Melodramatic Metathesiophobe

Surprise

The gig went fine. Life went back to normal. Mikey made plenty of visits and they explored different boundaries in a quest to find out what was best for both of them. Through conversation, Ray found that Mikey ended up having a more interesting past than he bargained for, and it was funny to hear about how many times he'd had to shoot people down. Ray supposed, though, with a jawline like that, he could probably have anyone he wanted.

The full moon came way too near way too fast. The aches returned and the small voice in his head got louder and he was itchy and frantic and distracted and overall freaking out. One of the worst things about it this time was Mikey. He'd seen him change before, that wasn't what Ray was scared of, he was scared he'd still lose himself and that he might hurt--that he might bite--Mikey.

It didn't help that he came over late the night before, knocking, surprising Ray when he opened the door.

"Oh, Mikey," he said, blinking, "hi, what are you doing here so late?" he was doing his best to keep himself calm.

"I'm here to stay for the moon," Mikey said simply, letting himself right in, walking right past him as Ray sputtered in the doorway.

"Wh- no, no, Mikey, what??" Ray finally got his limbs to work, following him in as he set his small backpack of things on the couch, "no, you can't stay, you can't,"

"Why not?" Mikey said simply, "I brought popcorn, what movie do you want to watch?"

Ray sputtered for a while again. "I don't want to watch any movies, Mikey- what- why- you can't stay here, you can't be here, it's not safe for you," he bit his lip as Mikey gave him a look.

"Oh come on, I can take care of myself," he muttered, waving his hand, "I'm staying. Now, what movie? I know you have some comedies in here somewhere-"

"Michael," Ray cut in, exasperated, and Mikey stopped short.

"You can't stay," he continued, "you can't, you can't stay, you can't be here, why are you so calm about this? You could die, I could hurt you, I don't want you to see me like that," his voice got jumbled and high near the end, and he was completely unaware of the way his hands started to shake and his lip trembled. To his surprise, Mikey just walked right over.

"Ray," he said, possibly mocking Ray's name calling, "calm down, you won't hurt me," he carefully wound his arms around him, hands resting just above his waistline, Ray's tail quivering, "I know you wouldn't, okay? I know you wouldn't, I can take care of myself, I know when I'm in danger and I know how to avoid it, but I just want to be here for you."

"Please," Ray got desperate, "please Mikey, please leave, I don't want you to see me, I can't let you see me, please,"

Mikey shushed him gently, but Ray wasn't done. "I'm so weak," his voice got soft, "I- I get so weak, and- and it hurts, and- and I don't want you to watch, it's not me, it's not, and- I probably look bad, and- and it'll only get worse-"

"Shh," Mikey shushed, skimming a hand over Ray's tail, feeling it twitch below his fingers and remembering when Ray told him that it still felt tender, "shush, Ray, hush, okay...? You need to stop worrying... I know it's not you, I know that, and you need to understand that I'm not grouping you with it, I'm not... it's frightening to watch you, sure, of course it is because I know you're in pain, and I wish I could help, but... that's not going to push me away, if I can help just by being here then you can't make me leave." he tried to keep his tone soft enough to be gentle but firm enough to where Ray knew his intentions.

Ray was quiet for a while. Mikey started to realize that it was because he was probably crying. His back was trembling, just a little, and he was leaning on Mikey a bit more than usual. He could hear Ray sniffling and feel him grip tighter.

"Calm down, honey," he said gently, "calm down, okay...? I'm here, I'm here..." he only used that name in very certain circumstances, certain because he was often just too nervous to use pet names, but he remembered how it calmed Ray and made his cheeks redden. It seemed to help that time too; Mikey could feel Ray's tail swish slowly below his fingers and smiled a little. He really couldn't control it sometimes--Mikey remembered one day when he'd come over for a surprise visit and Ray looked like an excited puppy, almost knocking over his coat rack with how energetically he was wagging.

Ray calmed enough. He soothed when Mikey stroked his hair, scratching carefully, and went easily when Mikey got him to the couch.

"...you know what you're getting into, right...?" he asked as Mikey was bent over looking through his cabinets for a movie, "you know what's gonna happen, right...?"

"Pretty much," Mikey shrugged calmly, "I'm not going into this blind, if that's what you mean, I'm going to stay up with you and I'm not leaving your side, okay?" he turned to face him for just a moment, and Ray could see the genuine compassion in his eyes. He nodded a little and watched as Mikey slid a DVD into the player. He didn't really care which Mikey chose because he knew he wouldn't be able to stay awake to watch it anyway, but he watched the familiar menu screen of Wayne's World passing over the screen.

He shuffled down, curling a little, resting his head in Mikey's lap and closing his eyes, feeling him move to be comfortable and start to stroke through his hair. It made his tail thump against the couch lightly, and he heard Mikey chuckle a little before he pulled a blanket off the back of the couch and covered him with it. He felt warm and comfy and incredibly tired and Mikey hummed gently and all of it was just too much and he was out like a light. 

//Author's Notes\\

A lil' bit of comfort :)

~XO, Vacant.~