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“Mary? Mary, are you home?” You called out, carefully peeking through the slightly ajar door.
Your ears twitched as you picked up the sounds of rustling from the kitchen, louder noises than what you were used to hearing from the gentle lamb. Something heavy settled in the pit of your stomach, causing your tail to press against your leg and your ears to flatten.
A muffled noise from the room drew you closer, tip-toeing your way closer to the doorway.
You froze when you finally pushed open the door.
Mary lay, beaten and bleeding, in the grasp of some monstrous demon, it’s jaws dripping with blood as both of them turned their eyes towards you.
“Y/N… RUN!” She moaned painfully, but gave a last heartful attempt to stab the demon holding her with a nearby bent kitchen knife.
It narrowed it’s eyes at her, slapping the knife out of her hand before squeezing it’s spindly hand around her throat. With a resounding CRACK, Mary’s eyes rolled into her skull and she went limp completely.
“No!” You wheezed, feeling faint as the being let her lifeless body drop to the ground, turning it’s beady red eyes towards your frozen form.
It’s teeth were sharp, splitting it’s maw in a sadistic grin, and it snarled thunderously as it lept towards you, jaws parted and aimed to grapple you around the throat-
-
You darted up in bed, eyes wide and breath coming in gasps as the nightmarish memory slowly receded. You brought your knees up to your chest, resting your forehead against them as you slowed your frantic breathing.
“Fuck…” You whispered, squeezing your eyes shut as you forced yourself to calm and shrug it off. Lingering on it wouldn’t do you any good.
There was the faintest of breezes against your side, followed by a faint whispery noise. You slowly lifted your head, eying the shadowy wisp of a creature that pawed gently at your side. It seemed a lot like a skinny rabbit in form, though it had a long tail and paws a lot like a cat, shadowy residue dripping off of it like smoke. This little shadowling was familiar to you, bordering on a pet almost, and seemed as concerned.
“I’m fine, Shade. I promise.” You murmured, very gently stroking your fingers down the back of it’s head. It’s larger ears straightened before smoothing down, tail curling gently around your wrist as it’s eyes shifted to happy up-turned crescents. The shift made you smile.
Still, the lingering fear of the dream kept you from relaxing fully. Even though it had been years ago at this point since that incident, and you had come so much farther as a demon since then, it still rattled you. And when you were rattled, there was only one person that you could turn to to make you smile.
Alastor.
Hopefully the other resident insomniac was still awake at this hour.
You kicked off the sheets, pulling them up in a half-assed attempt to remake the bed, before you headed out into the hallway. Shade, sensing your lingering distress, padded along at your heels.
The halls of the hotel were surprisingly dark at night, at least this wing was, but your fox traits blessed you with some pretty decent low-light vision, so you didn’t worry about getting lost. You counted the doors as you went, trailing the familiar path towards the end of the hall, until you were standing at Alastor’s bedroom door.
You raised your hand to the wood to knock, but hesitated.
What if he was still asleep? What if he thought you were weak for coming to him over something as foolish as a nightmare? Your relationship with him was still new, and both of you were still adjusting to being more romantically entangled. You and him were still so new to this, and you had no idea how to navigate this new territory.
Someone, however, grew tired of your indecision, and made up your mind for you.
“Shade!” You whispered frantically, watching as it wiggled it’s way under the door and disappeared.
You bit your lip so hard you almost drew blood, feeling your ears press down flat and your tail flail as the sound of low-tuned static began buzzing from the room. Alastor must have woken up. You flinched silently, spinning on your heel as you started speed walking back to your room.
“Y/N?” Alastor called out.
You paused mid-step, not turning to face him immediately, but eventually you turned to face him.
The door was open just enough for him to step through, a low light highlighting him from behind. Shade was crouched by his feet, looking towards you with a bright look before vanishing.
Alastor himself didn’t seem tired. In fact, if he wasn’t wearing a set of silk pajamas in his usual colors, you would have guessed he’d been awake the entire time. Even when sleeping, he looked so well-put together… A wave of self-consciousness flooded you as you looked down at your sweatpants and worn-down T-shirt.
“My dear?” His words made you finally look him in the eye. “What has you up at this hour? You look rattled.”
You felt your ears droop and dropped your gaze. Were you really going to bother him with this…? Yes, because now that he knew something was wrong, he’d likely hound you until you talked about it with him.
“I… had a nightmare…” You mumbled.
You were quiet, but the way that his ears twitched forwards and the gentleness that overtook his usual manic expression meant he heard you.
“Darling, come here.” He beckoned you with a hand.
You took a few steps closer, until you were right in front of him, though you refused to meet his eyes.
Alastor did not like this, and lightly pinched your chin between his fingers and gently lifted your head to meet his. His eyes were soft, softer than you knew most others typically saw. You had learned through your friendship and relationship with him that Alastor could be soft. He could be sweet, he could be caring, and he could be loving. You had to earn that from him, you had to be deemed worthy by him to have that gentleness of demeanor shown to you.
“Do I need to kill someone again for you?” He asked chipperly.
Despite yourself, you smiled, a soft chuckle escaping you. “No. He’s already dead… I just…” You shook your head.
Alastor smiled, thoughtfully caressing your cheek with his thumb as he contemplated your words. “Why did you come to see me?”
You shrugged lightly. “You make me smile, and you make me feel safe.”
He nodded, smiling larger before he released your chin in favor of sliding an arm around your shoulders. “Well then, allow me to ensure both.” He hummed, pulling you inside his room as the door slid shut behind you both.
You had been in his room before, many times, but every time the scenery of his little pocket-dimension took you away. The classic baroque style decor seemed to meld seamlessly somehow with the Louisiana bayou, small fireflies dancing around the darkened swapland in contrast to the low-burning fire in the hearth. While others may find the room dark and creepy, you found it comforting.
Alastor steered you towards his bed, his hand gently grasping both of yours as he bid you to sit with him, settling both of you at the edge of the bed. With a snap of his fingers, his microphone glitched to life with a low, slow jazzy tune.
“Now then, what can I do to help you, dearest?” He asked, his voice tinged with a bit of humor. “After all, I’ve no one to kill this time.”
You lightly squeezed his hands. “To be honest, I don’t know. Just being around you now is relaxing… It’s just weird, nightmares. I know I’m not in danger anymore, but that fear is still there.”
Alastor nodded. “What was your nightmare about? Was it about your death again?” He knew how you died. That was actually one of the conversations that you had first had, though the more graphic details hadn’t been revealed until when your murderer had showed up at the hotel looking for redemption. Alastor still remembered committing his murder quite fondly…
You shook your head. “No. It was… Mary. Mary’s death.” You dropped your gaze.
Alastor’s gaze softened once more. You had spoken to him about your foster mother in Hell on more than one occasion, and about her death only once and never again. It was clear that you had grown to love the lamb demon to pieces, and he certainly understood the sentiment. He would have been delighted to meet her had she still been alive.
“My darling doe.” He gently squeezed your hands. “I’m sure you did all you could.” He started, though he was admittedly a bit awkward at comforting people. He was better at causing fear and mayhem, not comforting saddened and depressed folk.
You let out a soft sigh. “I know… I just wish I could have saved her. She deserved better.”
You leaned your head down, though you hesitated, eyes sliding up to gauge Alastor’s reaction to touch. He simply nodded, even encouraging you by sliding his arm lightly across your shoulders, tugging you against his side and almost nudging your head against his shoulder himself. You always were cautious when touching Alastor, namely seeking affection from him. Others, like Angel, you could tackle hug from across the room or hang from him like a koala if you pleased. Alastor, you always asked, sometimes double and triple checking, even with something as simple as a hug or a shoulder touch. Normally it was you who initiated the affection, but when Alastor took the initiative, you never turned it down.
“Comfortable?” He asked, angling his head down.
“Very comfortable.” You murmured, slowly looping your arms around his middle, curling yourself more against him. Even your tail curled around his waist, and you could feel his twitch in response. “Thank you, Al…”
“You are very welcome.”
He lightly held you, the only movement he made was resting his chin to the crown of your head, for what felt like hours. The gentle crackling fire, buzzing of the insects, and soothing jazz created the most relaxing atmosphere. You could finally feel yourself growing drowsy, eyes fluttering in an attempt to stay awake even as your body drooped.
“Darling?” He hummed, lightly squeezing your shoulder. You hummed quietly in response. “How would you like to spend the night with me?”
Your ears jerked up, lightly smacking him in the chin. He chuckled, lightly pulling back as you did.
“Are you… Sure? Is that something that you would be comfortable with?”
“I would not have offered had I not been sure.” He chuckled lightly.
You paused, nibbling your lip a moment before you nodded. “Then as long as you don’t mind, I’d love to.”
“Excellent.” He hummed, lightly disentangling himself from you. “Make yourself comfortable.”
“Alright, then come back here and hold me.” You teased, scooting back up towards the head of the bed.
Alastor laughed, snapping his fingers to douse the fire and turn down the music. “In a moment, in a moment.”
Both of you slipped under the covers, shifting for a few moments to find a comfortable position. Alastor settled on his back, with you draped partially across his chest, his arm gently cradling your back and shoulders. His fingers idly ran gentle strokes through your hair, occasionally brushing against the base of your ears to make you further melt.
“Goodnight, my little doe.” He murmured affectionately, making your heart flutter.
“Goodnight Al…” You murmured back, snuggling your face further against his chest.
The gentle lingering touches to your hair and the thumping of his heart soon lulled you into a sense of tranquility that dragged you down to sleep, that thankfully remained dreamless.
-
When you opened your eyes the following morning, you had forgotten the night before at first. It wasn’t until you had registered hands idly trailing across your back that you realized the night before hadn’t been a complete fantasy, and you snuggled deeper into his chest before flicking open your eyes just a smidge.
Alastor was staring right at you, head tilted in a thoughtful manner, but his eyes were very gentle.
“Morning.” Your voice was a bit deeper and slightly rough from just waking up. Alastor however, seemed bright and perky, so he must have been up for a while at this point.
“Good morning, my darling.” He beamed, though he was still quieter in respect to your freshly-awake senses. “How did you sleep?”
“Wonderfully.” You smiled, though you quickly ducked your head to muffle a soft yawn. “What about you?”
“I slept very well. Having you here was remarkably relaxing.” He confessed, curling his arms a bit tighter around you.
“I feel that way too.” You murmured, angling your head along his chest to really look at him, ears lightly flicked back and eyes still half-lidded with sleep.
To Alastor, though he’d need to be drunk to admit it out loud, you looked so adorable in that moment.
The two of you lay like that for a few moments more, unmoving, with you drifting in and out of sleep for a time. The makeshift daylight coming from the bayou signaled early morning, but you found very little urge to move. Still, you couldn’t sleep forever, despite how comfy you were.
“Al?” You questioned, waiting for his head to tilt down before you continued. “Would it be okay… If we did this more often? Sleeping together?”
He looked thoughtful, and was silent long enough that you were tempted to take back what you said. But finally, he spoke. “I wouldn’t be opposed to it. I’ll admit, this is one of the more fulfilling nights I’ve had in a while.” He commented.
You beamed. “I’m glad. And this was a better night for me too… I still don’t want to move.”
“Well, we don’t have to for now. I don’t think it would be terrible to stay in bed for a while longer…”
“Careful, Al.” You chuckled with a tease. “Otherwise I might keep you here all morning.”
Alastor just gave an amused huff, though you swore that he wouldn’t have minded truly staying there most of the morning.
Who would have thought a nightmare would have led to one of the sweetest mornings in your whole life?
