Bandages and Salt (PJO X BSD AU)

Chapter thirty

Chuuya POV

We went back to the cabin after the campfire songs, avoiding whatever mischief that the campers were planning on getting into. Well two cabins were getting into. Neither Dazai nor I have cared enough to have asked it, but for whatever reason the Apollo cabin and the children of Ares seemed to be feuding, something that I'm sure everyone else is tired of by now.

The other teen didn't make it thirty seconds before he was already on the top bunk, the boy's face pressed deep in a pillow as if he was hoping to suffocate like that. I wasn't much farther behind the younger teen, the effects of the day finally catching up to me and weighing my body down.

Digging through the cabin's dresser drawers, I felt a small spark of thankfulness to past Dazai, Percy, who kept an extra pair of clothes here when he was younger, though I knew it was probably just a precaution in case all of his clothes got ruined on the way into camp.

I found an old camp shirt that most likely was from the other boy's first year here because, while it would be a little too short for the other teen, the shirt did fit me just fine. The camp shirt that the younger boy was currently asleep in right now was probably something that he'd gotten, or been given, a bit larger than needed with the idea of growing into it over the years. With the idea that he would be coming back here to use it.

I nabbed the shirt and a pair of ratty pajama shorts before heading to the bathroom to change into them. The clothes felt strange on my shin, the vibrant colors clashing horribly with the style that I've taken over the years, especially since coming to the mafia where everything was shades of red, gray and black. The most color you found back home was Ane-san's brightly colored pink kimono.

Brushing my teeth, I took the time to glance around the decently sized room, taking a survey of the space that the sleeping teen and I would be sharing for however long we actually stayed at the camp. Nothing in here looked sharp enough to pierce skin or potentially be leathal, not that that's never stopped the suicidal mainic in the past.

Following the younger's lead, I crashed down onto the bottom bunk, not wanting to be too far from the other boy in case he woke up and decided to try something stupid again like the night before. Sleep was not far behind.

—-

I woke up sometime later to the bed shaking violently as the night waged on. I waited, listening to the quiet sounds of the night, not quite sure what noises might follow, whether it was just the younger teen turning over in his sleep, or the boy about to get down from the bed. But in the end it was neither.

Quiet sounds came from above. Soft whimpers like that of a wounded animal or small child floated into my ears as if delivered by the summer winds. It sounded like the younger boy was having a nightmare.

I thought about just leaving the other teen, pretending not to know and just going back to sleep, but I couldn't find the will to close my eyes as the younger boy continued to thrash around. I couldn't find it in myself to leave him like that even though I knew that he probably deserved it for all of the things he's done, we've done, I didn't stop myself from crawling out of the warmth of the small bed and walking over to the fountain.

When we'd first come in here earlier today I'd seen some of those golden coins, drachmas I think the other teen called them, in a little bowl next to the small fountain. I tucked one in my palm, feeling the weight of it in my hand, the heft of it, as I thought about what I was about to do.

Turning around, I faced the fitfully sleeping boy, taking in the other's pale complexion as he slept with the moonlight falling down on him. Dazai has always been something of a light sleeper, something that I'd thought he'd learned from having to be ready to move at any time during long missions, now I wasn't so sure that that's how he formed the habit, but I knew that if I were to try and wake him up right now on my own I'd be met with a violent reaction. There were very few times that the other had been a heavy sleeper, driven by exhaustion from countless sleepless nights, but I knew tonight was not one of those nights.