okay okay, hear me out.
pavia but hes like,,, waking up from some sort of nightmare or a mild painful memory of his childhood, yk.. when bro was forced into a basement. imagine the cold nights, jfc. and like he wakes up,, but this time he has his s/o with him. and bby is safe <3
he has someone to protect now at least right? pls give us the reader comforting this man I BEG pooki 💔💔
i imagine him to be reluctant to the touch but he eases into it. i remember you mentioned he has mild trust issues so,, comforting touches must be rlly foreign to him
anon i am madly in love with you
,, nightmare ”
pavia x gn reader !
cw :: reverse comfort, slight angst, kinda short
on one of the rare nights where your boyfriend is tired enough to sleep for more than an hour at a time. the human body is not built for lasting long times without sleep, and even if he wasnt entirely human, he still followed this rule by nature. hed insisted that hid wolf companions would sleep on the floor this time so you could cuddle together comfortably and alone.
after waking up in the middle of the night, you were a bit thirsty. leaving bed to grab a cup of water, when you returned, you saw pavia uncomfortably twitching in his sleep. his eyebrows were furrowed and his eyes were squeezed shut, tense and rigid muscles making you realize he was having a nightmare.
you left the door open as the room was dimly lit by the light in the hallway, placing the cup on the nightstand. his wolf leon had an eye open and was watching you as you gently shook him.
“pavia.. wake up…” you urged in a whisper, relieved when he jolted up. his eyes were panicked, horrified almost as if he was a tortured man. his heartbeat was erratic, so loud you could hear it and his skin was cold. he curled away from your touch, his eyes taking time to adjust and focus on the light coming from the doorway.
when you turned the bedside lamp on, you could see the realization slowly settling into his expression. he took a few more moments to calm down, running a shaking hand through his messy hair. you placed your hand on his thigh, not failing to notice the way his muscles tensed under you, before relaxing slowly.
“im sorry.” he muttered in shame, his expression bitter and trained on the floor. he seemed to be embarrassed of his own self.
“dont be.” you say in a gentle tone. to him, your tone was almost motherly, so comforting, so safe, so dangerously sweet. he didnt like how he wanted to turn his back on you, to let you see all of him. he wiped at the sweat on his forehead with the blanket, and you could see the exhaustion on his face.
neither of you were talking. you were sitting on one side of the blanket, him on the other. you really wanted to comfort him, but a small part of you knew that he wasnt ready yet.
you open your arms for him, a tender gesture. he stares you down, seeming to contemplate, but decided against it. “im fine.” he says in a very unconvincing tone.
“wanna talk about it?” you offer, putting your arms down. you werent going to force him to do anything he didnt want to.
he leaned against the headboard, slowly sliding down until his head hit the pillow. truth be told, you expected him to decline your offer, but after a minute of staring at the dark ceiling, he placed a hand over his eyes.
“i dont like the dark. it reminds me of things i dont want to remember.” he mumbles. his tattoos move along with his flexing muscles, his arm tensing and untensing periodically. “bad childhood.”
you made a small hum of sympathy, getting out of bed to close the door. you kept the lamp on as you crawled into bed next to him. “thats alright. i dont like the dark either.” you whisper. “all that matters is youre safe now.”
he is silent for a while. you almost think that hes fallen back asleep, but he turns around and wraps his arms around you, burying his face into your side. he relaxes under your touch when you hug him back, his grip around you tightening as if he didnt want you to leave.
“im safe now. thank you, mio sole.” he whispers.
“thats right, youre out of there.” you hold him close, letting him be exposed completely around you. much like a kicked dog, even if he was skeptical of you, all he wanted was to be loved.
and loved he was.