The Long Sleep [Open]
[ This takes place after the exorcism of Haku thread. ]
Haku woke slowly, with an ache in his head that was like a deep bruise, tender and throbbing. For a long while, he simply stared at the ceiling, and remembered what it was like to breathe. In....out, the texture of the air in his mouth was strangely liberating. He affected a sigh, just to prove he could do so on command, a soft twitch that broke the spell of paralysis that sleep had cast on him. Real sleep, good sleep, not the forced, painful sleep he'd kept since the Nightmare King's corruption had taken hold.
It took a little effort to pull himself onto his elbows. Someone had covered him with a thick blanket and it was heavy enough to give him pause in pushing it back. His feet were bare when he swung them over the edge of the bed- his feet had always been bare, and thankfully he was dressed in his own Hakama and not the clinging plantsuit. Haku had had enough of close-clinging and constriction for a long while. The floor felt strange under his feet, and for a moment he staggered in trying to stand, as if the intervening days of sleeping had made him forget.
...and then he remembered what had happened, and between the revulsion and his own unsteadiness he had to sit. What had he done? What the must think of him.
Haku woke slowly, with an ache in his head that was like a deep bruise, tender and throbbing. For a long while, he simply stared at the ceiling, and remembered what it was like to breathe. In....out, the texture of the air in his mouth was strangely liberating. He affected a sigh, just to prove he could do so on command, a soft twitch that broke the spell of paralysis that sleep had cast on him. Real sleep, good sleep, not the forced, painful sleep he'd kept since the Nightmare King's corruption had taken hold.
It took a little effort to pull himself onto his elbows. Someone had covered him with a thick blanket and it was heavy enough to give him pause in pushing it back. His feet were bare when he swung them over the edge of the bed- his feet had always been bare, and thankfully he was dressed in his own Hakama and not the clinging plantsuit. Haku had had enough of close-clinging and constriction for a long while. The floor felt strange under his feet, and for a moment he staggered in trying to stand, as if the intervening days of sleeping had made him forget.
...and then he remembered what had happened, and between the revulsion and his own unsteadiness he had to sit. What had he done? What the must think of him.