Oath [BL; Book 2]

13

Warm. The agonizing cold didn't bother him. Swaying in a sea he opened his eyes. Aether looked around for any sign of where he could be, but there was none. Stunned by the endless darkness he wondered what was below as he seemed to float in some sort of ocean. Looking down all he could see was a redish tint in the darkness, he was sinking there slowly. From below he was grabbed by a devilish hand that pull him, dragging him, further down to where he couldn't fight, nor barely move.

Opening his mouth the air in his lungs was released. Drowning. Struggling to find the surface he couldn't swim, trying to remove the hand, fight it, stop it. He couldn't.

Within this dark red sea a light flickered soon snuffed by the pressure as it was dragged further under. A gentle beating filled his ears, calm, a melody he enjoyed listening to.

It filled his head, and suddenly being dragged under wasn't so bad.

A silent gasp for air as Aether was alarmed by the nightmare. It wasn't as gruesome as the many others he had, but it was still frightening to think of. He moved for a stretch and only got more comfy snuggling up to the pillow he hugged for comfort only to realize he wasn't in Wangshu anymore.

Looking up now he saw the calm face. Closed eyes, so close, right here. The scent of citrus-wood and a rather pleasantly sweet floral fragrance was mixed in. The delicate scent filled Aether's nose and he found himself in a strangely sweet mood feeling a wave of serenity wash over him. The weight of Xiao's hand on his side, the heat from his body even through the chilly morning. What made him the calmest was the gentle beating of Xiao's heart.

He didn't want to move, nor did he want to let go. Aether shivered lightly and felt Xiao held him a bit closer. "He's awake?!" Aether panicked but calmed seeing his eyes were still closed, but then panicked again when they opened, "He's awake!!"

The gold eyes shifted his way and he heard a gentle voice speak to him. "You're awake."

"Ah.... yeah." Aether couldn't handle how close their faces were feeling his cheeks burned. "Sorry, did I call you again?"

"No, I was passing by when I noticed the two of you." He moved his arm to let Aether sit up, seeing Paimon was also snuggled up to Xiao on the other side. "You seemed cold, so I laid down to use my body heat to keep you warm."

"Oh, thank you. I actually didn't realize how cold it would get." He said being honest. "Hehe~ you stayed the whole night? I'll make some almond tofu to make it up to you!"

"Very well." He sat up too careful to not wake Paimon, "Your hands are still cold, try to stay by the fire."

"Mm?" There was a warm fire already burning. The break of dawn was just coming over the horizon. "You even started a fire?"

"I found the chance when you two decided to stop clinging to me."

"Pahaha!" He laughed, "Yeah, you're really warm, Xiao! That's amazing, it was like sleeping in a cozy bed!"

He blushed lightly and averted his eyes. "Ahem, I'm glad you slept comfortably." He crossed his arms and said, "It seemed you were having a nightmare."

"Ahh. Yeah, actually, it wasn't so bad. Maybe because you were so close to me!" Aether rummaged through his pockets setting up his small cooking area, "It's really nice waking up next to you." Xiao looked down at Paimon who was still snug against him. Having her small head on his leg. Aether moved over having a small blanket to cover her with, "It makes living like this less... lonely."

"You have Paimon."

"Yeah, but I can't exactly burden her with.. everything on my mind. She already goes through enough because of me." Mixing the ingredients now he sat down and placed a pan over the fire after setting up a stand for it. On the other side he let the almond tofu set in the chilly morning to become firm. "I don't want to burden you either really, I feel like I should deal with it all myself."