#twangst

Malleus didn’t used to dream, he didn’t used to do a lot of things, but in his many years of living, his dreams were always defined by dark blobs and a peaceful blackness that would last until morning. 

That was until he met you.

Since the first night he met you, he was amused by the way you would speak to him, his bold child of man, his first genuine friend. You slowly seeped your way into every part of his day, if not physically, his thoughts always seemed to circle back to you regardless. 

You two would talk about anything, but sometimes you would talk about your dreams. He memorized how you would squint your eyes trying to recite every tiny detail, trying to connect the plot of each one in your normal nonsensical way. An overarching chronicle of stories that would take control of your midday conversations, and together you and him would try finding the theme of each one. It was endearing, you were always endearing to him.  

and much like how his daily life at Night Raven College changed his nights changed as well. The dark blobs morphed into flower filled meadows, the blackness stretched into vibrant colors illuminating his sight, and at the center of it all was you. 

He could never tell you the contents of his dreams, they were all so similar he didn’t want to scare you but your smile, the touch of your hand he grew so accustomed to, the sound of your laughter, it allured him to never want to wake up. Sometimes he dreamed you were fae and you would carry out the rest of your lives together in Briar Valley. Other times he dreamed he was human, a simple magicless human, a bold contrast to what he actually was.  

It knocked the ship out of orbit momentarily, causing a domino effect into other asteroids that had shared the belt. It tossed the poor ship around like a spider in a sink drain, breaching its walls, and sucking up whatever could fit through the holes it had tore. One rip was perfectly Meouch sized.

He did his best to catch him, narrowly grabbing onto his paw, dangling him in space, an environment that, without protection, would kill him.

They held each other for a long while, Phobos desperately trying to pull him back onto their battered vehicle, but one hard knock slipped both of their grips and away Meouch flew, not without a daring attempt to rescue, with the lonely alien on his jetpack, tethered to whatever was left of their sad ship. It was too late. The lion man had been swept away into the current of the asteroid belt, left to freeze in space, or get killed in collision within the belt.

The entire world collapsed around Phobos. Every song, every tour night, every minute spent with Meouch, his rock and roll best friend...It all seemed so small and insignificant as it happened in the past, but now those special moments piled together in a heap of realization at what Phobos had just lost.

He had no time to stare as his friend’s body drifted into space, as Sung had yanked him back aboard the, now, stable ship.

“Are you alright?” Sung held his trembling shoulders. “Where’s Meouch?”

Phobos wanted to speak, but nothing could come out. Tears flowed from his big, dark eyes, and he was helpless to stop them from coming. Sung and Havve both knew what happened.

They held their bandmate close to them, whispering how none of this was his fault, and it was only an accident. Meouch wouldn’t want him to worry. Meouch wouldn’t want Phobos to feel bad.

Phobos was crying too hard, keeping his silence for a long, long while.

(and an epilogue comic cos i love you guys)