He tried to recall what had happened after he’d stabbed himself, but it was murky at best. Snippets he couldn’t fully grasp. At some point, he was certain his friends had been….somewhere with him, but…He didn’t have any details. Ani doubted it was here, though. There was no way Flix would have let them into his home.
Aneski recognized it now. The bedroom in Flix’s house. He’d snooped when it’d become apparent that Flix had left him there alone the last time, but he hadn’t lingered for very long in here. It’d felt too intimate.
Too sad.
Pathetic.
He’d pictured the two of them lying in this very bed together even, and had hated himself for his traitorous thoughts. Hated knowing that Flix was sending a silent message with his absence that something like that was never going to happen.
And yet…
Here they were.
If he could move his arms, Aneski would reach out and touch him, just to be absolutely sure this wasn’t a dream, but when he tried, he only managed to jostle them a bit. They were tucked beneath the comforter at his sides, and he didn’t have the strength to pull them out.
His movements must have been enough to have woken Flix, because he watched as the Brumal member stirred away, rubbing his cheek against the pillow first before his eyes slowly opened and blinked into focus.
The moment Flix’s blue gaze registered him, it hardened, but he didn’t move away or immediately lash out like Aneski feared.
“How do you feel?” he asked, voice barely above a whisper and raspy.
“Why do you sound like that?” Ani didn’t sound much better, actually.
“You woke a few times screaming,” Flix said, lifting his hand to settle loosely around Ani’s throat. The touch was gentle, more exploratory than threatening. He even tenderly stroked the backs of his fingers against the curve of his jaw.
“Is this a dream?” Ani couldn’t fathom it being a reality.
Flix smiled and closed his eyes, seemingly getting ready to fall back asleep. “No. You got what you wanted, Tiny Terror.”
“What I wanted?”
He hummed and then looked at him again intensely. “I hope you’re prepared to deal with the consequences.”
Aneski didn’t know what to say, wasn’t fully with it yet, so instead he just uttered, “Flix.”
He hushed him and settled in, moving his hand to rest it on Aneski’s chest. “Sleep, Ani. Doctor’s orders. You need at least another seven hours before we can have a talk.”
“A talk?” That didn’t sound good. He felt a rush of anxiety, and then a monitor he hadn’t noticed started beeping incessantly next to the bed.
“Relax, baby.” Flix slid closer, lifting one of his legs over Ani’s and tucking his chin against his shoulder. “You’ve got me, all right? You did it. You won. Now, go back to sleep so you can wake up and gloat.”
“…Flix?”
“Hmm?”
“Please don’t lie to me right now.” A lone tear slipped past his defenses, and Aneski wasn’t able to do anything about it. “If you’re planning on making me wake up alone…It hurts, and I can’t—”
“It hurts?” Flix sat up and looked him over quickly. “Why didn’t you say anything sooner?” He climbed off the bed, clicking his tongue chidingly when Aneski made a sound of protest, coming around to his side to fiddle with something on the end table. A moment later, he lifted a needle to the IV bag dangling from a clip in the wall.
“Wait.”
Flix paused. “You weren’t supposed to wake up this soon. You aren’t ready. This’ll take the pain away.”
Aneski stared at him pleadingly, not sure how to put into words what he was currently feeling. Or maybe just too afraid to come off as desperate and pathetic. Again.
Of course, Flix could read between the lines, though. He always could.
“Hey.” He bent over him and cupped the side of his face with that same tenderness from before, the corner of his mouth lifting in a reassuring smile. “You don’t have to be afraid of me disappearing, okay? Your plan worked. I had to claim you as my Onus. There’s nowhere for me to go even if I wanted to run from you, Ani.”
