@Fraust
(Yesss)
"Mm… a little. You should rest too. You probably need it more than me." Nix smiled weakly at the petting, purring and closing his eyes again.
(Yesss)
"Mm… a little. You should rest too. You probably need it more than me." Nix smiled weakly at the petting, purring and closing his eyes again.
Halm was going to argue against that, but was interrupted by a yawn.
"Alright then," he conceded, "But don't hesitate to wake me up if Cas needs help with something." Halm snuggled down, absentmindedly petting Nix until he fell asleep.
"I will." Nix sat up a bit to keep himself awake, now watching over Cas. Cas continued sleeping soundly without a care in the world.
Halm's arm dropped from Nix when he sat up, and he wrapped both around Cas as he slept. Cas might not have had a care as he slept, but Halm's dreams were haunted by Cas's screams. He winced back, face contorting.
Nix hesitated before reaching out one small hand and starting to gently pet Halm, trying to calm him. Being pet himself always relaxed him, so he figured that it might work for Halm as well.
Halm shivered a bit, but he leaned into Nix's hand. Halm really hadn't been touched much in his life, considering how long he had lived, and he craved the soft petting Nix was giving him. Eventually, Halm simply woke up, eyes half closed still as the screaming slowly faded from his mind.
Nix looked down at him curiously, his hand still in the God's hair. "Are you alright?" He asked softly. "You seemed disturbed."
"I-I…" Halm hesitated. He wanted to say everything was fine, but… It felt bad to lie to Nix. "I just…" He sighed softly. His voice grew small. "I just can't sleep… I keep hearing Cas scream…"
Nix nodded a bit. "I suppose I'm more used to seeing him upset than you are." He smiled weakly. "He's had a hard life. He's had a lot of low moments, and I've been there for most of them."
Halm nodded slowly. He sat up a bit too, not trusting himself to fall asleep again. He didn't want to fall asleep and Nix not be able to wake him up.
"I see," he said softly. "Still…" He sighed. "I had told him he wouldn't have to deal with things like this anymore."
"You may be a god, but you can only control so much." Nix hummed thoughtfully, looking up at Halm. "Not to mention, Cas is notorious for getting himself into trouble. It isn't your fault."
Halm nodded a little.
"Yeah, I'm gonna have to do something to make sure he can't keep hurting himself. I thought there wasn't much dangerous for him here but if… This, could happen, I'm gonna have to change a lot." Halm sighed.
"He'll need to be under constant surveillance. Getting him to stop hurting himself is harder than you think." Nix gently grabbed Cas's arm and pulled up his sleeve, showing Halm the scars underneath. "I suspect it'll only get worse after a traumatic event like this."
Halm nodded a little, lightly touching the scars with a finger.
"He can't be left alone, not for a long time in the future… And it's gonna take a lot to help him with through this." He closed his eyes a moment, rubbing the bridge of his nose.
"And we'll have to find a way to take care of what he might accidentally do again."
Nix nodded. "As a cat, all I could do was comfort him after an episode… now, hopefully I can actually help him and talk him down when he's in a bad mental state like that."
Halm nodded again.
"He's gonna need it. I'm just glad he has you. I'm… Totally lost in this." Halm never really paid attention to the memories of those who were like this, and he'd never had first hand experience before. He was bullshitting his way through this and praying he didn't screw anything up.
Nix nodded again. "I know what sort of things are likely to set him off… so I know what to avoid with him." He sighed softly and lay Cas's arm back down. "He's very delicate, if I'm being honest…"
Halm tilted his head a bit. He could handle delicate. It was part of his job, to be gentle with everything. He tucked Cas back in absentmindedly.
"Alright then. Is there anything I should avoid talking about?" Of course, he figured any mention of Cas's father was a no go, after what they went through.
"Um… he does really poorly if he's ever yelled at. Loud noises are bad. Shattering glass especially is bad… he's also really insecure about his height, so it's best not to mention it. He's terrified of dogs as well. He gets really upset if he feels dumb for any reason, like making fun of him for being afraid of something or anything of the like…"
Halm nodded along as Nix listed off things to avoid. He didn't think he had ever screamed, which would be good. He could keep the loud noses down too. With the glasses… He could switch things out with plastic glass, to keep it from shattering. He'd have a bit more trouble with the height, but it should be no big deal. There weren't any dogs here, and Halm had no intention of making fun of Cas.
"…I can deal with this," Halm said finally.
Nix nodded a bit. "It can also be hard to prevent him from encountering triggers because he's so accident prone. Here, it should be easier. Dogs are everywhere on earth, and the other things he also encountered regularly. He also doesn't like being reminded of his incompetence in several areas. For example, his inability to swim, or ride a bike, or generally do a lot of things that most people know how to do. Since his father never taught him those things, he still doesn't know, and he's self conscious about it. I don't recommend comparing him to a child because he already feels like one simply because he hasn't learned a lot of basic skills."
"Alright then," Halm said. "Anything to make sure Cas is okay. And it really should be a lot easier here. It'll be easier to just not have anything that could trigger him." Halm looked down at Cas a moment.
Nix nodded a bit. "He had episodes often on earth just because of how easy it is to upset him… but hopefully it'll be better here. He'll still need to be watched carefully, though."
"He does have a lot of triggers… But we'll be able to protect him, right?" Halm looked back at Nix.
"We'll take care of him."
Nix nodded again. "I'm certainly going to try my best…" He sighed a bit as he looked down at Cas. "He's fragile."
"Well, we'll just have to be careful…" Halm lightly put his hand on Cas's head.
"Mhmm." Nix lay back down and huddled up with Cas. "I hate to see him hurt…"
Halm laid down too. Cas was definitely exhausted, to sleep this long.
"I do too," Halm said softly. "So we'll just have to keep him safe."
"He'll be alright eventually… he just really needs to rest. Hopefully." Nix sighed, running his fingers through Cas's hair.
"He'll be fine, most likely…" Halm wrapped his arms around Nix and Cas again.
"I'm just worried his body will reject him…"
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