Healer

Night Musings

Jimin huddled down outside of Namjoon's door, biting his lip and staring at the dark wall in front of him. From the other rooms he heard the echoes of soft breathing. Downstairs, a low pitter-pattering set of footsteps raced around--Yeontan, patrolling the floor he'd been locked into. Jimin shifted, glancing toward the stairs, and the door behind him opened, dumping him onto the bedroom floor.

"Oh," Namjoon said, crouching quickly. "What happened? Are you alright?"

"Couldn't sleep," Jimin said, avoiding his eyes. "I remembered... remembered what you said, and ... but I couldn't... I mean..."

"It's okay," Namjoon said, smiling and helping him up. "One step at a time. Want to lay down?"

Jimin shrugged, and Namjoon shooed him toward the bed, grinning. "I just gotta use the bathroom. Be back in a bit."

Jimin nodded, sliding into the bed and rolling under the covers. Cold. He stretched, frowning, and propped his head up on one hand, staring at the door.

A soft glow radiated from the desk, where Namjoon's lamp sat, covered by a paper-and- metal contraption that threw the shapes of flowers and leaves across the white walls. Books sat in tall stacks around the edges of the room, arranged to show the binder while standing like awkwardly-balanced bookshelves. A few trinkets littered the windowsill and the back of the desk, but the books took up most of the space, throwing deep shadows across the floor.

It felt... cozy.

Jimin kicked lazily at the blankets, then sat up, pulling back the curtains to stare out the window. The view from Namjoon's room was of the entrance to the property, a long driveway through tall maple trees. The leaves glinted in the moonlight, shivering in a slight breeze as it passed by.

"Are you sure you didn't have a nightmare?"

Jimin jumped, nodding quickly as Namjoon slid into the bed beside him.

"Okay," Namjoon said, shifting around. "Just thought I'd check."

"Mmh," Jimin lay down, taking a deep breath, and sighed, pulling the cold blanket over his shoulders. Namjoon chuckled.

"Sorry. I've been up for a bit."

"You... study?" Jimin asked quietly, glancing at the desk. Namjoon looked up and nodded, smiling.

"Helps take my mind off things. And I like knowing stuff." He scooted further under the blanket and stretched, yawning. "Feels better."

Jimin nodded, squirming a little, and sighed, biting his lip.

"Something wrong?"

"What happened to Taehyung?" Jimin blurted.

Namjoon sighed. "That's for him to tell you," he said. "He hasn't told anyone else."

"Then why does Jungkook--"

"Jungkook forces him to get it checked as often as possible," Namjoon said, sighing. "He's tried all sorts of medicines, powders, healing methods... he can't even tell us what type of injury it is. Taehyung says it doesn't hurt, so..."

Jimin nodded. "Sorry."

"It's alright. He was your friend, wasn't he?"

Jimin froze, blinking stupidly at Namjoon. "Ho-how--"

"Lots of things," Namjoon said, avoiding his eyes. "From the second he saw you you two were really attached, you know? That's not really... normal... for what you've been through."

"Oh," Jimin mumbled, shifting.

"It's nothing to be nervous about," Namjoon said hurriedly. "I just mean, I mean, you two seem really close, and he's been the type to get used to people slowly. Or something." He laughed, shaking his head. "I'm not making any sense."

Jimin shrugged, letting his eyes droop shut. Namjoon quieted; for a few minutes, the only sound was the soft rush of the wind outside the window.

Then they were both asleep. 

Coming up on the end soon. Most of the challenge with this book was figuring out where to stop, and I chose a point for the epilogue that leaves it kind of open-ended, because in these situations all you can really hope for is to be set on the right path to healing. I hope it's not too vague... still, crap will happen before that point. I'm not all that nice. :)