Who: Dhaval and Tayne Where: Their room When: Early morning
Dhaval woke with a soft smile to the sound of rain on the windows. It was just such a comforting noise. If everything else fell away, there'd always be rain to wake up to. It was almost completely dark in his room, but he wasn't sure if that was the hour or the weather at work. He blinked a few times, noting his arm was around Tayne and that Rashmi was still making little snuffling noises, so probably asleep. As he lay still and listened, the raindrops grew harder and more frequent until it sounded like a proper deluge, and he smiled to himself as a distant growl of thunder rolled by his ears. He wasn't sure why he loved storms so, but nothing struck him as as lovely to watch, as comfortable to listen to, and so quietly exciting. There wasn't much electricity in the air inside, but Dhaval could still feel a light prickle at the back of his neck. Lovely.
The rain hadn't woken Tayne, but the thunder most certainly did. While he'd not really been sleeping as well as he'd like, he hadn't had any more leaping-from-the-bed nightmares since that first. But the sound of thunder had him leaping at least out from under Dhaval's arm and into a sitting position, startled right out of sleep and into a panic that, while still making him look around wildly and panting, at least wasn't as bad as the one Dhaval had last seen out of him.
Dhaval had been skirting the edges of being awake until Tayne jerked him awake. The rapid movement was all that was necessary. He blinked hard and rubbed his eyes to banish sleep properly, not that he could see a lot better. There was a faint flash, but the lightening must have been a ways off and not in the direction his window faced. Didn't do much to illuminate the room anyway. Dhaval decided against speaking, just sitting up slowly and wrapping one arm around Tayne's shoulders. He couldn't shake the feeling that this rain thing was silly, but that wasn't the kind of opinion he could voice or act on.
The flash, and then the thunder that followed, made Tayne jump again, eyes wide, and he shuddered under Dhaval's arm, belatedly realizing he'd woken up violently and had someone's arm on him. Oh, great, now he was going to make an idiot of himself all over again.... But he couldn't help it. There was too much attached to storms and water to relax when it was everywhere, making itself so incredibly loudly and forcefully known. He shuddered again and wished he were alone, so he could just bury his head under his pillow, or change into the tiger and see if then he'd be able to ignore the rain. Probably not.... "S-sorry," he stammered. "D-didn't mean to w-wake you up."
"S'alright." Dhaval shrugged slightly. "I don't need a lot of sleep." He ran his fingers slowly through Tayne's hair, not sure how to calm him. His reaction was so visceral it seemed tough to combat. It was still so weird to find Tayne vulnerable when he was almost maddeningly competent most of the time. Though, rather like his stutter, Dhaval found the unfortunate fact sort of cute. He might get annoyed if Tayne were just completely perfect all the time. He tightened his grip and turned to twist his other arm around the other man, kissing his cheek gently. He couldn't just say go ahead and be abjectly terrified, and I won't mind, so he tried his damndest to imply it.
While Tayne didn't quite get the meaning in those words, exactly, he did at least turn to lean his head on Dhaval's shoulder, huddling a little in his embrace. "S-so stupid, j-j-just a storm," he muttered, mostly to himself, rather than Dhaval, as if, if he just told himself enough times, he'd stop being so afraid. It never worked, but he never stopped trying, either. It was like an automatic reaction, a defense mechanism for his fear or his pride or both, where he had no control over it.
"Would being a tiger help?" Just a thought. He wouldn't mind petting and soothing a tiger. And they knew Tayne fit in the bed pretty comfortably, too. The cat was supposed to like water. He'd seen pictures of swimming tigers. Not to mention came from monsoon-prone parts of the world. Not that Tayne became an instant tiger with all behavior and background intact the moment he turned, but maybe it would do some good? "I'll still be here. You make a handsome tiger." He ruffled Tayne's hair, promising petting.
At least Dhaval wasn't laughing. He was being remarkably patient with all this, which was somehow both a huge relief and something of an embarrassment. "D-don't know," Tayne admitted, burying his face in Dhaval's neck, though that couldn't block out the sound of the rain pounding sideways on their window. It was closed, right...? He had to twitch away from Dhaval so he could look. Closed. Good. Phew. "N-never t-tried it," he finished, a bit belatedly. "Might p-p-pace 'round an' step on the birds...." Though he didn't really think he'd do that. The tiger was enough him to know they were there and weren't for eating.
"Whatever works for you." Tayne had to have some kind of coping mechanism. One couldn't go through life without running into thunderstorms. But maybe he just sort of cringed... Dhaval hoped that wasn't it. Dhaval began to run his hands slowly up and down Tayne's back. Either form, petting worked well on Tayne. He tried to think about what he did when he was freaked out, but there wasn't anything he reacted to with any such intensity. The closest he got were those weird nights when he'd become completely obsessed with the conviction that there were ghosts or some other nonspecific horrors waiting in the dark. Damn imagination. But not really helpful.
Tayne was torn. While he wanted to try anything that might help him be less of a wreck, he didn't want to hurt anyone on accident, or make things worse because he didn't know what he was doing. He ducked his head back into Dhaval's shoulder. "D-don't even know what w-w-works for me... n-nothin', usually," he admitted glumly. What a stupid problem... afraid of rain, thunder, and water in general. "M-maybe sh-should track d-down some tranqs. If I c-can't focus, c-can't be scared, right?"
"Um, looking for drugs in the dark... I don't know, not a great plan." He kissed Tayne's temple, trying to be as gentle as he could be. If the storm was so scary, then he'd try his best to be comforting. He was shy about offering new suggestions, though. It sounded sort of condescending to suggest simple ideas like Tayne was a kid. But he had no ideas but the simple. "Light?" he asked instead, since he could reach the little battery lamp more easily. Being calm was simple in theory, but Tayne's phobia complicated things considerable.
"Errrr." Warring between the knowledge that it would be a waste of energy, and the knowledge that it would at least mute the lightning problem... Tayne finally decided even a little waste of battery power was better than trembling in the dark. It just made him feel dumb that he even needed it. At least he wasn't actually afraid of the dark... that'd be even more embarrassing. "Yeah," he finally said, hanging his head a little sheepishly. "Th-thanks...."
Dhaval leaned back the best he could without releasing his tight hug on Tayne. He wanted to keep petting the poor kitten. He might be enjoying this a little too much... Considering he shouldn't be enjoying it at all. It was just nice to take care of Tayne for a while. A neat inversion that made him feel a little less useless and mixed up the narrative he couldn't help seeing in his life. The light glowed its usual comfy yellow as he leaned back. "Any better?" He'd have to watch his expression a little more carefully.
The rain was still pounding, the thunder still rolled and made him twitch, but it wasn't quite as bad.... Still bad, but it was a little better, as if taking away one little aspect of the situation was like the straw and the camel, or however the saying went. Tayne sighed, slumping a little in an attempt to relax and stop trembling, and nodded against Dhaval's shoulder. "Yeah... yeah, th-thanks. Sorry 'bout th-this... d-didn't mean to wake up all p-panicked 'gain." At least he hadn't gone growly and angry, this time. But then, the water wasn't actually attacking him this time, either. In dreams or not.
"It was a lot less startling than when you actually jumped out of bed." Dhaval smiled and ran his fingers down Tayne's cheek. Being cute was a knack that Tayne probably didn't really know he had. It was good to see him calm down a little bit, and while Dhaval had been enjoying the dark, the soft light and the blackness it made outside the window made the room feel pleasantly small and cozy. The room was actually kind of cold, and he tugged a blanket over the two of them. "You want to just close your eyes and relax? Or is that not going to happen?" He kept up his gentle petting. The wind picked up a little outside and there was a loud smattering of raindrops against the window. Dhaval opted to take the moment to kiss Tayne on the mouth. It was the only distraction he had at hand.
"It's n-not-- mmm." Tayne started to answer, half-distracted by the sudden uptake in rain, then cut off as he was kissed. It startled him a little, and he gave a little jerk, slightly more obvious than all his trembling, but then he made a much more obvious effort to relax a little again and shut his eyes. Though shutting his eyes made the noises feel that much louder, at least that was what you did when you were being kissed, so there was that. He brought a hand up into Dhaval's hair, at the back of his head. Hair was distracting, too, right?
Well, that had worked to an extent. He wasn't sure if Tayne was honestly distracted or just willing to try the escape, but either way, Dhaval was game. He leaned back into Tayne's hand a little and caught himself... well, purring, sort of. Living with a tiger was some kind of influence on his behavior, certainly. He kept his grip on Tayne as he settled in. Being the best comfort he could be had its perks, but he reminded himself to focus on Tayne feeling better. Dhaval wondered what it would be like to react so deeply and completely to being afraid. His theory remained that Tayne was simply so unused to being scared that he didn't know how to deal with it.
It even worked for a minute or two, keeping their mouths working together and hands around each other. Tayne was starting to think he might survive the storm, after all, when a particularly close bolt of lightning and almost instantaneous clap of deafening thunder-- deafening to him, anyhow, with his extended senses-- and he jumped, squeaked, and clung onto Dhaval in startled fear. "God d-d-d-damn," he muttered, realizing what he'd just done and feeling somewhat disgusted at himself. Not that it helped him react any differently; it just made him feel worse, over-all. "Sorry...."
Dhaval hoped he wasn't going to wind up with a swollen lip. The impact had been rather awkward when Tayne had started so violently. But at least he'd done a few minutes' good. (Making out should provide more chances for good deeds.) Dhaval was only startled for a moment. He was getting used to Tayne's extreme reactions. In answer, he squeezed as tight as he could. He wasn't as strong as a career laborer with a past in the army, but he had a pretty good grip anyway. "It's fine." He relaxed his hold and nuzzled Tayne's hair.
"I d-don't deserve you," Tayne muttered with a faint smile, despite his embarrassment and unease. The guy was being far more patient than Tayne had any right to expect, much less hope for. If it'd been him, he would probably have gotten sick of the stupid phobia by now. At least he didn't have any pressing need to get out of the building today... just long enough to bring in those plants and set them up in some upstairs hallways. He had parked the borrowed truck under an overhang, so they should be fine....
Dhaval couldn't help laughing a bit at that. "I think putting up with someone you have to half-carry into bed qualifies you for some karmic perks." He would have liked to lie down again and pull Tayne with him, but he had suggested lying down and trying to relax, and that had been shot down. He pulled the blanket up to his shoulders and then over Tayne's. "At least you aren't scared of spiders in your shoes or ghosts under the bed." Admittedly, he didn't tend to have violent physical reactions to his little fears, but he didn't hold that against Tayne. "Does make it a little harder to enjoy a good storm, though."
"Maybe you sh-sh-should enjoy them without me," Tayne suggested, apologetically, though he had a hard time seeing what anyone could possibly enjoy about a storm. It was noisy and wet and tended to destroy things, if it was a bad one. "I t-t-tend to make th-things a little more t-t-t-tense, when it's raining...." Understatement of the century, perhaps. He snuggled a little closer, trying to still the trembling. "M-maybe you sh-should read to me again...."
"Hmm, then who'd make sure you're getting petted properly?" Dhaval smiled and ruffled his hair, pleased at Tayne's affectionate nature. Just in general. "Besides, I can't think of a better way than this to spend a storm." Inside a solid building with a handsome man wrapped around him? The only possible improvement would be opening a window to let in the electric air and make the blanket seem cozier against the cold air. Dhaval punctuated the statement with a kiss to Tayne's forehead. Same idea without having to sound all mushy. "I'll just grab a book. You want something of mine, or just one of those novels you brought me?" He sort of hoped for the former.
"Take your pick," Tayne said, shifting a little to glance over at the desk. He could probably get something from it more easily than Dhaval, but he didn't really want to move, either. This was a little more safe-feeling than any alternative, including just moving across the bed and away from the warmth. "If you've g-g-got more of that w-western-ish stuff, that was c-cool."
"A couple more. They had a bit of a run, actually, in a youngish fantasy magazine." Dhaval squeezed Tayne's shoulder as he leaned over, which served the dual purpose of holding him steady and maintaining a tangible connection with an obviously still disturbed Tayne. He hummed a bit as he rifled one-handed through the stack of papers and magazines until he found another of his western mysteries with dragons and straightened up again. "You want to put your head on my lap again, or is this good?"
"Th-that'd prob'ly be easier," Tayne said tiredly, more tired from the fear than any lack of sleep-- it wasn't that early, he thought-- and pulled back a little so he could start shifting his position around, once Dhaval was back in place. "Won't g-get a crick in my neck, or b-b-b-bash you in th-the face every time I t-twitch, if I'm down in yer lap." That was Tayne, ever practical. He took ths chance, too, to glance down at the hatchlings. They were curled up in their towel-nest on the floor, wound around each other in a ball of light-and-dark fluff, apparently either sound asleep or content with the storm, like Dhaval was. Stupid bird-monsters.
Dhaval held still, shifting a little so his leg wouldn't end up going to sleep. He rather liked having Tayne there. He was comfy, and it made petting him and looking after him pretty easy. He realized the reason he didn't mind Tayne's outbursts too much was that calming him down afterward was strangely pleasant. "You only bashed me in the face a little. You're forgiven." He braced his elbow on the opposite leg to hold the papers still. The magazine wasn't printed on the best paper, and it was a little bit floppy. He didn't want to poke Tayne's eye with a corner or something. The same as last time, he stroked Tayne's hair as he began to read, relishing the words he'd already written, tamed to say what he meant them to say.