Mist and Alpha late night talk be upon ye. Their relationship is very important to me.
It's quiet on the roof. Getting there isn't easy, but once settled, Mist relishes in the sense of peace that washes over her. Tonight, though, she only gets two lungfulls of smoke before a voice cuts through the relative silence of the night.
"Got one for me ?"
How Alpha always manages to find her hidding spots is beyond Mist's knowledge.
"Die," she grumbles without looking at him, even as she extends the pack of cigarettes toward the fire ghoul.
The fact alone that he lights it without flourish tells Mist Alpha is preoccupied. That and the tension sitting heavy in his broad shoulders.
"You good ?" he rasps after a long inhale, voice always a bit veiled, scratching in his throat.
Mist shrugs vaguely, eyes finding a star and latching onto it. There's a long silence, an unusual display of patience from Alpha, before she sighs in defeat.
"Worried about Omega."
A gush of winds raises goosebumps on her skin. She should have brought a jacket. It becomes a bit more bearable when Alpha reajusts his stance and the heat he naturally radiates washes over her.
"Yeah, me too."
Smoke billows in front of them as it escapes their mouths, curling in hypnotizing shapes.
"...don't get me wrong, I love Terzo, I think he's a great guy, but..."
"He's human," Alpha finishes for her, "mortal. And Omega is not. I mean not really. No one's eternal, but us ghouls come close."
With a heavy sigh, Mist nods, lower lip bitten raw and stinging.
"Omega always had a big, bleeding heart. If- when he loses Terzo to human fragility, he's going to feel it with his entire being."
Alpha grunts in agreement. There is no way Omega won't fall appart at the loss of his lover, no matter the circumstances.
"Can't get too close to humans. Will just bring pain."
Mist huffs.
"Hypocrite."
"Fuck you, Secondo and I are just a thing of convenience, nothing more."
What a poor liar Alpha can be, when it comes to these matters, a tremor in his voice and longing in his eyes. Mist raises an eyebrow, tilting her head toward him.
"I didn't even mention him."
Shoulders sagging in defeat, Alpha runs a tired hand on his face, through his hair. Mist wonders if he still struggles to sleep, or if he stays up late just to catch a break, have a quiet moment to himself. If so, her presence doesn't seem to bother him; after all, he sought her out in the first place.
"You still having nightmares ?"
Mist tenses.
"Fuck d'you think i'd be doing here if I wasn't ?"
Alpha doesn't answer. Mist bites her lip, inhales, exhales, shaking off the guilt churning in her guts. It's instinctive, biting when she feels cornered, when a touchy subject is on the table. And if it was anyone else, she probably would storm off. But this is Alpha. The fire ghoul knows, and understands.
"Sorry. I meant, yes, I still have them."
Somewhere in the night, an animal screeches. A cloud momentarily hides the moon. Nightmares are terrible things, forcing Mist to face her deepest fears without being able to do anything about it. She doesn't remember when it started, but now she can hardly spend a night without having her own mind playing those cruel tricks on her.
Some nights, when Mist wakes up with the taste of bile in her mouth and torn sheets sticking to her clamy skin, she forgets where she is. All that she feels is how small and lonely she is.
"You don't have to sleep alone, y'know."
It's as if Alpha read her mind. A tempting offer. Mist considers, stomping on the butt of her cigarette.
"You'd hold me, sparkling ?"
The light tone she tried to inject in her voice falls flat, as does the nickname Alpha hates so much. As it is, he only hums and finally turns fully toward her.
"You know I will. If you let me."
The cloud drifts away, silver moonlight pouring once again on Alpha's face, highlighting the deep scars on his cheek, the days old stubles, the crease between his eyebrows.
"Alright then."
They stare at each other in silence for a while. There is something off with Alpha's expression, like he's trying very hard to school it into his usual bitch resting face. Mist is not sure how to word the question she's burning to ask.
"Do you- did something happen ? You look...upset."
The way Alpha opens his mouth in an instant, ready to retort, lips starting to pull back in a snear, reminds Mist of herself just a few minutes ago. But then he looks away, shoulders and chest rising with the inhale he takes.
"Got into a fight with Pebble."
"Again ?"
Mist isn't sure what Alpha and Pebble's relationship is. Most Siblings and a few other ghouls are convinced they hate each other's guts - and given the amount of screaming matchs they get into, it's a fair assumptions. But Mist knows damn well it goes further than that.
She knows they both respect each other, despite everything. She knows Pebble tends to seek Alpha's gruff approval, even if the earth ghoul would vehemently deny it and possibly comit murder if anyone mentionned it. Mist has keen eyes, and she can see that Alpha orbits toward Pebble much more than you'd expect. That he looks out of the earth ghoul and genuinely seems to care about him, in his own way. Their fights tend to get to both of them, no matter how much they try to shrug them off.
"...yeah. It's fine, we'll get over it, I just...wasn't even trying to piss him off, you know ?"
Yes, Mist does know. Whatever bound those two share, it's torny and full of knots, a difficult thing that's still strong enough never to let them severe it. She hopes the squeeze she gives to his shoulder is enugh to convey her understanding, all the reassurances she doesn't really know how to put into words.
It seems to be, if the way Alpha leans into it with the faintest hint of a purr is anything to go by.
Her musing is interrupted by a jaw-dislocating yawn.
"C'me on. It's so late it's almost early," Alpha mumbles, rubbing his eyes.
They don't speak of the fire ghoul's offer again, but when Alpha steps into his bedroom, Mist is right behind him.
Maybe, tonight, warm limbs will ward off the horrors of the night.
85 notes
·
View notes