lio would wonder if what he had was real. It didn't help that it was all too perfect. Waking up to breakfast and happy conversation, falling asleep safe in the arms of his hero, Galo Thymos, the man who made this all possible... This had to be fake. It was just what came after death. Would a dream be the right way to describe it? A dream just waiting to fall apart?
It'd hit out of nowhere. One moment he'd be doing dishes, the next a plate would slip out of his hand, and the shatter would be the last thing he would hear before being torn away from himself. He'd look down at his hands and they'd fade to ash. The world would darken around him. He could feel the dream slipping away into shadows until-
"Lio! Stay with me!" Though he could barely hear it, his lover’s voice was the one sound that could bring him back from darkness. Galo would rush to save him from nothingness, just as he had before. But that isn’t always enough.
"Stop lying..." Lio would say, trembling. "Stop pretending to exist. You aren't real. This place isn't real. All of this is fake, all of it."
Of course that stubborn fool wouldn't give in there. He never gave up. "My love for you is real," he'd say. "We are real."
That would bring Lio back more. He'd reach for Galo in a half-conscious haze and fall into his arms.
"Hey...remember what we learned for this...5 things you can see..."
"Your face...the stove...the sink...the windows...the terrible wallpaper..."
Galo would chuckle a bit, and it'd pull Lio closer to reality. "Let's focus on the facts first. 4 things you can feel?"'
"Your arms...the cold floor...your warmth...my ring..." He'd run his thumb across his left ring finger, and the feeling would ground him more.
"Good. Three sounds?"
"The ac...the cars outside...your voice..." The last thing would of course be the most important.
"You're almost there...two smells...?"
"Dish soap...your body wash..."
"And one taste?"
"Your lips?"
Galo would smile and lean in. "Good to have you back, babe."
And one little taste would remind Lio of how real he was, how real this was, how real his love was.
If he didn't know better, he'd say it was all a dream.