#I like Mariano's magic freaking out a little when he's so stressed and tense and feeling like he needs to fight

[crash-bump-bring-the-whump]

I've been thinking about Mariano having stress nightmares for so long, now it's time for y'all to read about it

TWs: burns, accidental self harm, aftermath of nightmares, fainting

The smell of burning hair and cotton woke Bastian at 3:17 AM. Silver eyes snapped open, and he sat up, turning on his bedside lamp. White walls covered in posters and prints were unobscured by smoke.

Standing, Bastian didn't bother feeling the doorknob before yanking his bedroom door open. If there was a house fire, he could handle the heat and smoke longer than Mariano could--a little fire wasn't anything to give him pause. The hallway was...also clear, though. The living room as well.

A dull thump from Mariano's room made Bastian hurry with his inspection, though. There were no windows to escape through if anything were to start in there. Pulling Mariano's door open, Bastian coughed. The smell of burned hair just about choked him. He staggered back, waving a hand in front of his face. Reaching blindly, he pulled one of Mariano's scarves from its hallway wall hook and pressed it to his nose before diving inside.

There was no smoke. Mariano's sheets were thrown aside, tangled near the floor like he'd stumbled out of them in a hurry. "Mariano?" Bastian called, voice rough from sleep. "You alive?"

There was no answer. The light was on in the bathroom. "Hey." Bastian said, rapping his knuckles against the cheap wood. "I'm gonna come in, smells like you're burning alive in there."

When Bastian tried the knob, it wasn't even locked. The door swung open, stopping only when it knocked against Mariano's knee. Pale and clammy, with a bleeding, angry burn on his stomach, Mariano sat slumped against the wall. Chin to his chest, with a square of gauze in one hand and a bottle of antibiotic ointment on the floor, it was obvious what he'd been trying to do.

"Hey." Bastian said again, softer, as he tossed the scarf aside. One of his hands raised to Mariano's forehead, lifting his head. Mariano's eyes fluttered, and he mumbled something. "Dumbass, c'mon. Wake up."

Finally, after what felt like an hour, Mariano was able to open his eyes and focus. Bastian grinned. "Having a party in here? Looks like your shirt got caught up in it." He took the gauze from Mariano's fingers, starting to bandage the palm-sized burn. His fingertips barely brushed the bleeding skin as he worked, Mariano's scarred stomach flinching and tensing whenever the warmth from Bastian's hands got close.

"Woke up from a nightmare." Mariano groaned, squeezing his eyes shut. He dragged the back of one wrist across eyelids painted purple with exhaustion, holding it there with a grimace as Bastian finished placing ointment-soaked bandages.

"Must've been a bad one." Bastian said, delicately picking up one of Mariano's wrists and inspecting his palms. Dark red and obviously tender, but not as bad as his stomach. "Y'haven't done this in a while."

"...You knew?" Mariano asked, some odd tone crawling into his voice and making him sound smaller. "I...try not to wake you. I just...I think my knees gave out this time."

Bastian laughed. "C'mon, you're not some cosplayer. You don't just decide to bandage up your palms for fun before work." Bastian was generous with the ointment, not commenting on the little hisses of pain Mariano let out. "Not hard to tell that something weird happened the night before."

Mariano hummed, letting Bastian take his other hand away from his face when the first one was done. "It just. Sucks. I never even realize my magic is active until I wake up." He settled on, looking like some washed-out wax interpretation of Mariano as he leaned against the wall. "...At least it doesn't happen often."

"Just wake me up next time." Bastian said with a shrug. "Takes me ten minutes and I won't think our apartment's caught on fire."

"But--"

"I mean," Bastian cut Mariano off, putting the burn supplies back under his sink. "If you like passing out in your bathroom instead of going back to bed, you're welcome to." Bastian's hands went to either side of Mariano's rib cage, slipping up under the charred hem of his shirt to have a better grip as he stood them both up. "But if you wanna actually sleep, just wake me up next time."

Mariano swooned as he was pulled upright, knees going weak in Bastian's hold. "Whoa--whoa..." He mumbled, blinking hard and bracing one hand gingerly against Bastian's arm.

"Okay, you don't get a choice tonight." Bastian decided, looping his arm around Mariano's waist instead to keep him standing. "You're coming to bed with me. I'll set my alarm."

Mariano didn't argue as he was hauled back to Bastian's room, away from the smell of his own nightmares and pain. With both of them tucked under black sheets and a pillow between their torsos, Bastian's arm settled carefully over Mariano's side. Not minutes later, Mariano was sleeping again, come color having returned to his face and the pained lines near his eyes smoothed over.

If Bastian started to purr at the feeling of his mage being safe, and close, and taken care of, at least there was no one to notice.