Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

"Are you sure you don't want to come along with me today?"
Hyde pondered this question, wiggling in the blades of green grass as it tickled his tummy when he would roll slightly
He finally said "I'm okay here"

Ophelia nodded her head side to side with a small smile, seeming to shrink as she walked away with her fluffed dress as she then began to collect flowers with all the young children who seemed even smaller from his position in the distance, she did this every now and then, explaining to him that it was important to engage with her subjects on many occasions

But he never joined her only watched the delicate display from afar, a spring breeze wavering around as the sounds of children yelling and laughing were echoed in the surrounding area

His eyelids began to flutter, finally lying still, the smell of fresh earth teased his snout and the warmth of the sun radiated on his quills, surely a short nap wouldn't hurt as his vision became a shade of tinted red.

~

Hyde jolted awake with a startle

How dumb…a dream in a dream? Or something of the sorts…
He lifted his head off the floor listening to the sound of his eve’s playing, what time was it?
He rolled over, its was way too early to deal with this…

Chapter Text

~

"Are you ready to go?"
A voice boomed from behind him, fixing his glasses Hyde turned to look at Crantz who was looking at his watch
It had been many hours since Licht had gotten some sort of break "It's quite late you two should get going, I can tell you're..."
From beside him Hyde saw an ugly scowl on his eve's face as he used the sleeve of the sweater to wipe his eyes
"Very tired"

Truly his eve was indeed very tired

A smile fell upon his lips "wow Angel Chan this little performance sure did a number on you huh?" His dear Eve did not appreciate the gesture "shut your damn trap. I am not tired, an angel like me doesn't get tired"

While it wasn't a long performance Licht did get up quite early to play for some children at a private school, earlier Hyde voiced his opinion that it was dumb for him to practice so early in the morning,
perfecting a certain piece when, as he described it,

"it's just a performance for a bunch of snotty kids who don't appreciate beautiful art" which earned him a kick to his knee.

"Don't you dare start you two! I booked a lovely room, so please don't destroy it, do you know how annoying it was to deal with it afterwards especially the last time?" He lamented
Hyde butted in "awee Crantzz you know we just can't help it!"
Licht grumbled "if it's such a pain stop putting us in the same room together." Crantz clasped his hands together as he scolded him "you two know you can't be apart, plus you have to learn to coexist with one another"
Licht rolled his eyes and crossed his arms "all because of that stupid contract".
~
Ever since he was a kid, licht has had a habit of waking up real early, he would sometimes wake and would think, think for a long, long time.
every note he ever played would reflect in his brain on particular nights, the tinkling white keys being pressed down as he performed every note echoing from the stage to the crowd

It was like second nature to him and when he couldn't play he would hum the songs that were all too familiar to his ears until soft slumber won

Or at times when he was younger and still stayed with his parents he would even get up to try and sneak off to play on his piano out of sheer boredom and would desperately explain he just wanted to practice to his parents only for him to be sent back to bed,

his father would declare how he should always get a good nights rest to be the best pianist there is, and his mother would say how unhealthy it was to not sleep a full nights rest, tucking him carefully back into bed with a gentle tone saying "goodnight my sweet angel"
~
Opening the door to the hotel room, Licht flicked the switch with Hyde prowling in after him, but once he did a single bed was revealed, licht's eyes widened for a moment only to settle back into a blank stare
he set aside his winged backpack sluggishly and stormed into the bathroom.

It's not like this was the first time they had the option of sharing a bed together, but they never exactly talked about it.
Kicking the crap out of each other was enough for them and
Licht knew who was gonna get the bed anyways.
~
Licht stared at the bare ceiling as he lied in the bed, his back muscles relaxed against the cool sheets as he stretched out his limbs to finally rest, and turned his head to the right to look at the other towering building's twinkling beads of light that scattered from each structure along with the stars through the vast window, his eyelids fluttered easing him to finally rest without a fight

Until something in the darkness below him, scuttled around, the light taps scurrying around with a clanking of a chain dragging about in what sounded like... they were going in circles? The noise diverted into silence only to continue on and on, even with closed eyes he knew his jackass of a companion would not slow down anytime soon.

"Shut your ass up shit-rat" his groggy voice murmured, Hyde stopped only for a moment before running across the floor once again, earning a huff of annoyance from Licht, he grabbed the half drunk water bottle from the nightstand he brought in and threw it harshly at the floor in hazy irritation to wherever the small hedgehog was.
"Hey!" Yelped Hyde "y'know angel it could be considered animal abuse the way you treat little ol' me" Hyde whined
Licht shut his eyes once again rolling himself to the side "it's not animal abuse since you're a demon, shitface"

And for a while that was that, Hyde lied down and the swift chimes of the clock accompanied Hyde through the darkness, the floor was sturdy and opposed Hyde against his small tense body,
He was only running around to find a comfortable spot to rest, was that too much to ask for?
he wished he could have the soft bed instead but alas he somehow found himself relaxed, for a while that was.

Chapter Text

The bright stage lights casted harsh shadows in the background of the delicately painted visuals to appease scene 2 of the Shakespearean play
But as Hyde turned his head away from the set, the green forest followed him wherever he looked, no longer did the array of red velvet seats and many eyes watch him, but now trees elongated as far as the eye could see in every direction
With his chest in the air along with a raised hand, Hyde projected his lines
"With love's light wings did I o'erperch these walls-"
The wind grew stronger and stronger
But
This is wrong
Why am I here?
As my role, I should be saying this to…
I shouldn't be saying this to…

Ophelia?

Her long silky blue gown wasted upon the forest floor, her blonde hair was neatly tied up to reveal her white neck, her red lip curled inwards and her eyebrows knitted together
And she said something, then said it again, and again, tightening her fists into her dress
Once more did she say it, shout it.
But he could barely hear
The sound faint and muffled
It was so familiar yet something in his head told him to avoid it, the memory was so faint, he could feel the excitement bubble of almost, just barely, remembering but then getting the annoying disappointment of forgetting once again as his stomach grew butterflies

Remember.

Again was it shouted,
Huh..
But that's not my name

Remember.

Hyde squeezed his eyes shut, and when he opened them his vision was completely black, alone in the dark
and for a moment only his loud breathing could be heard
Then a loud click blared
A yellow stage light from above was cast upon Ophelia but-

Only her body remained.

absolutely still and quiet, the bloodied neck grew dark and swoll around its jagged bone base
And her hands clawed into her dress, gripping it so hard her fingers disappeared into the fabric
The sound of all the blood welling up and spilling rang in his ears

Drip drip drip

over and over again as the blood overflowed from her neck, the spattered aftermath lay across her now red chest and a single bead from her necklace dangled, finally the bead leaped from its thin broken string

Plink plink plink

across the wooden stage it bounced like a marble to his feet leaving behind a trail of the red fluid
The buzzing in his brain grew louder
Once more was the name repeated echoing in the soulless stage

I can’t remember

Because that isn't my name anymore.

Chapter Text

~
With a jolt he startled awake
His now human body twisted on the floor which made his back bones burn

Cold sweat pulsed down his forehead while his heart was still racing in his chest

staring at the ceiling, Hyde sucked in some air

Ophelia was mainly what he saw when he would...

dream

he rubbed his face with his hands

Ugh where did I leave my glasses? 

He turned around to look for them, and in that moment Licht's arm slumped down from the bed, his small breathing flickered like a candle, his expression calm and silent

See how nicer you look when you're not being an asshole Lichtan?

Hyde turned completely this time crossing his arms and laying them on top of the white sheets and looked at his eve, his nose crinkling as he did so.

He eyes fell upon the clock next to him, the bright green color illuminated the numbers "3:27"

He once again closed his eyes nearing himself towards his eve

his eve 

Out of the eves he has had, Lichtan had been winning in terms of the longest amount of time of being together But unlike his other eves, licht never called him by his given name...

Hyde

In the end he was always "Lawless of Greed" so when he did have a name he never treasured it, at least not after Ophelia.
But then Licht who called him literally anything but Hyde made his stomach turn

But why? It didn't matter after all

right?

Lawless of Greed never, ever yearned for anything out of reach because he knew he could have anything.

Without thinking Hyde swept Licht's long bangs to the side

He's really asleep...

“Hyde”

Hyde lifted his head

“shudupp”

God he wanted to strangle him.

He moved his arms away and shivered 

He stood up and shuffled the curtains completely closed and walked back towards the bed

it’s so selfish of licht to always kick him off the bed but tonight he seems to really be deep in sleep

So I'm sure he wouldn't mind...

~

Ugh this was dumb

Hyde pondered jumping out at the last second but he already came this far, his small frame as a hedgehog wouldn't make much noise or even bother Licht in the bed

but if he was being honest being a hedgehog all the time was irritating especially sleeping as one.

 With a POOF Hyde turned human once again, the extra weight dipped him snugly into the mattress, licht stirred from the sudden change but settled with a light shuffle against the sheets, licht hadn't even bothered grabbing a blanket.

But it'd be fine, Hyde would stay on the other end 

Licht would never know. The silk sheets were smooth and ran across his skin like water.

Hyde just wanted to sleep comfortably for a while that's all. 

And Licht has to try to get along with him, Crantz said so.

Turning away from his eve he closed his eyes
but once he closed them that image of Ophelia was burned into his mind once again

he didn’t want to think about it 

but it followed him

he moved on to his side, caved into himself, and dug his head into the pillow

forget. 

he told himself 

but he couldn’t 

he fiddled with the silver rings on his finger, turning each one clockwise, then set them aside on the nearby night stand with a quick clink.

no matter what he could never get rid of that haunting moment from his mind

But the sound of shuffling caught his attention and he opened his eyes, turning once again, he now faced licht,

Licht’s hand was reached out towards him 

would it be weird to reach back…?

Slowing creeping towards his hand, he rested his own on top

he closed his eyes anew and all he could see was…

quiet.

Chapter Text

Licht swore it wasn’t this cold when he got into bed

But compared to the rest of his body his hand was incredibly warm.

Opening his eyes he could barely make out Hyde’s hand on top of his own in the dark

huh.

He tried his best to scowl but his eyes felt too droopy to do so, so he pulled his hand away until it found its way towards his own chest

To that the blond man’s breathing became quick almost like he smelling something sweet from afar, he then crumpled his lonely hand into a fist

Wasn’t he on the floor a moment ago? I could’ve sworn he…

He traced his fingers across the thread of the pillow, smudging a yawn filled tear into it, too tired to really think about it

But Hyde continued to swiftly breathe in and out,in and out, in and out, becoming more and more rigid, the noise was finally getting to licht 

And so when he dragged his leg to shove the vampire off the bed he noticed the look on his face.

His face was scrunched up, his lips parted ever so slightly, and his hand was still balled into a fist, and was he trembling? 

Begrudgingly he reached over 

“Shut up Hyde” he murmured as he rested his hand under Hyde’s

At this the vampire’s breathing slowed down, finally becoming still and the faint touch of his palm closed around licht’s hand

He was inclined to pull away once more

But he didn’t 

If it made the stupid vampire quiet he had to do it, at least that’s what he thought barley keeping awake

And just like that he fell back into sleep

So he didn’t even feel when Hyde adjusted himself just a little bit closer

~

The taps of the clock ticking struck loud among the room

And the sense of warmth engulfed Hyde’s body

Really, it was extremely hot

Was he dreaming??

as he blinked the sleep away the bits of warmth resided even as he momentarily lifted his head off the pillow

His left arm was heavy and his other hand which he remembered was previously holding Licht’s hand was now caressing hair between his fingers

He nuzzled his chin into said hair, and exhaled a breath he was holding, while adjusting his hold on his eve.

Adjusting his hold on his eve?

Hyde narrowed his eyes, and Licht's calm expression, close and personal, came into view

Surprised Hyde jumped and tried to pull away but Licht’s hand fisted his button up, not letting go as his eyebrows knitted together

Was he awake…?

A small snore dismissed the idea immediately

Definitely asleep

Hyde soon found that everything between them was interwoven, his leg was between Licht’s thighs, his arm, under Licht’s weight had gone numb, and his free arm was found caressing Licht’s head

Maybe it was the strain in his brain but it was sort of comforting, he couldn’t remember the last time he had felt like this.

He stayed as still as possible aside from twirling a small ounce of Licht’s hair, counting the ticking of clock next to them once more

Either a few minutes or a few hours had gone by, he couldn’t tell, but he was afraid he’d wake his sleeping eve by the sound of his own heart beating in his chest.

Accompanying that, too, a quiet rumbling was emerging steadily with a slight hiccup every now and then, barley white noise in the background.

Really, it could have been anything, a faulty fluorescent light in the hotel’s hallway, or static from a neighboring guest’s TV

Or some random cat that was in the hotel that just happened to be around

Yep, sure, that sounded right.

But the vampire knew exactly what it was.

The rumbling continued, he tried convincing himself he should leave, Licht would probably be furious if he woke up to this anyways

He peaked his eyes open again, having no memory of ever closing them

But he couldn’t leave, licht’s expression was so relaxed, with a string of drool slipping down his lip, he breathed in and out softly

He looked really…

The rumbling grew stronger 

He cringed from how loud it was, trying his best to quiet down but it just wouldn’t stop. It came from the depths of his throat right around where Licht's head was so surely it would wake him any time soon.

He knew because of that, this moment would not last 

But really it wasn’t too bad, licht seemed REALLY comfortable so if anything Hyde could hold this over him forever 

And he’s not even sure who started the…

Cuddling… in the first place.

Even with that thought in mind he still jumped when the sleeping man stirred, stiffening immediately, and internally wincing as licht stretched, 

at least as much as he could with their bodies tangled together

Licht spoke slowly, tiredness aching in his voice

“Shitrat?” He mumbled

 Hyde bit the inside of his cheek, he wasn’t sure how Licht would react if he knew he could make such an embarrassing sound 

Right on queue the rumbling hiccuped particularly heavily

His heart pounded 

“Hi my Angel…?”

Licht bent his head to look at the vampire, then  Promptly scrambled upright scaring both Hyde and himself

his eyes were giving a look of “what’s going on?” And “I’m about to beat your ass up” 

Still, even in a moment like this the rumbling didn’t stop which was starting to irritate the vampire  

Licht’s body was still and uptight

“Is that you making that noise?” He said rather  crankily 

Fuck.

He sighed, and looked away from his eve, rubbing the back of his head

“Yeah”

He eyed him suspiciously, but then softened

Licht’s eyelids threatened to close, “didn’t know-“ he tried his best to restrain a yawn “you could purr” 

The rumbling in his throat then died down 

Hyde rubbed his face with his hands 

Great now Licht was gonna kick him off, It’s only a matter of time

But he wasn’t saying anything so the vampire took that as laying half-back down with his arms crossed

Licht’s body shivered 

It was still technically night time

He let out a breath he was holding and with an empty hand, felt around the bed for a blanket but there wasn’t anything around

He groaned 

Even with being practically the early morning hours, he still didn’t feel well rested, he limbs were spent, and having the energy to physically kick the vampire off was a souring task 

Not only that but Licht was sure he had the curtains opened when he went to bed so the room felt colder than ever

But at the very least the room was dark so the vampire wouldn’t see his face, especially as he unwillingly curled back against Hyde

Confused and Startled, Hyde yelped “Lichtan-“

“Its cold” he rasped out

“you stupid hedgehog, there is-“ he tripped over his words “-no other reason why I’m doing this…” he argued

he started “let’s just-“ but stopped shamefully averting eye contact, Hyde half chuckling.

Some shuffling later, Licht had found himself shoving his head into the crook of Hyde’s neck and Hyde hesitantly laying his arms around him

He dared not to say a word, silence overwhelming the both of them 

And then the rumbling came back, blooming in his throat softly and continuously

he could feel it in his chest, happy, he was happy.

He wrapped his arms around his eve, not a single complaint leaving his lips, the eve deflating with ease

I hope this was what could be every night…

The lull of purring carried on, attached to one another, warmth penetrated the bitter air

Hyde slowly brushed his eve’s hair 

He would love to be at his side every night

He closed his eyes,

nuzzling him even closer.