Work Text:
It's two in the morning when Roy wakes up, immediately sitting up as his chest heaves and he tries to breathe. At least he hasn't screamed this time — that used to happen often back when he was in Kalos.
Nightmares have been frequent in the past year, Roy usually has a routine of waking up and then trying to go back to sleep after relaxing. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.
Tonight's nightmare, however, wasn't one that he can recover from so quickly. It was a mixture of the memories of Friede’s fall and his parents leaving him again, something that doesn't happen usually, but it's not the first time he dreams about this. He hasn't told anyone on the ship, simply because he doesn't want to bother them, and he's pretty sure that Orla and Liko also have nightmares about Friede from what he's heard.
The first thing Roy tries to do is calm his breathing down, taking deep breaths and holding them in for four seconds before exhaling. After around two minutes of that, he decides to get out of bed and get some water, and maybe he can go back to sleep later.
Cap stays curled up in his bed, Lucario is inside her ball and Skeledirge sleeps on a thick blanket that lays on the floor. Seeing as everyone's still asleep both in his room and outside of it, he carefully makes his way out and closes the door behind him, heading to the kitchen.
Sock-cladded feet stop at the counter to get a glass from the cupboards, before filling it with tap water. Roy takes a few sips of his drink, realizing that it's not exactly working to calm his mind right now, not enough to shut his thoughts down and get him tired enough to go back to sleep.
Roy's still thinking about his nightmare, about those who he loved the most. First he lost his parents when he was barely five, he doesn't even know if they're alive, all he knows is that they left him on that island. His grandpa has always avoided talking about them, and no matter how much he'd ask and beg, there was no way to contact them. He still suspects that not even his grandpa could contact them, based on how the man's expression would suddenly get a bit softer and a bit sadder whenever Roy mentioned them.
Then, he'd lost Friede, the closest thing to a father that he'd had after years of not having one. Even knowing that Friede’s alive right now, even after having seen him and hugged him in the airship when he landed from space, is not enough. It wasn't the same, and it will never be the same — there's now a barrier between them. Maybe Friede forgot about him as well. After all, the man didn't leave a single message for him when he could've easily done it before going to space.
Noticing his hard grasp on the glass, Roy dumps all the water that he no longer wants on the sink and puts the empty glass upside down right beside it. He decides to go up to the observation deck, knowing how peaceful it's up there in the night.
He winces as the elevator loudly dings when he finally gets up, stepping outside to see Ult still heavily sleeper. It makes Roy smile fondly, makes him momentarily forget about the nightmares and the issues that he had.
Sadly, that little moment isn't enough, and Roy decides to get out of the deck and sit on the steps that are in front of the battlefield. His brows furrow up as he looks up into the calm sky, deep in thought and unaware of anything else other than his mind.
“Roy?” a rough voice asks behind him, making the boy jump and turn around in surprise. There stands Ult, hair down and rubbing his eye, before he stops and his eyes widen. “What's wrong?! You…!”
Ult's surprise makes Roy look down at himself, not realizing what the other boy means until he notices that his sight is quite blurry. After sniffling, Roy realizes that he started crying without noticing, and he quickly and roughly brushes the tears away with the back of his hand.
“Nothing,” he says, trying to pretend that no one saw him cry. “Hey, weren't you sleeping? Did I wake you up?”
“Mega-nonsense!” Ult yells, stepping forward and sitting right next to Roy. “You're crying!”
“I'm not,” Roy tries to lie, even if tears still spill out of his eyes. “It's just… too windy!”
The conversation dies down for a few seconds to let them both appreciate the night, and to make Roy notice that it is, in fact, not windy at all, not even a light breeze.
“C'mon!” Ult says, standing up and extending his hand towards Roy, clearly wanting the other to take it. “It's cold and mega-uncomfortable here.”
Roy attempts to ignore the slight heat that raises to his cheeks, nodding before grabbing the other boy's hand and standing up. Once more, the overwhelming sadness flowing through his veins was replaced by a strange calmness that came with Ult's presence, but it didn't last long.
The two of them sit in the observation deck together, quiet as they stare into the night sky from one of the windows. Sableye is sleeping on top of Ult's bag, and the space almost looks more organized than usual.
“I dreamed about Friede,” Roy says on impulse, not realizing what he's said until he feels Ult's spectating stare on him, as if waiting for him to continue. And, surprisingly, Roy does, starting to describe his nightmare.
“I dreamed that he fell from the Brave Olivine again, and then my parents were there falling with him,” he says, his usually loud words now quiet, almost anxious rambles. “I heard the… the noise of them hitting the ground and I… I guess that's what woke me up…”
His voice, usually steady as the ship's co-captain, is now trembling like the rest of his body. His eyes are full of tears that he refuses to let roll, rubbing his eyes with his hands as he sniffles quietly.
Roy expects Ult to run away, maybe even to yell at him. After all, it's not like the other asked him to talk about his dream, and Roy just dumped all this on him at two and a half in the morning, he can understand why Ult would yell and leave.
But that moment never comes. Instead, a pair of steady arms lower him to a soft surface — Ult's shoulder — and some hands pry away his own from his eyes. Roy looks up at Ult, still a mess, and Ult looks back with nothing but determination in his eyes.
“That must've been mega-scary,” Ult says, looking back to the window again. “You could've woken me up, y'know. I would've helped!”
It's not awkward nor unnatural, it somehow feels right to the both of them. And those are just the words that Roy needed to hear, as the boy moves only to wrap his arms around Ult and bury his head on his shoulder.
The tears that come out are sad and happy. Sad because of his nightmare, because his parents still haven't contacted and because Friede hasn't sent him a single message even after setting off, not replying to the messages that he sent either; happy because Ult is here with him, and this time, he's refusing to let go.
After a while, Roy tries to move from his position slumped against Ult's body, but the other boy only pulls him closer. They tumble a bit and fall down on the row of seats, making both of them gasp a bit and then let out some giggles.
“That's mega-uncool of Friede,” Ult suddenly says, looking at Roy who now lays a bit on top of him and next to him on the seats, “y'know, leavin’ and not gettin’ in contact with you again… maybe he's not as cool as I thought…”
It makes Roy smile a bit, shaking his head. “Nah, he's probably just busy,” he says, trying to convince himself more than Ult. “And either way, at least he came for a visit.”
“Maybe Liko or Dot could get him to visit again or somethin’,” Ult says with a shrug, deciding to stare at the ceiling instead. Roy is too close, and it's making his cheeks heat up.
The other doesn't seem to notice this as a yawn leaves his mouth, exhaustion kicking in. He should probably go back to his room, but it's warm here and his eyes are already closing on their own. So all he does is curl up a bit more for warmth and let his eyes close, hearing Ult's heartbeat and his soft whisper before finally falling asleep.
Not even ten minutes later Ult is asleep as well, one arm over Roy to make sure the boy is still here and not planning to leave. Both kids snore away the night and some of the morning as well, very tired from their late-night conversation.
Neither kid will admit it, but it's the best sleep they get in a long while.