Sometimes, nights with Aki were hard. His past haunted him, and truly, you expected it. Everything he went through, it was obviously going to leave a scar on him. Physically and mentally. But you were always here for him when those nights occured.When he would wake up, gasping, sweat trickling down his temples, a haunted look in his eyes.
He always tried to be quiet, always tried to calm himself down enough not to disturb you and peacefully go back to sleep. But it almost never worked.
He could hear his own heart beating in his ears, his pulse felt too loud, the room to big and not big enough at the same time. And as much as he tried to keep his breaths low, he always, always, ended up feeling your gentle hands on his face, and your sweet voice calming him down in short time.
He would feel you turn his head, and his panicked gaze would meet your sleepy, soft and sure one. He would feel you cup his face and your lips on his forehead as you gently spoke to him, helping him calm down with nothing else but the simple magic of your voice.
You would tell him that "Its okay. Everything is fine. You're safe. Im here. Nothing can hurt you now. Its all in the past."He would always nod along to your words, always confirm what you were saying, but it always took more than words to make him believe it. You had to make him feel it.
You would help him settle his head on your lap, and softly run your fingers through his hair as you whispered love to him." I know it hurts, honey. I know. It isnt easy to get over something like that. It takes time. And you'll get there, because you have all the time in the world. We have all the time in world. And nothing will change that. You're safe, I wont let anything hurt you. Not even your own mind." You smiled down at him, gently booping his nose and feeling relief twist your chest when he gave you a smile back.
You felt his breathing slow down to a normal pace, his eyes releasing their panic, and with that, tears brimming his vision and cascading down his smooth cheeks. Your heart clenched painfully at the sight of your beautiful lover in so much pain. So much pain that you wish you could take away from him and make sure he never felt anything closely resembling it.
You cooed at him, leaning down and wrapping your arms around him securely as he sobbed into your lap. You shushed him, running your fingers through his hair and down his back, knowing that he just needed to let it out right now, and knowing that you'd always be here with him when he'd need it. You knew you'd do anything for him.
He cried for a long time, but you knew he needed it. More than just release, he needed to know you'd stay with him through more than just the easy, soft, safe moments. He needed to know you'd be here for him even in these broken moments of his. And you did nothing but erase his worries and bring comfort, something he hadn't felt in such a long, exhausting time.
As his tears and sobs subdued, and as you felt sleep take over his beautiful body, you leaned down, pressing a kiss to his temple and brushing away whatever tears were left over. You smiled down at his sleepy figure, and stayed like that until you were sure there would be no more nightmares.
You didnt mind not sleeping. There was a lot more you would do for him than just that. And lord knows, you spent all night above him, keeping him safe, repeating to yourself, vowing to yourself, all the measures you'd go to, just to make sure Aki never felt a drop of sadness ever again.
I was in that sad place again where ya know... I just really wanted That Person and I needed fluff really bad. Ive also been having nightmares because hormones are GREAT. So this happened. There's no character or real details mentioned so he can kinda be anyone you want. He's just someone that loves you. A lot.
___________________________________
You woke drenched in sweat with a gasp. Your lungs labored hard in your chest and your whole body shook with the weight of the nightmare. Something brushed your arm and you yelped. The bed shifted next to you and your sleep addled mind struggled to place itself in reality.
"Sweeheart? Sweetheart, what's wrong?" Warm, familiar hands were cupping your face and for just the tiniest second your panic crested high. Then your eyes began to adjust and you finally registered the concerned gaze that watched you. "Another nightmare?"
You collapsed against his chest with a small sob. He ran his fingers through your hair as you grounded yourself with his scent. His body. The feel of him being solid and real and here. You were safe. When you managed to calm the thundering beat of your heart enough, you were able to hear his. Together they beat in time. The sound was like its own kind of lullaby.
"Do you want to talk about it?" His voice was so soft. You'd heard it sound a million different ways but it was only ever this soft, this tender, when he was talking to you. Your face still buried into his chest, you shook your head. His chest rumbled against your cheek with a chuckle. "Alright then, I'll just hold you. I'm not going anywhere, love, I promise. I'll protect you from anything that would try to harm you."
Every word had you relaxing against him a little more. The timbre of his voice becoming its own kind if balm to a mind heavy with the aftershocks of a nightmare. He began to rock you as he continued to speak to you softly. Reminding you that he loved you. That he would never leave or hurt you. He would do anything just to see you happy. The tears that worked forward had nothing to do with fear.
"You're too good to me," you said after awhile, your voice still muffled against his bare chest. "It's the middle of the night and you're rocking me like a baby and whispering sweet nothings all because I had a stupid nightmare."
"And I will continue to do it." He gently pulled you away from his chest to look you in the eye. "Because I love you. No matter what time it is. No matter what I have to do to make you feel better." A playful grin slipped across his lips as he tipped his forehead against yours. "I will whisper the sweetest nothings til morning if it means you sleep soundly again." You smiled, though you hadn't meant to. It was a talent he had.
"Is that for me... or to hear your own voice?" You teased. A subtle way of showing that he had succeeded in making you feel better. He grinned a broad grin full of pride and maybe a little bit of ego.
"Well... I do have a nice voice," he winked, "but I'd much rather hear the contented little murmurs you make in your sleep." His teasing grin softened. "It's adorable. You look so precious when you sleep."
"And then I wake up, right?" You rolled your eyes. He cocked his head, eyes glittering.
"You're just as precious when you wake up, just more likely to argue with me on it." His hand cupped your cheek again. "You have no idea how precious you truly are to me."
You blushed, but he didn't let you look away. Instead he was gently pulling you forward into a kiss. You loved his kisses. Whether they were soft and gentle like this or intense and hungry every kiss just felt right somehow. Felt perfect. As perfect as he was. As perfect as the both of you were for each other. The feeling overwhelmed your lungs and made it hard to breathe even as he slowly pulled you back to the bed with him. When he pulled away he spoke in a whisper.
"I'm right here. I'll keep you safe. Tonight, tomorrow, the rest of our lives..." He kissed your forehead. "I'm here. I'll always be here. Sleep, my darling. Dream sweet and strange things to tell me about in the morning."
As promised his arms were solid around you. The rhythm of his heart echoed in your ears as your eyes began to drift closed. With every breath your head rose and fell as it laid on his chest. The last thing you remembered before slipping under was a soft kiss on the top of your head and one last whisper:
Jackie was chasing something through the water. But no matter how hard he swam he couldn’t catch them. Jackie was feeling desperate, reaching out after the shape, crying out after it. He was surrounded by pitch black water and he felt like he couldn't breathe through the weight of it. He was trudging through with all his might as the water got thicker and thicker.
Then the water exploded and everything turned red. A shape appeared out of the the darkness and pounced on Jackie, spiraling him backwards. It was Anti, grinning in a crazy sadistic manner down at Jackie, sticking his claws into his arms. Jackie felt himself panicking as he struggled to get away. He was crying out for Anti, for him to wake up and come home. But his brother wasn’t listening. He drove Jackie into the ground and grabbed his neck, starting to choke the reaper. Jackie scrambled to breathe, clawing at Anti but he was fading. He could see lava and fire all around him and every inch of him burned as his lungs struggled to get air. Anti was mouthing something at him but Jackie couldn’t hear him over the intense ringing in his ears.
“-ke up..”
“Jackie-!”
“Wake up!”
Chase was shaking Jackie awake. Jackie had been twitching and writhing in his sleep, crying out loudly for Jack, for Anti. He was gonna hurt himself, he was still recovering. His face was scrunched up in pain and he was making strangled noises, like he couldn't breathe. Chase shook him harder and finally Jackie’s eyes sprung open.
He sprung up with more speed than Chase thought he had the energy for. He roared loudly at Chase, mandibles expanding and eyes pitch black. Chase scrambled back in fear and the other boys all jerked awake behind him.
Chase swallowed and reached a hand out to Jackie, trying to keep his voice calm. “Jackie.. It’s okay, it’s just us.” Jackie flinched back as Chase approached and bared his fangs. Chase didn’t push, keeping distance..
“Just breathe Jackie… it’s okay…”
There was a tense silence for a while, but slowly the black started to fade from Jackie’s eyes and he seemed to come back to himself.
He started breathing heavily again, a scared look on his face. “I-i… what… what happened?”
“You were having a nightmare…” Chase explained. Jackie looked down and nodded, feeling himself shaking as he remembered more of what he just saw. The others weren’t used to seeing Jackie look so terrified, he was usually the brave one. They exchanged silent looks to one another before they all swam over to Jackie. Marvin gently poked his tail.
“Do your burns still hurt?” He asked quietly. Jackie looked up in surprise and he gently touched one on his arm. He winced slightly.
“Um… kinda…”
“Well for that i have a suggestion,” Henrik started and he ushered everyone over. Chase gently pushed Jackie down onto the floor as one by one the boys started to lay down around or on Jackie where he wasn’t burned. Jackie felt himself relaxing as he felt the cold of their bodies against his skin. He sighed, feeling his eyelids getting heavy already.
Jamie tapped him gently on his cheek, causing Jackie to look over at him. JJ ghosted his hand over Jackie’s blistered skin then looked at him questionly, his head lightly resting on Jackie’s shoulder. Jackie smiled softly at him.
“I’m okay, little guy. Any pain is worth it at this point.”
“You were probably having nightmare cuz you had to sleep alone…” Marvin mumbled from a spot on Jackie’s tail.
Chase lightly flicked Jackie’s forehead with a smile. “Don’t worry, we’re not gonna leave you.” Jackie smiled more, feeling the heavy weight on his chest lighten slightly.
Their sleeping pile wasn’t complete still but, for now, this was exactly what Jackie needed. The boys all settled and quickly fell asleep. Jackie was able to rest peacefully for the rest of the night, his nightmares far away.
