Lay Me Down to Sleep

Chapter 6

Chay sleeps until close to lunch time, but he doesn't exactly sleep soundly. His night is disrupted by nightmares, all of them revolving around Kim. A few have him wandering through the forest, searching for Kim desperately. In one dream, he's an adult. In another, he's a toddler, and the last one following that theme has Kim switching back and forth from the two versions. He also has one of Kim dying. Chay is a bystander as Kim clutches his side and gasps for breath. Then, his muscles constrict and his eyes widen as he takes his last breath. 

So while he does get some rest, it hadn't been a stress-free experience. It probably hadn't been stress-free for Hia either. While Chay didn't wake up screaming or anything, he tossed and turned. He had woken up from the nightmares gasping. It's probably why Hia is being so careful around him. 

"Do you want to talk?" Hia asks quietly, sitting down on the bed next to Chay, "Chay, I…I know how it feels. Seeing someone die…and killing someone. It…Those things messed me up too, even though I tried my best to hide it."

Chay hasn't even thought about the fact he killed someone, not since he saw Kim's infected wound. Would it make him sound evil if he said that? Should he even admit that to Hia? 

"...Is it messed up that I don't care about killing someone?" Chay asks, "I…I got freaked out at the time, but now? I just don't care." 

Hia stays quiet for a moment, then lets out a sigh, "After everything that happened? And knowing it was someone who was holding you captive? No. I don't think it's messed up you feel that way. You are likely prioritizing. You had a really traumatizing week."

"Hm," Chay hums, then says nothing else. Hia doesn't seem to know what else to say on the matter either. 

"Kinn texted me," Hia says after a moment, "He said Kim has been up for a while and is filled with energy. Something about a caffeinated bubble bath he had this morning? I didn't even know that was a thing." 

Chay has to lift his head up and squint, "Who thought it was a good idea to give Kim a caffeinated bubble bath, especially with the way he is right now?"

"Kim did," Porsche says, "He manipulated Kinn into it." 

"Of course he did," Chay mutters, then puts his head back down on the pillow.

"...He would like to see you," Hia says hesitantly, "He has asked a few times about it, but Kinn says he's trying to be patient. I guess he got really attached to you. Maybe because you took care of him and got him back home. I don't know. Kinn said he is more like himself and has the vocabulary and memories of an adult, but the hyperactivity, temperament, and some interests of a little boy."

"I know how he is," Chay says quietly.

"Okay," Hia says, then clears his throat, "Are you open to eating lunch with him, Kinn, and Khun?"

Yes. No. Part of him doesn't even want to see Kim until he turns back to normal. It's just so weird.

"He might get clingy with me," Chay says, rolling over to face his brother, "Maybe he should take more time away from me, so he can respect Kinn and Tankhun as his…caretakers. Or whatever."