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Jay didn't like hospitals. The constant muffled talking of people passing his room during the days was unnerving, every silhouette casted through the half-shut blinds sent pulsing waves of anxiety through his nervous system. At any moment any of those silhouettes could have snuck into the small room and reveal themselves to be another cryptid in a mask - or worse, Alex. Being stuck in a bed for most of the time had him thinking about Alex a lot.
Nights weren't any better; without all the background noise, the beeping of the small heart monitor mounted to the wall near his head grew unbearably loud. The faint green light of the monitor cast ominous shadows to the walls and most of the nights Jay struggled to fall asleep. The fear of the shadows coming alive kept him awake, sometimes all through the night.
This was one of those nights. He had given up on trying to fall asleep hours ago and was now lying on his back, staring blankly at the off-white ceiling. He'd tuned out the irritating beeping, letting it fade into the background. With all the (involuntary) free time he had on his hands, it was hard to not think about everything that had happened. More specifically, what had happened to the others. Jessica was gone, he had failed to keep her safe. Even ToTheArk hadn't been able to save her from Alex and The Operator, what had there truly been that he could have done. Maybe if he had figured out Alex's true intentions faster...
Or maybe if he hadn't dragged her into it in the first place, she would've been fine. That guilt nagged him every time he thought about the young woman. No matter what had happened to her, no matter what would have happened to her, it would still be partially his fault. It'd always be his fault.
The eerie silence was broken by a soft clank. Jay's head snapped towards the sound, just in time to see the small window of the room slide open. The curtains were mostly closed, so all he could see was a dark silhouette moving outside. Cold terror washed over him as he sprung up into a sitting position, instinctively reaching for the non-existent flashlight he had used to keep on the nightstand in the hotel rooms. Nothing. His hand fumbled the air helplessly, there wasn't even a pen in his reach.
With a soft huff, the figure pushed themselves through the window, the thump of their feet against the ground was almost like a cat's - silent. The pale moonlight and the darkness of the room distorted the colors of their clothing, but Jay could still see the all too familiar red frown. The eyes hidden behind the red dots felt like they were drilling holes into his soul, inspecting his every movement - or lack of them. Unlike the other times their paths had crossed, ToTheArk wasn't wielding a weapon of any kind nor did they have a camera. A part of Jay's mind found that even more unsettling.
Silently ToTheArk tiptoed to the hospital bed, stopping only inches away from Jay. Placing their hands on the edge of the mattress, they leaned close, so close that Jay could hear their breathing through the ski mask. He instinctively leaned back a bit, as well as he could at least. It wasn't much but it was still enough to put some distance between their faces. ToTheArk didn't react to it in the slightest. Quite the opposite, they remained still as if they had turned into a statue, the only sign of them being alive was the way their shoulders and chest slightly moved to the rhythm of their breathing.
"... Jay..."
The voice was... not what Jay had expected ToTheArk to sound like. The whisper was raspy, yes, but... sweet. Friendly. Longing in a strange way and most of all... familiar. He couldn't quite pinpoint why but something in the voice brought him a feeling of familiarity, like a dream he could barely remember. The answer was there in the back of his mind, but he couldn't quite reach it. He needed more.
He looked at ToTheArk, hoping to make eye contact with them. Looking at the lifeless red dots was odd, but he liked to think the eyes behind them were looking back at him.
"Who are you?" The masked one shifted slightly at the question, turning their head away a bit. Jay frowned a bit, curiosity threatening to take the best of him. It would be so easy to simply reach out and pull down that stupid ski mask...
"Who are you?" he repeated his question, leaning slightly closer to the cryptid. ToTheArk glanced at him, foot tapping the carpeted floor lightly. If Jay didn't know any better, he would have thought they were nervous. As if hesitating, the person tugged at the tips of their gloves, head moving back and forth between them and Jay. Jay, lacking the energy and patience to deal with yet another mystery reached over to them in an attempt to grab the mask like he had done with Tim all those years ago. But he didn't even get close. With almost inhuman speed ToTheArk snatched his hand by the wrist holding it tightly between the two. Jay, slightly surprised, stared at them and he could have sworn that the frown of the mask grew deeper.
There was an awkward moment of uncertainty as ToTheArk held Jay's hand in the air and Jay, being unsure of what to do, let them do so. Slowly the cryptid moved their grip from his wrist to around his fingers, not quite intertwining them. Their shoulders slowly slumped down as they relaxed and Jay decided not to pull away as the cryptid seemed content with the current situation. No need to accidentally spook them.
Once more he repeated his question, more softly now. "Who are you?"
Again he had that odd feeling of eye contact as they looked at him. It was brief though as almost immediately they turned their head away, hanging it down slightly. The hand wrapped around Jay's stayed still while the other oh so slowly reached up. Jay watched as the gloved fingers slowly gripped around the fabric, tugging it off of their face. Jay's eyes widened, more at the sight of the familiar face than at the missing eye and the dark scars - cracks? - on the right side of his face. Memories came flooding back, of college and filming of Marble hornets. Of smiles and laughs and heart-eyed gazes. Of tiny kisses shared between the shoots.
His thoughts must have been written on his face with a bright yellow high lighter, because Brian huffed out an echo of a tired chuckle, smiling at him. The blue eye looking at Jay glimmered faintly in the moonlight, so full of different emotions he didn't even know where to begin with them. Happiness. Fear. Relief. Regret. Anxiety. Love.
Everything.
"Brian!" Jay practically threw himself at Brian but quickly recoiled with a sharp hiss of pain as the still healing shot wound protested the sudden movement by sending a wave of sharp pain through his body. Brian's smile switched to a worried frown, gaze fixating on around where Jay had been shot. Jay smiled a bit at him, forcing himself to put the pain aside. "I'm okay", he assured. Brian gave him a skeptical look at first but slowly nodded when Jay held his reassuring face. The hand not holding his reached up to cup his cheek - the glove was warm and soft, but Jay thought he would've preferred to feel Brian's skin against his.
Later his head would be filled with questions about where Brian had been, why he hadn't helped them more openly, why he hadn't approached them. He would wonder how he had managed to survive all alone, what happened to his face - who had hurt him like that. But for now, he was content with knowing that the person in front of him really was Brian. He was content just knowing that Brian was alive.
He mirrored Brian's action, carefully placing his palm on his cheek - the scarred side. At first, Brian leant away from the touch but then seemed to rethink it and nuzzled against his palm with a soft sigh. Jay smiled softly and rubbed his cheek softly, fingertips gracing the black scars - they really felt more like cracks on a porcelain bowl than injury scars on skin. Sharp edged and rough. He ran his fingers over them again in both wonder and worry, aware of how Brian's blue eye studies his face for reactions. When he showed no disgust or fear, the man closed his eyes with a heavy exhale. He placed a soft kiss on Jay's palm, then another on his fingertips. Jay chuckled softly at the feeling of his lips, so light it tickled a bit. Brian smiled at the reaction, his composure finally betraying him as tears started rolling down through his half-closed lids.
Not wanting to see him sad, Jay shuffled to the side of the bed, gesturing Brian towards the now free space. "Come on... lay down with me."
The other didn't hesitate to kick off his shoes and shuffle to the bed, snuggling real close to Jay. Jay couldn't help but chuckle softly at him and Brian flashed him a small grin in return. Snaking his arms around Brian, he pulled him even closer. With a choked sob Brian buried his face into Jay's shoulder, fingers tangling with the fabric of his hospital gown tightly like it was about life and death. Jay thought about the isolation he had been in before reaching out for Tim and wondered how long Brian had been in that same state, all alone, afraid that every day would be his last.
"... I thought you were dead..." Brian's voice was but a whisper, but in the silence of the room Jay could hear the words clearly. He tightened his hold of Brian, giving him a reassuring squeeze. "I'm here", he said quietly, "I'm okay."
Brian replied with stifled sniffle, quickly wiping his tears away with the back of his hand. Jay smiled softly at him, gently pressing his forehead against his.
"We're okay, Brian."
He gave his forehead a quick kiss, earning an endearing purr from Brian. Before Jay could move back to his original position, he closed the tiny space between them. The kiss was soft and sweet, but also hungry and so full of unspoken meaning. Jay hummed against his lips, eagerly returning the act of affection. Brian beamed at him through his tears. Adorable, Jay thought.
It took a while from Brian to calm down properly and Jay did his best to help him, rubbing circles on his back and whispering reassuring nothings he wasn't sure he even believed himself, about how things would be okay eventually. But it was helping Brian relax, so he kept doing it. Afterwards Brian looked so tired that Jay didn't have the heart to tell him that he probably shouldn't fall asleep in a hospital room, especially when he had broken in. He decided that in case Brian would fall asleep, he'd simply wake him up before anyone would come to check on him.
"Love you...", Brian murmured into his shoulder, already half asleep. Jay chuckled softly and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. "Good night, Brian."
---
In the morning, he woke up to an empty feeling, like something was missing. He groaned quietly in his hazy state, rolling over to face Brian - only to find that the bed was empty. In fact, the entire room was empty, no Brian to be seen. The window was closed, the floor clean, it was like no one had ever even been there.
Jay just started to wonder if he had imagined the whole thing, if it had been some odd dream when something familiar caught his eye. In the corner of the room, tugged behind a trash can was an all too familiar ski mask. A small but concrete evidence of his nightly visitor.
Jay smiled to himself, looking out of the window. Sooner or later, Brian would come back for his ski mask - and he'd be waiting for him, ready to welcome him back with more cuddles. Hopefully they could talk more about what was going on too, and how to proceed. He wanted Brian to stay, just one night with him had reminded him how much better everything had been with him. And with him, things would be better again.