A medical emergency

[fadingworld]

A deep navy cloak hides his features and the more ornate tunic the courtesan usually wears to greet his clients. Mal hunches his shoulders and slides through the crowds hoping to avoid notice. He keeps his head down until he reaches the home of the doctor and wraps smartly on the door. "Open up," he calls in a voice that expects to be listened to.

How much time did he have? He could not have a client bleeding out. Not this one. Not one who had come to him for help, to be treated privately.

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[fadingworld]

Despite his best intentions Mal does doze on and off. The noise does draw him from the chair in the study and out. "Regis?" he calls softly, "Is that you?" If it was not, there was not much Mal could do to make himself scare to stay out of trouble.

[mandragoraspiritus]

"It is, you can be calm," comes Regis' voice. He sits up there, on the sill of the only window in the attic, the window open and just looking out over the city.

"Apologies that I woke you. Go back to sleep, or you may come up if you like."

[fadingworld]

Barefooted, and hair that looks rumpled now that it is short, Mal comes up to join him. "I was only dozing," he says coming to rest his chin on Regis shoulder. "This is a wonderful view."

[mandragoraspiritus]

At first Regis tenses a bit at the sudden proximity, of Mal within his personal space and showing all signs of not leaving it anytime soon. But soon he relaxes and even leans a little bit against Mal. He has no wish o alienate the only person here who says he will accept him fully.

"It is," he says quietly. "It isn't the fairytale land of Toussaint, but it is beautiful nevertheless."

[fadingworld]

The tension does not go unnoticed. "You should let me know if my touches become too much," he scolds with gentle affection. "It is second nature to me and I will not always spot my limits."

He studies the scene. "I think anywhere might look beautiful at night when all is peaceful."

[mandragoraspiritus]

"Do not worry, Mal. If you are unwelcome I will let you know." Though perhaps he is too lenient. Surely a master should have more distance towards his apprentice, not be so personal. He just... Doesn't want to.

"Peaceful," he murmurs softly. "With all good folk asleep in their beds, with only the rabble, the drunkards, the whores, the thieves and the cutthroats out and about."

[fadingworld]

"Not all those who are out are bad, or all those asleep good," Mal points out softly. "Night to me, on moments alone hold great potential for change. A dream that sets someone on a new path coming morning, a thief who changes his mind."

[mandragoraspiritus]

Regis actually chuckles, then, and now he definitely is leaning back against Mal, not heavily but enough for it to be noticeable. "You have a far kinder outlook on things than I do, my friend."

[fadingworld]

Mal rests a hand on Regis' other shoulder. "Looking for the good, makes life worth living for me," he confesses very softly. "I let my mind go down a very dark path once." He swallows. "I saw what I did, what the people I was with had the potential to do, their dark desires and..." he breaks off.

"Only when I twisted it to look at the potential for goodness could I bare to look and live in the world again."

[mandragoraspiritus]

Sitting like this is starting to feel almost like he's being embraced, in not just a brief hug but rather something more lingering. His mind shies away from it to some degree, warning to be careful And yet... It has been so long, hasn't it? So long since he was given anything even remotely close to it.

"You do know, I trust, that I would listen." This evening and now night feels open just as much as that night when they had sat drinking the mandrake cordial and yet they haven't touched a drop.

[fadingworld]

"I do," Mal says with a quiet sense of conviction. This is why he's felt able to open up. "But those thoughts are long gone. And now? Now, oh if you could see my heart, it is light. I have all I could wish now.

I only hope I can bring some of that happiness to you."

[mandragoraspiritus]

All he could wish? Perhaps for now. Such things, wishes, always changed. But even if just for now, well, there is good in that too. Regis woudln't deny the good he'd done the young man, in getting him out of that place, that House. Now, he's just glad for his company.

He lays a hand over Mal's where it rests on his shoulder, giving a light squeeze before he lets it drop and straightens his back, gently shrugging off Mal's chin from his other shoulder.

"It is late. You should go back to sleep."

[fadingworld]

"Good night," Mal says stepping back without protest and returns to bed, curling up into small ball he often prefers. Thoughts keep him awake for a little. THey centre on Regis and how he can help the vampire see he is not alone.

Eventually he drifts off into uneasy dreams where he chases the sounds of screams but never catches up to help them.

[mandragoraspiritus]

Regis stays where he is when Mal goes to bed. He doesn't think he'll get much sleep this night, if any, but he can sit here and rest with the night air on his face.

Before long though, he becomes aware that he isn't the only one having a restless night. A human wouldn't have heard it, but Regis isn't human. Even from the floor below he hears tossing and turning, soft mumbling and whining from the young man. A nightmare, then? Nightmares would pass on their own, he think, but then he remembers Mal's delirious fever rambles, and remembers that he had promised himself.

He dissipates, becoming only incorporeal gray smoke and drifting down the stairs, and through the rooms, not even opening Mal's door but flowing in under it, gathering by Mal's bedside where he again takes solid form. Carefully he takes a seat there on the edge of the bed, laying a comforting hand on Mal's shoulder.

[fadingworld]

Mal uncurls turning towards the presence. There are tears on his face as he opens his eyes. He will always wake at a touch. "Regis?" You came He can't help that happy lurch in his chest.

"Did I disturb you?"

[mandragoraspiritus]

Regis shakes his head no. There had been nothing to disturb. "I merely heard you. You were dreaming." He smiles down at Mal, more kindly and softly, and more real now than before. "It seems we are both destined for a restless night. Do you wish me to sit with you until you go back to sleep?"

[fadingworld]

"If you would not mind," Mal says softly. "I fear...I've grown too used to not sleeping alone." He rubs at the back of his neck as he settles closer to Regis. "I think the scariest power any being could have would have to be the power over dreams."

[mandragoraspiritus]

Regis hums quietly, moving to sit a bit more comfortably without invading Mal's space too much, letting that gentling hand stay on Mal's shoulder. There are such beings out there, he knows, but he won't tell Mal that. No, not when the man deserves some rest.

"You are safe here," he murmurs. "Go back to sleep."

[fadingworld]

Mal shifts a little closer. "Do you dream like humans do?" he asks his voice softening back towards sleep but he's still conscious enough to remember anything that is said.

[mandragoraspiritus]

Once again Mal has shifted close enough that Regis wonders if he'll end up with Mal's head on his lap again.

"I don't know. I don't know how humans dream," he answers honestly. "But I do dream.

[fadingworld]

Oh it is tempting to place his head there. Mal contents himself be placing it right by Regis' thigh. "I don't even think humans dream the same." He breathes in the sent of herbs. "I dream of darkness and people calling for help some nights. Others it feels like I am sleeping in safe warm arms."

[mandragoraspiritus]

Regis reaches to pull Mal's blanket a bit higher about his shoulders, practically tucking him in. "Then aim for the later," he says, perhaps foolishly. Then after a moment he can't help but to ask, "Do you really dislike sleeping alone that much?"

[fadingworld]

Mal nods slightly. "All my fears, worries, pain were hidden around clients. Bizarrely I slept well when they were at my side. When I was alone...I don't know, it's when I relived things or dreamt of them.

It has been so much better since I have been here though," he hastens to assure Regis.

[mandragoraspiritus]

"It will get better still," Regis comforts, almost wanting to offer the man to stay by his side every night, but it would be better if Mal got through this properly and learned to sleep peacefully to his own.

[fadingworld]

Mal rests a hand just above Regis' knee. "You are the expert," he says with a soft smile, feeling comforted that the other thinks it possible too.

"Thank you," he says softly. "You have a habit of putting my mind at ease with a few words."