COULD YOU TAKE A LOOK AT ME?

===

Angel had felt the effects of nightmares several times, but never before had she seen them happening to someone else.

Everything seemed normal when Angel had woken up - despite the fact that she was sweating from the heat of her blanket combined with Erebus's body warmth, she was perfectly content. It wasn't until she heard him let out a shaky whimper that she began to realize that something was wrong, and she sat up slightly to see what was going on.

"Erebus?" she called softly, her eyes widening as she saw the state that he was in. How she hadn't been able to feel his body shaking under the blanket was beyond her, but she knew she had to do something to help him. Reaching out, she placed her hands on his shoulders, pushing him gently. "Erebus, are you-?"

Erebus awoke so violently and so suddenly that Angel jolted back in alarm. He shot bolt upright with a choked scream that tore through her heart, and he scrambled away, panicking as he backed himself into the corner of Angel's room, breathing raggedly and desperately as if he had run a marathon.

For a moment, it seemed that he didn't know where he was, like he was in a mental state between dreaming and reality. The visions plaguing his nightmare were far from leaving his mind; they terrified him, forcing themselves into his mind's eye, the cruel words of all those who had spoken to him echoing, echoing, echoing in his head. He was paralyzed with an overwhelming fear, a fear that coiled around his body like a serpent made of steel, restrained from striking only by the gentle sound of Angel's voice.

"...me? Can you hear me? Here, take my hands, take my hands, you're okay..."

Erebus was trembling so hard that he could barely lift his hands to take Angel's, but once he did, that now-familiar warmth that seemed to emit from Angel herself coursed through his body. He felt so guilty for receiving it, however.

"Can you hear me?" Angel asked again, her words becoming more clear to him now that he was focused on her warmth. He nodded, and Angel smiled. "Good, good, that's good - you're doing a good job, okay? Keep focusing on me, feel my hands, alright?"

She brushed her thumbs against the back of his hands, allowing him to grip onto them as tightly as he wanted.

"What else can you feel, Erebus? Can you feel the clothes on your body, or the bed underneath you?" This was a technique that Clara often used to calm Angel down whenever she was deep in a panic attack, or when she couldn't pull herself out of disassociation as easily as she wanted. It seemed to be working - Erebus nodded at the question, looking down and concentrating on the things he was able to feel. "You're doing so good, Erebus, you really are... keep concentrating on me, on my voice, okay? What you saw wasn't real."

Erebus quickly shook his head, looking back up at her. "No..." he whispered. "No, it- it was real..."

Angel tilted her head slightly. "Erebus, it was just a bad dream-"

"Dreams are real, Angel," Erebus muttered, almost frantically. He looked away in a weak attempt to hide how distressed he was, despite being calmer than he was when he had woken up. "In the- In the Land of Dreams, things are as real as the dreamer makes them. You have to- Angel, you have to understand that, it was real, it was all real, and it hurt-"

Angel was slightly taken aback by how much sense this made to her - she had been trying to ponder what exactly had happened to Erebus in the Source before she had saved him ever since that day in Minecraft. Nevertheless, that wasn't important right now, she would deduce the rest of the story later. Letting go of one of his hands, she reached up, gently placing it on his shoulder and leaning over him slightly.

"Erebus, please look at me," she requested, her voice gentle yet firm. He did so, his crimson eyes filled with a terror that Angel had desperately wished she wouldn't see again. "That was your world, in Minecraft. In the real world, dreams don't mean anything. They're just projections that your mind sets up while you're sleeping, figments of your imagination that you really can't do much about. I'm so sorry that your first one had to be so bad, but please, trust me when I say that in this world, dreams aren't real."

Erebus did not respond. His breathing slowed until it was relatively normal - still shallow, but not to the point where he was hyperventilating, which Angel was relieved by. "Why are you helping me?" he asked softly. "You don't- You don't want to..."

Angel's confusion was clearly painted on her face. "What do you mean? If I didn't want to help you, then I wouldn't be here."

"But-" Erebus paused, looking down at the hand still resting on his shoulder, his chest rising and falling evenly as he tried to process what he wanted to say. "Please be honest with me, Angel."

"I promise I will," she told him, offering a small smile.

Looking back up at her, Erebus continued. "I need to know exactly why you brought me here. You can't possibly want to keep me around, can you? I'm- I don't know, maybe you pity me, maybe you hate me so much that you want to get my hopes up before you torture me... I don't belong with you and your family, or in this world. You know that, you have to know that, don't you...?"

Whatever response Erebus was expecting to get out of Angel, he was not about to receive. She almost looked hurt by these suspicions, hurt that she had not yet convinced him that none of this was true.

"Um..." She glanced down, trying her hardest to figure out how to word this. "I-I really want to know what made you feel this way... I'm sorry if anything that I said or did caused you to think any of this, that wasn't my intent at all."

Erebus quietly sighed, looking down again. "You were in my dream," he mumbled. "Among... many other terrifying things, you were there, and I thought you were going to help me. Instead, you- well, you basically just told me everything I've been subconsciously thinking since I got here."

Angel wasn't about to express how concerned this was making her. How bad of a job was she doing with getting Erebus accustomed to this world? Should she have been more tactful, and not taken him out into Crossrose yet? What was she doing, getting him to listen to her music instead of teaching him important things? Was she only thinking of herself?

"What sort of things?" she asked nervously. "Is there- Is there anything I can help with?"

Erebus shook his head. "All I need is for you to be as honest as you can with me," he told her. "I don't want you to lie about what you're feeling for me."

"I will, as long as you believe that what I'm saying to you is true."

Angel's words were firm, yet as gentle as possible, not wanting him to panic again but still wanting him to concentrate on her, to believe her.

"I've been honest with you from the start," she said. "I've told you the truth, no matter what you want to ask me. Some topics I've avoided, because they're sensitive to me, but I've always been honest with how I was feeling during those times. If I didn't want to talk about something, I told you that, and I truly appreciate you being respectful of my boundaries." She gently brushed his shoulder with her thumb. "You can ask me anything, Erebus."

Just as the urge to push his hands underneath the water came to Erebus last night, he was overwhelmed with the desire to pull Angel's body against his own, to feel her warmth take over his soul as he held her close and refused to let go. Somehow, this urge was almost scarier than that to possibly burn his hands with water, but he contained himself, instead choosing to ask her what had been on his mind since he had been brought back to life.

"Do you hate me?"

Angel shook her head simply. "I do not hate you. Quite the opposite, in fact."

"Am I only here because you pity me?"

"I feel bad for what you've been through, yes, but I don't pity you in the way that you think I do."

"Do I..." Erebus shifted slightly underneath her. "Do I make you uncomfortable?"

She shook her head again. "I don't think I've ever felt more comfortable than I am when I'm with you."

"Even when I was teasing you, and getting close to you?"

"Even then." Angel smiled. "I really appreciate you asking about that, though. None of it ever made me uncomfortable."

"And you're telling the truth?"

Angel nodded. "One hundred percent."

She let go of him and shuffled back, laying back down on the bed. "I really care about you, Erebus, and I want you to let me know at any time if there's something I can do for you, or something that's on your mind that you want to make sure of." Reaching up, she took his hand in hers. "You really mean a lot to me, okay?"

Erebus nodded as he did the same, laying down beside her. This time, he was much closer than before. "Thank you for calming me down," he murmured. "I'm sorry that you had to see me like that."

"It's okay," Angel reassured him. "I just wanted to help. I've had nightmares like that before, and Clara usually helped me through them, and it helped me forget about them, mostly... the memory of the nightmare fades away after a while, y'know."

Erebus was able to realize that Angel was right. The details were fuzzy now, and even those were slipping away - everything Angel had said to him was a blur, Malacoda's face was hazy in his mind's eye, and he didn't remember Gameknight at all. The chill of the water he had nearly drowned in still lingered, however; despite how close he was to Angel, he wanted more, but how could he get more without seeming selfish?

"You seem cold," Angel murmured, as if she had read his mind. "Do you want me to hold you?"

Erebus quickly looked up, his eyes widening slightly. "What?"

Angel shrugged a little. "You just looked like you wanted to be held," she explained simply. "Whenever me and Clara have a talk about something serious, she always gives me a hug and it makes everything better. Man, she gives the best hugs..."

She opened her arms, allowing Erebus to come closer if he wanted.

"Are you sure...?" he asked, hesitating. "How- How did you know I was cold?"

"Maybe I just wanted an excuse to hold you," Angel said. "Do you want to, or nah?"

Erebus still seemed tentative, but he nodded slowly, not wanting to decline the offer. Angel grinned at him, her arms encircling his waist with exceeding gentleness as she guided him closer, and he settled down in a position where half of his body was on top of hers, his head buried in the gap between her shoulder and her neck. One of Angel's hands settled on the back of his head, her fingers carding through his long hair as she tried her hardest not to spontaneously combust from how warm he was.

"You're so soft..." Erebus murmured as he began to relax, wrapping an arm around Angel's waist. "I really like how soft you are."

Angel couldn't restrain herself. "I bet you'd like me when I'm hard, too..."

The second Erebus comprehended exactly what she meant by that, he let out a strangled yelp, pressing his burning face against her neck. Angel couldn't help but cackle at his incredibly flustered reaction. "Wh-What the fuck-?!"

"That's what you get," Angel giggled, grinning down at him. "That's what you get for flustering me all the damn time. God, you're cute..."

Erebus glanced up at Angel, still trying to process her comment. "So you still have- d'you have a- why am I even asking that, it's not like I care or anything...!"

Angel placed a hand over her mouth as she snickered to herself at his question, her broad smile widening. It made her so relieved to know that she was able to help him forget about his nightmare, even if it meant taking turns flustering each other. "Yes, I do," she answered simply. "Being a trans girl is fucking weird, to put it simply... I'll have to explain the whole process and stuff like that later. Right now, I just wanna chill like this."

Smirking down at Erebus, she watched as he settled against her once more, still quite flustered by her earlier remark. "We were having a moment..." he pouted.

"Yeah, like we were last night before you started teasing me about having dreams about you," Angel retorted. Erebus chuckled softly, and Angel's heart fluttered in her chest at the sight of his smile.

There was a soft knock on the door. "Angel, dear?" Clara's voice called. "Are you awake?"

Angel paused for a second. "Yeah," she said. "You can come in."

It was a moment too late that she realized the position that she and Erebus were in, recalling Clara's teasing remarks about how romantic the time they spent together was. There was nothing she could do, however - her aunt had already opened the door and was peering inside.

"Well, isn't this sweet..." she murmured, a soft smile on her face at the sight of Angel and Erebus snuggled close together, the latter still resting his head on her shoulder. "You two look very cozy together like that."

Angel glanced over at Erebus. "We got cold last night, so we had the idea to stay in the same bed," she explained. "That's it, nothing more."

Clara chuckled gently. "Well, I just came in to let you know that Tom and I are about to leave," she told Angel. "We're going to pick up the Feynman family and take them to Crossrose Hotel. I don't believe we'll take that long, but you and Erebus will have the house to yourselves during that time, okay?"

Angel nodded in understanding. "Sounds good," she said. "I hope you guys have fun. We'll find something to do here until y'all get back."

"I'm excited for you to meet them," Clara mused. "We're having them over for dinner soon, in a day or so, but we'll tell you how our first meeting goes. Are you sure you'll be alright here, sweetpea?"

"I think so," Angel reassured her. "Me and Erebus have each other, so we'll be good."

"I'm glad to hear it." Clara looked over at Erebus. "Oh, before we leave, I have something for you, Erebus."

Erebus sat up quickly, looking mildly startled. "For me?" he repeated, moving over to the edge of the bed. Clara stepped over to him, holding a soft object in her hands - a hand-made beanie knitted with a dark red yarn that she had made herself.

"I thought you might enjoy this," she told him. Erebus reached out, taking the hat from her slightly hesitantly. Angel placed a hand over her mouth as she watched the exchange, letting out a small squeal.

"Did... Did you make this?" Erebus asked, and Clara nodded. "For me? Wh-Why? I didn't ask for you to..."

Clara's easy smile remained on her face as she observed Erebus's reaction. "I made it because I felt that you might like it," she told him. "And I'm not expecting anything in return, magpie. I just wanted to make a gift for you." She reached out, gently setting her hand on his shoulder. "You deserve to have gifts and nice things, no matter your background."

Erebus's gaze remained fixed on Clara, almost as if he was searching her for any sign that she wasn't being sincere. It didn't take long for him to realize that there was none - this was truly what Clara believed. Feeling his face start to heat up again from the sudden, almost motherly kindness that he was so unused to, he looked down at the knit hat. "Thank you," he mumbled, smiling softly to himself as he looked down at the gift he had been given. "Thank you so much..."

"Of course, dear," Clara said, taking a step back. "Me and Tom will be back shortly, alright? Have fun here."

"We will," Angel said, beaming at Clara. "Try and have fun as well."

With a final smile, Clara turned to leave, shutting the door behind her. Erebus turned to face Angel, still holding the knit beanie. "What do you want to do?"

"Hm..." Angel sat up as well, moving closer to Erebus and grinning at him. "We have the whole house to ourselves now... we can do whatever we want."

Leaning in close to Erebus, she felt her smirk widen as he shivered a little with anticipation. His eyes widened ever so slightly as he thought about what she was about to suggest.

Such a dirty-minded man, despite being so innocent to the ways that the world works...

Placing a hand on his shoulder, she spoke, her voice laced with excitement.

"You wanna listen to Animals with me?"