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“Again?” Sukuna muttered, perking up from his place atop his skeletal throne as he felt his vessel’s emotions suddenly spiking.
He briefly wondered what could have the boy so riled up at such an hour, but then again he knew nightmares to be a common occurrence as of late.
Yuuji sniffled, messily wiping at his tears with already-wet sleeves. He swallowed hard, struggling to find words to reply with as he clutched at his bedsheets. Yuuji only managed a broken hum of acknowledgement to show he’d indeed heard the curse’s question.
Sukuna didn’t bother asking again, knowing it was easier on both parties that way. He didn’t exactly need an explanation anyway; one of the few perks of being able to somewhat hear his host’s thoughts.
A short sigh escaped Sukuna before he spoke up again, “Lay back down already, brat. You need rest.”
When he still didn’t respond, Sukuna called his name sharply.
Yuuji snapped back to reality and took a shaky breath, staring ahead into the darkness of his bedroom. “Sukuna, I..” He stopped abruptly, a hand flying to his mouth as his voice wavered. A shuddering sob becoming muffled behind his hand.
“Yes...I know,” The curse said, softer this time. Regardless of Yuuji’s rattled state, Sukuna was surprised by how easy it was to make out the raging sea of emotions within the sorcerer’s heart. The deafening silence of it nearly gave him a headache.
Yuuji slowly slouched over, pulling his knees up beneath the covers and cradling his head in his hands. He allowed the continuous stream of tears to slide down his cheeks, keeping his hollow stare fixated on his lap.
“Suku..” He finally whispered after a few minutes, biting his lip to hold back any additional sobs that might escape alongside his words. Yuuji continued, feeling confident that the curse was listening with how close he could feel the shape of his soul, “Can you...would you..?”
There was an odd, unspoken truce between them in times like this. For reasons Yuuji could never understand, Sukuna was the only one that got him through nights like these.
After a beat of silence, the King of Curses spoke again. A slight hint of amusement coated his tone, “There isn’t a drop of hesitation in you, is there?” He questioned while accepting the invitation extended to him so earnestly.
“I’ll never understand you and your naive trust,” Sukuna commented.
Yuuji laughed dryly, “You haven’t hurt me since we started doing this.”
Dark bands bloomed across the skin of Yuuji’s wrists, with similar rings surrounding his ankles in a matter of seconds.
Sukuna had to ask, “And if I’m merely gaining your trust to exploit down the line?”
“You wouldn’t.”
The curse’s laughter rang out within the confines of Yuuji’s mind as similar markings stretched across his back and peeked out from underneath the collar of his shirt.
Sukuna decided to humour him, “What makes you so sure, brat?”
Yuuji smiled as he felt the presence of Sukuna’s soul becoming more apparent, finally wiping away a few stray tears while more inky markings were slowly etched into his skin.
“A King doesn’t play dirty like that.”
A hand settled against Yuuji’s cheek, thumb stroking just below the second pair of eyes that had just opened.
Sukuna couldn’t help the relaxed grin their smile grew into, “You may be a tad more clever than I thought.”
“And you’re surprisingly affectionate for an emotionless curse.”
Crimson eyes narrowed while pools of auburn crinkled in amusement, “Watch it.”
Yuuji finally managed a genuine laugh, even if only weakly.
Sukuna didn’t add anything more, instead choosing to lay back down together. Yuuji liked sleeping like this much better. He never dreamed when they did this, as if Sukuna’s soul acted as a dreamcatcher to his own.
And resting at Sukuna’s side was a dream in and of itself. Yuuji couldn’t put it into words if he tried, but he swore he could feel warmth akin to another body enveloping his own when they made room for each other in his mind.
On nights like these, nothing else mattered. It didn’t matter what pain and hardship were beyond his bedroom, what trials and tribulations would be thrown at him next in this life of sorcery; the life that was decided for him.
How humorous that the reason for his inescapable fate was the same thing that brought him comfort on his loneliest nights. He shouldn’t have allowed himself to rest so comfortably in the den of the beast, becoming no more than a rabbit with a wolf for a guardian against the rest of the pack.
The irony left a bad taste on his tongue.
“You’re thinking too much,” Sukuna suddenly spoke up, shaking Yuuji from his train of thought. “It’s keeping me up.”
“Do you even sleep when we do this?” Yuuji asked instead.
He could feel Sukuna’s eye roll. “Just go to bed already, brat.”
The sorcerer yawned, bunching the sheets up beneath his chin as he curled up, “Yeah, yeah. Goodnight, Suku.”
Again with the nickname, Sukuna thought. He felt that his vessel was becoming far too comfortable in his presence. He was the King of Curses, not some little friend to this rookie sorcerer. He had half a mind to leave Yuuji alone, at the mercy of his own mind.
“Mhm. Goodnight.”
He'd leave him be next time.