⚠️Heavy Topics ⚠️ Mostly angst, that's my forte.
Victory and suffering... they're one in the same. If you need an explanation, to put it simply, it's what the complications of being children who live through war are.
THIS IS LIKE- QUESTIONABLE AF...
This is an alternative prompt to the alternative prompt 😁👌
I was really excited to do number four but just couldn't get any ideas for it... I don't know. It's kinda sad but I switched out the prompt again lol.
Except it's not really whumpee/caretaker, just fluff~
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
It had been yet another post-mission exhaustion to do him in. Even while Rollan's body cried out in protest- begging him to sleep off the injuries and finally rest after weeks of vigilant nightwatch duty or consant battle- he couldn't seem to close his eyes.
And he felt tired. Far too tired... To relax, or to risk succumbing to such a basic human need.
Maybe a part of him had feared nothing was truly over. That if he were allowing himself to let down his guard for even a moment, something terrible might happen. All because the Amayan couldn't be strong.
The stress of it all had provided enough adrenaline to ensure his survival, blocking out the full weight of deprivation on his body. But Rollan felt beyond any realm of in control now, the little he'd retained in complete compromise. His movements were sluggish, his limbs weak.
When he could finally rest easy, which was something he'd almost lost hope in doing, Rollan found his mind was still fighting against the response. Even if there was no active threat to his safety- or his team's.
He groaned, opening his eyes and choosing rather to stare at the peculiar fixture on the roof. He had given up on sleep.
Rollan tried everything he could think of. Counting the failed grooving in the wood, reading one of Meilin's favorite books, having Conor read aloud the same book hoping that such a slow pace would lull him to sleep, and listening in to the white noise sound of endless ocean... granted, he couldn't expect the last one to work. Rollan did always hate white noise.
The fixture, he noted, swung quite violently. Rollan narrowed his eyes, tracking it's movements and searching for a notion of damage near where it had been bolted to the roof. There was a fear it might crash down on all of them in any split second, and it weighed heavy on his mind.
Eventually, the nauseating movement was enough for him to create some distance- if the combination of that and the creaking hadn't instilled enough caution in him at first, it sure had now.
Sliding closer towards where his Zhongese teammate was, Rollan slumped against his new seat. And once he did so, he continued to watch the pendulum-like swing anyway.
It was a reaction he reflected on, as Rollan continued to watch the singular thing which could kill them all in such little time. Even while moving away from the danger, he still persisted in looking on from afar.
Was that uncharacteristic of him? Perhaps. Rollan had been known to walk towards danger more often than not. He couldn't decide if it was a thrill of his, being so close to death with no exact control... or if the action stemmed from a different subconscious drive. To do everything Rollan could to stop it.
A sudden weight on his shoulder pulled Rollan from his thoughts. In a moment of panic over knowing not what had happened, he jolted slightly. The Amayan mentally berated himself for being so unfocused.
All the tension he'd unceremoniously began to carry released it's hold once the hero saw who had huddled into him.
There was a distinct figure resting on his chest, ebony hair gently brushing against his neck as Meilin stirred. She mumbled an apology, her eyes blinking open.
Rollan could feel his cheeks flushing at the sight, quick to swallow back the nerves when Meilin began to pull away.
He didn't want that. Not at all.
No, something about her heat and touch calmed him. It was a feeling Rollan knew he would miss if she went any further. The Amayan reached a hand towards her, but it never made it's way there.
Meilin immediately dropped her head back onto his chest. The effort it would take her to leave the warmth- and the sense of protection his hold gave- seemed taxing. The Zhongese was safe and at comfort. Abandoning that was unwitted.
When she began to stir again, questioning how forward it was, her teammate finally spoke.
It's alright Mei," He whispered, brushing away the hair that had fallen across her eyes. A smile pulled on the edge of his lips as Meilin leaned further into his embrace, sighing in content. "Go back to sleep."
Her eyes fluttered shut. She was asleep once more, and every worry Rollan had slipped away.
Sleep never came to him- but he stilled until the Zhongese awoke, resolving to let her rest in peace even while he couldn't. In itself, holding his position didn't seem to be too strenuous.
While he pushed through the exhaustion, through the pain, it was a night Rollan decided the best he ever had. It was the happiest Rollan felt.. the closest he'd ever been to Meilin... without her slugging him for it, anyway.
The occurrence was one neither party spoke of again.
A cute little idea that came to me after seeing the prompt.
It's been like, months since I posted lmao, sorry about that. I hope you like the new addition to the Reilin days 🫶
