Work Text:
William opened his eyes to darkness.
“Great, this again.”
Looking around, he saw the same forest he’s seen many times before, the Whispering Woods. The wisps circled above William’s head, creating a dim glow.
He stood, brushing the dirt off of his pants the best he could. The wisps were creating a trail, the direction unfamiliar, but William followed. The path was overgrown, plants and shrubs covering the floor, begging for someone to trip and fall.
Which he did. Many times.
“Why they couldn’t have picked a better path, I don’t know.”
The trees were tall, reaching much further than William remembered they did. They shadowed him, creeping in and while they were so big, they made William feel so small.
The wisps moved, and William followed.
The wisps moved, and William fell.
He fell how he did the first time, the cliff steep, the wisps taunting him from above.
He hit the side of the cliff before landing on the floor below, feeling every bone in his body break and snap. He was paralysed, his spine fractured in pieces from landing on the sharp rock, a piece poking through his chest, having pierced his lungs. His legs were shattered, his arms limp at his sides. His heart beat sluggishly, blood rushing to the open wounds across his body.
He passed out mere moments before he died that day.
-
William woke with a start, sitting up quickly as he reached for his chest, feeling for his heartbeat. The pulse was slow, but it was there nonetheless, providing a slight sense of relief.
He looked around, feeling a sense of comfort wash over him after seeing Dakota and Vyncent asleep next to him.
Actually, where was Vyncent? He should have been just below William, sleeping on the mattress next to the couch.
William turned his head, noticing very quickly that he was no longer on the couch, and instead sitting on Vyncent.
Who was awake.
William’s eyes widened and a flush ran to his face, as he quickly became intangible out of panic and phased through the floor, into the basement where Wavelength had brought Cantrip and Doug for questioning.
William had a lot of questions about all of what happened in the past few days, but now was not the time for answers.
“Will? You okay?” Vyncent called down from the laundry room, whisper-shouting in an attempt to not alert the rest of the house.
“Yeah, one sec.” William used his powers to float up the stairs and go through the washing machine to meet Vyncent on the other side. “Sorry, did I wake you?”
“Nah, you’re fine. You okay? Kinda woke with a start there,” Vyncent asked, looking at William with underlying concern.
“Yeah, yeah I’m okay. Just some bad memories, is all.” William sighed, picking at his cuticles, a habit he hasn’t managed to drop quite yet.
“You sure? You can talk to me about anything, y’know,” Vyncent smiled lightly, reaching out to pull William’s hands apart.
William stayed silent, looking up into Vyncent’s eyes and seeing nothing but care and honesty.
“Okay. But not here.”
He grabbed Vyncent’s hands tighter and the two walked quietly outside, trying not to wake anyone else inside the house.
They stepped outside into the backyard, the night sky above clear and filled with stars, each one twinkling, telling a story of their own.
William sat down on the small porch, pulling Vyncent down with him. William pulls his hands out of Vyncent’s grip, curling in on himself, hugging his legs close to his chest.
“You don’t have to say anything if you don’t want to,” Vyncent said quietly, not wanting to disturb the peace.
“No I… I want to. I feel like I should, just to get it off my chest, you know?”
“Yeah. I get it.”
The silence persisted for a moment longer, interrupted by only the slight breeze and the clicks of crickets and cicadas, among other creatures that live in the forests and trees.
“I had a dream. Or a nightmare, I’m not sure. It’s really more like an unpleasant memory I can’t help but relive every night.” William turned his head to look at Vyncent, resting his cheek on his knees.
“What memory?” Vyncent asked, his ear flicking as bugs came close.
“I keep reliving the night I died, Vynce. It’s never the whole story, something is always missing, or changed, but it ends the same. Every night, it ends the same.” William pulled his legs closer, moving to take up as little space as possible.
“I close my eyes and see the wisps, the cliff’s edge, I can feel every bone in my body break and snap in ways that they shouldn’t, I can feel when my life slips away. It’s a cycle I can’t escape, always reminded of that fateful night where my life was stripped away from me.” William’s eyes begin to slowly fill with tears he wasn’t even sure he could have, crying for the first time since he died, the first time he’s felt able to do so. Vyncent made him feel safer, his presence making his story easier to tell, the weight on his shoulders a tad lighter, enough to ease the pain for a moment of peace.
Vyncent looked at William, shock and worry in his eyes. “Will… why haven’t you told anyone? We could have tried something, anything, to help. There has to be some hero who can fix this-”
“I think it’s a punishment. A curse from whatever made the wisps, whatever made me.”
“...What?”
“The wisps made a mistake choosing me, Vynce. Curiosity really killed the fucking cat, I guess. The wisps have to come from somewhere, and I’m sure they’d be happier if I wasn’t the one who could control them, not like I really can. Maybe it’d be better off if they just let me die that night.”
“Will…”
“Sorry to dump that all on you Vynce, it’s just, I guess, easier to talk to you about this stuff.”
Vyncent pulls William close, hugging him tightly. “I’m glad they chose you, personally. I don’t think I could have met you if they didn’t, and you’re one of my best friends. I don’t think me and Dakota would have gotten very far without you, honestly.” Vyncent chuckles at the end, making William smile.
William curls closer to Vyncent, basking in the comfort the elf gave him. “Thanks, Vynce.”
“Of course, Will. Anything for you.”
William smiles to himself, a slight flush coming to his cheeks from Vyncent’s words and care.
“Hey, wanna look at the stars?” Vyncent asked, surprising William.
“You wanna stargaze?” William asked, looking up at Vyncent.
“Yeah, why not? The stars always helped me relax on Fauna, maybe they’ll help you,” Vyncent said, smiling down at William.
“Okay.”
Vyncent moved, pulling William up to his feet, walking over to the grass, lying down in the middle of the backyard. William moved to lay down next to him, his head resting on Vyncent’s shoulder.
“Do you know any constellations?” Vyncent asked.
“Nah, was never really my thing. A friend of mine was into the stars though, I don’t remember much though.”
There was a moment of quiet, the area serene and peaceful, the ambient wildlife the only noise.
“That one kinda looks like a dick.”
William burst into a fit of laughter, the outburst unexpected. “Which one?”
“You see the tiny orange one up there? There’s a blue one to the left creating a ball with a bunch of white ones, and then the orange one is part of the shaft, and then there’s another ball there.” Vyncent pointed to the stars as he spoke, and eventually formed the shape of a dick in the sky. Somehow.
“I… hate how I can see it.”
“I’m an artist, man. You just gotta understand my artistic vision.”
William started laughing again, Vyncent joining him.
They spent the next few hours making up constellations in the sky, for once having the time to enjoy being young. They eventually fell asleep under the stars, William resting his head on Vyncent’s chest as Vyncent held him close.
William fell asleep in the comfort of one of his closest companions, and for once? For once, his dreams were sweet.