Rune laid on his bed, breathing slowly. He pinched his eyes when he felt someone’s breath on his face. He opened them and flinched. Hyde was only a few inches away from him. He felt himself growing anxious again, he took a deep breath. Let’s play it cool today, no freaking out like yesterday. Maybe he should lean in to it a little.

He saw Hyde’s hand resting between their faces. He placed his own hand next to it and considered what to do. Should he hold his hand? Maybe just a pinky first, to see if he woke up. He hooked their pinkies. No reaction. Maybe Hyde was ignoring the touch, like yesterday. If Rune grabbed his whole hand, he could play it off like he did it in his sleep. Or maybe he wouldn’t believe that—

Stop.

Stop overthinking everything, for the love of—

Go with your gut, like Lullaby said.

Did he want to hold his hand right now?

Yes.

Did Hyde want it?

He’d have to do it to find out.

So he did it. He rested his hand on top of Hyde’s. Again, no reaction. He curled his fingers around Hyde’s hand and sighed, releasing the tension in his body. His eyelids were heavy. He didn’t fight them.

Hyde opened his eyes and was met with Rune’s sleeping face right in front of him. He felt something resting on his hand and looked. His eyes widened when he saw Rune’s hand on his. He knew he told him he was fine with touch—and he was—but this felt like another level. It didn’t make him uncomfortable, necessarily, he was just… surprised.

He turned to the window behind him, the sun shone already. As much as it usually did in the north in late summer. It was time to get out of bed.

He slid his hand away from under Rune’s and sat up. Rune groaned, he clenched his hand where Hyde’s had been. He opened his eyes slightly, then glanced at Hyde.

Hyde smiled. “Morning.”

Rune only grunted as a greeting and closed his eyes again. Hyde breathed out a chuckle, then furrowed his brows as he thought of something. “What day is it?”

Rune hummed. “Wednesday?” he croaked out, keeping his eyes closed.

“No, like, the day of the month?”

“Twenty… seventh?”

“Oh.”

Rune opened his eyes and lifted his head a little towards him. “Why?”

“Then it’s a full moon tonight.”

Rune shot awake. He sat up next to him. “Really?”

Hyde nodded. “But, no need to get nervous, right? It went fine last month.”

“Yeah, but that was only with me. Do you know how you’re going to act with three others?”

Hyde frowned. “No. Hopefully nothing too bad.”

“How do you think we should handle it tonight?” Rune asked.

He walked through the streets of Enath wearing a winter coat. He wore a hoodie underneath, the hood of it laid over his head. He hid his hands in his coat pockets.

He glanced beside him at Hyde. Hyde had his shoulders pulled up to his jaw, his chin buried in his coat and his hands in his pockets to keep them warm. He wore Rune’s extra coat.

Hyde sighed, releasing his warm breath into the cold air around them. “Is it always this cold in the summer?”

“It isn’t that cold, but it is quite cool for the time of year. Back to this evening, though.”

“Right, well, I don’t know.”

Rune hummed as his eyes went to the streets around him. “We could lock ourselves in my room or something.”

Hyde shrugged. “Yeah, that could work.”

Rune observed the town around him. The chatter, the atmosphere, the kids playing on the playground.

Playground?

He turned his attention to the small play set they passed. The kids climbed on the monkey bars and swung on the swings. He squinted. He remembered this place. Remembered his dad lifting him up and helping him climb on the bars, remembered his mum pushing him on the swing. It was like he could see them in front of him, his parents and his younger self. Their faces were blurry. He couldn’t fully picture their faces anymore, it had been so long since he’d seen them. He could still picture their smiles, their eye colours, their hair and figures. But not full faces.

“You okay?”

Rune flinched and turned to Hyde, who gave him a concerned frown. Right, must look weird, him staring at a playground for so long. “Oh, yeah. Sorry.”

Hyde glanced at the playground, then back to Rune. “Did it trigger something? A memory?”

Rune sighed and nodded.

Hyde smiled sadly. He tugged at Rune’s sleeve. “Come on, let’s find some more places to give you a wave of nostalgia. Hopefully a happier one.”

Rune smiled too and followed him.

“What memory did it trigger?” Hyde wondered.

Rune shrugged. “Nothing special. Just me playing there with my parents.”

They entered the shopping street. Rune spotted one particular shop. “Oh, hey!” He took Hyde’s hand and dragged him to it. Two words were on the display window: Tattoo & Piercing. Various tattoo designs were displayed.

Rune turned to Hyde with a smile. “I got my ear pierced here, with my dad.”

“Oh, nice.” Hyde smiled. He glanced down at their clasped together hands, Rune’s hand was hidden in his hoodie sleeve. He looked around to the rest of the shops.

Rune followed his gaze. There were clothing stores, toy shops, grocery stores, liquor shops, and cafes. Rune turned to Hyde again. “Anywhere you fancy going?”

Hyde hummed and bit his cheek. “I could go for some hot chocolate in this cold.”

Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

“What, not coffee?” Rune teased.

Hyde scrunched his face up and shook his head. “Bitter.”

“Weak.”

Hyde shot him a glare.

Rune let his hand go and went towards the nearest cafe, Hyde followed.

“I wouldn’t mind some caffeine, I’m kinda knackered,” Rune sighed.

Hyde squinted. “Knackered?”

Rune glanced at him with a raised brow. “Oh, tired.”

“Why? Didn’t you sleep well?”

Rune shrugged. “Not sure.”

They entered the cafe. It wasn’t busy. They sat down at a table for two, across from each other.

Rune pulled his coat off and left it over the back of his chair, then pulled his hood down, leaving his hair in a bit of a mess. Hyde breathed out a chuckle. Rune rested his eyes on him, he had left his coat over the back of his chair, too. “Hm?”

Hyde shook his head. “It’s just—” He twitched his hand towards Rune’s face. “Your hair.”

Rune leaned closer without taking his eyes off him. Hyde fixed the out-of-place strands of hair.

“Yeah,” Hyde cued.

Rune moved back to his previous position and grabbed the drinks menu. Hyde leaned his elbows on the table and leaned in to read it too. Rune turned it ninety degrees so they could both read it sideways.

“What can I get you lads today?” a server asked.

They both looked up at her.

Hyde smiled and said, “A cup of hot chocolate, please.”

She nodded and wrote it down, then looked at Rune.

“A cup of coffee.”

“Black or with milk or sugar?”

“With milk, please.”

“Vampire variety?”

“Yes.”

The server wrote it down again and smiled. “Okay, coming right up.” She walked away.

Rune turned to Hyde and was met with a glare. “What?”

“You little hypocrite.”

“Why?”

“You call me weak for not liking the bitterness, but you don’t even drink it black yourself.”

Rune leaned into his chair. “I never said I like it black, I said you’re weak for not liking it at all.” He glanced back at the menu. “But, should we get anything else or only the drink?”

“Is there anything else you could get?”

“My options aren’t as barren here as in the south. There are vampire varieties for the majority of foods here, but they cost quite a few quid.”

Hyde snickered. “I’m learning so many new words since I met you.”

Rune raised a brow. “Are you?”

“Yeah,” Hyde laughed. “Every few days, a new word—or combination of words—comes out of your mouth that I’ve never heard before.”

“Like what?”

“Knackered, quid, nick, bloody hell, fancy,” he mimicked Rune’s accent with a grin.

Rune felt his face flush a little. “You’ve never heard fancy before?”

“Not as a verb.”

They both looked up at the server as she brought their drinks. She put their cups in front of them as she gave Hyde a teasing smirk. “You complaining about the local lingo?”

“Not complaining.”

She chuckled. “Enjoy your drinks.” She walked away.

Hyde lifted his cup and blew on it. He looked around the room before glancing back at Rune. “I do stand out like a sore thumb here, don’t I?”

Rune stirred his coffee. “You’re not doing yourself any favours by pointing out the differences.”

“Yeah, that’s true.” Hyde took a sip.

“Plus, people don’t exactly get a tan like yours up here.”

Hyde looked at the colour of his hand. “Especially my summer tan.”

“And the way you clearly can’t handle the cold.”

Hyde glared at Rune taking a sip with a teasingly raised eyebrow.

“You wait until we’re back in my area,” Hyde challenged.

“Do you have specific vocab in the south?”

“Not that I can tell, but I guess you could point that out better than me.”

Rune hummed and took another sip. “I’ll keep an ear out.” He stared out the window. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Hyde looking at him. He glanced back and saw him smiling. “Hm?”

Hyde shrugged. “You seem more like yourself again today.”

“Do I?”

Hyde nodded. “Seems like you got some of your confidence back.”

Rune smiled. “Good.”

----------------------------------------

Rune and Hyde were downstairs with everyone else, later that day. Both were in the kitchen to grab themselves some late lunch, Hyde searched through the cabinets while Rune grabbed a can of blood from the fridge. Lullaby and Night were on the couch, Moon at the dining table.

“Just so you know,” Rune started at the girls, “Hyde and I are going to be in my room the whole evening.”

“Why?” Lullaby asked as Rune went to sit across from Moon.

“Uh,” Rune began to answer, until he noticed the wide smirk Moon gave him. “What?”

“What are you going to do together all evening?” she asked quietly so only he could hear.

Rune raised his eyebrow at her. She glanced over at Hyde in the kitchen and back to Rune. Rune blushed a little. “Do you know?” he whispered.

“I was there yesterday with the piano. It was quite a shit show,” she whispered too.

Rune blushed more as he tensed and took a sip from his drink. “It’s going to be a full moon,” he called out.

“So?” Lullaby asked again.

“I’m a werewolf,” Hyde joined from the kitchen.

Moon gasped. “Really? I would love to see a shifted werewolf!”

Hyde jumped. “Uh—”

“Why are you staying in Rune’s room all night?”

Hyde rubbed the back of his neck. “I don’t want to risk hurting anyone.”

“You’re not worried about hurting Rune?” Night asked.

Rune got up and stood in front of Hyde to shield him from his sisters’ odd gazes. “He’s been around me during a full moon before, so no, we’re not worried about that.”

Moon walked over to them. “But, I want to see what it looks like! Even if it’s only for a minute.” She was taken aback by Rune’s glare. Behind him, Hyde was uncomfortably rubbing his arms. “Or is that too personal?” She frowned. “Sorry, I’ve never met a werewolf before.” Hyde glanced at her and nodded.

Lullaby walked over there, too. She put her hands on Moon’s shoulders and gently turned her away, she smiled at Hyde. “Do whatever makes you comfortable tonight.”

Hyde only nodded again.

They went into their room again in the evening. Hyde sat on the bed, Rune closed the door and pushed a dresser in front of it. “There, we’re trapped.”

Hyde chuckled.

Rune sat next to him. “Are you still worried?”

“Not really.”

Rune smiled and rubbed his back. “Good.”

They sat in silence for a bit. Hyde slightly leaned against Rune, making Rune blush. He looked away and scratched his jaw. “Did Moon make you uncomfortable?”

“A bit. No one’s ever reacted like that before. Normally, people get nervous, like you. Or scared.” He glanced at Rune. “It only caught me off guard.”

“Okay.” Rune placed his hand on the bed behind Hyde and leaned a little closer with a slight blush. Hyde blushed too and smiled.

Rune jumped when Hyde’s pupils turned into needles. His irises grew and covered almost the entire eye. Hyde grabbed his head and stood up as he made some growling noises. Rune saw his nails turning into claws. His ears grew pointed and hair covered them. He fell through his knees and growled again.

“Hyde?” Rune asked, concerned. He reached out to touch his shoulder. Hyde snapped his head around at him, Rune flinched. His teeth were sharp and his beard fuller.

“Are you okay?”

All his body hair grew thicker. He was kneeling on the ground with one hand on the floor between his legs and the other still on his head. He grumbled.

He placed a hand on the bed on either side of Rune and jumped up. Rune yelped as he was knocked over onto his back. Hyde placed his claws beside Rune’s head and hovered over him. He stared down, angry.

Rune stared back with a blush, his gaze wandered off to his strong and muscular body pinning him down. He shook his head and looked at his face. He huffed with a smile. “Of course you’re okay, you go through this every full moon.”

Hyde growled.

“Hey, don’t be so mad.” He put his hand on Hyde’s cheek. “It’s me. You know that, right?” He rubbed his thumb over Hyde’s cheek. Hyde moved his ears down, his expression softened. He smiled and purred as he relaxed into his hand. Rune pet the base of his ear.

Hyde moved his face down to Rune’s and made their noses touch, then rubbed his cheek against his face. Rune laughed quietly and rubbed his head. Hyde moved away to look at him again, his pupils big and round.

Rune put both of his hands on Hyde’s cheeks. “If only you could remember these nights.”

Hyde laid down on him and nuzzled his face into his neck. Rune ran his fingers through Hyde’s hair.

They laid there for a while, Hyde seemed to be falling asleep. Rune heard someone opening the door, then a bonk against the dresser he put in front of it. He looked towards it and saw an upside-down Lullaby peeking inside.

“You actually blocked the door?” she asked, annoyed.

“Yeah, it made him feel safer,” Rune answered, not noticing Hyde moving his ears when he heard her talking. Hyde shot up and growled at her, startling them both.

“Are you okay? He seems a bit aggressive.”

“I’m fine, you’re the one he’s growling at.”

“Rude.”

Rune put his hand on Hyde’s head. He gently pulled him down. “It’s alright,” he whispered. Hyde purred as he laid his head back where it was.

“What are you doing, anyway?”

“Full moon Hyde likes getting affection from me.”

Lullaby snorted. “As if regular Hyde doesn’t.”

Rune blushed and glared at her.

She chuckled. “Okay, I’ll leave you to it.” She closed the door.

Rune sighed and played with Hyde’s hair some more.

After a little while, Rune carefully got Hyde off him, making Hyde look at him and whine. “Sorry,” Rune whispered. “But I want to get into bed.” He moved over to the top of the bed, pulled the covers up and laid under them. He looked at Hyde and pulled them up again. “Come here,” he said softly.

Hyde crawled under the covers next to him and snuggled into his chest. Rune hugged him. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. Hyde rubbed his face into his chest.

Rune was reminded of the night of Hyde’s night terror. Night terror. His mind wandered to Night. He hummed as he came to a realisation. He sighed and rubbed Hyde’s shoulder. It could wait until morning.