It is not uncommon to find Osiris awake long after most in the Iron Temple have gone to sleep. He works long into the night, forcing himself to study, to learn, to get better. Certainly, no-one can fault his dedication, no matter what they may think of him.
Tonight though has come to inevitable collapse. Head pillowed on his arms on the desk, Osiris sleeps fitfully, brow furrowed in concern... or pain... or fear. The candles have burned down nearly to nothing, and his fingers curl, dig into his arms as he dreams.
He has always dreamed vividly, ever since Sagira resurrected him; before he had a name, when he was just a new thing, scared and disoriented, trying to adjust to this world he found himself in. He dreams of the Darkness, of the terrible shapes that lie within it. Of the collapse and the ruin it wrought upon the world. Dreams of dark halls carved from black stone, and the watching thing that waits in the centre. Of the shifting, branching realities, possibilities, futures.
This is, unfortunately, not an uncommon sight, as much as Felwinter wishes that Osiris would give some consideration to his body's physical needs. What good is all of his studying if he's too run down to apply it? But this is not a battle to be won all at once, and so instead of nagging Osiris to sleep, Felwinter has decided to start on something simpler - staying hydrated, for one, and possibly fed if he manages to spare the attention. These, at least, don't require Osiris to take a proper break which is not ideal, but it's a place to start.
Felwinter is often the only other awake this late - truth be told, he doesn't actually need sleep the same way others do, but he still wants it and here at the Iron Temple it's actually safe to rest. True rest, not curled close to a gun poised to wake up and fight or run. Perhaps in time Osiris too will find some measure of peace here.
But until then, Felwinter has taken to either draping a blanket over Osiris if he's fallen asleep on his work or carrying him back to his chambers if not. But this time...something is clearly wrong. Osiris's face is twisted in pain and as loathe as Felwinter is to wake him, this could hardly be considered rest. He won't be doing Osiris any favors if he drapes a blanket over him as usual and walks away.
He rests a hand on the sleeping man's shoulder, enough to pull him back to the waking world but hopefully not enough to startle. "Osiris."
He is drowning in the deep, crushed by the weight and pressure as he searches for that lone point. Things move in the depths, great shadows that he cannot make out the shape of. He sees flashes; a city ringed with spears, a pulsing, rotting, endlessly hungery thing growing in pits and caverns, a garden which grows in every direction, coiling endlessly through myriad circuits.
And that thing watching. He knows that he does not want it to see him.
He flinches at the touch, snapping awake, and stares wide-eyed at his mentor, though he does not quite see him, not yet.
He takes a deep breath, then another, and finally squints to see in the dim light. Felwinter. He– he's in the study. He isn't drowning.
"I–" Words are difficult and he reaches up to scrub at his eyes. "I'm sorry. I– I must have fallen asleep."
Felwinter just stands there with an unnatural stillness, aside from a gentle grounding squeeze of Osiris's shoulder, as his apprentice comes back to himself. Only when he seems to know where he is does Felwinter release him to drape the blanket over his shoulders.
"You did, and not well. I thought it best to wake you." And it is best not to pry, at least as long as this doesn't become a repeat incident that requires intervention. Osiris is almost as stubborn as he is - he will talk if he wants to, and if not, Felwinter can let a singular occurrence slide.
"Come, I will make tea. It will help." It's a familiar ritual for both of them, and this time he has an herbal blend in mind. Warm comfort without providing more fuel for Osiris to burn himself with, because he really does need to get some proper rest
He ducks his head, flushing a little, when the blanket is draped over him. He pulls it tight around his shoulders, clasping it to his chest. Embarrassing to have his mentor take care of him this way, and yet... it feels pleasant as well. After so long spent wandering the wilds before he came here, comfort and care is still something that he is adjusting to.
"Thank you," he says at the offer of tea. Something warm might help; though the dreams are fading, the fear in them lingers even in waking. He stands up but keeps the blanket wrapped around himself as they head over to the sitting area where Felwinter receives guests. "It is late. I am sorry if I woke you, or interrupted you."
Felwinter may not be the most outwardly emotive of the Iron Lords, but that doesn't mean there aren't people he cares deeply for. He wouldn't leave anyone under their protection to suffer in such an obvious nightmare...but he also wouldn't be offering additional care so freely to someone he didn't know and like. "There's no need to apologize. I would have woken you sooner if you had been more obviously in distress."
The act of preparing tea is an old ritual for them both. Sometimes he uses it as a grounding exercise for a restless mind, either his or his student's, but tonight his primary focus is on Osiris. He's followed to the sitting room without complaint or any further commentary regarding his work while Felwinter prepares tea, which is absolutely a sign that he's unwell. Osiris rarely stops unless his body physically gives out or Felwinter makes him.
It takes little time at all to boil a kettle with the aid of Solar fire but steeping requires patience. Herbal tea even more so, but by the time Felwinter brings a tray holding the kettle and two teacups to the table the scent is already noticeable: lavender and chamomile, among lesser quantities of other herbs. It's a far cry from the Assam they normally favor. "This will not help you find focus for further study," he warns. "Your work ethic is admirable, but you must also learn to listen to your body's needs."
Osiris settles on one of the high backed chairs in the sitting room, legs crossed beneath him, as Felwinter makes tea. The sounds of it are familiar, soothing. This is a ritual they have built between themselves, though it has not taught him much patience outside of this one specific instance.
He's drifting again by the time Felwinter sets down the tea, mind already running to his dreams and the visions that sometimes plague him. That point in the depths, the terrible darkness which drifts beneath the surface.
He startles when Felwinter speaks, dragging himself back to the here and now with more difficulty than he should have.
"There's not enough time," he says quietly in response. "I have to keep working."
Felwinter considers pulling a chair closer to Osiris's, but he recognizes that distant look in his student's eyes and thinks better of it for now. The harsh noise of the chair legs scraping across stone isn't going to do Osiris any favors.
Instead he very gently tips Osiris's face up to look at him, finger still warmed by Solar energy. An anchoring point. "You're drifting again. Stay with me." There's no judgment in his voice; it's just a statement of fact. And while he had originally intended to let Osiris tell him - or not - at his leisure, it's quickly become apparent that Osiris is very much not fine. Perhaps it was more than just a simple nightmare, or the nightmare has given way to more visions. Regardless, leaving Osiris to his own devices is no longer an option. The man needs rest - actual rest beyond the bare minimum a human body demands to maintain consciousness - and he's not going to get it at this rate.
Felwinter tilts his head up and he lets him without protest, still struggling to focus. Contact helps, frustrating as it is to need it. He shouldn't need help. He should be able to drag himself out of this state on his own.
"Apologies," he murmurs in response. He sits up a little more straight, as if that will drag his thoughts back to their proper order.
He clenches his jaw at the question, frustration welling up that it was even noticed. Why him? No-one else seems to struggle in this way and it is distressing to not be able to exert as much control over these dreams and visions as he can over his Light. "I'm not sure," he says. "Perhaps. I saw..." He shakes his head. "It's stupid. A restless mind that I need to control better."
Drifting and spiraling. It's why Felwinter is making Osiris look at him in the hopes that maybe, just maybe, he'll get through. "You have nothing to apologize for. Although you might consider being gentler with yourself." No mystery has ever become clearer through berating it, after all. "You have never been given to idle daydreams or flights of fancy. 'Stupid' is not the right word." He trusts that Osiris can tell the difference between a simple dream and something more, and that if he's remaining this shaken, there must be a reason.
After all, how many times has he been called paranoid when there is a very real, Warmind-shaped reason for him to take certain precautions?
But with that said, Felwinter releases him to attend to the tea and to allow Osiris a moment to process.
"I cannot afford to be 'gentle'," Osiris replies, acid on his tongue. He needs to be better. He has to be better. He has this immortality, his many lives, is it not his duty to use them?
Felwinter steps away and Osiris slumps back in his chair. No matter his willpower, he cannot escape his exhaustion. He hovers over his response for a few seconds, and then bites back his impulse to hide. Felwinter has never given him any reason for mistrust.
"I dream of the Darkness," he says quietly. "Of something waiting in it, watching."
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timeasmymeasure
For Felwinter
Date: 2023-07-27 04:12 pm (UTC)Tonight though has come to inevitable collapse. Head pillowed on his arms on the desk, Osiris sleeps fitfully, brow furrowed in concern... or pain... or fear. The candles have burned down nearly to nothing, and his fingers curl, dig into his arms as he dreams.
He has always dreamed vividly, ever since Sagira resurrected him; before he had a name, when he was just a new thing, scared and disoriented, trying to adjust to this world he found himself in. He dreams of the Darkness, of the terrible shapes that lie within it. Of the collapse and the ruin it wrought upon the world. Dreams of dark halls carved from black stone, and the watching thing that waits in the centre. Of the shifting, branching realities, possibilities, futures.
They are rarely good dreams.
no subject
Date: 2023-07-27 11:54 pm (UTC)Felwinter is often the only other awake this late - truth be told, he doesn't actually need sleep the same way others do, but he still wants it and here at the Iron Temple it's actually safe to rest. True rest, not curled close to a gun poised to wake up and fight or run. Perhaps in time Osiris too will find some measure of peace here.
But until then, Felwinter has taken to either draping a blanket over Osiris if he's fallen asleep on his work or carrying him back to his chambers if not. But this time...something is clearly wrong. Osiris's face is twisted in pain and as loathe as Felwinter is to wake him, this could hardly be considered rest. He won't be doing Osiris any favors if he drapes a blanket over him as usual and walks away.
He rests a hand on the sleeping man's shoulder, enough to pull him back to the waking world but hopefully not enough to startle. "Osiris."
no subject
Date: 2023-07-28 12:07 am (UTC)And that thing watching. He knows that he does not want it to see him.
He flinches at the touch, snapping awake, and stares wide-eyed at his mentor, though he does not quite see him, not yet.
He takes a deep breath, then another, and finally squints to see in the dim light. Felwinter. He– he's in the study. He isn't drowning.
"I–" Words are difficult and he reaches up to scrub at his eyes. "I'm sorry. I– I must have fallen asleep."
writing this in an Elsa costume is an odd experience lol
Date: 2023-07-29 01:21 pm (UTC)"You did, and not well. I thought it best to wake you." And it is best not to pry, at least as long as this doesn't become a repeat incident that requires intervention. Osiris is almost as stubborn as he is - he will talk if he wants to, and if not, Felwinter can let a singular occurrence slide.
"Come, I will make tea. It will help." It's a familiar ritual for both of them, and this time he has an herbal blend in mind. Warm comfort without providing more fuel for Osiris to burn himself with, because he really does need to get some proper rest
I mean, seasonally appropriate for Felwinter? XD Now imagining Fel learning stasis...
Date: 2023-07-29 01:31 pm (UTC)"Thank you," he says at the offer of tea. Something warm might help; though the dreams are fading, the fear in them lingers even in waking. He stands up but keeps the blanket wrapped around himself as they head over to the sitting area where Felwinter receives guests. "It is late. I am sorry if I woke you, or interrupted you."
alas if only...AU time maybe?
Date: 2023-08-04 06:03 am (UTC)The act of preparing tea is an old ritual for them both. Sometimes he uses it as a grounding exercise for a restless mind, either his or his student's, but tonight his primary focus is on Osiris. He's followed to the sitting room without complaint or any further commentary regarding his work while Felwinter prepares tea, which is absolutely a sign that he's unwell. Osiris rarely stops unless his body physically gives out or Felwinter makes him.
It takes little time at all to boil a kettle with the aid of Solar fire but steeping requires patience. Herbal tea even more so, but by the time Felwinter brings a tray holding the kettle and two teacups to the table the scent is already noticeable: lavender and chamomile, among lesser quantities of other herbs. It's a far cry from the Assam they normally favor. "This will not help you find focus for further study," he warns. "Your work ethic is admirable, but you must also learn to listen to your body's needs."
Should definitely do an AU!
Date: 2023-08-04 08:59 am (UTC)He's drifting again by the time Felwinter sets down the tea, mind already running to his dreams and the visions that sometimes plague him. That point in the depths, the terrible darkness which drifts beneath the surface.
He startles when Felwinter speaks, dragging himself back to the here and now with more difficulty than he should have.
"There's not enough time," he says quietly in response. "I have to keep working."
no subject
Date: 2023-08-08 06:03 am (UTC)Instead he very gently tips Osiris's face up to look at him, finger still warmed by Solar energy. An anchoring point. "You're drifting again. Stay with me." There's no judgment in his voice; it's just a statement of fact. And while he had originally intended to let Osiris tell him - or not - at his leisure, it's quickly become apparent that Osiris is very much not fine. Perhaps it was more than just a simple nightmare, or the nightmare has given way to more visions. Regardless, leaving Osiris to his own devices is no longer an option. The man needs rest - actual rest beyond the bare minimum a human body demands to maintain consciousness - and he's not going to get it at this rate.
"What troubles you? Another vision?"
no subject
Date: 2023-08-08 10:05 am (UTC)"Apologies," he murmurs in response. He sits up a little more straight, as if that will drag his thoughts back to their proper order.
He clenches his jaw at the question, frustration welling up that it was even noticed. Why him? No-one else seems to struggle in this way and it is distressing to not be able to exert as much control over these dreams and visions as he can over his Light. "I'm not sure," he says. "Perhaps. I saw..." He shakes his head. "It's stupid. A restless mind that I need to control better."
I am so sorry, Fel was not cooperating and I kept losing my post and bleh
Date: 2023-09-15 04:46 am (UTC)After all, how many times has he been called paranoid when there is a very real, Warmind-shaped reason for him to take certain precautions?
But with that said, Felwinter releases him to attend to the tea and to allow Osiris a moment to process.
No worries at all <3
Date: 2023-09-15 09:02 am (UTC)Felwinter steps away and Osiris slumps back in his chair. No matter his willpower, he cannot escape his exhaustion. He hovers over his response for a few seconds, and then bites back his impulse to hide. Felwinter has never given him any reason for mistrust.
"I dream of the Darkness," he says quietly. "Of something waiting in it, watching."