"Night"
Title: "Night"
Copyright Notice: All characters owned by the BBC, BBC Wales and BBC America
Plot spoilers: Robin Hood After Season 2, Ep 13(Lost Scene)
Pairings: Much/Robin
Warnings: None.
Rating: G
Summary: Much has a nightmare.
Word prompt by
rochvelleth
for the Treat Much Right! Summer challenge.
More about it here!
Night
by
DarkenTwisted
Much had never been afraid of the night before, but coming back from the Holy Land a second time, had changed him. It wasn’t the night that scared Much, it was what was in the night and what the night brought out in him. The forest was a different place during the day, sometimes damp and cold, but always beautiful. At night, it metamorphosed. Trees, green and benign by day, became a hundred limbed monsters that creaked and groaned in the dark. Sounds of forest animals would get magnified and echoed. He dreaded nightfall because that was when the nightmares started. He would doze safely only by the light of the fading campfire, like a child in the dark, sleeping only by candlelight, its pale glow kept the bogeymen at bay.
When the fires died, the blackness crept in and sleep failed to carry him through morning, he would wake with a start from dreams of torment and death and lie there in the dark waiting for the night to take him. Sometimes he would sob softly with fear, his body covered with cold sweat. The only thing that kept the darkness away, besides the campfires, was Robin.
In time, Robin had become his secret talisman against the night. His mere presence not only kept the demons of the night at bay, but his mind’s demons as well. He would tell Robin he slept at his feet to protect him and out of habit from being his servant so many years but he knew this wasn’t true. In the dark, knowing Robin was there, comforted him. When he woke in fear, he would huddle closer till he felt his former master’s warmth. He hoped Robin wouldn’t notice.
This night had been particularly bad. He woke from nightmares of Sheriff’s men and Saracen swords slicing his body. He was terrified and screaming and alone in battle, abandoned by his master and friends. He woke to Robin violently shaking his grip off his legs and looking at him like he lost his mind.
Much! What are you doing?! The archer’s face was a mix of concern and annoyance.
Much put his hand to his eyes, wiping away hot tears that had collected while he slept, "Sorry Master Robin, I must have been dreaming."
"More like a nightmare, if you ask me," Robin said in a harsh whisper. He turned over and closed his eyes as Much shifted again at his feet. His eyes sprang back open at the movement. "Much, can you move please?"
Much’s heart sank. "You wish me to move, Robin? Where to?"
"Anywhere but there, please?" Robin’s voice was tinged with discontent.
Much got up and gathered his thin blanket and after casting his former master a rueful look, went over by the fire that was now reduced to smouldering coals. He was prepared for a fitful night’s sleep when, after a while, he heard Robin's voice again, this time with an odd tone of concern.
"Much, where did you go?"
Much pouted, "You wished me away did you not? I’m over here."
"I didn’t mean you had to move that far. Come back over here," the archer replied in a hoarse whisper.
He sighed, "Make up your mind, Master," Much gathered his bedclothes, went back over to where Robin was and lay down not far from where he was originally.
Robin raised up and looked down at his friend, "No, not down there, Up here."
Much was taken aback, "Up there?"
"Yes, now come on!"
Much did not have to be told twice as he eagerly scooted up beside Robin and they combined blankets and Robin shared his neck roll with his former servant.
"There, no more nightmares." Robin said satisfactorily as he draped an arm protectively over the blonde man, "I’ll keep you safe, just like in the Holy Land," Robin smiled in the dark.
"Yes, safe," Much replied drowsily, already nodding off again.
"Much?"
Much popped open one eye, "Yes, Master Robin?"
"It’s ok to be afraid sometimes. The night scares me too. Robin squeezed his shoulder, Night, Much."
Much smiled and nuzzled closer to his beloved friend, "Night, Master Robin."
From that night on, they would sleep this way, holding each other till dawn, fending off each other’s nightmares and getting through the darkness that lay ahead.
FIN