Work Text:
The night was cool, the breeze was soft and gentle across the meadow of flowers, each tinted a different shade of purple. The moon was full, illuminating the field where the lanterns couldn’t reach. The air stilled as two figures made their way to the middle of the field; their favorite spot, where a tall, lush tree sits with leaves that seemed to always be covered in dew drops. The sounds of crickets filled the silent air around them, becoming white noise as the figures sat down at their usual spots.
The first person, Azure, gently laid down on the soft grass, resting his head on his arm. His partner, Two Time, had stayed sitting, right next to him. Azure shifted his position to rest his head on his partner’s lap, and in response, they laid their hand on his head, using their fingers to rake through his hair.
Azure hummed, taking in the peaceful night with his beloved. It was rare nights like these that reminded him why he loved them so much. Quiet, peaceful, calm. They were together, and that was all that really mattered to him. It was perfect.
“This is nice.”
Azure finally broke the peaceful silence, turning his head to face Two Time. They looked back, eyes softening as they gave him a gentle smile back.
“We should do this more often.”
“That would be nice.” Two Time murmured back, turning their head back up to face the moon and closed their eyes.
They both laid in silence again. Two Time moved their hand from Azure’s head to his side. Azure shifted again in their lap.
Silence.
Scowling a little, Azure sat up from his comfortable position and turned to look at Two Time, who tilted their head slightly in confusion.
“My dear, is something wro-?” Azure cut them off by pulling them into a hug. Two Time, caught off guard, yelped as he was pulled into a warm embrace. They both wasted no time in shifting to a more comfortable position. Two Time laid their head comfortably on Azure’s chest, while Azure let himself rest his head on Two Time’s, their hair providing comfort to his cheek. He wrapped his arms around their waist, pulling them in as close as possible. This was their moment. Cuddling under the moonlight, surrounded by beautiful flowers that spread for miles, just peace and quiet.
Nothing could ruin this.
Azure suddenly felt two hands against his chest, and before he could react, felt himself getting pushed to the ground, landing on the soft grass underneath him. He felt his beloved move to his side before wrapping their pale arms around his waist and placing their head on his shoulder; their cold nose brushing against his warm neck. They planted a small kiss on his neck, and another on his jaw. Azure shifted his head to face them, and kissed their forehead in response, before lifting their chin and kissing them again.
This was nice.
Azure would stay like this forever if he could.
Azure shifted to his side to allow him and his partner to be more comfortable on the ground.
They lay on the ground for what felt like hours, shifting in and out of consciousness. Azure rested his head on Two Time’s head, trying to mimic their previous position, until he felt them shaking slightly in his arms.
Concerned, Azure pulled Two Time away from his chest slightly so as to not hurt them. His heart broke when he noticed small tears rolling down their cheeks, which they were trying to wipe away. He sat them both up and started gently swiping his thumb across their cheek in order to wipe their tears that didn’t seem to stop. Two Time’s shoulders were shaking harder than before, trying to contain their broken sobs as Azure tried desperately to figure out what happened-what he did wrong.
“Hey, hey hey. Little flower, what’s wrong? Are you alright?”
Two Time started shaking their head, using their gloves to try and wipe their face again. “I’m sorry, my dearest. I..It’s nothing, I promise..”, they replied, knowing that wouldn’t convince Azure at all.
They stood up, stumbling slightly from getting up too fast, and before their boyfriend could ask any more questions, they told him: “I must go, I have something for you, and it really cannot wait any longer.”
They practically ran from the field, leaving a confused and saddened Azure behind, looking down at the lilac flowers that got trampled.
“If something was bothering them, they would surely tell me..” Azure told himself. “They never shied away from informing their partner of any of their needs before. They’re fine. It’s fine.”
He waited.
And waited.
Waiting for his flower to come back again.
…he kept waiting.
Until he heard rustling behind him.
Two Time had never tried to scare him before, so he chalked it up to a random critter that got lost, or was running around the fields.
The fields that felt too quiet, too cold.
The hair on the back of his neck stood up. Why was he nervous?
More rustling.
His breathing quickened.
He turned around and-
Time seemed to stop. He turned around, just to see Two Time’s dagger, glowing in the moonlight, inches away. Two Time, oh God Two Time, their eyes widened, face grew paler than normal. Their breath caught. The air around them seemed to stop, getting sucked away by some vacuum. Azure put his hands up and
caught their wrist.
He caught their wrist with a shaking hand.
And threw the dagger away. Away from reach.
Two Time would only stare, wide eyed, lower lip trembling
and then collapsed.
Right into Azure’s arms
He could only hold them as they started shaking again, only this time more violently.
He settled both of them on the ground again. The ground that they were laying on, cuddling and laughing about nothing and everything mere minutes ago. The ground that now felt cold instead of the usual warmth when they were together.
Two Time was muttering barely cohesive apologies, choking on their sobs, shaking their head as they wrapped their arms around themself. They begged, pleaded, for forgiveness, for anger, for sadness, for any response at all. But Azure stayed silent, only keeping Two Time close to his chest, purely out of instinct.
He needed to say something, if not for his sake, for Two Time
oh my, Two Time. His head raced through a million thoughts, questions, cycling through different emotions, none seeming to match the current situation.
“Why?” He finally managed to choke out.
Two Time’s frantic shaking only worsened, clutching their head in their hands as they continued muttering prayers, apologies, anything and nothing at the same time. Azure didn’t know what to do, how to calm them down, what the hell was going on. So he kept holding them tight.
They stayed there, together, for what felt like hours, though was certainly only minutes as the once comforting moon hadn’t shifted from its position in the sky. They stayed there until
Two Time’s head snapped to where the dagger was thrown. They finally stilled, not producing a sound, aside from their choked breaths.
They were calm again.
Azure wanted to ask a million questions, not even sure if he should be holding them right now.
He stayed quiet. Only loosening his grip slightly and
Everything happened so fast he couldn’t react properly. Two Time ran, sprinted towards the dagger, and with one final prayer to the Spawn, plunged it into their chest. Did Azure scream? He didn’t know. Everything blurred around him as he watched Two Time stumble, before pulling the dagger out of their chest before plunging it back in a second time, and then falling. Azure ran, lord did he run, to his partner, his everything, before the world stilled once again. The desperate gasps, the heavy breathing, the violent shaking, all gone. In mere seconds.
Did he cry?
How could he not?
After all of this, all of the love, care. All of the delicate moments together. Was it all meant to end like this?
Was the world meant to laugh in his face as his flower wilted away, faster than he could stop it?
An hour.
That’s all it took.
Just one hour.