#dbdapromptober

Prompt List @dbdapromptober

It occurred to Edwin all at once- that night from 35 years ago, and the horrible shivering drip of ice-water off Charles’ once-warm body-

Edwin crashed to his knees by the hole in the ice, careful not to expect the ice to crack further.

He could see Charles silhouette in the water, perfectly still as he sank, slowly, farther from Edwin’s grasp-

Edwin dove forwards, barely managing to nab the sleeve of Charles’ jacket. He grabbed onto Charles’ wrist, and pulled him towards the surface.

Charles’ body was heavy, weighted down by the water-soaked fabric and the dead weight of his limp body. Edwin hauled him onto the ice. His breath caught as he saw his partner, and his voice began automatically, “Charles! Charles, are you alright?”

Charles…looked like he had when he died. The pallor of his skin drained to a ghoulish gray, vicious dark bruises blooming under the skin. His fingertips were frostbitten black.

Charles lay on his back, his frame violently wracked by spasming, full-body shivering. Otherwise he was motionless. His eyes were wide but unseeing, searching the cloudy sky above them for…something. His jaw was slack, his blue-tinged lips parted over breaths that were heavy, uneven, hitching with panic-

Edwin couldn’t stand it. He wrapped his arms around Charles’ torso and pulled the heavy weight towards him, hoping to pull Charles into a hug.

But Charles whimpered when Edwin grabbed him- not just with emotion but with fear. Edwin felt the noise impact like a stone. He paused, Charles’ tremoring body half in his lap- Charles began to curl in on himself, moving slowly and stiffly.

“Charles, it’s me,” Edwin said, hating the hollow devastation in his voice.

Charles didn’t seem to react at all. “Charles?” Edwin tried to override his frenzied feelings, trying to sound calm. “Charles, can you hear my voice, love?”

Charles’ eyes, still frantically searching the scene, flicked up towards Edwin. Edwin wanted to smile at him, but he couldn’t muster it. Instead, he just said gently, “Hello there. See, it’s just me.”

Charles’ eyebrows slid from being perched high in fear, to being furrowed low over his unfocused eyes. He moved his mouth like he wanted to say something, but his whole body was tremoring so violently, his teeth chattering the second they got close together-

Charles just made a broken sound instead, and reached one of his unsteady hands towards Edwin.

“Oh, darling.” Edwin gathered Charles’ twitching body as best he could, and pulled him close. The force of Charles’ aggressive shivering roughly jostled against Edwin’s body, but Edwin didn’t care. He wrapped his arms protectively around Charles.

“It’s all right,” Edwin murmured.

Charles slowly, stiffly, turned his head to press his face into the spot where Edwin’s neck met his shoulder. It was like Charles was moving in slow motion, as he brought his hands up towards Edwin’s chest. He opened his black-tipped fingers, pressed them against Edwin’s coat lapels, and slowly tried to close them into a fist- but he lacked the coordination, and his shaking hands ended up just grasping uselessly at them.

To his horror, Charles began to make a quiet, strained sort of wailing sound.

“It’s okay,” Edwin said quickly. “You are okay, Charles. Nothing shall hurt you.”

Charles whined and pressed himself closer into Edwin’s chest. Edwin’s heart ached.

“You are safe here, with me,” he said softly. Charles whimpered, and Edwin held him closer. “I have you, my love.”

Charles began to sob in earnest. It was a gruesome ordeal, his breaths and his cries warped by those horrible, unending tremors. Edwin had to close his eyes for a moment.

Edwin brought a hand up to gently lace his fingers through Charles’ sopping-wet curls. Charles leaned into the touch.

“My brave Charles,” Edwin murmured, which brought out another choked sob from Charles.

Charles desperately tried again to grab Edwin’s coat, and this time he was able to wrap his fingers into a fist. He held on tightly, and his panicked breathing slowed ever-so-slightly.

“Well done, Charles,” Edwin said. “You are always so clever, reminding me to breathe slowly. Let’s try that, yes?” Edwin led them through a deep, slow inhale and exhale. Charles’ spasming body still forced his breaths to stumble unevenly, but Edwin told him he did excellently.

Charles hummed. He opened his mouth, and began to stutter out a single, broken word- “C,c,cold.”

Charles’ voice sent a shiver down Edwin’s spine- he had never heard Charles sound like that. Edwin took a deep breath of his own before he spoke again.

“Yes, I imagine you are,” he said gently.

If Edwin was Charles, he could muster a reassuring smile- but Edwin couldn’t, not when his worry was still so heavy. “Let’s get back to the office, yes? That will help warm you again.”

Edwin stood clumsily, still cradling Charles in his arms. Charles’ body was still heavy, but Edwin knew it was an immaterial sort of weight. He could carry it as long as he was determined enough, so it should be easy.

As they walked, Charles kept finding new ways to somehow press himself closer to Edwin. He navigated his shaking hands underneath Edwin’s jacket to wrap around Edwin’s chest. Thankfully, it did seem like the worst of that violent, full-body spasming was beginning to subside.

Charles nuzzled into Edwin’s shoulder. Edwin ducked his head briefly to press a kiss into the top of Charles’ head, and Charles made a wet sort of cooing sound.

“It is a shame I do not generate any body heat,” Edwin said, “Then I could help warm you up myself.”

Charles hummed. He made an I-don’t-know sort of noise, and managed, “You seem w,warm t,t,t,to me.”

And Edwin could finally smile at him.

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