Rafael shuddered, clinging tightly to Arien. It had felt like someone had put his eyes in boiling hot water, which was more than enough to make anyone scream. His eyes had gone a milky white. “A-Arien I can’t see. I-I can’t see!” He repeated, sounding like he was on the verge of a panic attack.
Arien pulled Rafael close, his arms wrapped securely around the human.
"I know, I know," Arien said softly. He forced himself to be calm, needing to do the same for Rafael.
"You'll be okay, Rafael, it'll go away, it'll all be better in a few days…" Would it, though? Would Rafael be able to recover from this? Arien didn't voice his doubts.
He began to cry into Arien’s chest, taking in unsteady breaths in between sobs. He didn’t really believe it when Arien said he’d recover. And if he didn’t recover? Well, any chances of him having a career in music were completely destroyed.
Arien ran his fingers through Rafael's hair.
"I've got you, I've got you…" Arien rocked Rafael a bit, holding him so close. This was horrible. Arien would kill Elliot over this…
After a few more minutes, his sobs had subsided. Only because he’d passed out. His wounds, combined with exhaustion and having completely gone into shock, were just too much for him to bear.
Arien looked down at Rafael. He picked up the man, holding him close. He left without a word, Rafael held close to his chest. He brought them back to his own home. He wasn't going to bother feeding tonight- he could co without blood. He cleaned Rafael up, dressing his wounds gently. When he was done, he picked Rafael up again, going to lay down with the man in Rafael's room. He wasn't going to let Rafael wake up alone, blind.
Rafael managed to stay asleep the entire night, but it didn’t look at all like he slept peacefully, almost constantly tossing and turning. He eventually actually woke up around 10 in the morning. Having hoped that the entire experience had just been a bad dream, he was disappointed when he still couldn’t see.
Arien kept a close eye on Rafael throughout the night, still concerned.
"How are you doing?" He asked softly. He held Rafael closer, knowing it must be difficult for Rafael at the moment.
He shrugged, not wanting to talk about it right now. But all of his frustration and sadness was clearly visible on his face.
Arien held Rafael close, letting out a soft breath.
"I'm so sorry," Arien said softly. "I… I don't know how this happened."
“It’s not your fault.” He said softly before falling silent again. He was acting more distant than normal.
Arien fell silent as well. He pulled himself closer to Rafael, resting his head on the human.
"Yes it is," he murmured.
Rafael didn’t say anything else, and pulled slightly away from Arien.
Arien faltered at this. He pulled back, beginning to pull his arms from Rafael.
"I… I'm sorry," he said softly.
“It’s fine..” he whispered, but wasn’t entirely sure himself if he meant it. He just wanted to sleep and sleep and not consciously exist until everything was better.
Arien pulled his hands away entirely, shifting to leave the bed. He just wanted to help Rafael feel better…
“Don’t go.” He whispered quickly, surprising himself. He turned his head in the general area of where he thought Arien was. “Please..”
Arien stopped. He sat back down, laying next to Rafael.
"I won't," Arien assured softly.
Rafael moved closer to him, burying his face in Arien’s chest and wanting more than anything to go back to sleep.
Arien wrapped his arms around Rafael, gently rubbing his back.
"I'm here…" He rested his head on Rafael's, humming softly.
He didn’t say anything, just hummed softly in response. He tried to fall asleep again. And honestly, the gentle circles Arien was rubbing into his back helped a lot.
Arien felt Rafael slowly relaxing against him. He closed his own eyes. How had he let this happen..? He nuzzled closer, his hold secure on the human.
((Wanna do a timeskip?))
(ye, you or me?)
((I can do it. Just gimme a sec))
(okie!)
Rafael managed to fall back into a more peaceful sleep, his dark thoughts not following him. But eventually he woke up, maybe two hours later. Feeling that Arien was still asleep next to him, he did his best to move carefully so he wouldn’t wake him.
Arien slowly opened his eyes when Rafael moved, not saying a word. For a moment he wanted Rafael to notice, but… He remembered what had happened.
"How are you doing..?"
He jumped a bit in surprise, not knowing when exactly Arien had woken up. “A bit better now.” He said. But of course as soon as he’d woken up, his mind was filled with the same negative outcomes he’d been trying to avoid when he went to sleep a few hours ago.
Arien reached up to cup Rafael's cheek. He looked into the others white, unfocused eyes.
"That's better than nothing…" Arien hated this. To hinkle about what Rafael was going through, it boiled his stolen blood.