[To say it's shocking would be accurate and yet not the right word at all. Dream isn't sure what the 'right' word is and he has a mild kind of pride for knowing quite a few. Ciro's arms surprise him enough but then there is the feeling of his face against his own and Dream can't remember if this has ever happened. He guesses not. Even when he helps people to sleep, usually he will hold them not the other way around, and it's a loose cradle of an embrace - warm but with a purpose rather than poignance. This is different.
Close as they are, it's possible Ciro will feel the abrupt uptic of Dream's heart that's wholly at contrast with the stillness of his body, save for when he lets his eyes fall shut. The ache in his head makes him dizzy but the pressure behind his eyes amplifies it tenfold. What is it? The dampness that thieves its way out at the corners of his eyes is his answer and if he wasn't so stunned into the most benign of paralysis, he might wipe at them quickly. But a lot is happening in one night, not even, just a handful of moments - more than Dream has experienced firsthand in all his time 'free'.
He doesn't know if it is good or if it is bad; he doesn't know if he himself is good or bad though he has tried very very hard to be the former.
It's okay, he says inside and means it.
But Ciro holds him like it isn't, and that seems true too.
Dream should apologize, he should pull away or at least slip his arms about him in return, he should do anything but what he's doing and finds he can't.
At least when he demands it, his words come after all, curiously steady and normal in the face of everything else.]
If you want me to sing, I'm happy to.
[It doesn't matter if he's tired or not, not to Dream. He probably doesn't have to say it: I'm happy to be useful. Like his time is all borrowed, an unconscious nagging feeling he'd long chalked up to that vague awareness one has of one's own insecurities. But perhaps after seeing that 'future', one might argue believably he's been right all along. Dream doesn't want to be too selfish, and definitely does not want Ciro at risk for helping him; between the two of them, Dream would not hesitate to place the value of his friend's life first.
But for now he can only stand in the careful kindness of Ciro's arms and hope he's not being too much a burden already.]
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Close as they are, it's possible Ciro will feel the abrupt uptic of Dream's heart that's wholly at contrast with the stillness of his body, save for when he lets his eyes fall shut. The ache in his head makes him dizzy but the pressure behind his eyes amplifies it tenfold. What is it? The dampness that thieves its way out at the corners of his eyes is his answer and if he wasn't so stunned into the most benign of paralysis, he might wipe at them quickly. But a lot is happening in one night, not even, just a handful of moments - more than Dream has experienced firsthand in all his time 'free'.
He doesn't know if it is good or if it is bad; he doesn't know if he himself is good or bad though he has tried very very hard to be the former.
It's okay, he says inside and means it.
But Ciro holds him like it isn't, and that seems true too.
Dream should apologize, he should pull away or at least slip his arms about him in return, he should do anything but what he's doing and finds he can't.
At least when he demands it, his words come after all, curiously steady and normal in the face of everything else.]
If you want me to sing, I'm happy to.
[It doesn't matter if he's tired or not, not to Dream. He probably doesn't have to say it: I'm happy to be useful. Like his time is all borrowed, an unconscious nagging feeling he'd long chalked up to that vague awareness one has of one's own insecurities. But perhaps after seeing that 'future', one might argue believably he's been right all along. Dream doesn't want to be too selfish, and definitely does not want Ciro at risk for helping him; between the two of them, Dream would not hesitate to place the value of his friend's life first.
But for now he can only stand in the careful kindness of Ciro's arms and hope he's not being too much a burden already.]