Drowning in Cold Blue Devotion

Chapter 6: Prisoners of Shangri-La

It's some late hour when you briefly stir awake, momentarily confused by not being alone in bed before you remember where you are and who you're with. Once you do, Gojo's heavy weight and rhythmic breathing against your back is comforting, and you start to fall back asleep.

That is, until you feel a twitch and a tremble from Gojo's frame, as he silently moves a bit in his sleep, seemingly a bit restless or uncomfortable as he shifts about behind you.

At first you think he's just getting comfortable again, but it reoccurs several times and he rolls around a bit. You're not tired enough that you can sleep through his movements after sleeping so much today.

When he rolls over some minutes later away from you entirely, you sit up and look at his sleeping face in the faint moonlight filling the room. He's thrown his left arm across his face to shield his eyes, his right hand balled tight into a fist on his chest.

He looks completely asleep, but he doesn't seem relaxed and his movements have pulled the sheets off of him. You tuck him back in while moving as slowly and gently as possible, lying back beside him to rest your head on Gojo's shoulder.

You can feel the little twitches occasionally run through him, tremors in his muscles like Gojo is an animal twitching his feet in his sleep, dreaming of chasing prey. He doesn't wake, and it isn't a constant thing, but he seems uncomfortable and when you look up you can see him tense his jaw, maybe even clenching his teeth.

If he wasn't asleep, you'd think he was in pain. It's not a familiar expression you've seen on him ever. There's worry and distress on his face like you've never seen.

You sit up and watch him for a bit, but Gojo keeps mostly still, save for the occasional tensing of muscles here and there. What you can see of his face doesn't look relaxed at all, his brows knitted a bit as his eyes rapidly move behind his shut eyelids. Maybe he's having a bad dream?

Or it could just be that he's more worn out than he let on. Exhaustion can do weird things to the mind and body.

...or maybe he always sleeps like this? It's hard to know, really. He said he was a light sleeper but right now, he seems pretty deeply asleep. You don't want to force him to wake up, but it's hard not to worry about him when he looks so distressed.

If anyone deserves a good night's rest, it's definitely Gojo. He's so compelled to be on all the time, he should at least be allowed to be free of this word and its worries for a few hours. You want to help him relax comfortably, but you're not sure how.

You smooth his hair back and and press a gentle kiss to his forehead, and he shifts a bit in response. When you look down, his right fist is making a very familiar gesture with his hand...

The one he uses when summoning his full domain.

A nauseating sense of dread ripples through you for a moment, but nothing happens. There's no pull at your senses, there's no change in Gojo's cursed energy at all, almost as though nothing unusual is occurring. Instead, his hand stays that way for several minutes, his fingers trembling a bit in that forced position for a while until they relax out of it.

When he relaxes a little more, you tuck him in once again and sit there watching him, no longer feeling very tired. Maybe an hour has passed since you first woke up, but it's hard to tell.

Eventually you need to use the restroom, so you slide stealthily from the bed and watch Gojo as you do. He doesn't stir and you make your way silently to the bathroom.

Once you're actually in the bathroom - taking care of business - you realize how sore you still are. As much fun as the wild, life changing sex has been, you're body is not quite up to recovered. It's mostly a good type of sore, but there are twinges and aches from overuse from new positions and activities. You're still sore inside and out, but doing a lot better than you have any right to be after all this physical activity.