In His Name

Chapter 24 Definitely weird

"Rosco?" The valet mumbled, still more asleep than awake, "Everything alright? Why do you have a light on?"

"Oh, uh, I, um," stammering through his absolute panic, Rosco looks to Hayden for direction.

"Just apologize and tell him to go back to sleep." Hayden instructs softly.

Keeping his eyes locked with Hayden's, Rosco parrots back his words, "Sorry, I'll put it out. Go back to sleep." Mumbling something incoherent, the Valet rolls over, pulling his blanket up over his face.

Rosco's brain stalls a bit, impressed that worked, "Right, we're uh, done with the light, thank you." Magic words extinguishing the lamp immediately.

Plunged back into darkness, the last of Rosco's adrenaline purges from his system, turning his knees to jelly. Hayden catches him, arm seamlessly moving from his elbow to snake around his waist, supporting him more fully. The scythe vanished at some point, Hayden's now free hand catching Rosco's other arm, helping him over to his bed.

"I'm sorry, Rosco," Hayden whispers.

Rosco's eyes haven't adjusted to the dark yet, so Hayden's shape is nothing but a blur looming over him. Without the aid of seeing the god's eye color Rosco can't tell from his voice alone how he's really feeling. The uncertainty makes him anxious, much more than he can handle on top of his other overly loud emotions at the moment. He needs something, something grounding, some assurance. His hands move without thinking, he's too brain fried to control his weird impulses anyway. His fingers twist into the god's clothes as Hayden lowers him to his blankets, one grabbing a handful of collar, the other, a handful of sleeve.

Hayden moves to pull away, but Rosco only grips him tighter, "Don't go." At any other time, the boy would be mortified at how pleading and pathetic his voice had sounded, but his head is too loud for any more emotions.

"You won't be alone," Hayden reminds, "Tansy is here and I-"

"Please."

Hayden's body tenses under his hands. It's too dark to see how bad he's messed up on Hayden's face and whatever seconds pass feel like an eternity. The longer the silence lasts, the more Rosco's soul crumbles under the weight of the expected rejection. Hayden is mad for sure now. He's going to leave. It had been stupid to ask the god to stay and now Rosco is going to pay for it. Stupid mouth. Stupid hope. Being vulnerable is always a bad idea but Rosco is too stupid to learn.

"Alright, I'll stay."

Rosco looks up, stunned as Hayden maneuvers them both to fit comfortably in his hay pile. Oh. This is- this is really bad. For the first time in his memory, Rosco really wishes all his hopes had been crushed. Oh gods, he's so doomed. He really thought that if he just didn't think about it too much it wouldn't be a problem, but it's a problem. He's got a crush. And not a little one. A big crush. Like, with his whole heart. A crush that will inevitably crush him. Unaware of Rosco's internal crisis, Tansy joins them, settling in by Rosco's hair, giving the snuggled pair more distance than the wildflower usually allowed for. Hayden chuckles softly, not to wake the others, "Are you not going to let go?" He whispers, tapping the boy's fists still tightly clutching at his shirt.

"Apparently not." Rosco mutters miserably, not at all talking about his grip on Hayden's clothes.

"Rosco,"

The boy blinks in response to his name, waking up. Hayden is there, standing beside him, soft smile on his lips. Rosco doesn't even remember falling asleep.

"It will be time for the others to awaken soon; I need to go before we must explain my presence here."

"Oh," Pushing up on his elbow, more alert than he normally is just after waking, "yeah, that- that makes sense."