Kori wakes up to see a marble ceiling. He turns his head, blinking sleep out of his eyes, and there he is, Zamir, beside him. At first, he can only admire him, eyes soft, but soon enough, his sleep-addled mind makes him process that Zamir is shaking, tiny gasps and groans slipping from between his lips. His eyes shutter frantically, as if he's trying to escape his own body.
"Mir," Kori breathes, reaching out a hand. Gently, he trails his fingers over Zamir's chest, before traveling down until their hands are interlocked. He squeezes, not too much, but not too little. Just like he was told to do whenever this happened. "Mir."
It takes a few more calls of his name, but eventually, Zamir jumps awake, his eyes darting as he tries to adjust. His chest heaves. Like Kori expected, his husband's grip is tight around his hand, trying to find anything steady enough to hold onto.
"I think you was having a nightmare. Jus breathe, aight?"
They sit there in silence, it only interrupted by Zamir's ragged breaths that slowly transition into calmer, quieter ones over the minutes. Kori feels his heart clench in his chest as Zamir leans forward and places his head under his chin, hiding his head in his chest.
"Better?" Kori finds himself asking, running a hand over the man's hair. It was braided into neat barrel twists. He looked damn fine with them too.
"Yea," Zamir whispers, leaning into the touch. "Tired of this shit. Should be over it already."
"Don't talk about yourself like that, or Mrs. Martin will cuss you out." Zamir's therapist was lethal. "You 'member what you was dreamin 'bout?"
"I..." The man sighs, shaking his head. "I don't wanna talk about it, if that's coo wit you. It's your first day back. We needa celebrate."
Kori had been gone for two months to play overseas. Zamir had stayed behind because he didn't want to leave his beloved job of social work, where he ran a recreation facility (or group home, it depends) for teens who were undergoing abuse/had experienced abuse/or was thinking about escaping from or reporting the abuse. It was the longest they've been apart in a while and it ate at them both. They should celebrate, but...
