Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“I can’t believe you, you know that!?”

Sherlock ran a hand across his face as John paced angrily in front of him. “Now john…” Sherlock went to continue before John cut him off.

“Do NOT “john” me Sherlock bloody Holmes. I was gone, for ONE week! And you just couldn’t resist using drugs. FOR ONE WEEK! AFTER ALL WE’VE BEEN THROUGH!” He shouted over Sherlock who barely even twitched at the volume orf the doctors voice, calmly adjusting the sleeves of his coat.

“Typical, and you don’t even care. When do you care about anything other than solving cases for your own ego and getting high with the money.” John said quietly an air of disgust as he grabbed his coat from the rack by the door.

“Now if you’ll excuse me I need to pick up Rosie from nursery and sort out something edible for us for dinner AGAIN. Because you couldn’t even be assed to do that.” With that he slammed the door leaving the room in an echoing silence.

Only then did silent tears fall down the detectives face. Silent fat drops slowly sliding down pale skin and transforming into thin salty rivers as they collected into his scarf, making the scarf even more blue with wetness and sorrow.

He stood as he waded through the mess of papers that he had at some point strewn across the floor to grasp his violin as he perched at the window and stared.

But no notes came to mind. Only John’s disgusted face.

He looked at the phone as he scoffed to himself, surely not. He was not a *child*.

“Brother mine calling so soon? I assume things with John went less than pleasant.” Mycroft phrased it like a question but they both knew that he already knew the answer.

“He stormed out the house. He hasn’t been so angry since Mary-“ He stated it matter of factly but the wetness in his voice was so obviously distinguishable to the Ice Man.

“I must say I warned you brother mine, nonetheless I will be there in ten. Do I need to bring any other visitors?” He asked his tone becoming blunter in a way that Sherlock always knew meant business.

“No. I have not taken or done anything. Yet.” He said with a dark scoff. He already could feel the regret sinking in of calling his brother; blocking him from getting his favorite escape, the one thing that would quiet his mind.

But that’s what got him into this mess. Doing it again would only push John further out of his arms.

“-and you will not while I am there, no matter what I have to do to assure that.” Mycroft finished before hanging up the phone, confirming he was on the way as Sherlock simply stared aimlessly at the ceiling, wishing for nothing more than the feeling of a needle in his arm.

Chapter Text

The group gasped and stumbled as they landed in a unfamiliar location, at least to the majority of them. Damascus stumbled as he righted himself, head whipping around to take in the unfamiliar sight, the land that was the battlefield before now replaced with a city covered in scales and all that shimmered.

He looked to the others around him as he noted half of them were missing. He felt a shock of panic rush down to his stomach and back upto his head within a second as he turned to Row who was being unusually quiet.

“Row. You’re being too quiet for a situation like this. Surely you know something.” He asked with probably too much hostility in his tone, unfiltered with barely restrained panic masked as urgency.

...

This couldn't of happened, why did this have to happen! Everyone should've left well enough alone, they shouldn't have tried to protect him! Why would they go on to protect him when he's been nothing but a dick to them, keeping them at arms length? Row had no idea why, but because of what happened, now they were somewhere completely different, somewhere Row had never been.

He pushed himself to his feet as the head rush from the teleport faded, dusting off his legs as he tried to keep his breathing under control.

You'll be fine, you just have to get away again and do a better job at hiding.

Trying to keep his hands from shaking, Row looked up and around, attempting to get his surroundings when he saw flags flying outside the alleyway they had ended up in. They were blue flags. Blue flags with House Gaelige's symbol on it.

They were fucked.

The Yuan-ti froze in place, staring at the flags and banners outside the alleyway, trying to figure out what to do, how to quiet down the absolute terror and fear building up inside him. He didn't even realize half of the group was missing, Alpha included and just barely missed Damascus' words, but it was the Dhampier's tone of voice that broke through to him.

Row's head slowly turned to look Damascus in the eye, his expression cold as ice yet eyes lit up with fear driven anger. "Forgive me leech if I'm not outwardly panicking like a scared little puppy dog with what's happened. I've got bigger shit to worry about and making sure everyone is safe and accounted for is not on my fucking list!"

Row could barely keep the shakiness out of his voice as he blew up on the other, but he somehow managed it. He glanced down at his hand with the bracelet the blacksmith from the village gave him, his hand clenching slowly but tightly into a fist in an attempt to repress the fear threatening to boil over.

...

Damascus nearly scoffed as he glared down at the Yuan-ti. The feelings he was restraining slowly slipping through the cracks; “Well snake it may not be YOUR priority but I have the ability to give a shit for people that aren’t myself. For all the time you spend running your mouth you’d THINK there’s some bite behind those fangs- the MOMENT you were given an order by a dragon you became his little lap dog and endangered us all!”

He snapped back eyes flashing pink before quickly returning to their normal purple hue as he began mumbling under his breath before he could help himself, frustration replacing rationality.
“So much for not being a scared little lizard.”

...

Row was able to hold his tongue up until Damascus brought up Logan. Blood dripped from the palm of Row's fisted hand, his nails digging into his skin in an attempt to bite down on all the festering emotions, but the second that fucker was mentioned, all bets were off. It was almost as if you could see his eyes spark red with flame as fear driven anger turned into blind rage.

Despite Row's trigger being pulled, the corners of his mouth twisted into a sick, malicious grin, his eyes following suit as they glared daggers into Damascus' soul. His fist uncurled, blood now dripping down his fingers and onto the ground of the alleyway as Row just stood there and chuckled darkly at the Dhampier's remark.

"You really don't know how to pay attention do you? He showed up looking for me, and what did you guys do? You all decided "Ah yes, lets go fight this fucker" and for what? Protecting me? Saving me? Fucking please, you all had much more of a chance if you hadn't picked a fight with him and just let me handle things and go with him."

As the last few words of his sentence left his lips, he slowly stalked towards Damascus, never breaking eye contact as he continued to walk towards him until he was pinned against the alley's wall. "I do have bite, you blood sucking pest, but I also know how to preserve my life and those around me, or at the very least know how to make things as painless as they can get when dealing with someone like him, especially when events like this have happened before."

Row cocked his head to the side a bit as he leaned his head forward, his one hand reaching out to the side before it lit up in blue flame, the scales on his face, neck and arm faintly starting to glow.

"You've got a lot of nerve to dredge up all my fears when you don't even know the half of what I've gone through. Don't think I've forgotten about your fun little fear of fire. Maybe I should find those you care about most and burn them in all the places it would hurt most and see if you start singing a different tune when you're living through your worst nightmare."

Row paused then, letting out a soft chuckle, his eyes closing briefly before they opened again. "Oh wait, you were in Fang Gully. I doubt there's anyone left alive that gives a damn about you."

...

Damascus felt his back hit the wall, His heart beginning to hammer faster in his chest as their faces flicked into mind, faces long since burned away. Damascus snarled back his eyes now blazing pink as his fangs quickly extended past his lips as he began to faintly hiss through clenched teeth.

“That’s your way to deal with people? Yell at them and when that doesn’t resort to begging like an animal? Makes sense your as fucking stupid as one and the shit you’re spouting proves it.” He seethed his voice quiet, barely able to be heard over the hissing from the back of his throat overshadowing it.

He made sure to look Row in the eyes as he continued “and is that not calling the bat black, at least I have redeeming qualities and am CAPABLE of loving back, why would anything or anyone dead or alive care about you?” He asked quietly his eyes never straying from their piercing glare into row’s green slits.

...

If one blinked, it was easy to miss, but under the anger, there was fear, and Row was able to see it. How there was a brief flash of anxiety when his back hit the wall, how his eyes shook slightly as he stared Row down just as much as Row was. When the Yuan-ti saw he struck a nerve, he wasn't afraid, not of Damascus. He was amused.

Row took a step back, righting his head as the flame engulphing his hand went out, the faint glow to his scales following suit. "Now there's something to touch on! Haven't really seen this side of you at all yet, Leech. See, while it seems like you're afraid to show the scary part of who you are, I'm not. Showing others who I am and what I'm capable of means they'll think twice before trying to come out on top against me."

Row let his arm fall to his side, never breaking his stare with the other. At the question, Row couldn't help but chuckle again. "Redeeming qualities? All I see is someone who is trying so desperately to find people to latch onto because everyone who loved you before left you or got killed and it was entirely your fault."

He paused for a brief second to let that soak in before he spoke again, a new venomous glint to his eye as he spoke. "As for anyone caring about me? I learned a long time ago that I'm not worth caring about, and I'm fine with that."

...

Damascus could feel his body practically vibrate as he tensed every muscle in his body, forcing them to remain still despite the adrenaline surging through every extremity as he fought to form overly slow and controlled words over senseless hissing.

“You take that back.”

...

Row quirked a brow, watching as parts of Damascus twitched as he tried to stay in control as he spoke.

The yuan-ti crossed his arms and tilted his chin upwards slightly, his grin turning to an open mouth smile as he continued to watch Damascus stay in control of his body and not fling himself at Row in a blind rage. His tongue ran over his top row of teeth as he let out a slow breath through his mouth before responding, "Take what back? All I said was the truth. Sometimes it's the most difficult thing you'll ever hear and all you'll ever want to do is deny it and hope it isn't so. News flash for you; you can't deny it forever. It'll keep wearing you down til you have nothing left. Face it, everyone here is going to end up hurt or fucking dead because you're trying too hard. Alpha is gone, half of us are missing because they sure as hell aren't here! Might as well save yourself the effort and accept the truth now."

...

For a moment Damascus just froze in place as the words sunk in. He’d rather be staked that admit it but in a way he was right, the kid, the paladin, Alpha – their fates are currently unknown. And according to him this was somehow all his fault, all his doing that lead to this panic and pain.

Maybe it was his fault all along…

Something snapped as that thought raced through his head and sunk, sticking in the forefront of his mind like a leaded balloon as all the trembling and tension quickly died down. The lightning hot electricity in his body collecting and melting down into something much more lethal. A thick poison slowly filling him and replacing all jitters and thoughts with its heavy presence of dark red.

Then he swung.

His hand flew to slap the manipulative snake right across his smug face, but it felt wrong. His eyes finally moved from Row’s as they reached his hand, claws extended with a singular thin of blood on one as his eyes widened slightly before he could school his face once more. “You don’t get to say that YOU ABSOLUTE BASTARD.”

He yelled his voice trembling the more it raised in volume as he stood there, claws still extended with half-bent fingers making the jagged nails point to the Yuanti in question.

...

Row let out a huff of achievement as he watched, in quick succession, the emotions flash through Damascus' eyes. For the longest time, Row knew his truth, or rather knew the truth that kept being pushed upon him. He even believed it for a good while. But that all changed when he learned Jayden was still possibly alive and that he could save him. His fight had returned, his drive and will to save and protect. Those feelings still rode through his veins, but damn was the thought of not caring if he died here or not comforting and familiar.

At least something familiar here was comforting, even if it shouldn't have been.

Row stayed still, eyes still never breaking their gaze from Damascus when the clawed hand flew right for his face. He took in a bit of a sharp breath feeling the scratch underneath his eye, but his smile never faded, his arms stayed cross and his feet didn't stumble. Instead, he let out a laugh.

"You really think that's supposed to do anything? Come on, Damascus! Last time I fucking checked, I can say whatever the hell I want because I'm not bound by the same marks as you guys anymore."

With that, Row uncrossed his arms before pulling open the tattered guard uniform, showing the left side of his chest. A heavily scarred hand print rested over where his heart was inside his chest, the tissue still pink from being freshly healed.

Row did up the guard uniform after a few moments, raising his arms up at his side's, a somewhat of a manic look shifting it's way onto his face.

"I don't answer to anyone anymore, and certainly not to the likes of you. I found my way out, I found a way to protect myself against those that can control you all with a simple order. I may be afraid of the dragon that came for me, but I only listened because I had a plan. A plan that you ruined. So come on, you freak of fucking nature, bring it on! Do your worst!"

...

Damascus could only see red as words and all logic and loyalty faded into afterthoughts as his free hand flying to where his dagger rested on his tunic as he went to stab him. This fucker did not get to talk and taunt him like this, he did not get to tell me their deaths and the groups potential deaths were on him. He had a hand in these events too;

And that hand needed to bleed just like his heart was inside

...

Row saw Damascus take the bait, watching in what came off as twisted delight as he went for his dagger that rested on his tunic. The Yuan-ti dropped his arms, taking a good step back the second Damascus swung at him, letting out a chuckle as the blade whisked past him, nearly catching the fabric of his clothes.

"How is it that you managed to survive this long, huh?" Row called out, shifting to the side when another swing with the dagger came. Using Bill's necklace artifact, Row then telepathically taunted, "Because with how you're fighting and how easy you lose control, I would've given you a week at best when you ended up alone."

Right as he finished the taunt, Row swung his left fist, aiming for Damascus' temple but was honestly looking for any kind of hit. Sure, he could end this so quickly using his bending, but where was the fun in that?

Damascus let out a loud hiss in anger as the hit connected against his head but he was too enraged to focus on anything else but offence

"Well maybe I'm tougher than you think! Maybe unlike your apathetic ass i have a reason to keep fighting even when I should have been dead long ago!"

He wasn't even entirely sure what he was saying anymore but he didn't care. All that mattered was making sure Row felt a fraction of what he was feeling. The feelings burning his very soul

...

Row felt invigorated the second he felt Damascus' skull against his fist, letting out a short hum as he watched the Dhampir's body move with the force of the blow before he righted himself.

"That would be quite the surprise. How long were you starved of blood when you got captured? If you're supposedly 'tougher than I think', you would've been able to have gotten your fill and had a full belly by the time you ended up in Fang Gully."

Row held up his arm to block a blow from the other, quickly pushing Damascus' hand with the blade aside as he used his free hand to aim a punch directly underneath the others' ribcage, eyes staring into Damascus' all the while.

...

Damascus gasped as the hit landed against his ribcage knocking the wind out of him as he wrapped his free hand around the injury hissing as he spoke between catching his breath once more sneering
"There were guards everywhere; you really show your intelligence lizard brain. Feeding would have just landed me in the pain room or killed on sight."

"Plus dhampirs don't need blood for like a year before they risk dying dumbass"

He didn't bother to go for the dagger he had dropped as he immediately grasped his gun from the tunic going for a point blank shot in row's face

...

Row took a couple steps back as he tilted his chin up, watching as Damascus bent over almost double from the hit, letting out a huff as he listened to him wheeze.

"Oh no, poor little Damascus can't handle a little bit of pain," Row said, his tone running with fake sympathy and bitterness. "And I never said anything about dying, dumbass. People can go for long periods of time without eating and not die. But they'll be hungry and the temptation of food would drive them crazy if it were right in front of them all the time."

Row lifted his right hand then, turning to look at the blood slowly oozing from the wounds created from his nails, casting a glance towards Damascus, almost as if he were taunting the Dhampier. In the midst of this, however, Row was a second to late in seeing the raised potion gun. He took a messy step backwards, going to raise his arms to shield his face when the gun went off. Row's head shot backwards before he leaned forward slightly, his hands immediately going to his nose to cradle his face as his eyes began to water.

"FUCK!"

It took him a moment to make out what he was smelling, a pale translucent green mist floating around his head, but the second he figured it out, he took a big deep breath in through his nose, doing his best not to wince at the pain it brought him as he tried to make it as audible as possible.

Row raised his head then, his eyes filled with malice and if one looked incredibly closely, they'd be able to spot grief. Despite the drowning emotion, Row, with impeccable speed and a deecnt amount of force, knocked the potion gun out of Damascus' hands with his right arm before grabbing at his throat and pushing him up against the alley's wall with his left, his right hand then erupting into blue flame as it came incredibly close to Damascus' face, the heat practically licking at his skin.

Row stared Damascus down, his scales faintly glowing once more before he spoke, his voice quieter but much more sharp. "Just because I'm like this now, Leech, doesn't mean I was always this way. You kind of lose yourself when you're forced to be a dragons slave and plaything after watching him practically kill everyone you've ever known and loved, so yeah, I'm pretty apathetic now. I should've died with the rest of my village, but he decided to keep me."

As Row continued on, a tear slipped down his cheek as his voice grew louder in tone, and it wasn't because of the pain coming from his nose. "When we got to that village, all I could see was my home. I wanted to help, I wanted to restore hope and peace because I wasn't able to do that for my home. So imagine my fucking horror when the home-wrecker of all dragons shows up and it's all my fucking fault that everyone got hurt again!"

Row froze then, the flame around his hand dying down a bit as he stared at Damascus in shock, unable to realize how he let all that slip. As the seconds ticked by, the blue flames around his hand fizzled out and the grip around Damascus' throat loosened before Row just let go, taking a couple hesitant steps back as his eyes looked like they were going hollow with numbness.

...

Damascus was more than enraged as his throat was slammed against the wall, his immediate response to try and bite the hand pinning him before clawing him to pieces

But all that died when he saw the flames.

All the fight in him burned away as his pupils shrunk to pinprick and he cried out in fear struggling as hard as he could to move even just a centimeter further away from the flames But even so he could hear what the yuanti was saying, and as much as he hated it he could understand.

As Row released his hand Damascus tried to stand tall but his shaking legs gave out beneath him as he fought to speak between hyperventilated breaths

"Not... your fault idiot. Dragon burned the place. Not you."

"I burned my home... i failed to fix alphas warp mod!...I did it...killed them all-"

He tried to sound comforting but the last sentence rushed out without consent in the form of a whine as his eyes squeezed shut and he fought the urge to whimper further, his breaths coming faster despite his efforts to try and slow them down

...

Row shook his head slightly, regaining autonomy over his limbs. He glanced around for a moment before looking down at Damascus, his expression now almost monotone as he tried to suppress the fear, the guilt, the grief and pain that had boiled over unintentionally. Part of him felt bad for throwing the Dhampier into a panic attack, but the other, bigger part of him at the moment was glad he finally got him to listen, to try not to test him, especially right now.

"I picked up the scrying sphere in the cave. He saw me and decided to have some fun. So yeah, it is my fault," Row said finally after he listened to Damascus try to breathe properly through rapid breaths. His tone of voice had dramatically shifted to a nearly empty monotone tone, guilt and hostility gently wafting around the edges.

"You should get the others and find a way out of here. You guys still have hope in not knowing on a personal level how that fucker gets." Row pauses for a moment, turning to look out the alleyway before looking back to Damascus one last time, "You've survived this long after all, don't want to end that streak prematurely."

...

Damascus looked towards him one last time as he regained control of his breath too slow to his liking, but eventually managed as he grabbed his discarded dagger and put it away before rising to his feet once more, using the wall behind him for support

"You didn't know the sphere did that, but that's for later - right now we need a plan to keep ALL of us alive and safe."

He emphasised the word all but didn't elaborate as he looked to row with a shaky smirk

"after all we could use that bite you say you have to get through this."

Chapter Text

“What are you doing here Astarion, if it wasn’t obvious I wish to be alone-“ Shadowheart spoke with a slight glare into the pathway where the vampire stood, raising his hands in a mock surrender.

“Now darling when have I ever followed the rules~” He teased as he carelessly continued walking over to the cleric.

“Well maybe it is time you consider following them before you get hurt. When I ask for solitude I expect my prayers to be respected.” She spoke coolly now glaring in earnest, not that Astarion seemed to care.

“In my limited experience with gods, I do know this, even the apparently most benevolent of them do not answer all prayers.” He finished with a slight frown as he looked to the night sky. “Besides, the solitude you seek will not answer your problems.”

He stated it so matter-of-factly, it only drove Shadowhearts irritation with the man even higher.

“How would you know!? You’ve never once been loyal to anything! Let alone the Lady of Loss!” She yelled her patience finally snapping before catching herself with a deep breath. “Solitude is how clarity comes to one of the faithful.” She explained as she looked to him in her hopelessness.

He didn’t seem fazed by her ire in the slightest as his hand wound up behind his head and he reclined into the grass by her side, his face unreadable. “Well, that was certainly not my experience.” He sighed.

Shadow heart had to scoff lightly at this. “You? Alone? Surely that only happened briefly after a night surrounded by hedonistic pleasures.” She rolled her eyes as he turned to her in a unusually serious manner.

“Not quite.” He paused before continuing. “My master was cruel, as cruel as most gods to their loyal in fact- after a…particularly disobedient action I was casted into a dark room alone to rot… A year of silence and darkness. Without a scrap of food but my own flesh. Without a single sound besides my own screams.”

Astarion fought the urge to shudder as he recalled the memory, the way his life once was. (and may be again if they didn’t deal with Cazador soon.)

Shadowheart listened to the brief tale, her expression shifting from irritation to one of unsung sympathy.

“That certainly was cruel and unjust…in the eyes on any god.” She settled for, her hand in the grass inching closer to brush Astarion’s pale one that twitched in response to the movement.

“Well if they thought so none of them took the time to hear me or intervene.” He spoke as his eyes hardened as he looked to the sky once more, as if glaring at all the gods above that ignored his time of need.

Shadowheart couldn’t think of a reply for once, her mind too preoccupied with thought as Astarion raised to his feet, smoothing down his clothes with a look that almost appeared to be soft.

“Those weirdoes at camp are certainly group of creatures. But they care about you. If worshipping your goddess brings no clarity then perhaps you should try asking those who are waiting to answer.”
He said over his shoulder as he silently walked towards the camp, leaving Shadowheart to her musings once more; with new perspective and questions for both her vampire companion and her goddess.

Chapter Text

Connor nodded politely, taking notes of the woman’s witness statement. It seemed she was here approximately 3 minutes and 30 seconds before the crime was committed and the following things were set in motion, with their department being called approximately six minutes and twelve seconds after the committed crime from her husband that heard the first gunshot followed by a child’s scream.

“C’mon son, we need ya in here!” Hank yelled over as Connor waved a hand at him to signal he would join in just a moment.

“My apologies ma’am but it seems my partner requires me for the investigation. Thank you for your information. We will contact you within 3 business days if your statement is required once more.” He explained as he turned to walk into the house.

“Seems to be a clean-cut homicide case, family turning on his family – just need you to confirm the finer details.” Hank explained as Connor nodded before kneeling down to observe the first body.
Just as expected nothing of suspicion came up in his databases. She was recorded to have been married to the suspect for four years before a divorce and restraining order was filed for a year ago.

“She had a restraining order filed against the suspect a year ago. Besides that there is nothing you wouldn’t already know. The suspect got shot in the chest as you see and went into cardiac arrest a minute and twenty-six seconds after.

“Good work. What about the kid?” Hank asked as he gestured with a cringe if sympathy to the other side of the living room. A child’s body lay limply against the corner of the wall, a blood splat all around her head like a gory halo.

Connor walked over to the body of the young girl as he began his scan…

“E M M A D O V E R” (10yr) D E C E A S E D#

With that Connor felt his mechanical joints stiffen unnaturally; His memory bank immediately bringing forth a stored memory without his consent.

(Daniel stood upon the roof, the pistol pointed the young girl (apparently called Emma’s) head. Yelling things barely coherent over the whirring of helicopters…

Then he jumped, for a second his processing of time slowed as Daniel went airborne, Emma reaching out with her tiny hand towards him as she screamed out in terror. The last sound she would ever make…)

“Hey Hank! Connor’s malfunctioning or something! Aren’t you his guardian or some shit!? Fix him already!” Gavin yelled out to Hank who turned to see Connor frozen still in place, his chest no longer moving with artificial breathing.

“Shit.” Hank cursed under his breath as he approached Connor slowly and planted a hand on his shoulder. “Hey Connor, are you okay?” Hank asked slowly, not that Connor seemed to acknowledge the voice in any way.

“Her name was Emma… She fell with the deviant… I failed the mission…” He said his voice creepily monotone as he stared at the corpse as something close to recognition flashed into Hank’s eyes.

“We’re done here. Connor can give more information if needed later- AWAY from the scene.” Hank spoke as one of the lower officers voices raised in protest.

“But we need finer details and he’s the most advanced prot-“

“That was NOT a question! Listen to you lieutenant or you will be written up!” Hank warned making sure not to shout and spook his adoptive kid further as the officer gulped before nodding and turning away.

“Hey son-“ Hank said the hand on his shoulder moving to Connor’s face as he turned his face to face him. “Focus on me a minute. I’m right in front of ya-nothing else.” He said as Connor’s eyes slowly seemed to focus and actually see his partner.

“I don’t know what mission you’re thinking about but it’s past now and there’s nothing you could of done but your best. Now we’re getting outta here, getting coffee and then taking the day off got it?” Hank left no room for argument but naturally Connor found a way too regardless.

“But Hank the files.” He protested but even to himself it sounded half-hearted.

“The others got what they need. We can fill in gaps later at the office. Now C’mon.” With that a hand grabbed Connors and began walking out of the house without turning back.
Sure he had no idea what Connor was on about and if they could truly piece everything together perfectly at the office.

But nothing was worse destroying his sons mental health. He wouldn’t lose another son under his watch.

Chapter Text

Makoto took a deep breath as he sat by the sea, lungs still sore from their time being deprived of oxygen as the currents swept him away.

He put a hand into the sand of the beach. He knew he was on land now. Far from where the current could reach him and drag him away again.

*yet he was still scared*

“You’re still scared of the sea, aren’t you?” Haru spoke cutting through the silence making him jump. As he forced what he hoped was a reassuring smile.

“A little but it’s nothing I cannot handle Haru-chan.” He said softly his eyes looking out to the sea once more, despite fearing it he couldn’t stop the way his eyes were magnetized towards it and the rushing of the waves clawing at the shore…

He flinched harder than he should have as a cold hand grabbed his own, raising up in front of both their faces.

“Then why are you quivering?” Haru said, his blue eyes boring into him as his mind fumbled for explanations.

“I’m just cold from being wet.” He reasoned.

“Yes. But that’s not all, is it?” Haru gave him no quarter as he wasted no time dismissing Makoto’s weak excuses as the taller finally fell silent.

Haru watched his eyes softening as he noticed his childhood friend only trembled more. But he decided to let his actions speak as he wrapped an arm around Makoto.

“Either way, the sea nor the cold can get you here. You are safe.” His voice never wavered as he spoke as he looked down at his friend in a protective manner.

“I really shouldn’t be scared though… it’s just the sea.” Makoto explained as Haruka gave him a deadpan look.

“You just nearly drowned. Not to mention the sailor from when we were kids.” He mentioned making the other suck in a sharp breath.

“That’s it isn’t it.” He said, he didn’t have to question, his arm squeezing Makoto a little tighter, almost tucking him into his side as they settled into silence.

Nothing was said as they sat by each other for warmth and comfort, only getting warmer as Haru layed his head beneath his taller friends chin.

Suddenly even the menacing waves of the sea in front of them felt safer.