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Malleus woke to soft hands caressing his face, a soothing voice whispering to him. One that he thought he would never hear again. He blinked open his eyes to see his love, his everything kneeling on the bed in front of him.
Their head was haloed by the light of the setting sun, making them look like an otherworldly being. Perhaps you were, and this was merely a dream, a fantasy of his own making. A way for him to cope with his loss.
“Come back to me, love.” Their voice was gentle as they tilted his head back. “Whatever you dreamt of, it’s not reality.”
Shakily, as though he expected them to turn to mist with his touch, he cupped their cheek in his large hand. The tightness in his chest seemed to disappear, and he was able to breathe easier.
His vibrant eyes searched their face to see any signs of sickness that would take them away, of terror towards him, but only found patience and love. “I thought I lost you.” His voice was a broken whisper, shaken by what he saw. Was it a vision of what was to come to pass? Was time already slipping through his fingers?
Their touch was the grounding that he needed, one hand lacing in the hair near one of his horns. “Tell me about it?” They curled up in his arms at the words, tucking their head under his chin.
Malleus took a deep breath, fearing that if he spoke it aloud then it would become reality. His arms came around them and he curled his body around them, as though they were his hoard of treasure. But no amount of jewels or gold could compete with the one he held.
They were quiet as they waited for him to speak, fingers lightly scraping against his skull in the way that made his eyes fall shut. He reveled in the feel of them against his body, soft and warm and alive.
Their other hand traced a pattern against his heart, breath soft against his chest. He was startled when they spoke. “I dreamt that we had to say goodbye.” Their words were a quiet admission, causing Malleus to hold them closer. “That… I could go home. Had to, really. It was… devastating that I had to leave you.”
Their words made a lump form in his throat, hearing the raw devastation in their voice. He hated how they suffered, if only emotionally. He wished that there was some way that he could help soothe them, to share their pain.
But, of course, there was. As painful as it was, Malleus quietly explained his dream, of how he had lost them to a sickness that he couldn’t save them from. Of finding them once more only to trap them in his madness.
He whispered his fears of how he would go mad if he lost them, that his actions would be monstrous should they ever return in another form. How he didn’t want to live without them, and would die of heartbreak before he trapped them to his side.
In turn, they whispered about how they were afraid they would have to go home, how they wouldn’t even have a chance to tell him goodbye. That he would never know how much they loved him, and would never leave him if they had a choice.
These quiet admissions between lovers spurred Malleus into action, rolling them onto their back as he kissed them softly. “My Rose, my love.” he murmured reverently, hands caressing their skin. “If tonight was the last night, I would hold you close until the world ended.”
“And I would die with a smile upon my lips,” they whispered back, arching towards him as his hands trailed down their sides. “If the last thing I were to feel was your skin upon mine.”
That night, they took turns worshiping one another, never once separating. And when the light dawned on them the next morning, they lay tangled together as though they were one.
And that was all that mattered.