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My eyes snapped open. I- Goddamnit, again? That was the third time I’d had that… dream. That’s all it was. A dream. I rubbed my eyes before flinching back at the wetness clinging to my fists.
“No- no no please-“ My voice broke. Tears. Again and again. They streamed down my cheeks, cold against my face despite the burning in my eyes.
I curled up, tail wrapping around myself as I tried to muffle my sobs. I shut my eyes, before they shot open at the image that flashed in my mind. A blinding orange eye. Levi.
There was a soft knock at my door. ‘Oh god.’ “Wifies?” A voice came from outside, sleepy and almost glitched in its tone. Hummer. “Can I come in?” He knocked again.
Despite my better judgment, I managed to croak out a response. “I-…yeah.” I whipped the blanket over my head as the door creaked open.
The mattress dipped on my left side. “Hey.” Hummer’s voice was quiet, as if he was talking to a startled animal. “You okay?” I didn’t respond. I couldn’t respond. My throat felt like it had been wrapped in thorns then stuffed with sand. I merely let out another broken sob. ‘Pathetic.’ A voice in my head whispered.
Hummer didn’t reach to touch me or to hold me, and for that I was infinitely grateful.. but god how I wished he would hold me. I missed his touch, his scent, his hold, him. ‘How could you miss him?’ You may ask. After all we lived together. But nothing had ever really been enough since that.
Hummer sat next to me for a while. Seconds maybe. Possibly minutes. And yet it felt like hours had passed before I poked my head out of the blanket, eyes watery and tears still slipping down my face. “There you are.” He dimmed his screen partially.
“H- Humm-“ I tried, I really did. “Shh, don’t force it.” His hand drifted towards me before pulling away. I- oh god- did I just- I just keened. At Hummer. At Hummer pulling away for god’s sakes.
He tilted his screen. A question mark flashed on it before disappearing. “Hm?” He looked at me questioningly. My hands reached toward him, and I cringed inwardly at what I was about to do.
My fingers curled in the air between us. Grabby hands. I just made grabby hands at Hummer. Well, my life is over. His screen flickered for a second, thinking. “Do you- do you want me to hold you?”
I nodded desperately. Hummer moved closer, gently pulling me out of the blanket and to lean against his side. Another sob escaped me, as I grabbed onto his waistcoat. The TV brought his arms up around me, rubbing my back.
“Shhh, you’re okay, you’re safe.” I cried harder at that, burying my face into his chest. My throat burned, though more cries forced their way out, along with everything else I’d been hiding. The fear, the pain, the loneliness, the longing.
“Okay, there you go..” My sobs softened into hiccups and the occasional small whimper. “H-Hummer, I-” I pulled back to look at his screen. “Please.” His screen flickered. “What?” “Th-The thing you did the other night, the one that made me sleep.”
He froze. “Wifies… I-” “Please!” Another sob choked it’s way out. He was shaking now.. (or was that me?). “No, I’m not going to hypnotize you.” So that’s what it was. Hypnosis. Of course, how did I not realise?
“No,” his voice cut through my thoughts, “I’m not doing that to you again.” I blinked up at him. “Even if I ask..?” “Even then.” He brought his hands to my face, almost mimicking the last time we’d been alone like this. “I can stay here tonight, I can hold you, I can be here for you, Wifies, but I won’t hypnotize you. I don’t trust myself enough to do that again.”
I blinked, before leaning into his hands. “…thank you.” He nodded in return. “Do you want me to stay?” “..yeah.” I shifted closer, carefully almost. Hummer smiled, or at least his screen displayed something I had grown to recognize as a smile. “Okay.”
As my eyes began to droop closed, Hummer moved the both of us to lie down. He tucked me against his side, my head beneath his TV. My tail curled around his ankle, flicking anxiously. The TV brought a hand to my scalp, his nails lightly scratching my head. I barely repressed a purr.
~
As Wifies finally dozed off, I stayed awake, grateful to whatever god (which in a way was me, I guess) that had woken me up to hear him. The griffin pressed closer in his sleep, arms tightening around my waist. My screen burned.
‘Damn it, Hummer.’ What in the levithan was wrong with me? I shouldn’t be thinking about him like that after he was so vulnerable with me. I buried my head slightly into his hair. He was so small too.
Well… small compared to me. I think he’s tall in griffin terms? Again, if he is actually a griffin. I looked back down to him, screen dimming further. He was so soft. Of course everything is soft, when you’re an eldritch being capable of destroying worlds, but there was something about him that felt different to the other beings I had met.
Almost as if we had been meant to meet like this, fates to be together, trapped in an endless game of obsession- No. Not again. I refuse to drag another mortal into the affairs of gods.
I shook my head. ‘Jesus, what is up with my mind today?’ I rested it back on top of Wifies’ head, shutting my screen off completely. Well, regardless of what was meant to be, he was here now. I was here now.
-
I woke to a weight on me, and an unfamiliar room. My screen flickered on, as I pieced together what happened. Right. Nightmare, Wifies, agreeing to stay with him. I glanced down, the sight making my screen stutter a light pink.
Wifies was draped across me, his face resting on my chest. His arms were wrapped around my waist, and our legs were tangled together as were our.. tails? Oh. OH- I quickly toggled my tail off. It was a levithan thing, both in size… and appearance. His tail flopped limply onto the mattress, no longer having something to wrap around.
Wifies’ hair fell around his face, his headband having been knocked lopsided sometime in the night. I adjusted it slightly, brushing a few strands of hair out of his face. He shifted slightly, eyes fluttering open.
My screen glowed a warm pink across the room. He froze for a second, his face flushed a light red. “Hummer!” He jerked backwards. “Morning, Wifies.” I stayed where I was. “What- oh.” His voice quieted as memories returned to him.
“Yeah.” “Are- are you going to ask about it?” Wifies eyed me cautiously. “Not if you don’t want me to.” I kept my voice soft, almost comforting in its tone. He blinked. “Oh.”
“How’d you sleep? I- I mean after the nightmare.” I stumbled over my sentences slightly. Gosh, he looked divine with the sun behind him like that. “I- uh.. pretty good actually.” He relaxed into the bed more, leaning slightly towards me.
“Although I am still pretty tired.” Wifies gave me the saddest puppy dog eyes I’d seen from him in a while. I sighed playfully before opening my arms. “Thank you~” He tucked himself back against my side, head buried in the crook of my neck.
“Seriously though, thank you, Hummer.” “No problem, Wifies.” My arms came back up around him, pulling the griffin closer to my heartbeat.