Dark Side Of The Moon (9/19)
Title: Dark Side Of The Moon
Chapters: 9/19 ( Prologue | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 )
Authors: narya86 & tetila
Pairing: Daniel Agger/Fernando Torres
Rating: Overall NC-17.
Disclaimer: More fiction probably isn't possible. We just borrowed the names of certain people... ;)
Summary: The first demon had died under Fernando’s hands when he had been nine. Daniel had always tried to stay away from Hunters, for obvious reasons.
Chapter 9
Close your eyes
Let me touch you now
Let me give you something that is real
Close the door
Leave your fears behind
Let me give you what you’re giving me
When I am with you
There’s no reason to pretend that
When I am with you
I feel flames again
Just put me inside you
I would never ever leave… you
~ Vast ~
***
Under different circumstances Fernando would have been freaked out. Mortified, or appalled even. If he only had enough energy and concentration to form a single thought. Because there were fingers moving inside of him, gentle but insistent, stringing chords in him he hadn’t even known existed. Reducing him to a shaking, moaning, ecstatic mess that had erased the word ‘stop’ or anything related to it from his vocabulary.
And then Daniel twisted his hand, pressing down and forward, hitting that something inside him again that had brought him to this state and now made his body go rigid. He shivered and gasped, jerking a little against the dark-haired, his ragged breathing turned into soft whimpers and muffled moans as he hid his flushed face in his pillow. His heart was pounding against his ribs, his blood pulsing in his veins like fire, each twist made his cock twitch in Daniel’s hand and he couldn’t stop shuddering, couldn’t seem to draw enough breath into his lungs.
When the familiar sense of falling gripped Fernando again it was enough to nudge him over the edge, taking hold of his whole body, drawing all life from him, white light exploding behind his eyelids. He didn’t even have enough energy for a moan.
When consciousness returned to him Fernando blinked and realised Daniel was lying on top of him, most of his weight still resting on his arms though, one hand stoking sweaty hair out of his face before he leaned down for a quick kiss.
“You okay?” he asked, his voice sounding thick and rough and Fernando could only nod weakly, his thoughts still fuzzy and jumbled. Yes, he was definitely okay… feeling all light and spent and warm and comfortable… why shouldn’t he be? He kind of just wanted…
“Then go to sleep,” Daniel’s low voice was speaking out his only wish right now and he nodded again. There were lips against his own for a brief moment, soft, warm, and before he could really respond once more on his forehead. Then the weight on his body disappeared completely.
“Where are you going?” his sleepy mind couldn’t help asking, confused at the sudden loss of warmth, and he blinked to focus his eyes on Daniel who had stopped in his steps, back still to him.
There was a moment’s silence before Fernando received a short answer. “Bathroom.”
“But you don’t have to…” His sluggish mind caught up with him only then and realisation dawned on him before he could even finish his sentence. “Oh.”
He could hear the quiet intake of breath and then Daniel hesitatingly turned his head to look back at Fernando. His green eyes seemed entirely black in the dim light as he held Fernando’s gaze for a few seconds. But before the Hunter could come up with anything to do, say, think, he turned away and vanished through the door to the adjourning bathroom.
With a sigh Fernando let his head fall back onto the bed, eyes feeling heavy as his body just wanted to rest. But his mind was stuck on the thought of how he always forgot how much this, what they were doing, affected Daniel too - and yet he had never actually seen him… well…
Fernando blinked, struggling to keep his eyes open. He actually wanted to think about what was happening between them, what they were doing, because part of him knew even now that he was getting deeper into this than he had ever thought he would. Than he had even wanted. But Dan was… he was so…
Barely two seconds later Fernando didn’t even really know anymore what he had been thinking about. Sleep was claiming him irresistibly and already a few moments later he was gone.
***
“You’re joking.”
“Definitely not.”
“Come on… a light bulb?!”
Fernando straightened and gazed incredulously from the glass case to Daniel and back.
The dark-haired had agreed to Fernando’s suggestion at breakfast to finally give him a tour of the house so that he got to see more than entrance hall, corridors and bedroom. The fact that they were on their feet now for about one and a half hours itself was telling enough not just of the size of the house but the treasures it contained as well.
There had been rooms for various epochs and different kinds of artefacts, statues, paintings, clothing, basic commodities, a library… that alone had made Fernando’s head spin. He was used to being around old, really old books in their archives in the headquarters, but this… And then there was the fact that Daniel had mentioned that he owned other houses in different parts of the world, mainly Europe, for similar uses. Fernando had stopped asking there.
Right now though, they were in a room containing various modern articles of daily use that Fernando couldn’t for the life of him understand how they could ever be worth anything. Like a light bulb.
Daniel, though, only shrugged with an amused expression. “Not today of course. But they already stopped production of those, and in two, three hundred years…”
“Right, of course. I forgot you are… old,” Fernando answered, smiling slightly at the other man. It was true, sometimes he really forgot. “What was the most ridiculous thing someone ever paid for?”
His answer was a non-explaining sound and a shrug. “I don’t know. What’s even ridiculous? A five-hundred year old spoon? Two-hundred year old underwear? It’s all in the eye of the beholder,” Daniel concluded, winking. “But I can see I won’t impress you with light bulbs and batteries. Want to see the music room?”
“Of course,” Fernando nodded.
The room was bright and airy with big windows and the sun shining through them painted the walls and floor in a soft, gentle light. Here there were glass cases as well, containing various instruments from all epochs, some that looked like flutes, some like guitars or violins, some Fernando had no idea how they should even be played. The most familiar of it all was the piano standing beside one of the large windows, looking gorgeous as the black wood gleamed in the sunlight. Fernando was almost scared to accidently touch it as he stopped in front of it, Dan watching him from a few steps back.
“You play?” he couldn’t help asking. “Or do you want to sell it?”
“Yes, someday I’ll sell it,” Daniel shrugged, watching Fernando round the instrument. “It was made in 1781, so I’ll give it a couple more years. But… as for your first question, it was always kept in perfect condition and I always see to it that it’s tuned.”
Fernando carefully ran his fingertips over the closed wooden lid of the piano and, after Daniel nodded encouragingly at him, cautiously opened it. “In another life I would have liked to learn how to play,” he said wistfully, softly pressing down on a key and a note echoed in the room. “Play me something?”
He had actually counted on a polite rejection, but after a short silence Daniel’s answer was a quiet, “Okay.”
Fernando quickly made room, his heart jumping around happily in his chest even though he couldn’t really explain why. Maybe because Dan had so readily granted him his wish. Or because there would actually be someone playing something for him.
The dark-haired didn’t seem unsure about what to play at all. As soon as he had sat down and adjusted himself, his fingers found the black and white keys with ease and a few soft notes filled the sun-lit room.
It was a calm song but not sad and not really slow either, peacefully gentle, affectionate, the notes caressing as they climbed up and down in height.
The song was beautiful and the soft notes made something in his chest tighten. The thought was probably ridiculous, but it felt like the notes Daniel played were just for his ears alone, like he was something special, something precious and it almost made him want to hold his breath, as if in this way he could make sure he stayed in this moment forever. Even watching Dan play was almost as beautiful as listening to him. The pale fingers gliding over the piano keys with natural grace, his face relaxed, eyes lowered. He looked content, peaceful. Breath-taking.
The song finally slowed to a last repetition of the main theme, almost hesitant, like a lingering afterthought, and then it fell silent. Just as reluctantly Daniel’s fingers slipped from the keys and one hand came to rest in his lap while the other unnecessarily drew some shorts strands of hair back, an almost uncertain gesture while his eyes remained lowered.
A calm silence set over the room and Fernando felt like the song Daniel had played, every note, caressed him as it still ran through him, soft and mellow, tingling all over. His knees had gotten weak and his palms were clam. “That was beautiful,” he almost breathed, his voice sounding harsh and loud in his one ears in that moment, making him wince.
He could see the small smile his words brought to Daniel’s lips, and the dark-haired turned his head just for a moment to catch his eyes before looking away again. “I’m glad you like it,” he answered and gently closed the lid of the piano.
Fernando didn’t know exactly why he did what he did then. Maybe he was still touched by the song, he wasn’t sure, but before he had even made the conscious decision he leaned down and placed a soft, chaste kiss on the corner of Daniel's mouth, lingering there for a second or two before pulling back. “I really did.”
For a moment it seemed like his action had frozen the creature as the green eyes only stared up at him, the sunlight moving and changing the shades only noticeably since they were still so close. But then, life having come back to him, Daniel turned his body towards Fernando and reached up, both hands grasping his face ever so gently to draw him close again for another, this time full-on kiss.
Fernando remained unmoving under Daniel’s lips for a moment, and then he slowly began to respond, still nervous and hesitantly kissed Daniel back. A tiny spark of… of something moved deep inside him and… no this was just too much.
Fernando drew back and broke the kiss, putting only a little space between them as he still had his eyes closed. When he opened them again he saw Daniel’s eyes mere inches away from his own, studying him. Hastily he scrambled backward, coughing slightly. “Uhh, I really should go,” he mumbled, biting his lips as he slowly moved backwards, trying not to notice the taste that still lingered on them.
“Fernando…” Dan started but the Hunter didn’t wait to hear what he had to say, instead turning around and rushing out the door, all the while trying to tell himself that it couldn’t have been anxiety he had heard in that one word.
***
The streets below had been empty for at least fifty minutes now, even the scarce nightly passers-by having retreated to their beds already as the hours grew small.
Daniel had barely moved from his spot on one of the window sills facing the Calle de Alfonso XII, back against the window frame, knees bent and feet resting on the sill, eyes trained onto the street below.
Five nights had passed now since that day he had last seen Fernando. That was at least two more than had been usual those three weeks before, and with every night that passed the feeling sitting in his chest, around his heart, tightened.
He had already regretted kissing Fernando that day, out of the bedroom and away from every thought of the purpose of sucking energy, just because he had wanted to, had regretted it from the moment on the Hunter had pulled back from him.
God damn him, how could he have been so stupid? Where had the self-control gone he had built over hundreds of years?
Unseeingly his eyes rested on the dark park, the high silhouettes of the trees before the grass, black on black.
Maybe he had chased him away in that one moment - or he had simply not made it out of a fight. It was a thought that Daniel just couldn’t lock away.
What if… what if…
Finally, after about three hours of not directing his gaze anywhere else but the street outside the window, Daniel lowered his head, digging he heels of his hands into his eyes. Damn it all, he had to know.
And there was only one option he had.
***
A heavy knocking on the door woke Fernando from his daze on the couch. He groaned in annoyance as he carefully pulled himself up and walked over to the door without even knowing what time it was, only that morning had obviously come.
When he opened the door, blinking sleepiness away, he was greeted by the sight of Daniel standing there, letting out a breath as he saw him as though he’d been holding it.
Only about a second later though, the dark-haired tensed again, gaze immediately drawn to the healing wound on his left cheek.
“What… are you alright?” came the rushed question.
Daniel. Fuck.
Fernando had wanted to go to the other man, but the first day after the kiss it had felt awkward and strange, so he thought he would wait a day or two but, of course, his plans had been crossed. “I’m alright. I just had a run in with a shapeshifter and… well, it caught me off guard,” Fernando shrugged, moving back to make space for Daniel to enter.
He complied immediately and stepped close, tipping up Fernando’s head to be able to take a closer look at the scratch on his cheek. “What else?” he wanted to know, thumb fleetingly brushing over his cheekbone right over it.
“Just… scratches,” Fernando mumbled, trying to evade Daniel’s gaze.
Of course his body was still a little sore, the skin on his left cheek tight where the thing had caught him hard across the face, but most of his battle wounds had healed. That was one of the few perks of his job. He never needed long to recover.
Before it became awkward Daniel stepped away again, looking torn between relief and still something like agitation. “That’s why you didn’t come?”
Fernando flushed as he felt the need to justify himself to the other man. “I was hurt… and yeah I heal fast, but I’m still human, alright,” he huffed. “And I would have come over again because I slept like shit today.”
“Really?”
Fernando wasn’t exactly sure what to make of the question, especially since he couldn’t quite figure out the tone in Daniel’s voice and neither his face which looked strangely torn. But then the dark-haired took a step closer and lay one hand on his uninjured cheek, brushing his lips against Fernando’s quickly, gently, before muttering, “Let’s just do that now then. It’s early, you have all day, you can sleep, tonight you’ll be fit for patrol…” His voice trailed off but just then Fernando felt the first familiar tingle at the base of his spine.
He couldn’t help but groan at the sensation, almost greedily leaning into Daniel’s touch as his lips eagerly searched for contact instinctively, like an addict waiting for his next hit.
As if it had been the approval Daniel had hoped for he deepened the kiss immediately, tugging Fernando closer against his own body. His moves and touches spoke of an urgency that felt new to the Hunter - maybe it really was because the creature had been worried about him. The thought made Fernando raise his hand and bury it in the short dark hair, the other wrapping around Dan’s waist, already drawing him backwards and further into the living room on the way to his bedroom.
When Daniel broke the kiss they were both breathless and Fernando’s body was tingling with an aching need as his forehead rested against Daniel’s. The other man held his gaze for a long drawn out moment before his hand moved down and under Fernando’s shirt, drawing a low and needy sound from him as Daniel’s fingers skimmed across his stomach and chest to pull the shirt up. It tousled his hair before it fell to the ground and Daniel followed a trail of kisses down to the faint slopes of his muscles, caressing a hardening nub with small bites and licks.
Fernando swallowed drily and let his head fall back, fingers threaded through the dark hair again, the tingling sensation having filled his whole body. He faintly heard words breathed against his stomach, “Remember, if you don’t want to… only…” but they barely registered in his mind, his thoughts dominated by the want to have more contact, skin on skin, now, because that always made it better.
Fernando let go of Dan’s hair as soon as the wet heat of the other man’s mouth found a particular sensitive spot on his hipbone, making him squirm and shiver while his fingers were moving down to Daniel’s shoulders, clenching and tugging at his shirt.
“Oh fuck, Dan…”
Somewhere in the back of his mind he knew it shouldn’t feel this good, but all clear thoughts were dulled by the small shocks that travelled up and down through his body as Daniel took small bursts of energy.
Impatiently he tugged at the cloth of Daniel’s shirt, messily managing to discard it while nimble fingers were getting rid of the boxer shorts he had tried to sleep in. His knees almost buckled and a surprised shout left his lips as a warm tongue swiped over the tip of his erection. He knew that Daniel had a big advantage on everyone he had ever had any sexual relationship with but fuck, he had never been so aroused by anyone else, no one else had ever held him in the palm of their hand so easily. And Fernando wanted to feel scared, or alarmed at least… but it seemed like he actually had come to place trust in an inhuman being.
He almost protested when the hot sensation left his cock, but before the soft protest could leave his lips, it was half drowned by a kiss and teeth that bit not so gently into his bottom lip, then sucking lightly on it. He felt the arms that wrapped around his waist and the lips that never left his mouth as Daniel gently walked them to the bed where they both tumbled onto it.
They had done this enough times now that it was a familiar sensation to Fernando already, their bodies tangling on the sheets, lips kissing whatever place they could reach, hands touching and stroking, the tingling feeling everywhere their skin met making Fernando light-headed. Bursts of light exploded before his eyelids when suddenly a large bust of energy was taken from him and he cried out, head falling back onto the pillow. Vaguely he was aware of the sounds of his opening bedside table drawer, rummaging, swearing, then there were lips against his own again, rushed words.
“I’ll be right back, just a second…”
Reluctantly Fernando let go of him, not understanding what was happening, why the warm presence of the other man had left him. He tried to take deep breaths to calm himself, until Daniel was back in the room, on the bed, and he felt something slick touching his entrance.
“Dan,” he whimpered at the sensation and his eyes flew open. “Fuck… wait,” he choked out, throwing his head back, sweat dampening his hair as, despite his words, his body started to rock into the touch.
The fingers stilled but didn’t draw away and as Fernando blinked he saw concerned eyes watching him attentively. “What?”
Fernando swallowed nervously, wetting his dry lips as sensations and thoughts were jumbled and all over the place. He was sure Daniel would stop if he only said so, but how badly he just wanted to give in, to just enjoy everything Daniel could give him. Last time the dark-haired had done this he had been already too far gone to think clearly about it for even one second, and even now it was difficult to get one single thought straight. But he remembered the feeling and wanted it again, so after a brief moment he looked away from the searching gaze watching his face and barely whispered, “Nothing.”
Relief flickered over Daniel’s face and he bent down for a kiss, a throughout, very gentle one that captured most of Fernando’s attention as two fingertips worked their way inside of him. And like last time he didn’t even have the time to find the feeling strange, the energetic connection between them gripping him fully again. He just didn’t think about what Dan was doing, only let the sensations wash over him that seemed to take him to new heights every time, willingly opening himself up in more than one sense.
They were kissing again when the fingers were drawn away, but he didn’t have to wait for more than a few seconds until they were replaced, larger, hotter, but there was only a short, dull sting as it slid in and was completely drowned by his shudder accompanying another surge of energy.
Fernando cried out a breathless moan, his entire body trembling and clenching around Daniel, the energy leaving him in bright pulses of colours behind his eyes as he felt how Daniel began to move. For a short moment he heard the small voice in the back of his mind screaming, Fuck, what are you doing?!, before he yielded completely in body and mind, not having enough energy to listen to it. His legs had instinctively found their way around Daniel’s hips, meeting his movements, whimpering breathlessly when he found that spot again.
It was a strange, new feeling, the powerful body moving over and against him with strong, deep thrusts, hearing the quickened breaths against his ear, the small sounds, tell-tale signs of slipping control. And it was hearing his own name in a soft, hitched moan for the first time in his life that sent his body into shuddering, ecstatic relief that didn’t really stop until the thrusts inside of him did and he knew that his lover had come as well.
It was several long moments before Fernando felt Daniel slowly slipping out of him. He closed his eyes and let his legs fall back down to the sheets as his body still basked in the afterglow of his orgasm. He felt dazed and confused. What had he just done?
There was a gentle hand caressing his side for a moment, then the weight on the mattress shifted and the warm presence was gone from his side. Fernando blinked in confusion and just saw Daniel slipping through the door to his bathroom, only a moment later coming back out with a small towel in his hands. When he saw Fernando’s gaze directed at him he paused for a moment, but then offered a hesitant smile before sitting back down next to him. With soft, careful moves he used the towel to clean Fernando’s pale skin.
“Are you alright?” he asked softly without looking up.
Fernando could only nod in return, not trusting himself to speak.
“Okay…”
Daniel crunched the towel up when he was done and leaned down to him, propping himself up on one elbow and carefully drawing the tips of his fingers through Fernando’s sweaty hair.
“You should sleep.”
The soft gesture made Fernando hum in content as he leaned into the touch and closed his eyes. He was definitely tired, drained, but he didn’t slip into sleep immediately, his mind slowly coming to rest.
Next to him the bed shifted just a little and even though already opening one eyelid just a little cost so much strength he did it to see Dan having lain down completely on his side, carefully, eyes trained on him. And without even thinking about it Fernando had turned his head towards him, half buried in the crook of his neck. The warmth lingering there, the familiar, intoxicating scent, the soft brush of fingers in his hair created a cocoon around him and for some completely strange, illogical reason he felt safe. And before he had a chance to do anything else he drifted off to peaceful sleep.
***
He’d had sex.
Okay, that alone wouldn’t be a bad thing. But he’d had sex with a man. With Daniel, who wasn’t even just a man, for fuck’s sake! And he couldn’t even say it had been horrible, quite the opposite. He had never felt anything more intense in his life.
Right at this thought Fernando blushed as he remembered Daniel moving inside of him, the sounds he had made and how gentle he must have been, since he didn’t remember feeling any pain.
Fernando’s head was thrown to the right with the impact of the blow across his face and a short sharp pain twinged in his almost healed cheek as the vampire he was fighting brought him back to the here and now. Spurring his body back into motion and with one, two, three well placed hits he grabbed the vampire’s neck and twisted hard, dusting him in the process.
He watched for a moment how the dust was blown apart and vanished from his sight before turning away and walking on.
Fuck, they had really had sex.
Fernando groaned and rubbed his eyes. The realisation had hit him only when he had woken up that afternoon in his bed, naked, Daniel gone but the sheets ever so faintly carrying his scent. And it had knocked all breath right out of him.
What in all the world was he supposed to do now?
Maybe this whole thing wasn’t such a good idea after all. Fernando knew that he already was in far deeper than he had ever wanted, ever thought possible. Maybe he really should try to find another possibility of ensuring sleep without…
It was as if stepping right out of his nightmare, around a corner out of a small, narrow side alley further down the road. At first, for a fleeting moment, Fernando thought it was just another vampire, the hairs at the back of his neck standing up. But then he saw its pale, horrifyingly familiar silhouette in the moonlight, the unproportinally long arms, legs, the clicking claws.
Fear and panic gripped him first like an ice cold wave, then growing like wildfire, overwhelming and choking.
His body frozen so that he couldn’t move a single muscle.
***
With a sigh Daniel picked up the paper again, once more starting to read from the top. It was a letter of intent from one of his best customers regarding a painting from Diego Velázquez that Daniel had kept under wraps until only recently, prompting a multitude of offers that he now tried to work through.
If only his thoughts wouldn’t drift off every time before he had reached the signature of the letter.
It had taken him four hours to gather the will to leave Fernando alone in his bed and make his way back home. And three more hours after he had arrived there before he could even think of doing anything productive. But who could blame him, really?
He didn’t regret what had happened, far from it. Not one second, and he never would - what Fernando thought of that, though, remained to be seen. But at least Daniel had been granted this, whatever followed now.
With another, this time defeated sigh he lowered the letter onto his desk and let his head fall into his hands.
The ring of his doorbell disrupted the silence and ripped him out of his thoughts.
With furrowed eyebrows Daniel stood up and left the room, quick, light steps carrying him down into the entrance hall. Just today, right before he had left, he had left his key on Fernando’s bedside table, not exactly sure what he wanted to achieve but simply hoping that it would be taken the right way. And now that he hadn’t come back to return it.
The moment he saw the Hunter by the door in the hall he knew something was dead wrong. Fernando’s face was chalk-white and even across the hall he saw the little tremors that made the other man’s body shake. But before he could say or ask anything, Fernando had crossed the space between them and flung himself into his arms, making them stumble backwards onto the stairs. Somehow Daniel managed to break their fall while at the same time not letting go of Fernando’s trembling form, shaken to the core himself by the brief flash of tear-streaks he had caught on the Hunter’s face just the second before.
Instinctively his arms had come up to hold Fernando close to him, the moisture he could feel trickling onto his neck like a small stab to his heart.
“Fernando, what’s going on? My God, what happened?”
For a moment he thought the crying man hadn’t heard him, but then the he felt him shaking his head in the crook of his neck and more choking sobs shaking his body. He wanted to draw back and look at the other man’s face, but Fernando didn’t let him, his fingers strongly holding onto the material of his shirt.
“Hey, it’s alright,” Daniel muttered then for lack of better options, calmingly drawing one hand over Fernando’s back, not knowing how else to help him. The blond was distraught but he had no idea how or why, only that obviously Daniel himself wasn’t the reason or he wouldn’t be the one Fernando sought solace from. But it broke his heart to see him like this. “Please calm down, it’s fine…”
“No… nothing is fine…” was what Fernando answered in a small, hoarse voice between choked gasps for breath. “I just… turned and ran away… it’s all my fault… all my fault. I just couldn’t…”
Daniel couldn’t quite make sense of what the Hunter was stuttering, having trouble understanding every word in the first place. So he just kept his hold on him, gently but reassuringly, asking as calmingly as he was able to, “What couldn’t you? Sshhh, it’ okay, just tell me what happened.”
“I couldn’t fight it… the Agurauk.” Fernando broke off, dissolving into a new choked sobs as he tried to continue. “But… I’m a Hunter and I should… it’s my job…”
At that Daniel suddenly understood what was wrong with Fernando. He sighed and cradled the blond head with one hand, brushing his lips over his tousled hair fleetingly. “That thing you dream about… you met it again, and couldn’t fight it?” he asked to clarify.
A nod.
“And that’s what got you so worked up?” he continued asking carefully while the fingers in his shirt clenched rhythmically.
“I’m a Hunter and I should be able to do my job… to just k-kill it, but now… because of me it will kill more people and, and… it’s all my fault…” Daniel knew Fernando was close to hysterical now by the way he just rambled on. “I’m supposed to s-save people’s lives, instead I can’t get this fucking t-thing out of my head, go and get myself addicted and get so afraid of it that I just run away crying… how pathetic is that? How can I even call myself a Hunter, the people would be so much better off with s-someone else…”
“No, Fernando, stop,” Daniel interrupted him resolutely and finally drew away from him, forcing Fernando to look at him even though he tried to avoid it. The reddened eyes were filled with bitterness, fear and self-reproach, occasional tears still spilling out and he was still trembling. “That’s not true. You’ve saved so many lives already, you go out every night and put your own on the line for others, don’t you dare play that down. Don’t ever think those people would be better off without you, that anything would be better if you weren’t here anymore -”
“If I wouldn’t, they’d have someone else,” Fernando muttered, pressing his eyes closed, expression tortured, Daniel couldn’t think of any other word for it. “There would always be another Hunter, and he wouldn’t be such a coward…”
“God, no, you’re wrong,” the dark-haired shook his head, both hands cradling Fernando’s face, thumbs brushing away the tears almost desperately. “You’re an amazing Hunter, believe me, you’re not the first one I’ve seen. But you’re not a machine, you’re human. You have flaws like everyone else does, just like the others do, but that doesn’t compromise your abilities, or your worth, or your importance to so many people.” He broke off for a moment to raise his head for an affectionate, gentle kiss to his forehead. “I can only speak for myself, but I’m sure every single person in this city would agree. To me you’ll always be sacred.”
Shifting a bit, Fernando buried his face back against Daniels chest, still sobbing as he just shook his head back and forth. And even though it hurt to see, Daniel realised then that right now, Fernando was past the point where rationality would get him out of the shock he was still in. And since words failed him, he took the one option he had left. He took down the barriers between them and was immediately hit by a wave of energy like water from a dam that had been broken, and he forcefully had to decrease the amount that was coming through. He heard Fernando gasp, felt the fingers digging into his skin, but he just continued gently stroking his hair, holding him close until the trembling subsided and the body in his arms relaxed, exhausted. Then he closed his eyes and waited until his heart rate returned to something resembling normalcy. All the while holding on to the human in his arms.
***
You think I fly like an angel without any cares
Higher and higher as if I’m breathing sacred air
Everybody’s ready to fly
But the storms are never so very far
And you think my life is shining like a star
But the fears are never very far
The nightmare’s never very far
We always seem so much braver than we ever are
We always dream we’d be braver but we never are
~ Karine Hannah ~
~ TBC in Chapter 10 ~
Note: For those of you who are interested, the song that inspired Dan playing the piano can be found here.