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Late at night, nestled together in a shelter with the one he loves most, sharing each other's body heat for warmth as a heavy snow falls outside. That's certainly not where No Significant Harassment ever thought he'd end up.
And yet, it is, and the warm weight of his lover at his side is proof of it. Looks to the Moon lies pressed up against his side, arms wrapped around his torso even while she sleeps peacefully. He's not sure what he's more grateful for; the comfort of her presence, or the physical warmth of it. Both are wonderful really. Her warmth helps stave off the bitter cold that always haunts the end of the cycle, that always seeped its way deep into his bones before he found his way to her. He's still not used to it yet, not after such a small handful of cycles.
But oh, the comfort of being so close to Moon is something else. After spending countless cycles without her, with only occasional overseer footage to even be sure she was still alive, then nothing at all, it's almost surreal to be in her presence. How is he so lucky to have this moment? It feels like only moments ago he was still in his structure, as decrepit as it had become, torn apart by time and barely standing. Cold and alone, slowly losing connection with other iterators, then with his very overseers. Slowly rotting away along with the walls of the rest of his body.
He feels the fuzziness around the edge of his own thoughts come in, so familiar in recent times, and his hand resting on one of hers tightens. He's not there anymore, attached to his own decaying corpse. He is alive, even if most of his body is not. Moon is alive. They are both alive and everything will be okay. If he focuses on that he will be fine, and the haze slowly creeping up on him will not find its way into all the little crevices of his mind.
He squeezes her hand tighter, fingertips digging into the back.
A bit too tightly maybe; he feels her stir at his side, then hears a sleepy little murmur by his audial receptor. Her hand moves to hold his. Shit. He didn't mean to wake her up. That's at least the third time he's done so in their two short cycles together. And yet, she doesn't leave, even though some little fear in the back of his mind tries to insist it's bound to happen. Not when he wakes her up from the sleep she so badly deserves, not when his only response to her softly asking if he's alright is a choked little sound. Her hand ever so carefully moves away from his own and up to his chest, resting there softly; it moves again, this time to his back, when he turns towards her, burying his face in the crook of her neck.
His heart pounds so hard he's sure she must feel it against her own chest. And yet, she gently traces meaningless little patterns between his shoulders with her fingers, humming softly in a way that's meant to comfort him. Is it something familiar? He thinks it might be. He's not really sure though, his head feels too fuzzy to focus on even his own thoughts, let alone on anything else.
That's not good. He needs to think about something else. But it's hard to do that when his throat is tightening and his head feels like it's full of static. What are they doing next cycle again? That feels like a good thing to focus on. They're going to find Five Pebbles, right? Right. They're almost there now, so close to whatever remains of his structure. In a few more cycles they'll probably be there, pulling him out, maybe fixing him up a little. He'll be okay. Moon will have her brother back and everything will be okay.
But for now, there's nothing to be done, and it's hard to keep thinking too hard. There are more tangible things to focus on though; the firm pressure of Moon's arms around him, the gentle touch of her fingers now tracing along his spine, the warmth of her neck against his cheek. She's okay. He's okay. They're both safe and warm in a shelter for the rest of the cycle, and nothing can hurt them. Everything will be okay.
Eventually, the soft lull of sleep starts settling in, warm and heavy and soothing, although the fuzzy feeling in his head still remains. Eyes growing heavy, he finally lets himself properly relax in her arms. Deep breath, in and out. His heart slows down a little as he relaxes. The fear still clawing at the back of his mind finally fades away, and the beginnings of sleep take its place. The soft feeling of fingers tracing along his back starts to fade as well, sleep beginning to reclaim Moon as well now that everything is settling back down.
Curled up in the safety of the shelter, wrapped in each other's warmth; there's nowhere better to fall asleep. For the moment at least, everything is a little softer, a little easier to bear. For now, everything is okay.