@Fraust
"B-But… violence is bad, isn't it?" Nix asked nervously.
"B-But… violence is bad, isn't it?" Nix asked nervously.
"It… it is," Derlik said softly. "But it's okay if you're doing it to protect your loved ones."
"I guess so…" Nix fidgeted a bit with his hands. "Violence has only ended badly in the past, though…"
Derlik nodded some, hugging Nix close.
"We'll make this work, Nix," he promised.
Nix nodded a bit as well and sighed shakily, curling up tighter. "I'm just… I-I'm worried it'll go really badly…"
"You've got several gods in your corner," Derlik said, holding Nix close. "We'll all be keeping you safe."
"Okay…" Nix buried his face in Derlik's shoulder, still obviously nervous. "I-I dunno how strong he is…"
"Not strong enough to stop us," Derlik assured. Even though no matter how weak Halm was, and strong Derlik was, he would always be able to beat Derlik.
"I guess that's good… I just hope I'll be able to stay away from him. Do you think we'll be allowed to leave at some point?"
"I hope so," Derlik said softly. He kissed Nix's forehead, holding him close.
"Mm…" Nix hiccuped again, still quivering. "I-I just wanna stay here…"
"I know, I know…" Derlik patted Nix's back when he hiccuped, kissing his head again.
"How much longer until we gotta go?" He asked weakly.
"A… a few hours," Derlik admitted. Nix had slept through dinner.
Nix sighed shakily. "O-Okay…" He fell quiet, trying to process everything that had to happen.
Derlik held Nix to himself, gently patting his back still. He was quiet, kissing his head and being gentle.
Nix buried his face in Derlik's chest, trying his best not to cry. "T-This sucks…" He whispered shakily. "Like… l-like a nightmare I can't wake up from…"
Derlik ran his hands over Nix's head, nodding some.
"I know… And I'm going to do everything I can to make sure you can get out of this as soon as possible."
Nix nodded weakly. "I keep pinching myself, trying to wake up… hoping that's it's not real… but I can't get it to go away…"
"I've… I know…" Derlik held Nix close, rubbing his back. "I know…" He didn't know how to fix this.
Nix hiccuped weakly and held tighter to Derlik, not sure what to do. "I just wish there was some other way…"
"I do too…" Derlik let out a breath, holding Nix and patting his back.
"B-But there isn't, is there?" He asked softly. "We have to do this or we die."
"I…" Derlik didn't say a word, hugging Nix close.
"I'm sorry, Nix…"
Nix was quiet for a moment. "…Would it be so bad if we had died?" He asked softly. "I mean, our souls can't really go away or anything anyway, right? Since we've been claimed?"
"Yes," Derlik said quickly. "Yes, it would be so bad." He looked down at Nix, concern all over his face.
Nix looked away, turning his ears back as he trembled in fear. "I… really d-don't wanna go back…"
"I don't want you to either…" Derlik held Nix close to himself, not sure how to help.
Nix fell quiet other than the occasional fluttery whimper. He was obviously upset, but also would rather try and ignore it than work through it.
"Let's… let's do something else," Derlik said eventually. "Let's… watch a movie!"
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