isolation (pillar men x reader)

it's warmer in the morning than what it is at night

You awoke in the middle of your sleep (you still had absolutely no concept of time), not from a troubled dream, but from heat. You shrugged off the heavier of your blankets but still the warmth was oppressive. You sighed, ditching your sweatshirt and crossing to the hallway door. Immediately you noticed that the little sliver of light that typically came from beneath the door was missing. Strange, were the lights off in the hallway? You hesitantly tried the doorknob, fully expecting it to be locked as always. To your surprise, it turned. You padded cautiously down the darkened hallway, almost jumping a foot off the ground as you heard the sound of muffled voices drifting from the dining hall. Your body wanted desperately for you to run, to leave while you had the chance, but your curiosity won out and you crept into earshot.

"-fourteen days left, if I'm not mistaken," you caught the back half of Wamuu's sentence, missing the context in the front half.

"That's correct," Kars' voice.

"Perhaps we should get ahead of them, then. If there's that much time," Esidisi. So they were all here. That explains why no one was at your door. "Let's be honest, they're not exactly hard to track." 

"No, they're not," Kars answered. 

You dared to move closer, thankful for the darkness in the hallway. Why had the lights gone out anyway? Maybe the power cut out and they didn't feel like restoring it? They weren't human, so the increased heat probably didn't bother them. Why had it gotten hot? No matter how long you felt you had been stuck in this place, it was definitely still winter. If anything, the air should have gotten colder. You turned your attention back to the conversation, which seemed to be winding down. Kars was still speaking.

"So we provoke them, yes? And they fall right into our hands, likely with the red stone of Aja in tow. Is that what you're suggesting?"

Esidisi answered, "Yes."

"Then that's what we'll do. We'll spend a day or so more gathering information before we head out."

You heard the shifting of chairs and panicked, searching for a place to hide. Your best shot was running past the dining hall and ducking down one of the perpendicular hallways, so you did just that. Your heart hammered in your chest, so loud you were concerned any one of the three would hear it. Only two of them left, Kars and Wamuu. You swore your heart stopped all together as Kars turned over his shoulder, eyes nearly locking on yours. Before he did anything, however, Wamuu gently placed a hand on his shoulder and whispered something to him. His expression turned dark momentarily, but he finally looked away and kept walking. The heavy falling of their footsteps finally faded, and you felt safe enough to head further down the hallway. You took a grand total of two steps down the hallway before Esidisi's voice rang out.

"(y/n)."

You froze, "I- I'm sorry. I know I shouldn't have been sneaking around," your mouth was faster than your brain, words spilling out as you remembered the last time you ran. The harshness of the burns on your wrists. "The power was out and I was hot and-"

"Would you like to sit in here?" his question cut you off. "This room is draftier." 

This felt like a trap. You slowly moved around the corner and into his line of sight, taking the seat directly across from Esidisi. His eyes meet yours for a moment, flashing in the torchlight behind him. Apparently they had taken the time to light torches, so maybe the power outage wasn't intentional. The flickering of firelight made his silhouette even more intimidating, his bronze skin shining warm in the light. Sweat gathered on the back of your neck, sitting in the same room as him making the heat worse instead of better. This had to be a trap. Your mind raced a mile a minute. He was going to kill you for sneaking around. This is it. This is the end.

"Why so nervous?" he asked, making you jump.

"Is this a trap?"

He shrugged, "More like a test, I suppose. I think you passed."

"You think?" his tone was setting your nerves on fire, he was so apathetic. He had to be lying. This had to be a trap. 

"I'm not the one who determines that, as much as I would like to be."

There, his statement had a hint of emotion. Whenever any of them showed emotion you felt a little easier, it helped make them feel more human- even though you knew they weren't. His tone carried a hint of jealousy, which was not something you would have expected from him.

In spite of your better judgement, you pressed further, "Then why not go off on your own?"

His eyes clouded with tears, catching you off guard. You hadn't intended to upset him. Frankly, you didn't know he would be so easily upset. His voice cracked as he spoke, "I want to see the sun! I want to know what warmth feels like, real, genuine warmth. Not the heat of a flame. Kars will get me there." He collapsed into what you could only describe as a puddle of tears.

You wondered briefly if you should go and comfort him, but how would you even go about that? You settled on awkwardly reaching for his hand. He took yours gratefully, still audibly sobbing. He clung to you like a cat, drawing you nearer. 

"You even feel warm," Esidisi said, bringing your hand to his face and nuzzling it quite awkwardly. "Even after so long, you still feel warm."

You chuckled nervously, "Um, I suppose it could be the sun. Humans also just put off heat naturally."

"It's wonderful," his skin was warm against yours as he looked up at you. 

The oppressive heat in the room slowly started to dim back down into a more neutral temperature as you smiled down at him, finally accepting that this wasn't a trap and Esidisi was just really, really strange.

He repeated, softly this time, "It's wonderful."