#asbel lhant
Title:Insomnia
Rating:T
Pairing/Character: Richard, Lambda, Asbel, hints of RichAss
Spoilers: F-Arc spoilers.
Words:~2,322
Summary: If sleep had a face, he might punch it.
A/N: I’M SORRY FOR THE LAMBDA-CENTRIC STUFF LATELY. His POV is really fun to write from, he’s just so angry at everything like a tsundere jerkass. Anyway, this was an idea I got a while ago and really really wanted to write it so I finally did. I hope I did ok with both of them…many thanks to lenienna for betaing for me~!
It was one of those nights again, it seemed. Even though their agreement was very clear and they always followed it, sometimes Asbel…did weird things in his sleep. Like subconsciously push him forward into having unintentional control of their body. He supposed that had they not been sharing a body, this might be equivalent to kicking someone out of bed in one’s sleep. Really, The Fool should consider himself lucky that Lambda was no longer the same. Such a habit would’ve been fatal just a little over a year ago.
Normally, though these occurrences were exceptionally rare, he’d just close his eyes and go back to sleep. Asbel would wake up in the morning and not remember his odd sleeping habits or that Lambda temporarily had control. Tonight, however, was not one of those nights.
For some reason he couldn’t go back to sleep. Not that he needed to anyway, being an eternal and ethereal being, but sleeping was…an oddly enjoyable activity. He could almost see why Protos Heis herself would partake in it despite being in the same boat as him. Sleeping did at least help keep him from being bored.
He felt Asbel shift a bit inside and thought he might wake up, but he remained asleep. Just wonderful. Then again, this Fool did have the tendency to sleep heavily. “Like a log,” one might say.
The ceiling above them was high and immaculately decorated—as expected from a castle interior. Richard had summoned Asbel to Barona for some political business of some sort which turned into Asbel staying over for the night. They did this sometimes; it was almost like a ritual between them. Sometimes Asbel stayed at the castle, sometimes Richard would stay in the manor. Sometimes it was business, sometimes they were more…personal visits.
This visit, for example, started as business and ended as personal. This is why Lambda couldn’t utilize any other methods of distraction except for staring aimlessly at the ceiling. After all, it wouldn’t do for the Lord of Lhant to be seen parading around their king’s castle naked. Although the idea of Asbel’s reaction was quite entertaining, the equally prominent image of Asbel scolding him…was unpleasant, to say the least. Plus, even if he’d decided to do that, there was another factor to consider that was impeding him. That being, Richard was right there. Asleep, granted, but Lambda knew from experience that Richard had never been a particularly heavy sleeper. Trying to sneak out of bed without alerting him would be next to impossible, even for him.
So he continued to lie there, staring at the ceiling, running his purple eyes over the many patterns and lines. Counting them, rolling his eyes along them in various motions, anything that could possibly bore him enough to sleep. He closed his eyes occasionally to try and force sleep, but still it refused to come. He released a closed breath of frustration after the third attempt.
He felt shifting movement next to him and thought maybe Richard was just moving in his sleep until,
“Asbel?” came the sleepy, but very much awake, voice.
Great. The Fool’s boyfriend was awake now and Lambda was still very much not asleep. No one had ever been around when something like this happened.
He could feel Richard moving to sit up a split second before the blonde’s face appeared in front of his eyes. Concern was written there before it melted into surprise at the sight of his two purple eyes.
“Lambda?” he asked, sitting back and thus removing his face from his sight.
“Yes,” he answered, since there’d be no way to hide now. And no point for that matter.
“Where is Asbel?” came the tentative question, concern and distrust laced lightly within his voice.
How laughable. He’d helped calm Fodra and didn’t do anything more than what he’d said he’d do with Asbel’s body and still the blonde carried distrust for him. He supposed it was only natural, given their history and the circumstances. Admittedly, the rest of their friends’ feelings towards him were improving. Cheria no longer looked at Asbel like she was afraid he’d disappear and Hubert and Malik no longer looked at him with guarded, wary expressions hidden behind their eyes. Even the Amarcian seemed more lax around him now that Fodra was calm. But even after all these months, there were still thinly veiled notions of distrust towards him, mainly from Richard and Protos Heis. Although she, too, was improving slightly—perhaps because of The Fool’s sudden announcement to her that she now had a brother. That left only Richard, who even now would still occasionally look at Asbel’s one purple eye with the briefest glances filled with wariness and distrust. He supposed he could give Richard credit for trying to hide it.
“Asleep,” was the answer he finally gave, “currently having some…inane dream about curry chasing crablettes. Ridiculous, really.”
Richard’s features relaxed at those words, almost looking as if he’d sighed in relief though there had been no audible sigh. Lambda almost found it touching.
“I see,” he said, a hint of a laugh trailing afterwards, “that sounds like an interesting dream.”
He said nothing, only moving his eyes away from the king to resume his staring at the ceiling. He did this until another question forced him to avert his eyes again,
“So then…why are you up Lambda? If Asbel is asleep, shouldn’t you be as well? He’d be worried if he knew you weren’t sleeping properly.”
He snorted at that. The Fool had started trying to make sleeping into a habit for Lambda a few months ago after they were done with Fodra. He’d insisted that it would be pointless for him to “sleep” as humans do because he is, in fact, not human and therefore wouldn’t require sleep. But The Fool was having none of that and insisted with equal strength that “no child of his was going to be treated as non-human”. Lambda had mixed feelings about that but eventually gave in to the demand.
“Perhaps I would be if this Fool had better sleeping habits. You know, sharing a body with him sometimes feels like what it must be like to share a bed with a child who kicks in his sleep. You should consider yourself lucky that he doesn’t do that outside our shared space,” he released a bit of a laugh as he spoke.
Richard apparently found his quip humorous as well, because he chuckled.
“I suppose so,” he said afterwards, “but you mean to tell me you’ve never once pretended to sleep and let Asbel think you did?” his mouth upturned into the hint of a smirk. Damn this other Fool.
Lambda had, in fact, done just that the first few times of Asbel insisting that he try to sleep like a human does. Mostly out of defiance…but he wasn’t about to let Richard know that.
“No…and to answer your earlier question—insomnia, apparently.”
Richard’s eyebrows knitted together in concern at that. How curious, showing distrust one moment and being concerned for him the next.
“Are you alright? Is there something bothering you? Should I summon a maid to get you tea?”
Curiousand ridiculous, apparently. This Fool consorted with a lot of those types of people.
“Hmph. I’m fine. Trivial reasons such as that don’t affect my sleeping habits like they might for you. Why are you awake, then? This Fool would be just as ridiculously concerned for you as he would for me,” he bit back, pursing his lips slightly into what was most definitely not a pout!
Richard didn’t immediately respond, only averted his gaze to the sheets where his hand fiddled delicately with the loose fabrics. Lambda didn’t particularly care for the answer, but it wasn’t as if he had anything better to do at the moment. Perhaps idle conversation would be dull enough to allow for sleep.
“I was…having a dream. A nightmare, to be precise. I thought I’d tell Asbel about it, but there’s no need to wake him for it.”
A nightmare? He didn’t seem to be having one just a bit ago. Then again, Lambda didn’t recall the blonde having too many dreams or nightmares so frequently when they’d been sharing a body. Although, he’d been preoccupied at the time, so maybe he just wasn’t remembering it. Or maybe…
An odd tightening in his chest suddenly hit him. It was mildly painful, but nothing seemed wrong with Asbel’s body. He waved it off.
“I see. Well, The Fool may not be awake, but I am and I’ve nothing better to do, as you know.”
Because surely, if a dream was good enough to tell Asbel, then there should be no reason he couldn’t be told either. At the very least, it would fill this gap of boredom.
However, Richard just averted his eyes again, the expression on his face becoming closed, guarded.
“Ah, that's…complicated…”
And then it made sense.
“Was it about me?”
Richard startled at the sudden question, but nodded his head after a moment’s hesitation, still keeping his gaze averted. The pang returned to his chest and stayed there this time.
“Was it…my fault that you’re having these dreams so frequently?” he asked, quieter than he’d intended.
Richard looked up suddenly at that,
“I—no! No of course it…that is…maybe…maybe a little…”
Lambda frowned. Trying to spare his feelings was a useless effort. Yet still the pang persisted. It was beginning to get rather troublesome. Although, he couldn’t really blame Richard for how he felt. The ordeal he put his body through against his will would traumatize anyone, even those with the strongest of minds. His actions at the time were necessary to him and the results and consequences were not something he particularly gave much consideration to—especially now that there would be no need for him to run or hide anymore. So why then…did he feel as if he did something wrong? The pang only grew a little more painful.
“Hmm. It’s rather pointless and won’t really do anything for you now, but…I suppose I should apologize.”
Richard smiled softly, almost sheepishly. It curiously made him look a few years younger than he actually was.
“If I didn’t know any better, I’d say that was almost guilt I’m hearing from you, Lambda.”
Guilt? Perhaps that’s what this emotion was. He’d felt many strange things since Fodra, perhaps as a result of his actions there. Protos Heis underwent many changes as a result of merging with a Little Queen, and he himself had, in a way, merged with their unified form. Perhaps similar effects were happening to him, too. Perhaps, like Protos Heis, he was also becoming human in some small way…what a foolish notion.
Rather than answering, he simply turned his head away, releasing a small huff. He felt Richard shifting on the big bed they occupied. It seemed he’d returned to lying down next to him.
“It’s not your fault, though, Lambda. I…I shoulder some of that blame as well.”
Odd, he didn’t remember confirming or denying his claim of guilt. Not that he was far off the mark, probably. Lambda turned his head again so that he could look at Richard, who was indeed lying down now, facing him.
“You’re being rather presumptuous, don’t you think?” he huffed mockingly, “Though you shouldn’t blame yourself either. Those were my actions…done of my own will. You played little part in them, so I see no reason for you to blame yourself for the matter.”
Richard frowned slightly and shook his head, which just buried it a little more in his pillow.
“No…had I been stronger and not so easily swayed…had I had the conviction and strength that Asbel has, maybe I…maybe I could’ve prevented it…”
Lambda snorted at the thought without meaning to.
“I doubt that. Besides…” he turned away again to face the ceiling, attempting to hide the trace of a smile that was forming, “you and this Fool are both equally strong. It’s meaningless to contemplate on what ifs in this case. Even had you been like this Fool, I doubt the outcome would’ve been much different. So…you don’t share any of the blame.”
Silence fell between them. For a moment, he thought perhaps Richard had fallen back asleep. He could feel the edges of sleep starting to return to him too.
“Be that as it may, both of us have grown and learned, have we not? So…it’s alright. Thank you…Lambda.”
He hummed in response, the pang of guilt significantly lessened now. He supposed this meant his apology had been accepted.
“I know this Fool does all he can to help, but…I’m here as well.”
He turned on his side facing away from Richard, that sleepy feeling growing stronger. Perhaps he could finally get some sleep. He heard Richard breathe a laugh, but the thread of conversation effectively ended. Within minutes he heard Richard’s breathing even out and soon afterwards he followed. Asbel remained obliviously asleep.
In the morning, Richard awoke first feeling oddly more refreshed than usual. He was up and dressed, mulling about his room after telling a servant to start making breakfast for them, a smile on his face and a bit of a spring in his step.
That was how Asbel found him when he woke up half an hour later. He observed his boyfriend for a moment, still blinking the sleep out of his heterochromatic eyes before smiling fondly.
“You seem happy,” he said with a yawn, “Did you sleep well?”
Richard turned to face him with a fond smile of his own.
“Oh, yes, La—I mean…it was a very peaceful and deep sleep. In fact, probably the best I’ve slept in a while.”
Asbel’s brows furrowed briefly before relaxing back into a soft expression, a laugh escaping him.
“Glad to hear it!”
Within the back of the mind space, Lambda was also humming happily.
TALES SERIES VINYL STICKERS!
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❤️ SYMPHONIA ABYSS VESPERIA GRACES XILLIA AND MORE!
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Just beat the main storyline to Tales of Graces F! I put almost 80 hours into it, though a good chunk of that was just screwing around, hunting components, looking for sidequests and skits. All in all it was yet another awesome experience from the Tales series. I definitely plan to go and play the epilogue story, and now I just have to hope that they opt to bring Tales of Xillia stateside.
So, I expected them to release some DLC for Tales of Graces F, and they’ve already put out quite a bit. By all accounts, these are some awesome DLC costumes… So coooool. But really, 3.99? For each one? Bwah?
Of course, I’ll likely end up buying them anyway. Particularly that mantastic Malik one. Pretty badass.
- Asbel: Well? Do you remember where you’ve seen them?
- Sophie: Oh! I got it! Peaches look like little butts!
- Asbel: Huh?!
- Sophie: Especially Cheria’s.
- Cheria: Okay, time out! Sophie, we need to talk.
- Sophie: But I just wanted to tell everyone…
A spin-off of my FE “Marriage” seies - Tales Edition!
Richard and Asbel from Tales of Graces game
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i would like to thank whoever had the idea to give asbel jin’s ronin outfit because i owe them my Life
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