The rainbow seekers guide to seeking rainbows

Will

Will watched as Nico slept, his chest rising and falling to a steady beat, his hair tickling his nose and cheeks. With every breath he took, the grey and blue snowstorm expanded, and with each exhale it deflated. A little nebula cloud of mist - purples and blacks with bright flecks of white like stars - hovered above his head.

Every time Nico appeared to be dreaming, Will would spot a shape of darkness. Sometimes it was a hand, a few times a knife. Sometimes they appeared more menacing than others - once there had been a blade of black poised above Nico's throat.

Will had screamed then, waking his boyfriend.

But today the darkness that came with the dreams and sleep was just a peaceful cloud, much like an artist's impression of a galaxy with its night sky colour palette and calming blending of hues. It looked like the clouds that you exhaled on an especially cold winter's day, hanging in the air as if frozen in time. Those picturesque little puffs of warmth cooling in the air.

Everyone's little breath puffs had different colours, and they weren't always the same as the person's own colours.

Nico exhaled white puffs tinged with rose pink, an adorable blend of colours which Will loved. The centre was white like snow, but the edges were misted over with the lightest of pinks, a delicate mix of colours.

Will stood up and made Nico a coffee, a long black 'as dark as his soul'. That was Nico's preference, and Will wasn't one to judge. He was more of a chocolate person. Then, he went to wake Nico up, nudging the boy gently.

Nico made noncommittal grumbles of sleepiness before rolling over on the couch.

It was odd, Will supposed. Nico had a perfectly nice home, with amazingly cool décor fit for a king or perhaps a vampire or even a very committed goth, but he was spending the night there less and less. Will's apartment had become his default sleeping place. And although Will didn't care - he was more of an early bird than his boyfriend, so he had about two extra hours to do whatever he needed - it slightly worried him. Was there something in the place? Was it haunted? Had something happened to Nico in there?

To be a good boyfriend, Will reckoned he should help Nico with that sort of thing.

But he couldn't force Nico to say anything, right? That would be overstepping his boundaries. They hadn't formed such a close-knit relationship, not yet. It wasn't at the point where all questions could be dealt with with the guarantee of not being seen as an intrusion on privacy.

It was best to wait for Nico to talk about it himself.

Suddenly, the nebula hovering over Nico's pale face morphed into what looked like a human face, mouth open - no, it looked like a melting wax mask from a horror movie. The mist shifted as the stars seemed to melt off, leaving the void of purple-and-black darkness. It looked human, if this human had their skin melted off and was screaming in pain.

The void opened its mouth wider, preparing to engulf Nico and -

No.

This was all Will's imagination.

His synaesthesia could pick up on some weird things, but it couldn't read minds. Will was just too tired, and his mind was just creating nightmares out of the slightest shift in Nico's expression. Yes, his boyfriend's face did looked oddly frozen and tense, but that didn't mean Will could turn that into a sight worthy of a horror movie, for fuck's sake.

It was the most frightening of the shapes of darkness yet, but Will's imagination was definitely getting out of hand.

He was surprised he managed to keep himself from screaming.