Einron: A lifetime of Regret

Part 11: sueño de la fiebre

Ein yawned as he awoke, groggily opening his eyes. Aaron snored lightly, clutching him close to his chest. He smirked, gently tracing his fingertips around the remaining bruises from the void burns, so much lighter than the dark purple they'd been the first time he spoke with him.

He leaned closer to Aaron, close enough that he could smell the faint ashy scent of his skin. It glistened, even without the blanket, the heat trapped within the room was unbearable. He leaned closer, memorizing the scent Aaron emitted. He sighed, rubbing Aaron's fuzzy ear between his fingers. It twitched spastically, shaking every time he massaged it. Content with the slight smirk across his face.

Aaron's eyes flickered open, "Good morning to you too," he chuckled, yawning softly.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you."

"It's fine," he mumbled, pulling Ein closer.

"Still tired?" He asked, fingering an outline around one of Aaron's other burns, carefully watching for a reaction.

He held Ein tighter, "I could sleep all day if I wanted to."

"Then why don't you?" He'd been laying there all morning, why not sleep in all day?

He cupped Ein's face in his hand, slowly stroking the small amount of stubble forming on his chin. "I don't wanna be up all night."

He chuckled, "so, what? You and I could watch a movie or something."

"Is that what you want to do?" He mumbled, tilting Ein head upward to look him in the eyes.

"I just want to spend time with you, If you're happy, I'm happy," he yawned, keeping full eye contact with Aaron even as his eyes shut, squinting just to see him. He finally lowered his arm, leaving the burn alone.

Aaron placed his other hand on Ein's other opposite cheek, chuckling to himself, "Idiot sandwich," his smirk slowly faded as he stared at Ein.

He pulled himself to Aaron's eye level, just a couple inches up, gazing into that thin strip of red fabric around his eyes. Slowly, he trailed a finger down the fabric, carefully untieing the simple knot in the back. The strip came undone, following his pale fingers as he removed the strip.

Pale grey eyes stared back into Ein's, a sorrowful gaze befell him, "How do I look," he mumbled somberly.

He smirked, rubbing a scar previously hidden beneath the bandana, "Sad," he frowned, "Cheer up, Alpha," he replaced the bandana, "You can keep this on until you're comfortable... hell, even longer if you need it."

"Thank you," he muttered, slowly leaning into Ein's shoulder, "Let's just go to sleep."

He smirked, closing both of his eyes. He slowly drifted to sleep, "Welcome back," Michael placed a hand over Ein's mouth, "Be a good boy and stay quiet," he chuckled, snapping his fingers together. Ein fell through the bed, landing sharply against a snow-coated mound of dirt.

Slowly, Michael circled Ein, squinting sharply at him, "You shouldn't be doing this."

"Doing what?" He glared, attempting to get on his feet. The chilly snow made it near impossible for him to stand comfortably in his pajama bottoms. Chilled snow gnawing on his bare feet.

"This!" he raised his arms as if he were announcing to a crowd, "You shouldn't be drooling all over our sworn enemy like he's some price you get to keep, he isn't yours and you weren't supposed to take him in!"

"Well, excuse me, what else was I supposed to do, leave him out on the streets?"

"He had a house!"

"Wouldn't Aph want the bigger house instead of moving in with Garroth and Laurence?"

"You were supposed to kill him, he was asleep!"

"I'm not killing him!" he pointed at Michael harshly, "Ever since I've met you, you've been nothing but a burden, can't you just stay out of my life?" he raised his voice.

"Not going to happen," He snapped his fingers, "You'll learn to behave once more. all bad dogs must be broken in," slowly, he faded into dust, vanishing into thin air. 

Wolves slowly approached him, growling deeply. He stumbled backward, falling through the snow, slamming roughly against a plaster wall, "You're a failure, you can't do something as simple as killing an Ultima?" Michael shoved Ein back into the wall, denting its floral patterned wallpaper. "Why aren't you perfect yet, I've spent years on you and you can't even do something this simple," Michael scoffed, walking behind a lacquered desk, he reached into a drawer, pulling out a small bottle, before chucking it at Ein, "Go on a walk with Elizabeth..." he slouched in his desk chair, sighing harshly as Ein walked through the door.

As he stepped, the vinyl wooden tiles formed into wooden planks, before he could realize it, Ein stood on the boardwalk, facing a silent Aaron, slowly marching forward. A ball of dread formed in his stomach, was Michael really trying to force Ein to relive his most traumatic moments? He sighed, finally stepping forward, he knew how this had to end. He'd died once before, no need to fear it now. 

"You lied to us!" Blaze yelled, progressively getting infuriated, not like he had a choice though. 

Ein pulled Blaze back, standing in front of him. He closed his eyes, falling to his knees, "You and I both know how this has to end."

"Yes," Aaron muttered through tears.

As the blade slashed through him, he jolted awoke cold sweat dripping from his brow. He glanced at Aaron, still asleep and snoring softly. He sighed, laying back down. 

So... how long has it been since I last wrote a chapter, cuz it feels like it's been at least a week... but it's almost certainly been less. Anyway, I was looking at the analytics for this story and I was kinda surprised to find that a majority of my reader's ages are 18-25... so, thank you. I'm glad that as someone who's still legally a child, I can provide some entertainment for you guys, not like I can provide much else for all of my elders... so I hope this is sufficient.