#doppless

So! Some hurt/comfort about our lovable baby boy, Heartless! Warnings for repetitive language, panic, strong implication of death, and mention of blood.

~~~~~~

No, no, no, no, no. Not again. Please, not again not again not again.

It had been dark, so dark for so long. And then, after a lifetime of dark, there was finally light. And he didn't want to go back. He didn't like the dark, it was cold and it filled up his lungs and his eyes stung with the emptiness of the place in between.

He was so scared that it hurt. His ribs ached as the whimpering semblance of a heart in his chest struggled to keep him going. His legs felt brittle and his hands couldn't move and there was no one, no one, no one. There had always been no one.

...But not now.

Now, there was someone. Now, there were so many people that his heart desperately needed to hang on for.

He needed to hang on.

Someone was shaking him by the shoulders. Someone was holding him tightly to their chest and brushing the blood from his lips and whispering reassurances to hold on, to keep breathing, to keep his eyes open.

"Heartless?"

Heartless jolted upright, taking in a rattling gasp as he broke free of Flint's sturdy hold and nearly knocked into River, who was hovering in front of him with a look of tearful worry.

"Oh, thank god," River whispered, wrapping Heartless in the tightest hug she could muster, muscles shaking under the stress of trying to stay strong.

Heartless tried to hug her back, but he couldn't quite summon the strength to move his arms, so he had to resign to just burying his face in her shoulder.

"Heartless!"

Doppel threw himself onto the ground beside them, grabbing Heartless' hand, turning it over to make sure he was still there, that he was flesh and blood and not a reflection he'd accidentally created in his panic. Doppel pressed two fingers to his boyfriend's wrist to check his pulse.

It was there.

Doppel broke into a weeping grin, accidentally knocking River out of the way as he pulled Heartless into his arms and held him as tight as he needed to. As tight as it took to keep him there.

"I'm so sorry, I should've been with you, I should've protected you," Doppel whispered, crying into Heartless' shoulder as he rocked them both gently from side to side. Heartless tried his best to rub smooth circles into Doppel's back, but the effort was too strenuous, and he had to let his hand fall once again.

"I'm okay," Heartless said, voice scarcely above a whisper. Doppel pulled back to get a good look at his face, gently wiping some of the dirt from his cheek.

"You need to rest."

"Mm-hmm," Heartless nodded, immediately falling unconscious against Flint, who had stayed sitting behind him.

They all waited for a tense second, staring at Heartless.

The boy drew in a breath. They all sighed in relief, the uncertainty of whether Heartless was asleep or... no. He was only asleep. They had nothing to worry about.