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Darius was sleeping on his and Alador’s plush and ginormous bed. Alador was curled up small in the corner as Darius was sprawled out on his side. Most people would probably make some comment about how couples are supposed to cuddle or some shit while they slept but Alador got very claustrophobic being smothered and Darius hated when his arm went numb from Alador laying on it so this worked well for them.
Darius woke up sometime around 1 and he didn’t know why, just groaning and pulling the covers that Alador insisted on stealing over him and rolling over.
Only to come face to face with a certain blonde.
Hunter’s eyes were wide and terrified, staring at Darius’ with fear and tears that were falling down his face. His eyes were red and his face was blotchy yet Darius didn’t hear so much as a sniffle from him.
Meaning it was really bad because Hunter had learned it was okay to cry.
“Hey, hey, what’s wrong?” Darius asked, voice soft and he pulled Hunter into a tight hug, the blonde wrapping thin arms around his father and clutching at the back of his silk nightshirt even though he hated the texture. He was probably wearing his gloves which signalled to Darius that Hunter had been up for at least a little while before coming to him.
Hunter sobbed silently into his chest and Darius ran his hands through Hunter’s knotted blonde hair. Alador shifted some and Darius knew he was awake from his sudden lack of snoring but he probably knew it was best for him to stay out of this for now. Darius appreciated it.
“Nightmare,” Hunter mumbles, voice weak and soft and Darius looks down at him.
“Hunter, you’ve had nightmares before, but they’ve never affected you this hard. What- What happened?” Darius asked and Hunter hugged his dad a little tighter and Darius realised then the teen was shaking.
“Jeez,” Darius whispered, moving to hold Hunter so close he was practically covering the smaller teen with his body.
They stayed like that for a bit, probably half an hour or so, Hunter shaking and silently crying while Darius held him close, rubbing circles on his back to try and soothe him.
Finally, Hunter broke the silence and spoke.
“Flapjack died.” Hunter said. “In my dream. And- And a lot of other stuff too.”
“Shit,” Darius mumbled. “Want to talk about it right now?”
Hunter’s grip on Darius’ shirt tightened for a moment as he thought.
He shook his head and Darius nodded. “Okay, okay we don’t have to. Do you want to talk in the morning?”
Hunter nods this time and Darius sighs.
“Okay. Good. It’s good to talk. But for now let’s get some rest. Do you want to stay here for the night?” Darius asked.
Hunter pulled back away from the hug to look over his shoulder at Alador’s sleeping figure and then back at Darius.
“He’ll be fine,” Darius said and Hunter hesitantly nodded before burying himself into the hug again.
Darius held him tight in his arms and closed his eyes to let sleep overcome him. He could feel the arm under his son going numb already, which as previously mentioned, he hates, but Darius would cut off his arm if it meant keeping Hunter happy and making sure he was safe, loved and protected.
Darius slept soundly the rest of the night and judging by how quickly hunter stopped shaking, Darius guessed the blonde did too.
When he awoke that morning, Alador was gone, a note on their coffee stand informing him he already called out sick for Hunter for school (and “P.S.: Hunter snores louder than I do” that Darius ignored)
Hunter was awake but still tucked into Darius’ arms and the abomination witch looked down at him.
“Ala called you out sick for today, that okay?” Darius asked and Hunter nodded. “He asked me if it was okay before,” He mumbles and Darius smiles.
It was a small thing but his heart set ablaze anytime Alador or Hunter interacted in any way positive. One was the love of his life and the other was the son he swore his life to protect. It was nice when they had moments.
“Wanna talk about it before or after breakfast?” Darius asked.
“After.” Hunter mumbles.
“Waffles or pancakes?”
Hunter grins up at him mildly mischievous.
“Pancakes.” He says and Darius rolls his eyes. “Of course, why do I even bother to ask. Okay, I’ll go make them, you can come downstairs whenever you’re ready, son, okay?”
Hunter nodded as Darius released him and went down to make food. He saw Hunter burrowing into the pile of comforters for a moment and curling up small and Darius smiled.
By the time the pancakes were finished, Hunter was sitting at the table, fidgeting with his thumbs and his jaw was tight.
The pair ate quickly and Darius didn’t even need to ask Hunter to speak because the blonde was speaking before he swallowed his last bite of food.
“Flapjack in my dream died, but I- I was the one who killed him. Sort of.” Hunter rapidly explains. “My dream, it felt like some weird “what if” episode, what if I had touched that goop I saw in the cottage? Belos possessed me and made me go crazy, feel like I was crazy, and then I turned into Belos and wanted to hurt my friends, almost hurt my friends, did hurt Flapjack. And I- It felt so real and all I knew was I wanted to stop Belos and the only way to stop something that was inside me was to stop… Me. So- I drowned myself.”
Darius pauses and looks up, Hunter quickly avoiding eye contact and hurriedly finishing his story.
“They all pulled me out, of course. But I was unconscious. And so Flapjack gave up his magic to save me. Because he was already injured, he wouldn’t have been able to survive anyway but it- It was still- Like I was the reason he was hurt.” Hunter runs a hand through his hair. “And Flapjack is at the Owl House yesterday and today because his painting is chipped and Eda is fixing it so I panicked when I woke up and he wasn’t there.”
Darius stands up and walks around the table to hug Hunter.
The blonde didn’t hug back, but he cried, with sound this time.
“It was just a dream, Flapjack is alive, you didn’t hurt him or your friends.” Darius said.
“But it felt so real!” Hunter wails. “And it could’ve happened! Somewhere there’s a version of me that touched that stupid goo instead of putting it in a box. Somewhere a version of me made that mistake.”
“Yes,” Darius says. “Maybe there is. But right now, there’s this version of Hunter who didn’t make that mistake and still has his palisman and is still okay? And even if you did, it was a mistake. You didn’t know the goo was Belos then, and like you said, he possessed you. It was never you in your dream hurting your friends, it was him. And he would’ve found a way to whether or not Dream You helped him. So just, focus on reality, okay?”
Darius pulls away from the hug and ruffles Hunter’s hair. Hunter swallows harshly and stares blankly forward.
“You’re not upset that even though I thought it was real I tried to drown myself?” Hunter asked meekly and Darius “accidentally” tugs on his hair, making the blonde wince in pain.
“Oh I’m very upset about that so thank you for reminding me,” Darius said and put his hands on his hip as he stood straight. “But real you didn’t drown, or try to drown so I’m not too mad. Just don’t make it a habit to dream drown yourself, okay?”
Hunter rolled his eyes. “Yeah yeah,” He says and Darius scoffs.
“Don’t yeah yeah me, you’re lucky I don’t ground you.” Darius informs and Hunter gapes.
“Grounding me for something dream me did?” Hunter yelled.
“I will still do it, don’t test me.” Darius warns with a smile and Hunter groans.
“Rethinking this whole adoption thing.” Hunter informs.
“Too late, paper work signed, healthcare signed, and now you’ve got sorta-siblings and a sorta-Pops too.” Darius said and Hunter makes a face.
“I’m never calling Alador anything besides Alador.” Hunter informs and Darius gives him a strange look.
“You- You don’t, like, hate the idea of him being your dad or anything, right?” Darius asked sceptically and Hunter shakes his head.
“No, he’s a chill sorta dad, I guess. Just- he’s always going to be Alador to me.” Hunter says and Darius nods.
“Okay, okay,” Darius said and nodded again. “Don’t be afraid to wake me up because of nightmares again by the way. I don’t mind and I’m sure Ala doesn’t either. And if he does he can sleep on the couch.”
Hunter grins and shrugs. “Sure. I don’t have nightmares often but noted.”