Chapter Text
Elijah loomed over Sydney as he slept silently on the forest floor, the shape of his form echoing onto him as his shadow cloaked his face. Sydney's knees were tucked up to his chest and his wrists were raised up to his face, daintily laying on top of one another. His forehead was laced with the morning dew, the beads of water glistening like the dew of heaven. Elijah knelt by his side, his face mere inches from Sydney as he gazed upon him, noting every curve of his body, every strand of his hair, every single time his chest rose and fell. He quivered at just the sight of him, the look on his face making him shake with pure, oozing rapture. It was exhilarating to see him like this. So tender, so raw. Asleep, at his most personal state. Elijah had watched Sydney sleep before, but he could never get this close to him. Sydney. His muse. As he eyed the sleeping figure sprawled out before him, he didn't feel the need to focus on anything else, not the woods, not the sound of the chattering birds, nor the spit gathering at the corners of his mouth as he neglected to swallow or the sight of his hands reaching to stroke Sydney's jawline, feeling the soft hair running along his chin, the warmth of his cheek.
Sydney's face scrunched up shut and his back raised as he woke, the feeling of his aching limbs flooding back to him, his tranquility broken. As the taste of dryness in his mouth came to him, he looked up to see a familiar, golden haired man above him. And suddenly his sense of feeling snapped, overwhelming, sweet complacency filled him up to his brim, coursing through his veins as if it were just as home as his blood. The pink of his mask flooded his vision, and it seemed as if the earth itself was tainted with a roseate hue.
And those eyes, God those eyes, those beautiful, bronze eyes which peered at him with such wide-eyed curiosity. The look on his face was simply divine, a testament to purity. Elijah's limps curled into a grin, not that Sydney would be able to tell, as he clenched his teeth and tensed his shoulders, trying to contain the emotion that overflowed his head, drenching his mind in pure, unfiltered bliss.
"Good morning, sleepyhead."
Sydney took a moment to respond, as his mind was too muffled and weary to think. He could barely even breathe. He had no trust in himself to even remember to have his heart work properly.
"Pink...elephant..guy?"
"Oh, you have such a way with words." His eyes dilated as he looked upon him, how the sunlight dappled his face, limning it in honey-gold. He looked like an angel, a true elysian angel, naive to his own divinity. Not that he would be for long. Elijah would make sure of that.
"And I must say… you look ravishing right now. Even so disheveled. Even awake."
"I...you..."
"You. Me."
Sydney attempted to lift himself up, looking at the floor below for fear his heart might fail to beat if he dared to look the man in the eye. His palms were wet with and dew and sweat as he tried and failed to stand. His back heaved and his head throbbed, pounding and screaming to do anything. To run. He should run. And yet, he could not even stand. Slowly, he felt a rough hand reach and prop him up against his body, his neck hanging limp as he felt the man's chest swell with every breath he took, short and shallow. His scrubs felt cold and irritated Sydney's skin, and yet he still felt too weary to protest. Too weary to do anything, anything at all.
"Are you alright, dear heart? Mm... God, you must be aching after that trip." Elijah murmured, and Sydney did not respond. Elijah lifted his hands up to Sydney's shoulders, gently massaging the back of his neck. The latex of his gloves contorted and twisted as he dragged his fingers along Sydney's skin, but he was too caught up with mutters of sweet nothings to notice. "I'm rather thankful for that. I was starting to think I'd have to take manners into my own hands." He rapped his knuckles against Sydney's spine, and hummed a note to himself, before chuckling and taking his hands from his neck to underneath his arms, bringing the two of them upwards as he began to stand up. It took a moment, Sydney was not a lightweight man, but soon they both stood, two holy figures in the daylight.
Sydney slowly began to adjust to the feeling which overtook him, and his mouth was full of warm saliva, as if he were about to puke. He felt so sick. So, so uneasy. He felt lightheaded and dizzy, and his eyes refused to focus. He steadied himself against Elijah as his mind slowly began to turn and think, still slow and muddled from the weight of it all. He felt like a bird. A, poor, helpless bird in a pile of sticky, gooey honey. Too suffocated and smothered by sugar to even fight back.
"Would you like to join me at the table, doll? I have tea." his voice was sweet and kind, contrasting the look of pure sinistry that was just out of Sydney's view. If only he could see, know what the man truly wanted of him. If only he had the strength to run.
"That...I...y-yes. Yes. That would be nice."
Elijah grinned underneath the shadow of his mask and ushered him over to the table, muttering things Sydney couldn't quite understand, but things that Elijah knew oh so very well.