Nightshift 27: M12
If anyone had been waiting outside M12’s door they would’ve been sorely disappointed to find out that the entire room was unoccupied. However, there seemed to be several slips of paper poking from underneath the door, all conveying the same message just in case someone decided to take one for any reason. If they choose to pull one of the slips out
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The trudge back to his room had been far less whimsical than the little spectacle in the bathroom only minutes before. Axel was pretty stumped as to why there was blood coating the porcelain surface of the sink instead of water, regretting taking a sample back with him. Common sense told him that it was probably just a nightly thing, but it certainly succeeded in being a nuisance, just like everything else in this Institute.
As usual, the redhead saw no need to knock on his own door, jiggling the doorknob and twisting it before pushing it open. He made sure to prepare his best grin to greet his roommate, but that quickly fell short when he saw the kind of position Ashton had tangled himself up in. Stopping a few feet into the room, Axel glanced between the two before crossing his arms.
"Oh I see what you did there." Of course, his light-hearted tone betrayed his belittling stare before he let the act slide and replaced it with a small grin. "Subtext? In my room? If you were going to do that then you should've given us a heads up."
But that was enough for now. There were more important things to discuss, and also the fact that Ashton's conditions coaxed all joking to the side. Axel held the bottle of Oxycodone between his thumb and forefinger, showing it off with a casual smile.
"Anyway, sorry to say, but the faucets were running with blood so we couldn't get any water to help down this stuff."
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... Oh. Did they come at a bad time?
"It's more likely than you think," Naminé told Axel, not finding it strange now that she had gotten her bearings back. Actually, she did not blame Ashton for wanting to be held. After what he had been through... At least now, they had something to lessen his pain.
Except...
"Yes, I don't know where else we can get water," Naminé frowned. If blood was running through the faucets instead of water, it was debatable if there was any water left in the institute.
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And to come out and say these things... Ashton felt that they'd taken some big step together. And he'd never been so close to Dias, never been able to feel his hot breath on his face like this; if he was a less shy man, he might just have been tempted to close the distance between their lips.
But wouldn't that be.. taking advantage of his own weakened position? No, that was a terrible idea-
And that was when his roommate and walked in with Naminé, thankfully saving Ashton from further inner debate on that particular subject.
Suddenly overly nervous, Ashton dropped his gaze, but was too weak to scramble away from Dias - as if he would have wanted to in the first place. "It.. it wasn't anything," Ashton said furtively, his body tensing back up from nervousness. "Nothing was happening, it - um.. th-thanks for the herbs."
As for water - the thought of blood running through the faucets hadn't struck him as reality just yet, but he lifted a weakened arm and pointed in the direction of the basin that was supposed to be used for pre-bed hygiene. And then at the cup of grape juice that he hadn't been able to finish before he was kidnapped.
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His own justifications for holding Ashton had made perfect sense to him, but - that didn't really change how it looked to other people.
Shifting his grip on Ashton slightly and clearing his throat were the only signs of his discomfort; although he didn't exactly like being seen in what looked like a compromising position, Axel's and the girl's opinions of him didn't mean all that much to him. (Not that he wasn't above glaring at Axel when the man made a pointed comment, however.) But that was quickly forgotten in the face of the medicine brought for Ashton - and even that was momentarily overshadowed by Axel's revelation about the faucets.
"Blood?" Dias echoed, rather nauseated by the thought. It wasn't so much that he couldn't deal with blood - in fact, he was quite used to it - as he was wondering at the implications of having blood in the water supply. How had it gotten there? Where had it come from? Whose...? Had it always been like this during nightshift? He'd never actually checked the water during nightshift before, so it was possible. But did it mean that they simply didn't have any access to water at all during the night? That seemed...extreme.
No wonder he'd been smelling blood for so long. He'd simply assumed it was Ashton's, but perhaps the smell was pervasive for entirely different reasons.
Still...there wasn't much use to speculating on the blood. It wasn't as if it were anything he could do much about. "Give him the pills," he instructed. Even if there wasn't much nightshift left for them to take effect, it might make him feel better come morning.
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But enough about that. Axel casually strolled over to the bed and picked up the cup, letting it sink into the basin and filled it with a good amount of water. Meanwhile, his other hand expertly untwisted the cap of the bottle, carefully angling it down so a pill could roll into his palm before he set the rest aside. Even though there wasn't a clock nearby he could only guess that the night was drawing to a close, so it would've been best if the latter took these as soon as possible.
"You don't chew them, you swallow them whole." He instructed as he stretched both arms out for his roommate to take the aforementioned items. Axel made sure to hold the cup close to his mouth just in case Ashton needed someone else to hold the cup for him. After all, Dias's hands were obviously occupied with other things at that moment.
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Well, at least she did get to accomplish what she originally planned to. She had returned Ashton's flashlight... and then Naminé also remembered whom she had left behind. But Soma and Roland were not there when she went to her room, so they must have moved on.
Still...
"I should probably get back to my room now. It looks like Ashton is going to be OK," She told the others. Ashton was in very good hands, so she didn't have to worry.
Besides, Naminé couldn't help but feel that she was intruding upon something.
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It was just so.. comfortable.
After swallowing, and taking an extra gulp of (thankfully non-bloody) water to wash it down, he tentatively, and rather shamelessly, laid his head back down on Dias' shoulder. Even now, the blood in the water didn't surprise him. It was nothing compared to the other things they did to patients at night.
It hurt. So much hurt, and the herbs - no, pills Axel had given him hadn't kicked in immediately like he'd hoped they would. He still wasn't sure whether or not he should confess to his friends what he'd heard tonight. His dragons' words had been ripped from him, and they were still somewhat fresh in his mind. They had to have been real..
But to say anything would just worry them far too much.
"Thanks.. Naminé, Axel. ..Dias. Everyone. I can't express how much of a difference you guys made.. in my life, and.. and stuff. Um. I'll see you guys later, then? Tomorrow, maybe..?" It was Ashton's totally non-pervasive way of asking them to leave; really he just wanted to be alone with Dias once more. He'd probably never again get this chance.
More words could wait. He was tired.
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Goddamnit.
"Yeah, you'll see us tomorrow Ashton. You should get some rest while it's still night." Axel suggested with a small smile before it disappeared with another yawn. "I guess I'll go and find an empty room. I'm not doing this again though." The subtext was so obvious that it was repeatedly smacking him in the face, and considering what his roommate had been through the redhead would like to say that he was pretty deserving of it.
And so, with a lazy wave, the Nobody stepped out of the room, closing the door behind him.
[No moving link because I'm not backthreading anymore. >:(]
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He acknowledged Axel's and Naminé's contributions with a brief nod before they departed; entirely aside from his gratitude over their getting Ashton medicine, he was equally relieved that they'd taken Ashton's less-than-subtle hint and left. He wasn't exactly comfortable being seen like this - even if he was no more eager than Ashton to do anything about the position he was in - and, frankly, it was just more peaceful with only the two of them.
At least, it seemed, Dias wouldn't have to repeat what he'd been saying when the others had arrived. Ashton seemed to have taken it to heart.
He reached up with his free hand to brush a few strands of hair away from Ashton's face before settling back and closing his eyes. This was the sort of contentment Dias usually thought of when people asked him if he was happy; it wasn't quite the same, but it was close enough.
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For a moment, Dias' hand was on his face, brushing a few of the blood-caked strands of hair away from his vision. The flashlight on the dresser was still on, allowing them a little bit of light. Ashton could hear his own heart beating in his ears. Everything was perfect - except for the part where he'd been cut open and weird stuff had been done to his head.
Do I feel like I'm something less? Ashton considered Dias' earlier words for some time, then whispered, "I.. I am worried about what they did to me, I'll admit - because I don't know what they did.. it's just unknown, and weird. And I feel like.. um, like something that's been smashed and put back together again." That was somewhat literal - he'd been cut open, and a part of him had been sawed off. And he felt like Gyoro and Ururun had been permanently ripped from him, no matter how kind their words were. Those facts wouldn't just go away, no matter how many firm words Dias threw at them.
"It hurts," Ashton confessed. "But not as bad now." Of course the pills hadn't kicked in yet, and likely wouldn't for the rest of the night, but.. here was Dias.
Ashton paused, licking his lips nervously; they'd felt suddenly dry. Then he also reached up, brushing some of Dias' own hair behind his ear - but his hand lingered there for a moment, as if deciding on something, then slowly started drifting back.
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Dias paused when he felt a gentle hand brush through his own hair, glancing down at Ashton questioningly as it almost reluctantly pulled away. He was still, somewhere in the back of his mind, aware of how Ashton felt about him, and that was more daring than the other man usually got. As was natural for Dias, he wondered if this wasn't a sign of something wrong - if the medicine or the blood loss or the sheer trauma Ashton had suffered wasn't affecting him adversely. "Are you feeling all right?" he inquired.
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Was it the pain that was doing it? Because the pain was more than there.
He wondered for a second what made Dias ask if he was all right. Was it that obvious that he just wasn't feeling himself tonight? W-well, maybe so, but ... Worriedly, he shifted a little bit, his hand hovering right above his own chest as if he were afraid to rest it back down, as if he was going to do something that he likely never would.
He took a long, deep breath, wondering if he was really feeling all right enough to answer truthfully, then after some time he realized Dias was probably waiting for a reply, and honesty was thrown out the window. "Oh.. ah, oh. Um. Uh, y-yeah. I'm fine, Dias, really," Ashton stammered, finding himself blushing (though he wondered if he should even be able to blush - but apparently blood loss didn't preclude such a thing.)
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And there was Ashton, blushing and ducking his head again. Dias shifted and leaned forward slightly, trying to get a better view of Ashton's face. If the blood loss or the medicine was affecting him adversely in some way...
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No, no, listen to Dias, he was telling himself. What would make him consider Claude, Leon, and Dias completely different people? ..He'd already thought about it, actually. No. These were his friends. He'd had his friends back on Expel, but right now, at this moment, these were the friends closest to him, and nothing.. nothing could break them.
Ashton believed in his friends - why couldn't he believe in himself?
His friends were so close to him. Dias was - .. so close to him. Literally, and.. and he was leaning closer. Why? Was this..?! Was Dias leaning in for.. what he thought he was? Was this the moment he'd dreamed of for so long?
If it was, then well.. well.. Ashton could at least meet him halfway, couldn't he..? It seemed selfish to let Dias do all the work-
Without thinking any more on the subject, Ashton was closing his eyes, leaning up and rather tenderly pressing his lips to Dias', a hand gently brushing his friend's cheek.
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Dias' eyes widened as the thought slowly made its way across synapses that had been all but shocked into immobility. Ashton was kissing him. Of all possible eventualities, this had...
...well, to be entirely honest, this had not been that unexpected. Forced to view his actions without justifications or excuses, Dias recognized readily enough that while he may not have consciously invited things to have come this far, subconsciously he had made a cascade of choices that had put the two of them in a position that couldn't possibly be defined as unromantic. Dias had in fact told himself there were rational, platonic explanations for why he was so protective of Ashton, why Xigbar's constant pushing himself upon his friend aggravated him to such a degree, why he'd chosen to hold Ashton in his arms like a newlywed rather than sit at his side as his friend. He hadn't even been truly aware of the choices he was making, or the reasons behind them...but in truth, the only thing truly unexpected about this turn of events was that shy, hesitant Ashton had made the first move before Dias had acknowledged in his own mind that he wanted to.
But when confronted with it this directly, when given a very clearly-defined choice, Dias couldn't deny the fact that this was...pleasant. Awkward, unexpected, possibly dangerous in that he had no idea how it would affect his friendship with Ashton, but he was liking it. There was no way in the world he could tell himself that it was enjoyable simply because Ashton was his friend. He liked it because, on some level he hadn't even been aware of until finally forced to ask himself the question, he was attracted to Ashton in the same way that Ashton was attracted to him.
Dias wondered, very briefly, how long it would have taken him to realize it if Ashton hadn't unexpectedly taken the initiative.
These thoughts flashed through his mind surprisingly quickly in real time, although inside his head the process seemed to take years. But finally he became aware of the fact that some action was required on his part in response...and really, his course of action was obvious.
After a long moment of hesitation, he kissed back. It was an inexperienced effort; he'd never kissed anyone before.
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And then Dias' mouth started to return the kiss. No, no, he was starting to share it - no, whatever it was, it didn't matter what the words were. There were no intelligible words in Ashton's head right now.
He simply couldn't believe it.
He.. he couldn't believe he'd just... up and done that, that he'd worked up the impossible courage to do what he'd dreamed of for so long. He'd never imagined it to be as intimate and personal as this, though, with Dias' strong arms cradling him, and both of them completely unskilled at this but not really caring.
Xigbar and Luxord had done little to prepare Ashton for this first true kiss, but honestly the swordsman preferred it that way.
How long had Ashton waited for the Dias in his own time and this Dias - his Dias - to feel like this? It was irrelevant now, because here he was, locked in the embrace of his friend-but-more-than-friend. Whatever they were, whatever this made them. Of course this would change things, but Ashton was too absolutely high right now to care.
His eyes opened to half-mast, then all the way, as if disbelieving what he was doing. Their lips parted; Ashton took a much-needed breath.
Now he was supposed to say something, he knew this - but all he could do was gently brush his hand back across Dias' cheek and into his hair, in total awe. Maybe.. actions really did speak louder than words.
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