Work Text:
A common practice of the Husbands of the Howling Cliffs when the winds were storming too wild to separate was to snuggle inside Mato’s hut on a big pile of pillows and sleep until they passed.
Despite the weather, it was one of their favorite times. The chill of the winds and the warmth of each other made for the best of nights.
The hut was near completely dark as dirt was blown over the ceiling’s windowpane. It was likely caked on and stuck, leaving Mato to have to go up and clean it when it passed.
The air was restless with the winds creeping in and around the two sleeping bugs. Eventually, the breeze flicking against Mato made him shiver.
In a half-asleep haze, he pulled the blanket tighter over his shoulder and tried to turn into the fluff of his husband.
He was confused when he missed, and that started to make him stir. Not completely.
He heard small noises over the roar of the winds, but he was used to that. Ogrim was a sleep-talker, after all. He muttered and snored in his sleep all the time.
Mato tried to reach ahead blindly for the touch of love he craved. Just to place his hand on his body, he didn't need much.
His hand plopped against the blankets, and he grazed Ogrim’s back. He wormed his way closer and could hear him groan when he put his hand on his fluffed side.
Mato was confused, curling his hand back into his own space. It was hard for him to think, but if Ogrim didn’t want to snuggle, he’d respect that. He’d try to keep to himself. His eyes felt tight while he tried to keep sleeping.
He focused on the sounds of his breaths, trying to go back into deep sleep.
Ogrim letting out a very loud scream not three seconds later made him shoot up awake, throwing that out the door.
Mato tried not to scream himself but couldn’t help but go “WhUH-UH?” He looked at Ogrim, who was trying to curl into a shell he wasn't wearing.
Mato’s heart leapt when he saw tears pouring from his cheeks.
“...Ogrim?! Ogrim, what’s wrong?” He asked, putting his hand on Ogrim’s shoulder. Ogrim yelled out, scooting away from him. He flailed, pushing Mato’s hand away.
“Ogrim!” Mato called out to him as Ogrim sobbed to himself, yelling incoherently. Mato’s worry spiked, and he knew his love was trapped within a nightmare.
What he didn’t know was what not to do at times. So he did just that.
Mato grabbed Ogrim by his shoulders and sat him up. “Ogrim! Honey, wake up! You’re having a nightmare!” He shook him back and forth, trying to get him to open his eyes. He did but it wasn’t right.
Ogrim could barely see, eyes going wide. The tears appeared larger than his eyes and his heart was pounding extremely fast.
Everything was dark, so so dark, and details were fuzzy. His eyes burned and he wanted to see. He couldn't breathe. He needed to scream.
The air felt hot despite the winds bellowing for him and something was holding him what in the gods names is holding him stop holding him BACK OFF-
“DON’T TAKE-”
He couldn’t process the feeling of his claw slamming forward, nor did he properly see what he struck.
“gAH-” Mato cried, falling backward onto the pillows. He held his shoulder and rubbed around it and his neck, hearing a pop. It throbbed. He winced, ignoring one of his eyes watering.
“Ogrim- Are you-” He was about to ask if he was alright, but he knew that wasn’t going to be answered.
Why did he even think he needed to ask that? Ogrim very clearly wasn't!
Ogrim screamed again, hitting his claw down on the ground and lowering his head as if something was harming him. Taunting him with anguish. All Mato could do was stare, rubbing the strike Ogrim had given him.
It made Mato’s heart ache immensely because Ogrim’s screams were as his screams always were: loud and real. Raw. They were pained, though.
They were not the confident screams of a warrior, but the sad screams focused in the throat filled with utter fear and sadness.
Mato had no idea what to do…He wanted to hug him, soothe him, calm him. But he knew there was only one thing he could think of at the moment. He inched closer, hesitantly.
Ogrim hit the floor once more, but then moved back as if he was going to lay down backwards again. He merely stayed sat up, the big tears still falling slowly.
Once close enough, Mato placed his hand onto Ogrim’s cheek, hoping this wouldn’t lead to another fearful smack. It was an accident so he didn’t care, but his shoulder stung.
Silence sliced the air for a moment, allowing Mato to put his hand on Ogrim’s upper claw gently enough to give him space to move away if he wanted. He used his thumb to rub the tears away, even if they came back faster.
“Hhhh… hhhh…” Ogrim cried, leaning into the touch. He blinked on the blobby tears, looking confused for a moment.
Sobs reached him, and he flopped hard in Mato’s arms. He screamed out in the crying letting Mato rub his back.
The screams kept dying into rasping sobs, making Mato whisper.
“It’s just the wind and I who hear you…They are loud, scream as much as you need…” This set Ogrim off again, screaming as loud as he could. He yelled and coughed and cried in Mato’s arms.
Hearing him in such distress so suddenly, it made Mato tear up as well. His eyes were tired too but that felt trivial at that moment when Mato was just trying to be a rock to hold.
“Try to breathe. Scream if you must, but breathe, honey.” Mato’s voice was cracking, but he took a deep breath too.
Ogrim’s bawling eventually settled to whimpers. The sound of that was as awful as all the others.
Mato rubbed the back of his head, moved back, and wiped Ogrim’s eyes again. Tears still ran down.
“In and out, hon. In deep. Hold…and out.” Mato did these techniques but Ogrim was not following him. He hitched, blinked, and tried to look left and right. He was so incredibly confused.
Mato sighed, rubbing Ogrim’s cheek a little more. “I can make you some tea, would you like that?” Ogrim looked a little down, tiredly blinking away the last bit of his tears.
Mato hummed at his now silence, worried it’d quickly shatter again.
With a great amount of uncertainty, he removed his hands from Ogrim’s body entirely. Ogrim blinked again, struggling to keep sat up. Was he dozing back off?
Mato pulled one of the blankets back up to him and decided to gather most of the pillows around him. The hut was cold. Ogrim was sad, the bags under his eyes were very prominent.
So Mato needed to make him warm and comfortable or else he would not get back to sleep either. He made sure the blanket was draped over his back, with the pillows warming his front.
Once he was confident Ogrim wasn’t going to start wailing and sobbing again, Mato stood from the comfortable pile.
He immediately began shivering, so he blindly located his cloak. Making sure it was snug around his shoulders, he made for the kitchen nook to start the fire.
Maybe a little light and a bit of extra warmth was what they needed.
Mato really did hate leaving the fire unattended, but he wished it had been warming the hut in the first place. A bit of fresh tinder was tossed in and Mato lit it up.
He looked back to Ogrim and could see him just…staring at him with half-lidded eyes, but not quite. He knew what it was. He didn’t feel like saying anything yet. Mato knew at times the best thing he could do was to leave it be.
He also didn’t like how he felt he needed to move slowly to avoid scaring him, but when he moved Ogrim’s eyes did not even follow him. He just sat there, likely dozing back off with his eyes open but Mato was still concerned.
Mato still got the water. He still filled the kettle with herbs: this was a habit.
A habit in the candle’s lit moment and a habit when it burns low. For wake and sleep. But also for comfort when things are bad.
And with the screams still in Mato’s mind…they were bad.
So he stood strong and watched the tea boil.
He poured it into a generously sized bowl but didn’t make it too close to the brim lest something dangerous happened.
Ogrim was a sturdy bug but Mato didn’t want him to get his fur singed by boiling liquid! Especially after a breakdown, that’d be like…the third worst thing to possibly happen.
He poured a cup for himself, but he felt like he was going to ignore it. He wanted to be present, despite the tiredness aching underneath his concern.
Mato felt the warmth of the steam billowing off the top of the bowl and the smell certainly did ease him though.
He had gotten these new flowers from Sheo and he had told him they do wonders for Nailsmith when chronic pain prevents him from sleeping.
He figured a special treat would aid Ogrim in sleeping after such a terror. He’s made it once. He liked it then so he hoped he would now.
Mato knelt in front of Ogrim, clearing his throat to ignore the sleepiness that wanted to be in his broken voice. “Here. You’re already away from your burrow, honey. Please drink.” He held the warm drink close to Ogrim’s face, trying to give it to him.
However, Ogrim kept…staring off, vaguely looking down. Mato sat down completely. “Dear, I know how this is but please, do drink. Take a deep breath, ground yourself to me.”
He waved the tea extremely carefully, trying to use the scent in Ogrim’s favor. “Let your mind come back to me.”
That was definitely easier said than done. Mato simply said it because he felt awful and wanted it. He hoped it’d come soon.
He sat for what felt like too long, the darkness was so thick that the fire made the hut appear vaguely red.
Mato lowered the bowl and decided to press a small kiss on Ogrim’s forehead before continuing to wait patiently. He let the steam just warm Ogrim’s face.
Ogrim processed the weight of the kiss. He processed the feel of the steam on his face.
He blinked a little bit, feeling snotty. So he sniffed. When he sniffed, he realized he could smell the tea.
It smelled nice.
He reached his claws to his eyes and stiffly wiped one of them. They felt heavy as he pressed his head into the side, trying to come back.
He heard that mumbling again. He couldn’t tell what it was, but he tried to focus on it. What was he hearing? What was this asking of him?
His name? Wishing for him to breathe? Was he not? It was hard to control, especially when he was roughly holding it in his chest.
Did the mumblings want to give him something? The tea?
He’d like the tea.
Ogrim put his claws down, and slowly reached towards the tea. Mato couldn’t help but let out a too-loud happy gasp, making Ogrim flinch a little bit as his senses came back.
“Sorry, hon- I’m sorry, here you go. Blow on it.” Mato highlighted this by blowing on it too before putting it in his claws.
Ogrim held the tea loosely, looking down at it. He wanted to muster the voice to speak but it was gone. So he blew and took a sip.
The taste was wonderful and he wasn’t sure if it was just because he was thirsty or not.
He closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. When he opened them, he felt like he was still barely seeing anything.
Was the darkness still there? Vaguely.
Was a light there too? Vaguely.
The light was vaguely in front of him. He squinted ahead. It took him a second but he knew who this light was.
“...mato...?” Ogrim’s voice was so hoarse. It wasn’t shocking, but it still made Mato quite sad for him.
“Ogrim…are you alright?” Mato tilted his head, wanting to ask this before anything else.
Ogrim took another sip of tea, trying to soothe his throat now. “...when’d…when did i wake up…?” Ogrim looked around, very disoriented.
Mato put his hand on his heart and stated. “A solid while ago…dear, you woke terrified and screaming…” Mato gently put his hand on one of Ogrim’s shoulders, not getting in the way of him taking sips.
With genuine, strong worry he asked. “What was plaguing your dreams so intensely?” Now that was a good question.
Ogrim took a moment to answer. “...i…don’t…don't...remember…” The way he said this so tiredly made Mato know it was the truth. There was no way Ogrim had the energy to lie. Not all dreams stayed with you, they both knew that much.
For that reaction though, Mato figured it was bad enough for him to not need the details after all. “...That’s alright, honey. Just…just drink. Then we can try to get back to sleep if you’d like.”
Ogrim nodded, despite not knowing if he was awake until just then. He kept drinking, Mato grabbing the blanket’s edge to get comfortable next to him. Mato couldn’t help but roll his sore shoulder. He hoped it’d heal before he picked training back up after the storm.
Ogrim leaned into him, making Mato not care about the pain. “...i love you…” He muttered, the scratching in his voice aside.
Mato smiled dismally, kissing his head. “I love you too…take this easy.”
Ogrim hummed, enjoying the tea. Eventually, he drank it down to just a bit left in the bowl. It definitely made him feel better, a little bit lighter.
Mato happily took the bowl from Ogrim, and just tossed it to a different part of the hut. He kept his left arm around Ogrim, so this move made him wince a bit.
Ogrim sleepily blinked when he heard that, still in the hold and not wanting to move, but confused.
With tired eyes, he looked at Mato’s shoulder. “...why’s your-” Ogrim tried to speak, but coughed on his words. Mato rubbed his upper back to help.
This gave Ogrim a better look at his shoulder. Ogrim cleared his throat, making his voice still quite hoarse but less quiet. “...your shoulder has a scuff...why?”
Mato looked at it, noting that there was in fact a scuff on his clothing. “Oh uh…psh, it’s no worries but…in your fear, you did… strike me. It’s nothing bad and I know it was an accident so I hold nothing against you. It’s alright. You were scared and you likely couldn’t see so it's fine-” Mato rambled, comfortingly tracing a finger alongside the side of Ogrim’s head but Ogrim merely stared at him.
Mato felt even worse when Ogrim’s eyes welled back up. “Honey. Ogrim. It’s fine. Please do not-”
Ogrim hugged Mato again, tiredly snuggling into him. “... i'm sorryyyyy…an unfair strike…beloved 'm sorry…”
Small tears fell down, wetting Mato’s own fluff. Mato just looked disappointed with himself. He hugged Ogrim.
“It’s alright. It doesn't even hurt that bad and it’s nothing you don’t do in a spar.” Gentle white lies, but he wasn’t here to make Ogrim feel worse.
Ogrim let out a single sob. “...you make our fights fair thoughhhh…dearrr…” Mato felt he might still be disoriented so he just patted his back and gave his head kisses. “That wasn’t a fight, honey. It’s fine. Please, relax.”
It didn’t go all the way through, Ogrim continuing to cry.
After a while in this hug, Mato realized that this wasn’t going to stop if he just said “It’s fine” and “It’s not that bad” over and over.
So instead, he said, “Here. If it'll make you feel better. We can have a good solid spar when you feel better. How's that? Does this sound fair?”
After a second to think on this, Mato heard Ogrim give him the smallest “...mhm…” he’s ever heard from him in their long relationship so far. Mato sighed, shaking his head.
Eventually, he heard Ogrim snort out a snore. He tiredly looked down at Ogrim, concerned that wouldn’t last long.
He slowly laid them both back down and tried to close his eyes. Despite Mato’s own tiredness, he felt it hard to keep them shut for long.
The concern for his love’s mental health was still quite high, so he kept his eyes open to watch over Ogrim.
He’d wait for a little bit longer before even trying to doze. He’d get back to sleep too. It’d take a while, but he knew he would.
Ogrim would be so mad at him if he refused to care for himself taking care of him in that stead. He always did each and every time Mato was an anchor without consulting the chain.
That chain was a pillow, the urge to rest. The anchor has to be laid down at the bottom of the lake.
They both needed to sleep through this storm after all. The pieces and loose ground of their strength can be picked up and repaired when the winds calm down.
They will calm down with them.