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The little black dragon started sleeping inside Cale Henituse’s bedroom after the plaza terror incident. It didn’t take Cale long to notice that the dragon he had taken in was plagued by nightmares.
The first time it happened Cale had argued with himself about what to do for a bit before walking over and petting the trembling dragon like he would one of the kittens.
Raon had woken up instantly. Cale knew, because he had clearly felt the way that dragon had tense up before pretending it was still sleeping.
Cale pretended not to know Raon was awake and had just continued petting the little dragon until he could feel that the shaking had stopped. Neither he or Raon said a word the whole time.
After that night Raon started sleeping on the bed with Cale. The kittens had been surprised by the sudden change in sleeping arrangements.
It was only after Raon started sleeping in the bed with him that Cale had realized just how severe the nightmare problem actually was.
Cale’s not the kind of person to ignore the suffering of those under his protection. Especially not when it was a four year old child.
He also knew that uninterrupted deep sleep like what he was enjoying since coming into ‘The Birth of a Hero’ is a luxury. That’s why he forced himself to sleep lightly and stay alert to small sounds as he slept, just like he often had to do as Kim Rok Soo.
Doing so was not burdensome since he could now function perfectly with only a few hours of sleep thanks to the vitality of heart. Even if that were not the case, he could now sleep as late as he liked as Cale Henituse. So Cale made the necessary adjustment to his sleeping pattern and saved the more luxurious deep sleeping for the mornings.
For months not a night went by that Cale didn’t wake up at least once to find the little dragon trapped in a nightmare.
After a week or so Raon no longer pretended that he wasn’t awake and started openly leaning into Cale’s comfort.
One night, On had woken up along with Cale to the sound of the little dragon whimpering in his sleep. Before she could even properly process what was happening Raon’s whimpering had stopped and Cale was already quietly petting their youngest’s black scales.
Cale had motioned for On to stay quiet and go back to sleep. On had complied in part, but had watched for a long time as the strange human who had taken them all in had quietly soothed the baby dragon before allowing sleep to reclaim her.
The next night On finally gave in to Hongs request that they also sleep on the bed with Cale and the black dragon.
Like Cale, the kittens had quickly learned about the nightmare problem after they started sleeping on the bed too.
Honestly speaking, in those days Cale actually spent a significant portion of his nights chasing away the Raon’s nightmares. Not that anyone would ever guess that fact thanks to the vitality of heart.
On, as one of only four existences to know about the situation, had quietly worried that their kind human wasn’t getting enough sleep.
Cale never complained about the situation though, no matter how many times he was woken up or how long he had to stay awake. He never complained. He never withheld his help or comfort either.
It’s not surprising that after witnessing so many long nights like that, the children were all soon comfortable enough to take to climbing onto Cale’s lap when they wanted his comfort or attention.
Then just over two months after the little dragon started sharing the bed, something happened after Raon had a particularly bad nightmare to make Cale break from the usual pattern.
Instead of silently petting the dragon like he normally would Cale had scooped Raon up in his arms and held him.
It was because that night Cale heard the four year old dragon sniffling after waking up from one of his dreams. To the best of Cale’s knowledge it was the first time since his rescue that the dragon had let himself cry.
Raon had immediately hid his face in Cale’s chest after being picked up.
“You are free now, so it’s okay to cry.” Cale hadn’t said much else. He just held the sobbing dragon until the child finally ran out of tears.
On and Hong had cried for Raon that night too as they stayed nearby and offered what support they could.
The dragon was more open and became a bit more cheerful after that night. He cried a lot more too.
Hong started being more open with his feelings as well.
Seeing that had made On feel just a little bit jealous of how easily her little brothers were able to express themselves.
As time passed the nightmares gradually became a little less frequent and the time between the long nights started to increase.
By the time that Raon received his name, he was sleeping through at least one or two nights a week and Cale was able to chase off most of his nightmare before they could even get too bad.
During the nights when the nightmares were bad enough that Cale couldn’t chase them away with a soft touch, On would often hear Cale whispering comfort to Raon.
“You are a Dragon.”
“You survived. “
“You are Raon Miru.”
“You are strong.”
“Raon you are safe now. “
“No one will ever hurt you like that ever again Raon.”
“You are great and mighty.”
Cale never lied while he was comforting Raon. He didn’t say things like “it’s just a dream” or “you’re okay”. Cale was not so terrible as to try to reassure a child with a lie. The nightmares were not as bad as before but Cale knew better than anyone that Raon really wasn’t okay.
Every night Cale and the kittens would fall to sleep listening to the little dragons mutters about revenge.
On would often wonder if Raon was like that was because he knew he would go back to the cave they saved him from every time he fell asleep. The thought made her want to get revenge for Raon too everytime it crossed her mind.
Not that revenge actually helped much with Raon’s dreams once the time finally came. In fact, the dreams actually got bad again as soon as Cale had announced that they would head to the northwest to avenge Roan. However the nightmare had settled back down again during the week after Cale orchestrated Raon’s revenge.
Getting revenge may not have helped much with the nightmare problem. However it did allow Raon to finally let go of the fear, anger, and bitterness that he had carried around with him. He no longer went to sleep muttering viciously about revenge.
More than getting revenge though, it was the long peaceful months spent living in Harris Village that seemed to do the most good for Raon.
Eight months after being rescued from the cave he was born in, Raon could sleeps through more nights that not. And Cale had begun to hope that the long night might eventually become a thing of the past.