Ficlet: Simple as That (Guy/Kyle)
Title: Simple as That
Pairing/Characters: Guy Gardner/Kyle Rayner
Rating: PG
Warnings: None needed
Summary: It's Guy's first full night of sleep after the events of "Blackest Night."
Word Count: 570
Notes: For crimsonquills ! Her birthday seemed a good time to post this little ficlet. Happy birthday to an awesome person! Mood: content. Prompt: For the first time in a long time...
Guy Gardner dropped onto his bed with a sigh. It had been way too long since he’d gotten any sleep--sure, a few minutes grabbed here and there between attacks of killer zombies or giant glowing space thingies, but never a full night of restful sleep. Okay, his bar was trashed. But he was home and he was going to sleep like a baby tonight, he sure was.
He was asleep before the thought finished in his head.
“He’s alive-- You’ll see--”
Kyle’s ring pulling away from him, no matter how much he held on. Pulling away.
Kyle’s hand in his, too heavy, no spirit animating it.
Kyle--
He woke up sweating and shaking, glanced at the clock. “Shit,” he muttered, rubbing at his eyes. Third time tonight. Every time he managed to fall asleep he could see it again, feel the ring leave his grip and speed into space, see Kyle’s body limp and broken--
“Stop it,” he muttered to himself. The worst part was in the dream, he didn’t even have his rage to sustain him, his anger to turn what he was feeling into power and vengeance. In the dream, all he had was grief. In the dream, all he had was--
”Damn it.” He threw the covers off, found a tissue, and blew his nose defiantly. “Maybe I just don’t feel like sleeping,” he growled as if someone in the empty room could hear him. He needed to take a walk, needed fresh air, needed to see--he cut the thought off brutally. “I’m just going for a walk,” he told the room. “I’m not going anywhere in particular.”
He was just about to turn out the lights when there was a knock at the door, making him jump. He opened it to find Kyle there, hair tousled, eyes bleary.
“I can’t sleep,” said Kyle. “Nightmares.”
“Hmph,” said Guy to cover up the fact that he wanted to grin. “Happens after a big battle. Or so I’ve been told.”
Kyle yawned and knuckled slightly reddened eyes. “Guy,” he said. “I keep seeing you in my nightmares.”
“I get that from a lot of people,” Guy said. “Come on in, since you’re here and all.”
Kyle wandered in and looked around the room, blinking. Guy’s joke hadn’t seemed to register at all. “I keep seeing you all red and bloody and dying and not even knowing it, your eyes all red and you don’t recognize me, you don’t even see me. I keep seeing it. So I needed to come and make sure you’re okay.”
“I’m fine,” Guy said.
“I needed to be with you,” Kyle said, and there it was, in his eyes and his voice, something Guy hadn’t even realized he wanted. But he realized it now.
“I needed to be with you too,” he said, slinging an arm around Kyle’s shoulders, as simple as that. It was as simple as that.
They slept together on Guy’s narrow bed that night. They didn’t kiss or anything, and Guy was pretty sure that would have bugged him any other night. But that night it was enough to have Kyle close, their bodies tight against each other, the clean soap scent of his hair nearby, and know he’d be there when Guy woke up.
For the first time in what seemed like forever, Guy slept without nightmares.
Pairing/Characters: Guy Gardner/Kyle Rayner
Rating: PG
Warnings: None needed
Summary: It's Guy's first full night of sleep after the events of "Blackest Night."
Word Count: 570
Notes: For crimsonquills ! Her birthday seemed a good time to post this little ficlet. Happy birthday to an awesome person! Mood: content. Prompt: For the first time in a long time...
Guy Gardner dropped onto his bed with a sigh. It had been way too long since he’d gotten any sleep--sure, a few minutes grabbed here and there between attacks of killer zombies or giant glowing space thingies, but never a full night of restful sleep. Okay, his bar was trashed. But he was home and he was going to sleep like a baby tonight, he sure was.
He was asleep before the thought finished in his head.
“He’s alive-- You’ll see--”
Kyle’s ring pulling away from him, no matter how much he held on. Pulling away.
Kyle’s hand in his, too heavy, no spirit animating it.
Kyle--
He woke up sweating and shaking, glanced at the clock. “Shit,” he muttered, rubbing at his eyes. Third time tonight. Every time he managed to fall asleep he could see it again, feel the ring leave his grip and speed into space, see Kyle’s body limp and broken--
“Stop it,” he muttered to himself. The worst part was in the dream, he didn’t even have his rage to sustain him, his anger to turn what he was feeling into power and vengeance. In the dream, all he had was grief. In the dream, all he had was--
”Damn it.” He threw the covers off, found a tissue, and blew his nose defiantly. “Maybe I just don’t feel like sleeping,” he growled as if someone in the empty room could hear him. He needed to take a walk, needed fresh air, needed to see--he cut the thought off brutally. “I’m just going for a walk,” he told the room. “I’m not going anywhere in particular.”
He was just about to turn out the lights when there was a knock at the door, making him jump. He opened it to find Kyle there, hair tousled, eyes bleary.
“I can’t sleep,” said Kyle. “Nightmares.”
“Hmph,” said Guy to cover up the fact that he wanted to grin. “Happens after a big battle. Or so I’ve been told.”
Kyle yawned and knuckled slightly reddened eyes. “Guy,” he said. “I keep seeing you in my nightmares.”
“I get that from a lot of people,” Guy said. “Come on in, since you’re here and all.”
Kyle wandered in and looked around the room, blinking. Guy’s joke hadn’t seemed to register at all. “I keep seeing you all red and bloody and dying and not even knowing it, your eyes all red and you don’t recognize me, you don’t even see me. I keep seeing it. So I needed to come and make sure you’re okay.”
“I’m fine,” Guy said.
“I needed to be with you,” Kyle said, and there it was, in his eyes and his voice, something Guy hadn’t even realized he wanted. But he realized it now.
“I needed to be with you too,” he said, slinging an arm around Kyle’s shoulders, as simple as that. It was as simple as that.
They slept together on Guy’s narrow bed that night. They didn’t kiss or anything, and Guy was pretty sure that would have bugged him any other night. But that night it was enough to have Kyle close, their bodies tight against each other, the clean soap scent of his hair nearby, and know he’d be there when Guy woke up.
For the first time in what seemed like forever, Guy slept without nightmares.