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4C didn't know what he was doing in the Red Kingdom. With the moon high in the sky it was far too late for him to be visiting Katie. He should be asleep in Blue, probably sharing a bed with Mae or Nom. But Nom had disappeared into the woods, claiming he needed space. Mae was getting some much needed sleep for once too and he didn't want to disturb her rest. Not just because he was having nightmares of the Rogue God.
So, he found himself standing outside Katie's house. He looked around quickly, knowing Katie was more cautious than him about these things, before he slipped inside. He barely needed the moonlight to make his way across the home, familiar with the space of the Red Knight.
He reached Katie's bed and hesitated when he saw the sleeping woman, fiddling with the ends of his cloak. He let out a small shaky breath into the quiet. He made it out, he lost so much but he made it. If he can do that he can do this. Steeling himself, he slipped off his boots and climbed into the bed next to her. She barely stirred, latching onto him and curling into his side.
The touch was almost searing, the cold night air had chilled his skin despite his cloak and he felt tears well up in his eyes. He squeezed them shut and cut off the sob that threatened to escape him. He pressed as close as he could to Katie, his form threatening to collapse away from the humanoid form he kept. His ears were ringing and he didn't even notice Katie has woken until he felt the hood of his cloak being pulled back.
Teary blue eyes kept up and met care filled brown in the night. A sob left 4C before he could stop it and he pressed his face against her neck. Katie didn't say anything, or if she did 4C didn't hear it. His perception narrowed in to the warmth of her touch and the feeling of her pulse. She was here, she was alive. Nothing else living was in hell.
The warm pressure wrapped around him and 4C whimpered. He heard quiet cooing, a hand rubbing his back. His form rippled and threatened to give again but he forced himself to stay together. He focused on keeping his form, the hand on his back and the warmth encompassing him nothing like the scalding heat and hard stone he spent hours climbing.
4C and Katie stayed like that for a while, 4C tucked against Katie as he selfishly hid from the world. He felt Katie's breathing settle as she fell back asleep, still holding him close.
He hadn't slept since he got back. Every time he started to drift off he was threatened with the memory of that cackle, 'do it properly' the god had said, 4C couldn't even die right. Not in hell. But he wasn't there anymore, he reminded himself. He was alive, despite the deep emptiness of where his soul should be. He was alive and so was Katie and Katie was here. Katie was safe.
He felt the exhaustion creep in on him, weighing down his limbs. He glanced up at the sleeping knight, taking in the light from the moon that highlighted her skin. Somehow, he felt the aching chasm in him shrink. Somehow, he found himself drifting off in the arms of a knight he trusted.