Crescendo [Sting Eucliffe]

The title is too long to fit here so i wrote it in bold lol

TW// VAGUE DEPICTION OF A PANIC ATTACK AND NIGHTMARE, but there's some hurt/comfort because my writing is purely self indulgent

"I Believe That That One Song By The Neighbourhood That People Claim Has Sexual Implications Applies To My Situation Very Well Right Now"

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Aika Eucliffe always knew she had a shitty brother, and an even worse father, but seeing them again had made a horrible impact on her mental health. 

She spent the night before the third day of the games covered in sweat, in and out of sleep as she constantly awoke from horrible nightmares and had multiple panic attacks which her mate had to ease her out of. Lector had ended up sleeping in rogue's room, upon Aika's insistence as she refused to keep waking him up, while Sting had desperately been holding onto his lover, afraid of being unable to help her. 

He stared down at the small girl in his arms who had ditched her pyjamas on the floor and instead wore his hoodie, claiming that the scent helped to ease her. He wasn't one to refuse her requests and he was desperate to ease her discomfort in any way he could. She had fallen asleep merely twenty minutes prior - having woken up four times before then - and he desperately hoped she would get the rest she deserved. It was only one in the morning but he himself was unable to get any more sleep, as his body was hyper aware of their surroundings due to his mating season instincts. His eyes wildly scanned the room for a few seconds before snapping back to his girl and he felt his heart break as he noticed her furrowed eyebrows. She had begun to dig her nails into her palms as her body shook and Sting quickly tried to wake her, reluctantly detaching himself from her in the process. He semi-whispered her name over and over again from the opposite side of the bed, and felt his eyes water when his precious girl's eyes flew wide open. Her chest quickly moved up and down as she breathed erratically, eyes searching all over the room until they landed on him.

"Hey baby," he whispered, afraid that speaking any louder might set her off, "I need you to breathe for me. Can you please do that? It's okay, I'm right here. Hey, let's take deep breaths together, okay?"

He gently coaxed her into calming down, itching to capture her in his arms and smother her with affection, and after a few breathing exercises asked, "Is it okay if I touch you baby? I just want to give you a hug."

When she nodded he slowly shifted across the mattress, keeping his movements slow and steady, even though his instincts were screaming 'comfort mate', and he stopped once he was in front of her, "Am I allowed to hug you?"

A cry emerged from the back of her throat as she nodded again and buried her face into his chest, sobbing. A tear streamed down his cheek as she found comfort in his presence and the pit in his stomach grew. He pulled her into his lap, leaned against the headboard, and repeatedly muttered the phrase, "Comfort mate," as he gently forced her hands open and wiped away the small droplets of blood that had accumulated from the cuts her nails had left. Once his arms were securely wrapped around her, Aika clutched his sweater and slowly raised her head to looked at her mate with bleary, pleading eyes, "Can I please have a kiss?"

"Of course baby." He let out a breath he hadn't realised he was holding, and placed a small, loving peck on her lips, "You can have all the kisses in the world."  

A multitude of short, sweet kisses were placed all over Aika's face as her tense muscles slowly began to go lax and her breathing slowed to a normal pace. Sting slowly inched himself downward until he was laying on his back and his precious mate was cuddled into his chest. "It's okay baby. One day, when I'm the strongest wizard there is and we have more money than I can hope to spend on you, I'll buy us a little cottage out in the woods we can run away to whenever you want. It'll have a massive garden you can take care of, with all the plants you'd like, and a really nice kitchen where I can make you some yummy food, or maybe even bake some bread with you and Lector. And Rogue and Frosche can come over for tea on the weekends..." he kept rambling until he noticed Aika's eyes had shut and her breathing had slowed again. He placed another chaste kiss to her forehead and glanced up at the roof.