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[talesofphilos]

"Valko."

Valko approaches Sylus, his hair and tail dripping with salt water.

"Valko, do not step any closer," Sylus commands from his beach chair, angling his book to hide the pages against his chest. Valko doesn't stop until he's right in front of him.

With a small, innocent smile, he shakes. Water splashes everywhere, dotting the sand, the chairs, and the towels, but mainly splashes over Sylus.

Despite his physique, you always forget how fit Sylus is until you're giggling at him chasing down Valko, both of them sprinting at full speed, until Sylus tackles him into the ocean. They narrowly miss Rafayel gliding through the water, their private section of the beach allowing him to show off his brilliant tail.

Beside you, Xavier stirs, peeking one eye open and squinting against the sun. You smile down at him. He's adorable like this, all groggy and disheveled, his cheeks tinged pink from the heat and the sun.

"Hey, Xavie. Good nap?"

He just hums, rolling over to rest his head in your lap, eye closing again. With a small laugh, you card your hand through his soft hair, allowing him to make himself comfortable again, his arm flopping over your ankles.

"I'm never doing this again!" Caleb's voice travels across the beach. "It's impossible!"

"You can fly a fighter jet, my love. I'm confident that you can surf," Zayne replies, a bit of amusement in his tone underneath the encouragement.

"The sky likes me way better than the sea does. I swear, I think that kelp was trying to drown me."

Zayne hums. "I think a certain fish would come to your rescue, should you need it. Now let's put some more sunscreen on and try again." Caleb just stares, and Zayne raises an eyebrow. "Don't give me that look. I know you won't give up that easily. You're too stubborn for your own good."

You could stay here forever, you decide, with zero responsibilities besides keeping your favorite men company.

[talesofphilos]

Your heartbeat quickening, you rush into the basement. "Valko, sweetheart?" you call, your voice echoing down the long hallway.

A soft grunt sounds, causing you to freeze and flick on the light, staring down the hallway.

"Val? Are you down here?" you ask.

"In here." His tone is clipped, so unlike him in a way that has your heart breaking.

You follow his voice, finally pulling open the half-empty closet at the end of the hall.

There, shoved in a mess of blankets, towels, and quilts, is Valko, curled tightly into a ball. His fluffy ears lay flat against his skull, his tail puffed out.

"There you are, my love," you murmur, crouching down. "Are you alright?"

Valko nods with a lash of his tail. You don't believe him for a minute.

"What happened?" you ask, shifting closer to wrap an arm around his shoulders.

Valko sighs, shoving his nose into your neck and inhaling shakily. "Everything's too loud with my ears," he admits, voice shaking. "M'head hurts."

A sigh of relief leaves you. Of course, you hate to see him hurting, but at least he's safe at home.

"Cutie!" Rafayel's voice echoes down the hall. Valko whimpers, curling in on himself, hands flying to cover his ears. "Is he down here?"

You poke your head out of the closet, shoving a finger over your mouth to silence him. Rafayel's eyes widen and he rushes to meet you.

"I'm sorry. We were looking for you," you whisper to Valko, who's lowered his hands again. "Raf, can you let everyone know he's okay? Just needs some peace and quiet."

Rafayel opens his mouth, probably to ask a million questions, but he thinks better of it and nods, heading back down the hallway and up the stairs.

"What can I do to help you?" you ask, running a hand through his hair.

"Just stay," Valko mumbles, voice shaking.

Several minutes later, two pairs of soft footsteps approach, and Caleb and Sylus appear in the doorway. In Caleb's hands is a small black box.

"Val?" Caleb asks, crouching. "We have somethin' for you."

Valko peeks out from your neck, one ear briefly rotating towards them before it presses against his skull again.

"We were going to give them to you for your birthday, but I believe you'll find them more useful now."

Caleb holds out the box, smiling, and Valko takes it with shaking hands.

"Thanks," he says, a bit confused, and pulls the lid off of the box. Inside, nestled among some foam, are two uniquely-shaped gadgets, made partially of foam.

"They're earplugs," Sylus explains when Valko just stares at them. "Specifically designed for your wolf ears. They offer various levels of noise cancellation, and will also connect to your phone for music."

Tail thumping, not in irritation this time, Valko carefully takes them from the box and inserts them into his ears. After some fiddling, his wagging tail speeds up.

"Comfy?" Caleb asks.

"Yeah," Valko says, his voice a bit louder from the noise cancellation. "How do you turn them up?"

Caleb shifts closer. "There's two buttons on the left one." He presses the button a few times, watching as Valko's smile grows each time.

After a long minute, Valko closing his eyes as he basks in the silence, he taps the other button, turning down the noise cancellation.

"Thank you," he says, voice a bit raspy, his eyes watery. "This is really, really great. Did you make them?"

"Yes. Xavier helped, too," Sylus says, leaning against the closet doorway. "You like them?"

"I love them." Valko pulls himself from your arms and throws himself at Caleb, squeezing him as tight as possible, Caleb letting out a wheezy laugh. Sylus gets an equally tight hug. "Thank you both."

"You're very welcome, puppy," Sylus says.

"It's the least we can do," Caleb says with a grin, standing to kiss his cheek. "Are you feeling better?"

Valko nods. "My head still hurts, but it's not bad."

"Well, I think our doctor must have a remedy for that," Sylus says with a smile, placing a hand on the small of his back. "Let's go join the others, shall we?"

[talesofphilos]

Caleb sits at the kitchen bar, his slumped figure illuminated by a single light above him.

Zayne, squinting as his eyes adjust to the light among the darkness, approaches, making his footsteps audible against the wood floor.

As Caleb glances over his shoulder, Zayne's eyes meet his tired, red-rimmed ones. Zayne wordlessly takes a tall glass from the cabinet, fills it with water, and places it in front of Caleb.

Now face-to-face, the frequent nightmares show their toll—deep shadows line Caleb's half-lidded eyes, contrasted with his pallid skin. Zayne's heart quietly breaks, and he can't resist any longer.

Rounding the island and joining Caleb's side, he wraps his arms around him. Caleb melts into the embrace, his trembling hands sliding around Zayne's waist, and he muffled a soft sob against his soft sleep shirt.

"Let it out," Zayne murmurs into his ear, stroking the back of his disheveled hair. "I'm here."

As the floodgates open, the nights of repressed fear, grief, and panic finally freeing themselves, Zayne's tight grip never falters.

Eventually, Caleb pulls his tear-stained face from his damp shirt, sniffling. Zayne takes that sorrowful face in his hands, pressing a kiss to his forehead.

"In the morning, I will find ways to help you sleep through the night," he promises, brushing the hair from Caleb's swollen eyes. "In the meantime, would you like to watch a movie?"

"Yeah," Caleb croaks with a tiny nod.

When Caleb rests against his chest, his favorite movie from his childhood playing quietly on the TV, Zayne becomes resolute.

Whoever hurt Caleb will pay, one way or another.

[talesofphilos]

𝓶𝓪𝓼𝓽𝓮𝓻𝓵𝓲𝓼𝓽

all

crushed

duos

caleb x zayne: nightmares

[talesofphilos]

"Get off me, you mutt-"

"Ow-"

"Can you two save the fighting for a more acceptable hour?" Sylus grumbles, shoving his face back into his pillow.

"He's suffocating me," Rafayel wheezes. You barely hold back an amused smile at the wagging tail that gently brushes your leg.

All of your partners has their sleeping preferences, and Valko's just happens to be sleeping directly on top of everyone. That would be fine, if not for the fact he's a huge, solid mass of muscle.

"Can't help it," Valko mumbles sleepily. When you pull your head from Xavier's chest and peek your eyes open, squinting against the early morning light, he shoves his nose in Rafayel's neck and inhales deeply. "You smell so good."

"And you can't sniff me quietly? From a distance?" Rafayel asks, sounding less annoyed and more sleepy, pushing Valko around until he's in an acceptable position on top of him.

"'s not the same," Valko says, words muffled against Rafayel's skin. "Need to drown in it."

The door quietly opens as Zayne strolls in, already dressed in a button-up shirt and black slacks, five sets of sleepy eyes dragging over his figure. He takes his watch from the dresser and glances over his shoulder as he secures it around his waist, freezing as five sets of sleepy eyes look back at him. "You're all awake."

"Yeah," Caleb says, shoving a pillow over his head, fully prepared to go right back to sleep.

A loud, shrill ring cuts through the room, drawing groans from everyone.

"Five more minutes," Xavier mumbles against your hair, while Caleb desperately slaps at the alarm clock until it's quiet.

"The last time you said that, we were ten minutes late," you say, pushing yourself from his embrace, expertly batting away the hands that grab at you as you sit up.

"Good morning, my loves," Zayne says, an amused smile on his face.

He gets nothing more than groans and mumbles in response.