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The inn was huge, so big that Simon realized he didn’t know how many rooms there were. He hadn’t even seen most of the rooms in weeks, and it would take days to get to the farthest ones. Had anyone been staying there? Had they been cleaned? He started climbing the stairs, which stretched up forever.
“Rook?” he called. Only a distant creaking noise answered him. At least there was no one in the dining room. There was no one in the entire building, that he could tell. “Daniel? North?”
He paused when he heard something fall down the hall. Was he on the fifth floor? The seventh? He headed down the hall, which was dusty and full of trash and broken furniture. There were cracks in the walls, and the ceiling sagged here and there. The floor creaked, and he had to jump back when a floorboard broke.
“Hello?” he called. There was no answer, but he heard wind whistling. It would take hours to reach the end of the hallway, but he looked back and couldn’t see the stairway anymore. There was a door open to the right, and he looked in.
The back wall of the room had fallen away, and the bed was hanging precariously off the edge. There was a shape under the covers, writhing slowly.
“Wake up, come this way, hurry!” Simon called out, but couldn’t seem to move towards them. “Can you hear me? You need to get out!”
The ceiling crumbled above him, and the bed from above fell through. He watched in horror as a dark head emerged from the blankets just as the other bed fell over the edge of the floor.
“No!” Simon shouted, trying to push past the rubble to grab the bed, the blankets, anything he could, but the debris was holding him back, pulling him, shaking him.
“Simon? Simon, wake up!”
Simon opened his eyes with a strangled gasp, thrashing and pawing at the blankets. A strong hand clasped his shoulder, and another pulled the blankets away. Simon looked up, panting, to find Rook looking down at him worriedly.
“You were having a nightmare,” Rook said, shifting his hand to rub up and down Simon’s back. After his own nightmares he sometimes didn’t want to be touched until he knew where he was, but he knew Simon would. “You are safe now.”
Simon sat still for a moment, then exhaled and slumped into Rook, clutching at the front of his nightshirt. “I – I’m fine. Just a dream. It… it felt real, but I’m okay.”
Rook bent his head to nuzzle Simon’s soft, tousled hair. “You are safe. Take a deep breath.”
“I…” Simon swallowed and wrapped his arms around Rook, silent until he found the strong heartbeat. Then he inhaled deeply, holding on for dear life. “I’m okay. It felt real, but… no, I’m okay. It's not... not bad, it wasn't even... anything really scary.”
Rook held him close. “Just breathe, love. I’ve got you.”
Simon drew in a shaky breath, and let it out slowly. “I’m okay,” he mumbled. “It’s not so bad. I don’t have many nightmares these days. I don’t know why I did tonight…”
“We’ve been busy. You know you’re working too hard.”
“I – I’m thinking about putting out an ad for another employee,” Simon mumbled. “And North’s a big help.”
“She is. But she has other things she would prefer to do.”
Simon’s heart rate, which had begun to slow down, sped up again. Rook ran his fingers through Simon’s hair.
“I would love to help with the interview process once we get to that point.”
“Mm…” Simon nuzzled deeper into his chest. They lay together listening to each other’s breathing and heartbeats gradually slow. “…It was a pretty standard dream,” he finally mumbled. “Nothing terrible. Just… you know, the kind of things that felt normal at the time but… weren’t.”
Rook nodded. “Tell me what made it unreal.”
Simon rubbed at Rook’s chest. “It’s a little vague now. …The inn was huge. I don’t even know how many rooms, it would take… weeks to walk through every room. And I couldn’t find anyone – I called for you, Daniel, North… no one answered. I couldn’t find anyone, and everything was falling apart and dirty and… I went up to a room, and a whole wall had fallen off. The bed was falling out.” He swallowed thickly. “There was… a person in it, under the covers. Moving around. …I guess it looked more like… a cat or something, actually. Something small and wiggly. And I just saw the hair as the bed fell, but… but I knew it was you.”
Rook leaned away slowly, enough to cup Simon’s face in both hands. He looked into the blue eyes. “Simon. Am I small and wiggly?”
Simon laughed, leaning into his touch. “I know you’ve wiggled once or twice!”
“Am I, or have I ever been, a cat?” Rook asked, almost biting back a smile.
“Can you turn into one?” Simon asked, grinning. He reached up to rub under Rook’s chin. “You’d make a good cat. One of those huge majestic tomcats with long hair that looks like a wildcat and likes to nap in sunbeams.”
Rook allowed a small smile. “Perhaps. Long hair?”
“It would look good on you. As a cat or a human.”
“I think the same could be said of you.” Rook leaned in and kissed the tip of his nose. “A yellow tabby, pure living sunshine, always purring.”
Simon laughed, hugging him. “Should we get a cat? I do like them…”
“It wouldn’t hurt to have a mouser, especially if we’re going to expand.” Rook nuzzled into his hair. “But you know we’re only gong to expand within our means. A few more rooms. We can handle it.”
“I know,” Simon sighed, looking up and softly kissing Rook’s throat. “I – you know I worry sometimes.”
“I know,” Rook whispered fondly.
“It’s… not even something I’d been concerned about. Not consciously anyway.”
“It will be a change, and we’ll need to adjust once the busy season begins.” Rook kissed his head gently.
“…Could you actually turn into a cat?”
“It’s technically possible, but not something I have attempted in the past.”
“Safely? And it would be reversible?”
“Ideally, yes.”
“…You should try it. If you’re sure about changing back. You’d make a wonderful cat, but I’d miss you.”
Rook sighed and pulled him closer. “I will always be with you.”
“As a human,” Simon amended, covering a yawn.
“…As a human,” Rook agreed softly, rubbing the back of his fingers gently along Simon’s jaw. “Are you feeling better now?”
“Much better.”
“Good. …Sleep will help even more.”
“...Wake me if it happens again,” Simon mumbled, letting go so Rook could roll over. Instead the taller man just brushed his hair back from his face.
“Of course. Let me hold you tonight.”
“I don’t mind holding you, I like it,” Simon said quickly. “That’s definitely not what caused my nightmare.”
“No… but I like holding you too. And tonight it’s my turn to hold you.”
“All right,” Simon mumbled. “If you want.” He snuggled closer and Rook curled around him for the rest of the night.