It was bright, too bright, a green sun beating down over the ruined city, the sour smell of Rkh-nt blood filling the air, sticky and hot, a cacophony of screams piercing the air, the ground shaking with each blast of the fighter pilots' plasma guns, enemies and allies alike falling under the strain. Hide pushed on, his tentacles plunging into the chest of an alien soldier, the horrible screams piercing his ears, blue blood splattering all over his red scales, the screaming, so much fucking screaming, raw and harsh and cutting. Hide grabbed his helmet, yanking it off in one swift motion, his pink hair falling over his shoulders in waves, the smell of the battlefield hitting him like a solid wall.
Another, more familiar scream sounded out over the chaos of the battlefield, Hide whipping around his head to see Ina fall from the blast of an alien pulse beam, his eyes wide, his tentacles deflating and going limp, the chest wound sizzling through his uniform and burning his skin, the smell joining the oppressive sensescape of the battlefield, it all making Hide want to run, to escape, but he couldn’t, enemies bearing down on him…!
I’mgoingtodieI’mgoingtodieholyshitI’mgoingtodie! Hide grabbed his skwl from off his belt, pressing a button on the hilt so that the gleaming yellow blade popped out, whirling around to face the oppressive alien force, his heart pounding in his chest, the sound of an explosion nearby rocking the ground-
Darkness.
He could still hear it, the screaming and the blood and the fear, the all-consuming panic racing through his body. There was a crash as his tentacles lashed out in the dark, a pair of arms trying to wrap themselves around him, screaming, someone babbling out nonsensical words getoffmefuckLETMEGO! With a dull thud, his attacker fell to the ground, Hide shoving open the door and running out into a dark hallway. Unfamiliar. Am I being held prisoner? He fumbled against his belt for his weapon, his fingers only touching against loose fabric. They disarmed me. Shit. The soldier whirled around to face his two captors, a pair of men, one attempting to sneak behind him. Hide whirled around, his tentacles hitting Captor Number One in the stomach, causing him to fall to the ground, but falling into Captor Number Two’s trap, as the man grabbed his face, his scaly fingers worming their way through Hide’s hair, saying something incomprehensible. GET THE FUCK OFF ME!
Hide lashed out with one of his tentacles, scraping the side of Captor Number Two’s face, the smell of strange blood filling the air, the ringing in his ears tuning out any sounds that they were trying to make towards him the blood so much blood I want to go and leave and get out please please help me please let me go please it’s so fucking loudandiwanttoleaveletgoofmefuckingdiejustplease-
“Daddy, what’s going on?”
“Hide, Hide, sweetheart, it’s okay, you’re safe, you’re safe, nothing’s wrong, you’re here, with me-”
Hide collapsed into Sugizo’s arms, the Lar’ya’s wings wrapping around him like a warm blanket, his scales shifting to a darker blue.
I...I was home the whole time. I...please don’t...
“Luna, it’s okay. Hide-oji just had a nightmare. Go back to bed.”
Yoshiki. Hide bit his lip, shifting closer into Sugizo’s arms as he felt Yoshiki stroke his cheek. His eyes shifted upwards to see a wide gash on Sugizo’s cheek, the man’s eyes filled with tears. Oh, fuck, I’m a horrible person. I fucked up, they’re not going to want me anymore-
“Hide, are you okay?” Yoshiki turned Hide’s head to stare at him, his face twisted with worry.
Hide bit his lip. No. No, I’m not. I sit all day and recall this shit, day after day after day, for the benefit of a government that doesn’t care about me or the fact that I just want to forget this, forget and move on and now I have to see all this shit in HD in my dreams forever-
“I’m fine.”
Yoshiki shook his head. “No. No, you’re not. You were screaming like a fucking madman.”
Sugizo nodded. “You can talk to us, love. It’s okay.”
Hide sighed, falling onto his knees. “I don’t want to talk about it. Please?”
Sugizo picked him up in his arms, the feeling of comfort making Hide’s heart rate calm down slightly. “Okay. Okay. Do you want to go back to sleep?”
Hide vehemently shook his head. I’d rather die. Yoshiki sighed.
“So I’m not seeing any other options. Either we take you back to bed, which you don’t want to do, or we talk about what exactly you dreamed about.” The human ran his fingers through Hide’s short pink hair, causing the Rhkh-n to smile slightly.
Hide’s hands were still shaking. “In the morning. I might. Can I watch that stupid futurism show that Sugi likes?”
Sugizo huffed. “Star Trek is not stupid. ” There was a slight smile on his face, though Hide could still see the tears in his eyes. I’m so sorry for worrying you all. Please don’t hate me.
Yoshiki sighed. “I think I might have to side with Hide on this one, love. Whole thing’s dated as hell.”
Sugizo simply fluffed his wings and huffed. “Bullied. In my own home. Unbelievable.” He lifted Hide up before depositing him on the couch.
“I only speak the truth.”
“Oh, really? Your truth is nothing but mist in the wind, blown away by a breath of fresh air.”
“Was that a smart person quote?”
“Oh, you bet it was a smart person quote.”
Hide laughed, trying to push the images in his head away, the shaking ground and the smell of blood, to be replaced by Yoshiki and Sugizo’s joking tones and the Star Trek theme song, but it didn’t work. He could still see it. He was no longer there, so viserally in the moment, but he could still remember it, in his dreams, and as he snuggled in between his husbands, the topic seemingly gone between the three of them, he desperately hoped that it would stay that way.
Please let it stay like this forever.