Richie stayed with Eddie until he heard snarling outside the window. He saw Iris, who had clearly returned and was expecting some kind of attention.
Eddie shuddered, seeing the dragon that had caused him an overwhelming amount of pain.
"Don't worry, she's harmless," Richie promised, walking over to the window and opening it.
"My leg begs to fucking differ," Eddie said, glaring at the dragon who shot him a nasty look in return.
Richie laughed and reached out to touch Iris, who began to purr. "I feel bad that she has to stay out here," Richie said, looking back at Eddie who gave him a sympathetic look.
"Don't worry," Mike said, walking into the room to bring the pair dinner. "She'll be fine. Dragons usually sleep outside, even when they're bonded. Not that many do anymore."
"I haven't seen many around except for your king's," Eddie said, accepting the tray Mike handed him and putting Richie's portion on the nightstand.
"Yeah, they used to bond with us. That was, until we began to receive Luceat visitors. It put the dragons in danger so the king would have them leave. No point in bonding anymore," Mike said with a shrug. "She'll come back when you call her."
"How do I call her?" Richie asked, closing the window as Iris turned away and took flight again.
"You won't know for a while," Eddie said, eating a piece of bread. "They get to choose how they're called."
Richie shrugged and sat next to Eddie, taking his own tray and eating what sat on it. Mike checked to make sure they were comfortable sharing a room before returning to his own room. Bev and Stan were staying with Cassie so that way everyone would have their own space for the time they were in Pona.
Eddie and Richie ate mostly in silence, since they were ravenous. Once they had finished, Richie changed into his pajamas, which consisted of a borrowed T-shirt and pants. Eddie was in Richie's hunting jacket and didn't seem like he had any intentions of changing into anything else.
Eddie watched Richie change, trying not to be obvious about it. It was hard to look away, and it wasn't like Richie told him to look away. So, Eddie decided he was allowed to watch Richie, but still looked away if they almost made eye contact.
"Enjoying the show, Eds?" Richie asked after catching Eddie staring at him again. "I'm not stopping you from looking."
"I wasn't looking!" Eddie quickly defended, though he was blushing and avoiding eye contact. "Why would I want to look at you?!"
"We are literally dating."
"So?!"
Richie laughed and pulled on his shirt before collapsing on the bed next to Eddie. "Don't worry, Eds, I won't tell the others," he said, pressing a kiss to Eddie's cheek.
"I don't care if they know," Eddie mumbled. "It's you that I'm worried about."
Richie laughed again, hugging Eddie close to his chest. "You're adorable."
Eddie smiled and blushed, about to return the compliment when Richie shifted, hitting his injured leg. "Ow, fuck!" Eddie said, grabbing his leg.
"Shit, are you okay?" Richie asked, obviously concerned.
"I'm fine, yeah. The antibiotics here don't work as quickly, but I'm fine," Eddie said through clenched teeth.
Richie got off the bed. "I'll sleep on the floor then. I don't want to hurt you, Eds."
Eddie shook his head and grabbed Richie's arm, pulling him back. "Please don't. I don't want you to," he said, trying to use whatever strength he had to make Richie lay down next to him.
"It's okay, Eddie. Let go, it's fine. I'll sleep right next to you. It's a soft floor," Richie said, trying to reassure Eddie so he wouldn't hurt himself.
"No, I'll sleep on the floor!"
Richie rolled his eyes. "You can't even stand that well."
"Then it's a good thing I'll be laying down," Eddie said, trying to move off the bed.
Richie was a lot stronger, so he easily lifted up Eddie and placed him in the center of the bed, holding him down. "I will stay like this until you fall asleep. Seriously, it's fine. Sleep, Eddie."
Eddie glared at him but finally agreed. He handed Richie a blanket and pillow and Richie made himself comfortable on the floor. Both fell asleep pretty easily, until Richie woke up when it was still dark due to quick breathing and whining.
"Jesus Eds, just jerk off if you're so restless," Richie snapped, burying his face into his pillow, thinking Eddie was restless.
Then he heard Eddie sniffle and cry out, sounding almost as if he was in pain.
Richie shot off of the floor and sat on the edge of the bed. "Eds! Is it your leg? What's going on?!" he whispered, running his hand over Eddie's forehead, which was soaked with sweat.
Richie was confused when Eddie slapped his hand away, crying louder. That's when he realized that Eddie was still asleep. It took him a second longer to realize that Eddie must've been having some kind of lucid dream.
"Eddie, get up," Richie said, shaking him and ignoring the pained yells and sobs from Eddie. "Come on, get up."
"Don't! Get off! Leave me alone!" Eddie screamed, making Richie step back.
He immediately realized what Eddie was dreaming about. Ignoring the sleeping boy's pleas, Richie scooped Eddie into his lap, trying to soothe him as much as he could.
He'd heard about nightmares like this. They happened after traumatizing events and were very similar to a child's night terrors, leaving a person in a sleep-paralysis type state. There was nothing to do except soothe the person and hope the dream would pass so they woke up.
"Come on, baby, get up. It's okay, it's okay, they're not here. I'm here, Eds. Get up, come on," Richie pleaded. He was near tears, seeing how afraid Eddie was.
After another half an hour of crying and trying to get him to wake up, Eddie's eyes eventually fluttered open. He was shaking and crying still, but he wasn't screaming.
"Richie?" Eddie asked, reaching up to make sure he wasn't seeing things.
Richie allowed Eddie to touch his cheek before climbed back in the bed, Eddie resting on his lap.
Eddie got into the position of straddling Richie, resting his forehead on his collar bone.
"Are you okay?" Richie asked, even though he knew it was a stupid question. It was pretty fucking obvious that Eddie was not okay.
"No," Eddie answered obviously. "I was so scared, Rich."
"I know," Richie whispered, tracing patterns all over Eddie's back to try to calm him down. "It's okay, you're safe. It wasn't real."
"But it was. They weren't dreams." Eddie pulled away and made eye contact with Richie. "They were memories."
Richie could see how afraid he was. "I'm sorry," he whispered, not knowing what else to say.
"Don't leave me," Eddie said, and it sounded more like an order.
"Alright. I'll sleep here," Richie said, trying to show Eddie with his eyes that he wouldn't leave him again.
Eddie shook his head. "No, that's not what I mean. I mean, yes, sleep with me, but I'm not just talking about that."
"What're you saying?"
"Don't leave me alone. Please. I know we've only been dating for twelve hours but I feel like I have this connection, I guess. Please don't leave me behind."
Richie smiled and nodded. "I never would. Let's go back to sleep, okay?"
"Promise?" Eddie asked after they'd laid down, his head rested on Richie's chest.
"I promise."
