Beautiful Disaster [Stingue]

Whispers in the Dark

For a long while, even up till now, Rogue Cheney had trouble sleeping at night. Every time the Shadow Dragon Slayer managed to fall asleep, he would have continuous nightmares, no matter how hard he tried to avoid them. Rogue lacked REM sleep which was essential for all human beings. Because he was so sleep deprived, his body would often REM rebound to help him get the rest he desperately needed, and that action itself was the main reason he was always plagued into nightmares.

To prove just that, here he was now up at 3 in the morning, screaming and sweating nervously as a result from another terrible nightmare. Rogue was usually alone, so when he heard a shuffling noise beside him, he nearly fell off the bed from being startled.

"R-Rogue? Are you okay?" a sleepy voice mumbled.

"W-What the heck are you doing here?!" Rogue shrieked, immediately recognizing Sting's voice.

"Well this is my house," Sting mumbled, rubbing his eyes.

"Oh..." Rogue muttered, feeling embarrassed.

"You fell asleep right after we had our little talk, so I decided to let you spend the night," Sting explained, trying not to make things awkward.

"Thank you.." Rogue said with gratitude. "But..Sting.."

"Hmm?" Sting mumbled, trying to stay awake.

Rogue felt bad for making him stay up so he quickly shook his head. "Um, no, nothing. Never mind."

This response made Sting suddenly burst with energy as he sat up, pulling the covers off of him. The bed was pretty large, so he had to scoot a few inches to sit right beside Rogue. "No, tell me. I'm listening."

"It's really nothing."

"Rogue."

Rogue simply shook his head and Sting sighed. Again, he knew pressuring a depressed person into talking about something was a big no. He mentally cursed at himself for not gaining Rogue's trust yet.

"Alright, Rogue. You don't have to tell me now. Just talk to me when you're ready, okay? And if you need anything, I'll be right beside you," Sting assured as he wiggled back into the covers.

Rogue nodded, feeling a slight wash of relief flood over him. Something about Sting's words gave him hope, even if it was very faint. His heart wanted to trust Sting, and that comfort let him sleep peacefully through the rest of the night.

______________

The scent of something delicious wafted its way into Rogue's nose, causing the black-haired mage to sleepily open his eyes. He turned his head and saw a little clock perched upon the nightstand. The time read 4:32 pm. Man, he hadn't got this much sleep since forever. He yawned, trying to get rid of the tiredness; however, he was no longer drowsy when the smell of fire filled his nostrils.

"What's this...?" Rogue wondered, not really familiar with the smell of fire. He made his way down into the kitchen of Sting's house, only to find the White Dragon Slayer trying to find a way to put out the fire. He was zooming through the kitchen, attempting to find a water bottle or any source of water, really. Rogue's eyes widened as he took in the scene before his eyes. A huge fire emerged from the stove, nearly burning through the roof.

"Sting..what did you do?" Rogue asked, feeling panic rise within him.

"Shit! You're awake...!" Sting mumbled, trying to hide the fire. He greatly failed at that. "Don't worry about it! Please, uh, it was just a mistake. I swear I'll fix it." Sting knew how much stress Rogue was already fighting through and he didn't want to make things worse for him, let alone give him another thing to worry about.