middaeg | A meeting [Closed]

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A meeting [Closed]

Who: Edelgard, Hubert, and Corrin
When: Early November, Nighttime
Where: Edelgard & Hubert's residence
What: Edelgard's bondmates meet
Warnings: Night Terrors, potentially discussions of death, torture, violence, and human experimentation.

Nights were sometimes easier for Edelgard than her days, and sometimes...sometimes they were much, much worse. She had been blessedly free of the night terrors that had plagued her sleep at times for the last few weeks, a fact she chalked up to her newfound Bonds, and the bundles of sensation that were Corrin and Hubert. They were pleasant, and she had moments where she reached her mind out to brush at them, taking strength and comfort from the connection.

However, she was to be proven quite wrong in her belief. Sleep took her as it always did, nestled deep in her blankets, snoozing lightly, but it did not take long for the nightmares to find her. Terrible dreams, sensations that left her numb, reminders of her past and the horrors that she faced in her childhood. She lay frozen in terror, body shaking, mind absolutely petrified, broadcasting through the bond a subconscious scream for help. She had no idea she was even doing it, as she could barely process anything through her panic. Needles, knives, and other implements of torment came for her, but she was so frozen with fear she couldn't even wake and cry out...

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Hubert was not prepared.

He'd been downstairs, taking a break from his alchemy study to fetch more coffee when the first overwhelming wave of terror crashed into him—and almost literally as he staggered into the counter, disoriented and shattering his mug, then subsequently to the ground.

The scalding coffee didn't even register in the stunning wake of the panic, his mind racing to find a cause. Did he mix something wrong in his lab? Did a substance contact his skin, or one of his vials leaking? Something aerosolized? It was all Hubert could do for a long moment to sit there, fingers at his pulse as his heart hammered too-rapidly in his chest, struggling to control his breathing in measured breaths. But it worked—marginally, but quickly. It couldn't be one of his poisons if simple breathing exercises helped—

—and then he realized the terror wasn't his. The panic was easier to corral upon that realization. Hubert pulls himself to his feet; the stairs were a bit of a challenge, still a little dizzy with the tachycardia as he was, and some detached part of his mind idly wondered if he should curtail the caffeine if these episodes would be recurring.

He staggers into Edelgard's room, and sure enough... these night terrors again. He'd wondered, when they'd Bonded, if this would pose an issue, but between his perception of her generally darkening when she's asleep, and the lack of incidents in the weeks since, he'd begun to dismiss it.

Hubert takes a seat on the edge of her bed, white shirt heavily splattered with dark stains and removing his gloves in case they did have residue of something alchemical on them.

"Lady Edelgard." His hands touch the sides of her face, feather-light, and his tone even and low and somehow free of the second-hand horror trying to envelop his mind. It's best to be exceedingly gentle, in these situations; normally he would have touched her arm or shoulder, but she'd taken to an unusual sleeping arrangement recently. "You're safe, Lady Edelgard. They cannot harm you anymore—I swear it. I'm right beside you."

Edelgard barely registered his troubles, though strangely the warm coffee strikes her as odd, odd enough to snap out at her as not her own and not a part of the dream. Yet still she remains, thrashing and wriggling as best she can when confined by the blankets, it's a blessing that she isn't on the floor when he arrives and is instead firmly on the center of the bed.

She jerks her head to look at the open door, wild eyed, still panicking right up until she hears his voice. She stops thrashing as much, the bare hands touching her cheeks eliciting a sharp gasp as his words register.

Breathing heavily, not quite panting, Edelgard slowly...slowly...comes out of the jolt, some of her panic receding. Looking at the worried set of his jaw, the lines in his face, she understands just what's happened. He's come running, because...

"...you...felt it didn't you?" she asks, her throat gummy as a lump forms in it, her gaze slightly watery.

He watches the panic fade as its weight lessens on his own mind; as the intensity dies, it's easier to separate it from his own being and hold it at a distance. Hubert could only hope steadiness, more a mental state than an emotion, could project through the Bond just as well.

"I did." Something changes subtly in his eyes and the furrow of his brow as a glint of a deep sadness settles in. "I'd always known it was horrible, but that was... indescribable."

Hubert always was sympathetic to the suffering Edelgard had been forced to endure, and though it was far from the actual experience, this brought with it a whole new—and terrible—understanding.

"It...does not happen often, anymore," Edelgard admits quietly, her voice still not quite it's confident and steady self. "I had thought, perhaps, that they would have ceased entirely with the bonds."

She softly murmurs that last bit, feeling a bit of hope passing just out of reach. Would she never be rid of these? Would it take destroying them finally to remove the hold Those Who Slither in the Dark had over her mind?

Shifting in her blankets, she looks up at Hubert, miserable as can be, but calmer and breathing less erratically now.

"...How bad was it? Did you see, or just feel my emotion?"

She hopes deeply that it was just the feeling, but it is difficult to be sure.

A slight shake of his head as he pulls back his hands, the exchange of magic halting between them. The corner of his mouth raises a hair, as if trying to reassure that almost desperate hope.

"I saw nothing. The... intensity of it caught me completely off-guard; in that first, clueless moment, I thought I was going to die." Hubert chuckles wryly. "I'd just been practicing alchemy, after all. I should have realized sooner what was going on."

He'd be lying if he said he wasn't even a little rattled; Hubert had never felt anything like that in his life, and a new fatigue hung in his chest from the stress of the ordeal, even as short as it was.

...Maybe he really will curb his coffee intake, a little.

"Can you return to sleep?"

"...as did I..."

She can't help the dry witticism, a weak smile quirking her lips up. That was perhaps a touch more morbid than her usual humor, but this was a time for that. Shivering, she scootches awkwardly to sit up with her head against the headboard. Her cocoon is not the most dignified thing to be speaking from.

"I do not know. Just now, no...and I'm not sure I should. Very often, if I have not relaxed some, attempting to sleep just makes them return once I drift off. I do not want to sleep just yet."

Her head perks up, turning slightly...

"...And Corrin is coming our way."

"Is that so?"

Hm. It's been several minutes. He'd have to ask where Corrin lived; if she resided nearby, that would be too slow of a reaction to provide aid if there'd been any real trouble. Hubert impassively watches his liege maneuver around, and thinks better of mentioning it for the time being. Edelgard would ask for assistance if she needed it.

"In that case, I'll leave you to ready yourself. I imagine your Bonded should want to speak with you." Hubert stands to offer his usual prim bow, slipping his gloves back on. "I'll let Corrin in."

"We have a few moments."

Edelgard slips her arms free of the blankets finally, reaching her bare hands out towards the cool night air. She didn't sleep with gloves on, and she knew Hubert, this was not public. She doesn't even seem bothered internally by this, his presence steadying her will.

"I...appreciate you coming as quickly as you did. I am sorry, that I startled you."

She does feel...a little...bad.

"Your hands are red...you should wash them in my basin."

Hubert pauses mid-tug, eyes lowering to his hands and the reddened skin of his wrist peeking between his stained glove and sleeve. Ah. That's right, he'd... just made the coffee, when it happened. No doubt he'd feel that burn and the others soon, in absence of the overwhelming panic and adrenaline.

"It's no fault of your own, Your Majesty."

He would never blame her for things beyond the scope of her control, but Hubert knew better than to phrase it like that. It's one more thing he could lay at the feet of their enemies, this lingering misery. Hubert wanders over to the washstand, gingerly peeling his gloves off again now that he was cognizant of the scalding.

"It's for the best that we discover all ways the Bond will affect us sooner than later. At least, I'll be better prepared to handle any further incidents."

And perhaps restrict his alchemy to when he knew Edelgard was awake. Even if her night terrors were rarer, this could have been far more disastrous had he been in the middle of mixing something, especially given the... nature of the things Hubert tended to work with.

He expects the water to sting, a heavy breath through his nose the only sign of his discomfort. After the initial pain, the cool water left a pleasant sensation, though it highlighted the slight throbbing of the damaged skin. He dries his hands and gently probes the other stains on his shirt, assessing the extent of the scalding.

Edelgard lowers her hands to the bedding, beginning to unwrap bits of it while he takes care of his hands. She feels his pain, dully, a faint throb of annoyance more than any actual physical pain. And she quests out with appreciation, another mental hug, and a touch of concern.

"Yes. I...suppose you are right. It's good that it happened sooner rather than later, I agree."

That said, she still dislikes seeing him hurt. And causing him or Corrin any distress, as this no doubt is going to. Though, her only salve at the moment is words. Simple words, but important to her.

"...Thank you again, Hubert. For your support, and for your friendship."

His motions pause at the touch to his mind. Even two weeks later, it was hardly less strange, but he's learning to take phantom sensations in stride. Her brush of concern was met with something halfway between content and pride, not quite either, and more of that warm regard that was always present in the back of Hubert's mind when he was around her.

"Gladly, Your Majesty. This is nothing."

Truly, war had been far harsher to him. He's dealt with worse than hot liquid during his training at the monastery, or even as a child learning his family's methods. As utterly terrible as the night terror had been, Hubert's grateful for the sort of understanding it bestowed. It was now a trouble he could endure with Edelgard, rather than standing aside, watching her carry it alone like in years prior.

"This is merely part of walking beside you on your path—one more obstacle to overcome."

"Yes...well..."

She can't help but smile, feeling his pride and the burgeoning empathy between the two of them. There was plenty that had transpired between the two of them over the years, but the depth of understanding was totally different. This was a welcome change.

"We'll not be overcoming it this night, I think. And...if you don't mind, Corrin's only a couple of blocks away, so I should dress."

She did not want to greet anyone but Hubert in her cocoon.

Ah, a stronger smile. That was good.

"Of course. Do not feel rushed; I'll assure Corrin that you're unharmed."

Hubert returns the smile with a slighter one of his own, inclining his head in a miniature version of the bow he'd given not to many moments ago. The mage doesn't linger, shutting the door behind him; he's grateful for the chance to soothe his hands—his burns were starting to become sensitive, stinging with every brush of his shirt and the air itself—but he still had that mess to clean up, preferably before Edelgard's other Bonded arrived.

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A meeting [Closed]

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