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Started January 06, 2020 by @Fraust

tune

Halm raised one hand, touching Cas's soul directly.
"It's okay," Halm murmured quietly, voice low and gentle. "It's okay. Don't be afraid. You're safe, Cas."

Cas whimpered weakly, shifting around a bit. His soul didn't seem much assured, either. Seeing all the other souls and thinking about the deaths of their hosts, even seeing a fair few, had spooked the soul. All the death of hosts around it made it horribly afraid that Cas was going to die, so it then planned and acted accordingly as though Cas were dying.

Halm let out a little sigh of relief, despite the situation. Cas wasn't actually dying, and that meant the soul wouldn't actually be able to leave. Still, if he had been left on his own any longer, he would have gone into a coma.
"You're not going to die," Halm said softly. "You have a safe, healthy body, and no one's going to hurt you. You have me, remember? I'm not gonna let you die."

The soul relaxed a little bit, but still didn't seem entirely convinced. What makes you so sure nothing can kill him down here? It asked. Derlik is a high contender. That river looks rather dangerous. Cas himself is a danger to himself. He's been hurting himself for years, you know. It drives me crazy.

"Derlik is a trickster. He won't actually move against Cas anymore, because those are the rules. Instead, he'll just try to get Cas to distrust me. So far, he hasn't been successful. The river… the only time Cas will ever be close enough to it to be pulled towards it, I'll be right there. And… I'm not gonna let Cas hurt himself. I want to help him with that." Halm glanced over at Cas, lightly cupping one hand against his cheek and wiping the tear tracks away.

The soul looked back at Cas, still seeming a little uneasy, but less panicked. He's unstable. He's scared. The kid's got issues, and there's only so much I can do about it. Fixing him is your job.

"I know," Halm said, looking back at the soul. "I can take care of him." Halm smiled softly.

You'd better. He cares about you more than he's going to admit to you. Can I go back in now? The soul asked. It's freezing out here.

Halm nodded at the first part of what the soul said. Cas wasn't the only one.
"Of course," he said. He moved the soul closer to Cas's body, watching was it was gently pulled back in. He raised his hand to cup Cas's cheek, waiting for him to wake up.
"Cas," he said gently.

"Mm…" Cas whined softly, stirring and then curling up tightly, shivering. His eyes were still closed, but he seemed to be floating on some plane of consciousness.

"It's over now," Halm said, voice quiet. Once he was certain it was safe, he picked Cas up out of the wardrobe, holding him close.

Cas huddled close to Halm for warmth, and Nix was still yowling angrily in the background at not being able to help Cas.

Halm secured Cas to himself with one arm, closing the wardrobe door and turning to Nix. He picked the cat up carefully, bringing him up to Cas.
"Everything's gonna be okay now."

Nix nuzzled against Cas's cheek and lay on his chest to calm him down. After a few seconds, Cas weakly brought up his arms to hug the cat.

Halm was relieved when Cas moved. He went over to the bed, sitting down. He gently layered Cas onto his lap, arms wrapped around him.

After about ten more minutes of being warmed up by Halm and Nix, Cas finally opened his eyes blearily. "…Halm?" He asked, his voice faltering and breaking.

Halm stayed silent the entire time, letting Cas take as long as he needed.
"I'm right here, Cas," Halm said gently. He moved one hand up to cup Cas's head, being so so gentle.

Cas leaned his head into Halm's hand and let his eyes fall shut again. "What happened…?" He asked weakly. "Am I dead?"

"You're not dead," Halm said softly. "You're soul and I just had a little talk. It was… scared." Halm curled around Cas a little more, holding him close. He rubbed Cas's cheek with his thumb.

"What was it scared of?" He relaxed into Halm's gentle touch.

"Dying," Halm said softly. "It saw all the other souls, and it was scared you'd die too." Halm was so relieved when Cas relaxed into him.

"Oh…" Cas was quiet for a few seconds. "Is it okay? My soul, I mean?"

Halm nodded.
"Perfectly fine." He gave Cas a small smile.

"That's good…" Cas relaxed a little again. "It doesn't feel as uneasy, anyways."

"Good," Halm said. He smiled again, pulling Cas a little closer.