Work Text:
No…
No
NO
PLEASE NO
DON’T DO THIS
PLEASE DON’T KILL HIM
I’M BEGGING YOU
TAKE ME INSTEAD
With a choked scream, he shot bolt upright in the darkness. Green-yellow lightning still flashed in his eyes, and its awful crackling layered over the roaring of a motorcycle still seemed to echo around him. The last remnants of the horrific dream finally ebbed away, and Kiyotaka was in his dorm once again. Darkness hung heavy over the room, the silence disrupted by shallow, shaky breaths.
It was just a dream, like last time… He wanted to believe that, but the vivid images struck deep, and panic began to take hold. I need to find him! I need to make sure he’s okay! He thought as his body, moving faster than his sleepy mind, threw itself off the bed and stumbled out the door.
Taka reached the entrance to Mondo’s dorm quickly. He rattled the doorknob frantically and when it proved to be locked, he began pounding the door in rapid staccato--overlooking the logical conclusion that a locked door would very likely indicate a current occupant inside. Irrational fear at the lack of an instant response sent the scarring imagery of his nightmare back to the forefront of his mind. Tears streamed heavy down his face.
He can’t be dead please he can’t be dead please no this can’t be happening please nonononono--
He almost mistook the muffled sounds of stomping footsteps for his own rapid heartbeat, followed by a husky snarl as the door in front of him suddenly flew open, “The goddamn school better be on fuckin’ fire-- ”
Taka, still shaking, took in the sight of his best friend standing in the doorway. Alive. Here. Safe. Slouching tiredly, eyes half-lidded, long hair down and disheveled from sleep, and currently quite pissed off at having been woken up like this. The taller of the two blinked at the smaller, and rubbed a hand across his tired eyes, registering who this sudden visitor was. His demeanor softened, but only slightly, “...The hell , bro? Y’know what fuckin’ time it is?”
The prefect wanted to apologize for such a rude awakening, wanted to calmly take this proof that his dream really was just that--a dream. Wanted to return to bed knowing he’d overreacted and it was ridiculous of him to even feel the need to check and make sure the man he was deeply in love with called his best friend didn’t just suddenly die in such a flashy, horrific, gruesome way right before his eyes...but he was rooted to the spot, his entire frame still trembling. Words failed him, and he only managed to whimper quietly as his arms rose to hug himself.
Mondo must have noticed something was clearly wrong, and quietly stepped out of the doorway and gestured into the dorm, a silent invitation. Taka padded inside just as noiselessly, aside from the rapid rasp of shallow, panicked breathing. He found himself seated next to Mondo on the edge of the bed after a few moments, the other watching him with concerned lilac eyes, “Bro, what’s got you all riled up like this?” he asked. A hand landed on Taka’s shoulder, as if to help ground him, and it seemed to successfully pull him back into reality.
“I…” he started, as the frantic panic feeling began to subside into general unsettledness, “I had…I saw…” it suddenly struck him just how idiotic he was going to sound, all shaken up by a mere dream to the point he had to run out of his dorm and disturb his friend in the middle of the night, like a small child ducking into their parents’ bed after a silly nightmare. Heat rose into his face in embarrassment, and he hugged himself tighter.
He felt Mondo’s hand drift off his shoulder to trace gentle circles between his shoulder blades, “C’mon, you can tell me. I ain’t even mad anymore, bro. You obviously need help right now, yea?” his voice soothed over his rattled nerves. The prefect might as well just spit it out, and not waste any more of his friend’s time by just sitting there like a scared child. He can be scoffed at for being so easily spooked and sent back off to bed. He groaned quietly,
“I er...had a nightmare…” he admitted, ruby red eyes averted downward in shame.
“Yeah?” Came the quiet reply, devoid of mockery or judgement. He supposed he was expecting him to tell him about it. Taka unconsciously scooched closer to him,
“You...I....” He took a breath, the images replaying viciously across his mind’s eye, “Y-you were...taken away...I was watching you through a fence…” The raw feeling of terror and helplessness and despair he’d felt was winding back up in his chest like a toxic snake, and he could hear his voice tremble, “You w-were tied to a motorcycle, driven into some sort of electrified cage...it was going so fast and…” tears started to streak down his face once again, to his dismay, “Y-you... melted . Th-they turned you into butter…! ” He looked up, wide-eyed and shaking at his friend.
To say Mondo’s expression was rather bewildered was somewhat of an understatement. It was hard to tell in the darkened room, but it was somewhere between vaguely disturbed, confused, and It’s-Too-Early-For-This-Shit. The two held their gazes for a few more awkward beats, until Taka turned his head away and began fidgeting with his hands,
“Er...well...it does sound rather ridiculous now that I have said it out loud…” He said quietly. Ugh, this was such a mess. He’d gone and disturbed Mondo at-- apparently two-thirty-ish in the morning according to the wall clock --over some absurd nonsense. What could he be thinking of him now, this pretty-much-grown man running and crying to his friend and crush over something so stupid? Taka was already rehearsing his sincere apology for this waste of time, but Mondo’s hand had moved again, to Taka’s other shoulder to pull him into somewhat of a one-armed half-hug,
“Well...sounds like it was real fuckin’ scary in the moment though, huh.” he said with a slight shrug, “I’m real sorry, man.”
“I-I should be the one apologizing…” Taka murmured tearfully, “I’ve gone and disrupted your sleep for something so... pathetic! I’m truly, truly sorry for wasting your time like this, bro…!”
“Hey, hey…” The biker gave his shoulder a gentle squeeze, “‘s fine, aight? I wouldn’t want ya to have to sit there alone in the dark all freaked out, anyways.”
“I just…” The prefect’s head hung sorrowfully, “i-it’s stupid but...I felt so helpless then, it all felt so real ...all I could do was watch you die in front of me, and I couldn’t do anything …” It was all starting to spill out, like a crack in a dam widening and widening, “I was...I…” he fixed Mondo with an intense look, barely suppressing his own anguish, “If anything ever happened to you, Mondo, I don’t know.. .I don’t know what I’d do… ” Sobs were bubbling their way up out of his chest, against his will, “You are so, so important to me...I can’t lose you. Please, I can’t lose you…! ” His entire body was trembling hard, and he felt himself leaning into the half-hug, “Please never leave...I need you...I care about you so much... please don’t ever leave me …”
If he wasn’t so full of anguish and fear, he’d have half a mind to be downright ashamed of his own whining and begging. Near-silence hung delicately between the two, and then strong arms were wrapping around his body, pulling him in closer.
"Shh, hey…I'm here, I ain't going anywhere okay?" Came the soft voice from somewhere closer to his ear. He felt fingers start to gently card though his dark hair, soothing him, "it'd fuckin' take all of heaven n' hell to take me away from my bro, I promise."
And he knew how seriously the biker took his promises.
As the hysteria faded into a tamer rattled feeling, Taka allowed himself to relax into Mondo's embrace, finding his heart was speeding up for a reason besides fear now. The two were often physically affectionate, despite their status as just friends, but this felt… different. Pleasantly different. But of course, he didn't know how his friend felt towards him, if it was anything more than what they already had, and he still lacked the courage to ask or confess his own feelings. What if he jeopardized their bond, coming out about something like that? He felt cold at the thought of Mondo becoming uncomfortable around him because of it. He was certain that the other must only see the two of them as friends, and nothing more.
Though at the moment, that certainty was being tested.
The fact that Mondo was currently practically draped over his smaller body was steadily making it harder and harder to languish in negative feelings. His trembling was slowing, his breaths becoming more even, his teary eyes clearing, and for a moment all that seemed to exist in the world was the feeling of shared body warmth and the rough-textured but gentle hand carefully stroking through his hair.
“I hate to see you upset, man…” The larger of the two rumbled quietly, “you wanna stay in here tonight? I-if you’re okay with it, I mean.” the hand in Taka’s hair paused, as if uncertain, “I uh...know how nightmares can screw with a person, y’know. Not like I haven’t had my fair share…”
“If it’s not too inconvenient…” Taka shut his mouth quickly. That was not the declination and apology he’d been rehearsing in his head. It was like something else had spoken for him.
“Yeah no, it’s all good.” Mondo replied. Taka wasn’t sure if he was imagining the faintly elated tone in that response. The prefect was ready to pull out of the embrace and look around for a place in the dorm to curl up in for the night, but Mondo’s hug around him actually tightened. A somewhat undignified noise came out of him as the biker half-lifted, half-dragged Taka over to one side of the bed, dropping him on his side and settling into place on the other half of the bed, facing him. They stared at each other, and Taka hoped it was dark enough to conceal the flush he felt blooming on his face right then.
“Uh…” Mondo paused, looking somehow faintly flustered, “...this is okay, right? Or do ya need more space, ‘cause I can prolly move--”
“No!” Taka’s voice moved faster than his brain again, “N-no, it’s fine! I...am okay with this…arrangement…”
“Oh...okay. Cool.”
They shuffled under the blankets, and after a few moments or minutes of silence, Taka’s rational thought finally caught up, “I...I’m sorry again for disturbing you--”
“Ah, knock it off.” Mondo huffed half-heartedly, still facing him, “ya don’t need to keep apologizin’ to people for havin’ problems, y’know. That’s just what bros do, right? Help each other out?”
“R-right…” Taka’s eyes kept getting drawn back to those faintly shining lilac eyes. He almost apologized for apologizing, but managed to bite down on it before it escaped.
Their gazes held a few beats more, before Mondo’s hand drifted up to rest on Taka’s arm, “How are ya feelin’ now, though?”
“Better. Quite a lot better…” Taka answered, though it didn’t quite come out as strong as he wanted. Even if the initial terror had gone, it left him feeling drained. He felt a light squeeze on his arm.
“Well...good.” Taka thought the conversation for the night was done there, but Mondo didn’t move his hand away. In fact, he seemed to shift closer, ever so slightly. The prefect felt his heart do flips. The look Mondo was giving him wasn’t one he’d seen before. It might have been his imagination going off wishful, lovesick feelings, but the look in the other student’s eyes were so mercilessly kind . Staring at Taka like he was the whole world, and everything good and worth living for. It sent a tingling warmth radiating from inside his own chest over his whole body.
He felt truly, undeniably safe in that moment.
“Th...thank you, Mondo.” Taka said, feeling a small smile work its way onto his face, “you are...truly a wonderful friend…I’m so lucky to know you…”
The other let out an amused huff of air, his own smile growing, “S’no problem, bro.” Taka almost thought he was imagining the feeling of Mondo’s other hand slipping between his cheek and the pillow, cupping his face gently. He was just about too wrapped up in fuzzy euphoria to realize he must feel the intense blush on his face now, too distracted to feel embarrassed. It became worse when the biker started drawing his thumb back and forth across his cheek comfortingly, “...anyone ever told you ya got a real nice smile?” he asked. Taka’s heart was hammering as he was sure he’d never, ever heard Mondo’s voice come out so soft and gentle before. And towards him .
Taka didn’t have a reply, but the comment did make his smile grow, albeit a bit more crookedly and flustered. The sight of his face must have made Mondo’s own expression mirror his, and the two just stared at each other once again, grinning and blushing.
“Forreals though…” Mondo began quietly, “I ain’t gonna let anything happen to me. Or you, for that matter. No fuckin’ way.” He shifted closer, so terribly, wonderfully closer, “I care about ya a lot too, man. Feels like after we started hangin’ out, the world felt a little less shitty. Problems felt a little more smaller. The future a little less scary. Y’know what I mean?”
Taka nodded gently, feeling pleasantly lost in lavender, “You make me feel safe…” he murmured without thinking. Without really processing what he’d just said.
Mondo’s head leaned forward slightly, and their foreheads touched. A flare of heat settled loving and delicate over the both of them at the contact. Their eyes, half-lidded with sleepiness, remained fixed on each other, “Same to you, Taka.” came the simple reply.
The world was soft lilac and warm red for awhile longer, before everything began to flicker into a doze. One strong arm was draped over Taka’s side, and a hand still laid under his face. His own arms dared to reach over and pull the other closer in a mutual embrace. Gentle breaths filled the still air, soothing warmth wrapped around the two of them like a soft blanket. The last thing Taka thought as he drifted off was that he’d be so happy to know this feeling every night. And how such a thing seemed more within reach than he thought.
There were no flashes of hungry electricity or roaring motors or screams of despair in his dreams this time. Just the feeling of security and warmth and the color of lilac.