((CONTINUED VER.)) Starlight and Sunshine: Sun x Moon

Chapter 54: Set the Scene

Tw: Eclipse, nightmares, mild swearing, mentions of Moon

(3rd Person POV)

Sun woke from a nightmare in a cold sweat, sitting up quickly and clutching at his chest. He was breathing a bit heavily, and even his breath was shaking as he tried to calm himself. Once he did, however, he hid his face in his hands with a small groan.

This time, Eclipse spent the whole time tormenting and threatening him, just breaking him down to make Sun feel weak. He said some awful things about Moon, Bloody, and Lunar too, and how Sun had forced and was still forcing them to live through his trauma alongside Sun.

"Faz- Damn it.." Sun huffed out, relaxing a tad, "It was just a nightmare.." He sighed, exhausted. He'd crashed a bit after Bloody took him to his room, and the aftermath just left him even more jittery and nerve-wrecked.
He was exhausted because of the nightmare, but he was also wide awake because of the after-effects of the candy.

He glanced over at the clock on Bloody's nightstand, breathing a silent groan at the time.
'It's only 2:29AM..?? ' He thought to himself, realizing he'd have to wait a while before he'd be able to fall back asleep, 'I really shouldn't've eaten all those candies..' He just hunched over and laid his head in his hands, mostly annoyed, but also just tired. He was oh so very tired. Of everything.

'..Wait- ' Sun perked up as a thought came into his head, 'If the after-effects of the Sundrops wore off, -- mostly, anyways -- then maybe I can eat some Moondrops to help me fall back asleep? I mean, they're also supposed to keep nightmares away too, so that's a plus..'

He figured this to be a pretty good idea, so he silently slipped out of bed and put on his slippers, before heading out the door; He closed the door quietly to not wake up Bloody. He went downstairs into the daycare, and into the nursery, finally ending up at the desk. He sat down in the chair, opening up the drawer to pick up the bag of Moondrops and pull it into his lap.

He opened up the bag and was immediately overwhelmed by a sense that he could only describe as intense regret. This was the last bag of Moondrops that they had until they restocked. Moon had promised to take care of restocking them, but then-

....None of them had even touched this desk since he'd left.

Now, here he was, about to scarf down the whole thing without a second thought, just to sleep well for a few more hours. But he couldn't reseal the bag now..
If he was going to eat these, he'd have to savor them -- not like how he treated the bag of Sundrops the day before.

Sun picked up one of the Moondrops, carefully unwrapping the blue paper from it. The Moondrops, unlike the Sundrops, were hard candies, designed to last longer to help kids fall asleep.

He laid the wrapper down flat on the desk, smoothing it out, then admired the Moondrop in his hands. It was blue-purple and had an indent at the top in the shape of a crescent moon. Sun looked over the candy for a long while before he even thought of eating it.

Upon placing it in his mouth, Sun's eyes started to water, sniffling a tad. The taste of chocolate, raspberries, and coconut filled his tastebuds, sending waves of nostalgia to his senses. The taste was so overwhelming that he could smell it, and the calming smell just made his eyelids droop.

He could practically feel Moon at this point..Hear his voice, see his smile...

Sun suppressed a sob, pressing a hand to his eyes to keep the tears from falling. He just savored the candy until it had completely dissolved in his mouth.

This went on for a while: Sun carefully unwrapping the Moondrops and admiring them, then savoring them until they were gone. He kept doing this, until he reached into the bag and finally felt that there were none left.

He peered into the bag to see that it was empty, rays drooping and just feeling- Empty. Now Moon really was gone..

Sun carefully placed the candy wrappers in the bag, folding the bag up neatly. He hesitated as he reached over to throw it away.

..No, he- He couldn't...He wasn't ready..

He set the bag back in the drawer, pushing it closed. His eyelids drooped and his limbs started to feel heavy, sleep already overcoming him. He laid his head down on the desk and wrapped his arms around it as a pillow of sorts, drowsy. He yawned, letting his eyes flutter closed.

※※※

Wow. First actually peaceful ending in a while.

It's a bit bittersweet though, isn't it?

-Gotta take peace when you can when your life is a rollercoaster,

Jaques