Hythlodaeus

[He had been wondering how to best approach this. How delightful to have the awkward first step neatly hopped over.]

It would appear that I am! Mahito, is it? Is that what you prefer to be called?

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Only name I have! So. This is taking forever. Let's get me out of here.

[Wardens get their pacts with the admiral fulfilled then, right? So it's a fair offer.]

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I would be more than happy to help you. [Even if they aren't permanently paired up, it isn't as if Hythlodaeus is in a huge rush to leave.]

But do you know what you need?

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Sure.

[Sorcerers are always shouting why he's terrible at him. Mostly just the one, but his friends join in sometimes. Hopefully the admiral's standards for graduation agree with screechy human pests. If so, he knows all the right answers.]

Individual lives matter, humans don't deserve to be hurt just because they're weak, honesty is important, um...

[Recited as though he's reading off his hand. Is that everything? He would like to get a good grade in graduation so he can go home and kill everyone who wronged him now please.]

Oh, humans are good, that covers a lot of it, right?

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If your graduation were a matter of checking off a list.

[He'll give a few marks for effort, but if graduation were as simple as just saying those things he has a feeling that there would be far fewer inmates on board.]

Would you tell me about yourself?

[He is starting to build a picture.]

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[Boo! He knows all the stuff! It's stupid, but he knows it! Slightly sullen, he just sends his own explainer post. He made it because he was tired of repetitive conversations.]

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[He will read it dutifully, taking his time to understand as best he can.]

A manifested curse... Interesting.

[Nothing he's come across before, though he is very familiar with the way that emotions and the worst fears of a human psyche can become as real as anything else.]

Though, that tells me very plainly what you are... it does not answer my question.

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I'm human fear and hatred of other humans! Mostly. It's not perfectly one-to-one all the time, and I'm pretty new.

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I see.

[He does not seem ruffled or surprised, much, by knowing this.]

But I assume you have a personality, wants, desires, interests, beyond the simple matter of the nature of your existence.

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That's human stuff. The nature of my existence and me are the same thing.

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[Hm~]

I find that hard to believe.

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That's what a curse is!

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perfectly_average

[He will be receiving a picture of Ekko covered in cats while in the Cat Lounge. He appears to be sleeping.]

Found him like this, not too long ago.
It seems he's in a coma.

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Ah, dear.

And we hadn't yet had the opportunity to speak about his preferences if this happened.

I'll come and fetch him.

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perfectly_average

Ah.
Always the worst sort of timing.

I'll sit with him, until you arrive.
And if you want any help getting him settled somewhere comfortable, I'll be happy to assist.

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Thank you, Jamil. I'll be along momentarily.

[Quite literally, since he can teleport.]

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Istra fell asleep in his arms and decided to stay, which is always the best decision for her. It's a different bed, but she sleeps soundly regardless, lulled by the feeling of him breathing.

She keeps an arm around him, pulling the blankets closer as she dreams of somewhere cold.

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He doesn't object at all to her staying the night, dozing off not long after she does with an arm curled around her.

His nights are more often restful than not, but occasionally memories of much darker times surface in his unconscious mind. He dreams of fire raining from a pitch dark sky, blood and destruction and fear, and his arm tightens around Istradez as his breathing shudders in his sleep and his features pinch.

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She is a light sleeper in the best of times, and she wakes almost immediately when she feels his arms tighten around her. For a moment, she's lost, but the feeling of his touch reminds her.

She nearly goes back to sleep, thinking it is a simple dream, but the sight of his face in the dark worries her.

"Hythlodaeus," she murmurs, sliding her hand along his arm.

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He makes a little noise in response to his name - tense, held in the back of his throat, and his frown deepens slightly, a faint sheen of sweat springing up along his hairline.

It's only a few moments later that he wakes suddenly with a small jolt and a sharply indrawn breath. He props himself up on one elbow, his other hand closed around Istradez's arm, then he exhales slowly and closes his eyes. A second later and he's pushing forth an apologetic smile.

"Did I wake you?"

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Oh, it's a nightmare. She very nearly draws him in, but he wakes and comes to himself so quickly that she doesn't get the chance to before he speaks.

"No," she lies easily, kissing his forehead. "You were having a nightmare."

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The smile flickers and fades for a moment. He shifts his gaze away from hers.

"Mm. That I was."

He thinks she's lying, but it's a sweet, harmless little lie.

"Some things haunt me too deeply to be kept at bay when my subconscious is unguarded."

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She slides an arm around him, protective over him for once. Normally, he is the one to hold her, but she wants him to have that now. He needs things to be uncomplicated.

"Tell me about it," she mutters.

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Normally he would be dealing with this alone. He would shake it off, perhaps get up to read for an hour, and then go back to bed. Having comfort is pleasant, even if it means he sits in the unpleasant aftershocks of it for a bit longer.

"I was present for the beginning of the calamity that ultimately led to the destruction of my world. It goes beyond any words I have to describe it accurately."

He decides to rest his head to her shoulder.

"But it was..." Hythlodaeus trails off. "We couldn't have imagined it."

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She trails her fingers through his hair, as if she could brush away all of the negative thoughts.

"Is that what you dream of?" she wonders.

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"Oh, sometimes."

Even if his mind lingers where he would rather it wouldn't, the comfort is nice. Waking up alone in a cold sweat is never something he enjoys.

"When something is seared so deeply across your memory..." A sigh. "Twelve thousand years couldn't erase it."

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"I think that if time could erase it all, it would solve more problems," she says softly. "But time is only a quick bandage."

She presses a kiss to the side of his mouth. "What helps you? In these times when you're alone and you wake from them?"

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"Hmm."

Time could be a balm, true, but perhaps not in the face of such horrors. It's difficult to explain what happened to somebody who wasn't there... and he's not even sure if he would want to.

"Normally I would avail myself of a hot drink and distract my mind with something else until it settled."

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They push themselves up and pluck their robe from the nightstand. "Then come along. I'll make you something warm to drink and we'll find a suitable distraction," they say, holding out their hand to him.

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He chuckles slightly at that, only hesitating for a moment before he pushes himself out of bed to follow her. His own robe is tied loosely, then he takes her hand.

"You're spoiling me. How sweet of you."

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She shakes her head. "No one likes nightmares. And no one should suffer them as intensely as you do," she says. "So you get a moment's peace at least."

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He looks momentarily surprised by what she says, then looks at her closely.

"Have you been monitoring my sleep, to know when I have nightmares that don't wake me?" he asks her, his tone gently playful.

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"Of course," she teases. "Or perhaps I am simply a light sleeper and I watched you suffer through this one."

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A soft hum.

"I see, I see."

He pulls her back gently against him, looping his arm around her waist and kissing the curve of her neck.

"How sweet of you to want to dote on me."

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She shivers a little but pulls away before she can get distracted. "I care about you," she tells him. "I want you to be - content. No. Happy."

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How unfair, but he does not chase after her to tease further. He behaves himself to follow her through the cabin.

"That is something I have no objections to at all," he says, meaning it quite genuinely. "And you should know that I want the same for you."

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"This makes me happy."

Istra is a trained caretaker. Not in the way of the Andan, who were trained as courtesans, but because she spent so much time around her brother, who she felt, could not care for himself without her. She took care of him, took care of Niath, their nephew, and now she can take care of Hythlodaeus. It's a role she is completely comfortable in, and one that she takes seriously.

She pulls out a chair for him.

"Sit," she encourages gently. "I'll make some tea."

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It's always difficult for Hythlodaeus to simply allow himself to be doted on because of the kind of person he is. He's always looking for something to help with, something he might be of use for, despite his proclivity towards slacking off when it comes to work.

When it comes to people, his priorities change.

He does sit, though, and there's a touch of doting admiration on his face as he watches her move about his kitchen.

"You do make it difficult to say no."

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