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It’s still dark. It might be somewhere in the early morning hours because of a dull blue gray glow streaming through the curtains of the bedroom window. You don’t pay attention to the clock that rests on the nightstand when you shoot into an upright position from where you’ve been laying down. One hand is balled into a fist, gripping the sheets underneath you while the other claws at your throat against your heavily beating pulse and quickening breath.
“Hey.”
You whip your head at the sudden voice close to your ear, the fist that was to your side now raised and ready to strike- you breathed out in relief and lowered your hand. The other remained lightly around the base of your neck, pressed flat.
Moon was sitting up from where he watched you fall asleep just a couple hours ago. His grin is strained and the white pupils of his red eyes are quickly scanning your face.
“What’s going on?” he asked, voice soft.
Your eyebrows furrowed and you kept eye contact with him, about to say something when you stopped short. Your eyes slid down to the lowered hand that was now shaking, your entire body was. Moon was waiting patiently for your response, but instead of giving him one, you threw the bed sheets covering your body off and swung your legs off the side of the mattress.
“Hey whoa-” he reached out but you were standing up before he could grab you.
The hefty wizard staff you bought at a seasonal shop last year for a ren faire was right next to your bedside so you snatched it and began hunting out the hiding spots in your room, starting with under your bed.
Moon calls your name but you ignore him as you clear that spot and move to slamming your closet door open with your staff raised above your head.
Your name is said again, a bit sharply this time in a whisper as two hands fall onto your shoulders and spin you around. He leans over and you look up at his narrowed eyes.
“Why are you threatening empty spaces of your room with a magic stick?”
You press your lips into a thin line.
“Felt like putting a curse on them” you reply hoarsely.
You shrug his hands off and move out of the room and into the rest of the apartment. You check the hall closet. Clear. Behind the shower curtain of the bathroom. Clear. The next objective is the very open space of the living room/kitchen. You’re stopped by hands resting on your shoulders once more but this time they just hold you securely against the owner's chest.
“You know no one would ever get past us, right?” he’s rubbing soothing circles into the back of your neck as he speaks.
You feel yourself relax a little, and then you sigh.
“Yeah,” however your resolve still flares in your chest and you tighten your grip on your weapon, “but I need to do this, for my own peace of mind.”
You pull out of his embrace and go back to your mission. One once over of the space and you know there are no threats, there aren’t any spots to hide in here unless it’s some type of cryptid that’s incredibly thin enough to hide behind the small space of the TV stand against the wall.
Now that you thought about it though, you overthink and check it out anyways. You can feel Moon’s gaze burn through you for that one. You shrink away to investigate other spots.
You check the windows to make sure they’re all locked, as well as of course the door itself. All locked and secure as Moon would have made sure it was before it was time to sleep. Your shoulders slump and you let out a heavy breath you didn’t know you were holding in.
His presence can be felt from behind you, you don’t turn around.
“Penny for your thoughts.” His voice is quiet, as if making sure you wouldn’t run off from him again.
You smile a bit to yourself at his phrasing, but it quickly falters when your mind returns to what he’s asking for. You grip your forearm with your free hand and stare at your feet as you still face the door.
“Bad dream. That’s all.” it came out in a whisper. It would not go unheard.
“Want to talk about it?”
“...Not really,” You shift your stance and keep silent for a couple moments before continuing, “It was… Morbid. In a creepy way. In a way that felt real. It felt like a warning or a premonition. I don’t know.”
“You don’t have to say more. But we would never let anything happen to you.”
“...It’s not me I’m concerned about.”
Silence. His presence is closer now, his form barely at your back. One arm slides over your shoulder and dangles there while his other hand slides underneath your chin and gently lifts it so your face tilts backwards to stare at his faceplate hovering right above you.
“You don’t need to worry about us. We’re fully capable of taking care of… ourselves.”
A half smile graces your lips, “I know.”
His hand removes itself from your chin to slowly pry the death grip you have on your very practical weapon choice.
“We’re also perfectly capable of taking care of small sleep deprived wizards.”
You snort and he takes the staff out of your hand, placing it on the couch to the side of you both. He accidentally disturbs the cat resting on top of the backrest as he had reached over it, it mews at him. Moon lightly scratches the top of its head and it’s back off to dream world with a tiny yawn.
“Oi who you callin’ small?” you fold your arms over your chest.
He turns back to you and gives a flat look to which you return by sticking your tongue out. He rolls his eyes and ruffles your hair much to your discretion, so you swat at his hand. Amused chuckling rumbles from his chest, eyes looking down to you fondly as you try to correct your already messy hair.
“Think you’ll be able to go back to sleep?” he tilted his head to the side. The bell on his hat jingled at the movement.
Your fussing halted at his words and you look back to him. Sleep did not sound appealing, but on the other hand, yes it did. The adrenaline was starting to fade so the exhaustion started steadily creeping its way back in.
“Maybe in a little. I’ll go lay down at least.” you stifle a yawn.
He hums, “Go on.” Then he gives you a small nudge on your back towards your room. When you don’t move he looks down in confusion until he spots your index finger and thumb holding onto the fabric of his hoodie.
“You’ll go with me?” your voice is barely audible. Your dream still haunts you.
His hand returns to the top of your back, but this time it stays.
“I’ll be right behind you.”