(Happy holidays!)
Kaylum wasn’t sure he could sleep either. The possibility of seeing Xiomara in pain again haunted him, as well as other nightmarish things. But really, the whole ordeal of the past day was starting to take its toll. He yawned, his sharpened canines glinting and his tongue curling slightly. His breath came out slow and soft. His gaze landed on Nikolas’s leg as he simultaneously tried to stay awake while becoming more and more tired by the minute.
(You too!)
Nik sighed very quietly, shifting as he tried to get a little more comfortable. It would seem that there would be no pillows, cots, or blankets for them; just this bare, cold, hard floor. He had slept on worse, but it was still an uncomfortable experience.
In the end, his body won the fight with his mind. He closed his eyes, and sleep overtook him. Blissful darkness smothered him like a promise, a promise of no disturbing visions or nightmares. But the world was against him now, and the visions and nightmares came anyway. He shivered and whimpered as he slept.
Nik was lightly drowsing when Kaylum began to whimper, the noise stirring him awake almost immediately. He blinked at Kaylum quietly, then shifted to reach out to him. "Kaylum." he said softly, hand resting on the man's shoulder. "Hey. It's going to be fine. It's alright." he was not vrey good at soothing people, but he was trying his best.
Xiomara was there again, but she looked tired. Her eyes were closed, she lay on the dusty ground. Then Kaylum saw the stream of crimson running from her neck, down to her chest and mixing with dust. Bloodied feathers were strewn everywhere.
This is my fault.
This is my fault.
Then he saw two people lying on the ground side by side, covered my white sheets. He didn’t want to, he didn’t want to go near them, but the dream moved him closer against his will. He lifted the sheets and saw his father and mother’s cold, dead faces staring up at him.
No, please.
Why did you leave me?
Why did you leave—
A hand on his shoulder. Kaylum’s eyes opened, and Nikolas’s face stared back at them. His face, alive. Blinking, breathing. He tried not to imagine it any other way.
He did not reply. Sighing, he forced the muscles he had not realized were tensed up to relax. After a few minutes he murmured, “Your hand is very warm.”
Nik exhaled softly, pulling his hand back. "My apologies." he said softly, looking down at Kaylum. "Are you…alright? You were…making noises." he didn't know what else to say. How was he supposed to handle this situation?
Making noises? Kaylum frowned. He didn’t want to admit it, but he felt embarrassed for some reason.
“I guess not.” His voice was soft from sleep. “Just nightmares though. It’s fine.”
"Alright." he said softly, running a hand through his hair. "I just…wanted to wake you and make sure you were alright." he gave Kaylum a faint smile, still trying to be as encouraging as he could. "that's all. You can, ah, go back to sleep."
Wow, a human who was trying to look out for him. Maybe Kay shouldn’t be so surprised since it was his soulmate, but it was still a new concept he was trying to grapple with.
“I don’t know if I can,” he admitted with a shrug. “And I don’t know if I want to.”
Nik nodded slightly. "Right. Well. You don't have to go back to sleep, then." he cleared his throat softly, looking around the cell and then back over to Kaylum. This was not a situation he knew how to handle.
Somehow, Kaylum found it in himself to laugh a little. Nikolas’s awkwardness was apparent, and after what he saw, Kay was trying to find humor where he could. He rolled over onto his back and stretched his limbs.
Nik blinked at him, but finally let out his own soft laugh. "Sorry." he said in a quiet tone. "I am…not the best at handlng this sort of situation. Nightmares and trying to comfort people, I mean. It is not my area of expertise."
“No, please,” Kay said, “I’m the same way. But it’s funny when I see you do it. And you don’t need to do anything, really. I mean, I just assumed you wouldn’t care, so…”
As he spoke, he rested his hands beneath his head, staring at the ceiling. Now, his gaze drifted to Nik.
Nik shrugged faintly. "I just wanted to help. And you're my soulmate and the only ally I've got here. So. It just makes sense to care, at least a little bit." he looked up at the ceiling.
“That makes sense, I guess,” Kay shrugged. “I, uh… I appreciate it.”
After a few moments of silence, he asked, “Have you ever heard of human/shifter soulmates before?”
"No. But, to be fair, I had not researched it either. I'm sure it has happened before, but it probably just was not well documented. If it happened between commoners, it might not have been remarked upon much, especially if it happened in a border town." Nik said, looking at Kaylum again.
“Ah, yes. I mean, I’ve spent many hours in my palace’s archives, and I don’t recall reading a record of soulmates of differing species. But of course, I’ve only ever seen my palace’s archives, nothing else. The most I remember is a few cases where there were soulmates of different dragon types,” Kaylum recalled.
Nik nodded slightly. "I see." he said softly. "Well. It would appear that we may be unprecedented, then." he laughed a little bit. "I suppose that figures."
“And how timely,” Kay remarked with a sigh. “This will surely go down in history.”
He laughed faintly. "If we live through this, yes. Everyone will think it was a miracle of fate that brought peace to our time." he smiled faintly over at Kaylum.
Kaylum also quirked a grin, but sighed softly again. “If we live through this…” the grin faded. “If we live through this, I’m going to take a long nap.”
He laughed again. "Me too." his smile faded a little bit. "But after that, we'll both be a bit busy, ah, ruling our nations." he thought for a long moment. "How are we going to do it? Both of our respective capital cities are closer to the centers of our nations, it's…a bit far away. Obviously Tesh would not be happy if you ruled it from the Kevran capital, but Kevra would not be pleased if I tried to rule from the Tesh capital."
Kaylum rubbed his hands over his face. “Do you really want to think about that right now?” He groaned. “I don’t know. Rule from our own capitals and just… continue negotiating until we get a peace treaty? Or maybe we combine Tesh and Kevra and make a new capital.”
These were just random ideas from his brain, nothing more. He didn’t really think they had any merit.
"Well, if we marry, we have to combine the rulership. And live together. It's rather normal, for married couples to do so." he laughed faintly, shaking his head for a moment. "I'm not sure we can just…make a new capital, though. That sounds rather expensive."
“But what if..?” Kay stopped himself. Just because he didn’t want to marry Nikolas didn’t mean he was free to make that choice. “Well, maybe we don’t have to live together…”
The other prince was right about the financial aspect of making a new capital. Kay mentally discarded the idea.