thenearshore | [closed]

It’s raining outside that night, the raindrops pattering down in gentle sheets outside and leaves the temple smelling of freshly washed herbs and flowers from the sheer amount of them on the temple grounds.

The temple is quiet and everyone’s asleep. Somewhere downstairs the household pets are sleeping too. One fat dream eater, one tiny pomeranian and one long haired white cat.

Maybe it’s the rain that rouses Sora from his sleep or maybe it’s the sound he hears. Either way, he wakes up and untangles himself from his bedmate carefully to move into the hall.

He comes up to Yurick’s door and knocks gently.

"...Yurick? Are you okay?"

Edited 2017-02-18 15:49 (UTC)

He doesn't remember anything about the nightmare. It's gone the second he screams himself awake, bursting like a soap bubble but leaving behind a foulness in his heart as he jolts upright. His heart pounds so hard it hurts, a matching throbbing ache behind his false eye. For a few seconds he stares at his shaking hands in the near darkness, the sight blurring as his living eye starts to sting.

Yurick presses his hands to his face, taking a deep, shaking breath that he lets out as a broken sob. Tears soak his left cheek and palm.

Why is he crying? What did he see in that nightmare that has him not only terrified but emotionally wrecked as well?

He startles at the knock, not thinking anyone could hear him with the door closed and the rain cascading down outside. Maybe he's still sobbing, but it's not that loud. Stars, did someone hear him scream? Who did he wake up?

And then he hears Sora's voice. Clamping both hands over his mouth to muffle his stuttering breaths, he doesn't dare respond until he gets some semblance of control.

"I-- I'm fine...." Ugh, he doesn't sound fine, but his door is locked and maybe, just maybe, Sora won't push the issue.

Edited 2017-02-18 22:50 (UTC)

Sora puts his hand over the handle but hesitates. He shouldn't just barge right in. He can hear Yurick's faint response and it makes him worried and curious at the same time.

"Are you having a hard time sleeping?" He asks from the other side of the door, his voice a little sleepy but gentle and unsure.

Yurick is still new to staying at the temple and new as his full time shinki. So he wants to help, anything to make Yurick comfortable. And that shout he heard ...

"Is there anything I can do to help?"

Yurick's shaking more than ever. Why can't Sora just take his word and go back to bed? He takes several deep breaths, forcing a calm he doesn't feel into his voice with only partial success. "N-- no... please, just go away...."

Stars, he's tearing up again. Sora is his friend, but what can the little god do for him? Maybe if Sora was a god of dreams or memory, though it would entail letting someone into his very soul and Yurick can't stomach the thought of that. He draws his knees up to his chest, hugging his legs and resting his forehead on them.

Sora lets his hand drop and he's about to listen. Maybe he can go downstairs and make Yurick a cup of sleepytime tea to help him? He stares at the door for a moment and the clenches his teeth.

He's... tired. He's so tired of his shinki shutting him out. He feels a little frustration roll through his shoulders. He's been trying to keep it all inside for so long. But when is anything ever going improve? Not with just Yurick but Riku Replica too. Why can't they talk to him?

Sora raises his hand to the door handle again and turns it. Locked or not it doesn't matter to Sora because his god power lets him crack any lock or magic barrier. So the door comes open and Sora peeks his head in.

" ... Can we talk just a little? Please? You're upset. And I just want to help."

The click of the lock, the sound of the door opening, then Sora's voice unmuffled by the wood has Yurick uncurling in shock. Did his god just lockpick his way in? Thank the stars it's too dark to see Yurick's face clearly, otherwise the shinki might just die again from the humiliation of being seen crying like a child.

"S-- Sora, I... I'm not...." His voice trembles and he knows Sora can hear it. Yurick is older than Sora, he shouldn't be showing weakness like this. He hangs his head, glad there's no moon out tonight. "... it was just a nightmare. I don't even remember it... not really...."

Someday Sora needs to tell Yurick all about his godhood. What his domains are, his role in the norse pantheon and about his godly powers. Maybe he wouldn't be spooked by Sora's abilities after that.

"A nightmare you can't remember?" Sora knows the pain of that happening. It's a bitter feeling to wake up to. "I've had those before... Kind of feels like you're really scared but you don't know why, right?"

He keeps his tone light and gentle because he's not judging Yurick for anything. He never will. That's the type of person he is.

Sora tentatively steps into the room. It's chilly tonight because of the rain and his feet feel cold on the floor.

Yurick nods miserably. If he thinks hard enough, he can recall vague hints of Arikado and Kuroko vanishing into a thick, choking darkness. But there are others he can't identify, their voices distorted into white noise and their bodies little more than pale shadows, being sucked into that same nothingness. They might not even be real, only representations of his fear of loss. It doesn't matter, just trying to recall that much of the nightmare makes his heart clench painfully again.

"It's not the first time, but... this one was awful. Much worse than any other." The shinki wrings his hands in his lap, not wanting to wipe away his tears for fear Sora will notice them. "I'm sorry if I woke you."

"It's okay, there's nothing to be sorry for." Sora says.

He decides then that standing here like this isn't really going to help. He thinks what he would want if he had a really bad nightmare. Then he walks over to the bed and sits down on the floor and props his head and arms up on the bed. There's a small smile on his lips as he reaches out to tug on Yurick's shirt gently. It's okay to face him and talk a little, right?

"The dream is gone now, that's the important part. It was just a dream. Take a big deep breath in."

Yurick does just that, taking a second one for good measure. It helps a little, but he's still unsettled.

"Sora, I...." His voice cracks slightly and he shakes his head, not bothering to try again. It's so hard to open up to others. Being friendly isn't too bad, but letting someone in enough to call them a friend is different. But Sora is his friend. He's taken care of Yurick, saved his life, gave him somewhere to belong when Arikado and Kuroko were gone. This... this isn't the way to repay Sora for his kindness. Guilt roils in his stomach.

"Please don't sit on the floor. It's cold."

The guilt that Yurick feels does sting Sora for a split second. Like a zap of static electricity on his shoulder. Sora is used to the stings these days so he brushes off the pain a small wince.

He smiles instead. "I know when I wake up after a nightmare I like to just be around someone until I can calm down and sleep again."

He thinks that should help others too. No one should feel alone after waking up to such awful feelings. He gets up from the floor and decides to crawl into the bed with Yurick to lay near him.

"I'll stay here for a little while, okay? And don't you dare feel guilty about it. I want to."

Yurick expected Sora to sit on the edge of the bed, not stretch out beside him. For a moment his eye widens in surprise and he nearly flinches away. Having someone so close when he feels vulnerable is... strange. Eventually he settles down, pulling the covers up to his chin.

"Thank you," he whispers. He doesn't look like he's going to fall asleep any time soon, though. If anything, he looks like he has far more on his mind than just a nightmare.

Good, that's progress. At least Yurick isn't getting more upset or pushing him right out of this bed. That makes Sora feel a little more comfortable too. Closeness is good and therapeutic.

"So you can't remember anything at all about your dream?

Yurick shrugs. "Some small pieces of it. Mostly losing Arikado-sama and Kuroko, but I think there were others. I... get the feeling I've never handled loss very well."

The way he won't look at Sora as he says it speaks volumes.

Sora frowns slightly. If it was a dream about that and he got that upset it must have been bad. He wishes he knew more about Yurick's past other than how he died. But from what he's been piecing together, Yurick had a very difficult and violent life.

It makes him sad. Even now he can tell it's still effecting his shinki. Sora reaches out to hug Yurick, scooting closer and wrapping his arms around him tight.

"I'm sorry."

It's not the first time Sora's hugged him, but this time Yurick stiffens for a few seconds. He doesn't push Sora away at least, and eventually he relaxes a bit even if he doesn't return the embrace.

"Don't be. You didn't cause me any harm." His throat feels tight and it shows in his voice. Why has he been feeling increasingly awkward around Sora since the beach party?

"I know, but still. You're still upset about them leaving. I know that kind of pain won't go away right away but it'll get better soon, I promise. The nightmares will go away soon too. I hope you know you can call this place home."

He squeezes Yurick a little tighter. Sora's been here as a god for quite a long time. Him and Roxas love this place, it's a home to them now. They've talked about if they ever went home what would happen. He hopes it's not for a long time yet, for Yurick's sake too. He doesn't want him to go through that pain again.

Yurick nods mutely, accepting the tight hug without complaint. His heart is racing, probably from his uncertainty over being shown affection. He tolerates it because Sora only wants to help... and because he really is lonely.

"I know we're not supposed to remember our lives," he murmurs finally, "but sometimes I wish we could, even though it feels wrong. I want to understand why I feel this way."

"I wish you could too, but I don't want to see you get hurt either."

He wishes it was as easy as that, just being able to remember. Sora thinks it's so cruel how shinki are made to forget in this existence and that remembering anything turns them into monsters.

"All I know is that even if there is a reason why you feel like this that it's still something you can overcome. You don't have to let it keep hurting you. It just takes time and some healing and learning about yourself again, you know?"

"I know," Yurick sighs.

He finally slips his arms around Sora, the movement hesitant and uncertain like he's not sure if he's doing it correctly. Holding someone like this, even as a friend, feels... nice.

"I don't want to be alone forever."

Good! Sora welcomes the contact fully. Closeness is good when you're feeling bad and hugs fix everything. This is Sora's logic.

"You're not alone." Sora says gently, giving Yurick a reassuring squeeze that he's here. "There's me and Riku too. The three of us are all partners now. But not only us there's Roxas and his shinki too. Kairi, Senri and Raichi. We're one big family now and you're part of it, did you know that? You can trust them too."

Yurick never has to be alone again.

"A family...."

Why does his heart ache so much at the thought of it? It's enough to make him squeeze Sora a bit, his living eye stinging with fresh tears. He trembles, taking a deep breath as he fights down the urge to cry again. He ends up resting his forehead on Sora's shoulder.

If Yurick needs to cry Sora wouldn't judge him for it. Sora cries a lot about the stupidest things so he sees crying as more of an emotional outlet than something that should be bottled up. So he rubs Yurick's back soothingly.

"Hmmhmm. That's right. You should spend time with them too, I'm sure they'd love to talk to you. Kairi is really sweet I've known her my whole life. Raichi is really funny and likes food. Senri is quiet and has a hard time remembering things even now so you might need to give him a gift so he remembers who you are but he's really gentle."

Sora rambles on about the group. He wants Yurick to know that they're all welcoming.

"And I know Roxas wants to know a lot about you too. I've only had Riku as my shinki or a long, long time. So he's probably curious what you're like."

Edited 2017-02-26 05:03 (UTC)

[closed]

June 17: Yurick

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