Archive of Our Own

Sydney opened his eyes to a warm and heavy veil of black. Stripes of light appeared and disappeared as he squirmed beneath an unseen weight, an unyielding force which pushed his hips into the mattress below, bound his wrists to his chest, and held firm over his eyes.
He shook about his head to no avail. A cry of panic escaped him, pushed out by the same animal instinct which had him thrashing in defense mode before he was even fully conscious. A smooth and hushed voice echoed after his own, a shushing from whatever— whoever— had him pinned down and blinded. Immediately, Sydney froze.
“Shhh, shh, Muse, it’s only me— it’s me, dear, it’s me.”
The man’s words were carried on a hot, shaky breath which fanned across Sydney’s skin… the unexpected closeness of their faces made him shudder.
It was Elijah… a few months ago that realization would’ve filled him with abject terror and mortal fear, but now… now, those emotions were muffled beneath something new. Sydney had yet to put a name to the feeling.
Over the past few off-season months, they’d been getting quite close from afar. It was a slow progression… most recently, they’d been speaking through the window, late at night when Sydney would typically be rambling off to his ghost recorder. Elijah would sit beneath the sill where the other couldn’t see him, allowing them to talk without Sydney’s head getting all fogged up and hazy.
He couldn’t recall when exactly this flirtation with danger began. He knew it was bad, he knew he shouldn’t be giving Elijah any more chances after everything… but In the absence of all other comforts, in the desperate and vulnerable mind of a starving man, the attention of this stalker was… a conflicting respite.
His nightly visits became the only thing Sydney had to look forward to, his only branch to human connection. It was nice to talk to something that wasn’t a machine… it was nice to talk to someone who spoke back. Someone who wanted to see him, who didn’t go out of their way to ignore him— but rather, to be in his company. Night after night, without fail. It was the only thing that broke the monotonous loneliness of the off-season months, it made him feel like his existence on earth was worth something to someone. More than “something”… he seemed to be worth everything to Elijah. The man told him as much every night.
Sydney couldn’t see him, hidden as he was beneath the window’s ledge, but in hearing his endless praise— he could only picture a man kneeling with hands clasped in prayer. Bowing beneath that window as if praying to a stained glass effigy, surrounded by the holy light which shone through the open frame, yet cast in the shadow of his god’s haloed figure. He carried a reverence in his voice, he spoke of such devotion, such love… it stirred feelings in Sydney… some of re-ignited fear, but not all. Not nearly.
Regardless of how much he tried to rationalize, reminding himself what Elijah had done— how creepy this was, how stupid, how dangerous… it was too late. The man had found a weak spot and crawled his way back in; like a parasite, prying open a scar and burrowing into his flesh, wrapping itself around his heart so that they both would ache if Elijah was not fed.
With eyes like anesthesia and sweet words like a scalpel, he made sure Sydney never even felt it happening. Suddenly, Elijah was just a normal fixture in his life; a still and lonely life, walking the same empty grounds and falling asleep in the same empty bed he always did. There in his room where Elijah knew he would be, where he knew how to get in.
Now the man knelt above him, legs straddling his hips and caging him in on either side— one hand held both wrists taught, and the other fully obscured his vision.
“Elijah?”
“Yes dear, yes, just relax… I’m not going to hurt you…” His voice strained with an ambiguous effort, huffing between breaths despite his stillness.
“What— what’s— why are you—“
“I need to… I need something, to talk to you… just listen to me, Sydney...”
Sydney sputtered, panicking as he felt control of the situation slip further from his grasp. A swarm of questions hit him all at once, screaming over top of each other to be heard— it all registered as nothing but harsh noise. No words to be found, what spilled from his mouth was only meaningless sound.
With little thought behind the action— not even fear anymore, just impulse— Sydney wiggled a hand free and rushed to pry off the hand covering his eyes. Elijah shouted in response, snipping the line of whatever self-preservation instinct was drawing Sydney along.
“NO.” The word hit like thunder, his grip tightened with a striking hint of violence, and Sydney just froze—
“No, you— you can't see me— not yet, I need you in a clear state, do you understand?”
A beat of silence passed with Sydney too stunned to speak.
“You didn’t see me, did you?”
“I… why d… wh—“
“DID YOU?” His tone held frustration now, almost urgency.
Sydney shook his head, starting to piece things together little by little… Elijah wanted him lucid. He wanted to talk… he wanted him lucid. His heap of questions dwindled, and beneath the clutter, he found a sense of curiosity.
“You’re clear then, right? Do you feel put under my trance at all?”
“I’m all here— you just… you startled me, but I’m— I didn’t see you. How did you… what is this, Elijah?” Sydney held back the urge to lash out at the man for frightening him like that. Why not just ask him to close his eyes? Something about it all felt deeply wrong, like a fragile lie he was afraid to poke through with too many questions.
“I needed to… needed to see you, and… maybe I wasn’t thinking, I just… God, Muse, I need more than your voice. I can’t stand it, can’t stand the separation, it’s… fuck, it’s driving me insane. Don’t you feel the same, darling? Don’t you wish we could see and touch, don’t you wish for closeness?”
Something in the way Elijah spoke made Sydney’s breath hitch— that question put forth a whole realm of feelings which he’d been too afraid to humour. He’d shoved them into a box in the back of his head, and tried to ignore the way it buzzed whenever Elijah was outside. In the quietest, loneliest nights, Elijah’s name would cross his mind— like a spider creeping along the walls of your room, popping into view for a mere second before disappearing back into the shadows; leaving you to wonder “is there more that I can’t see?”
Sydney struggled to find his voice,
“You… Elijah, I— this curiosity feels dangerous…”
“Nonsense. Those are the words of your… that traitor, that jailer, the man who left you to rot here despite his promises to stay. Have I not proven my devotion, my love? I’ve followed you so far… if you let me in, you know I’ll stay…” His words sounded like a plea, they held an aching tone.
“Let you in? If I… let you in?” Now contemplative… the question was as much for himself as it was for Elijah.
“Darling, please… I’ve spent my words, I’ve poured all my affections into spoken sermons and it’s still not enough— not enough to make you understand the way I love you, the way I want you, the way I *need* you. It’s not enough… I need you…”
Sensing how Sydney’s body fawned beneath his own, Elijah let go of his wrists— they lay still, save for a gentle tremble that wracked Sydney’s whole body. He put up no real protest as Elijah crept his free hand up to his neck.
“I’ll *make* you understand…”
The taller man’s face hovered unbearably close to Sydney’s now, wet lips grazing the peach fuzz of his cheek as he whispered in his ear.
“Don’t you want to be loved? Do you even remember what that feels like? I can show you…”
He caressed the skin of Sydney’s neck with his thumb in a slow hypnotic rhythm.
A fuzzy disorientation swept across Sydney’s mind like fog on the wind— on the heavy breath of the man above him, each exhale carried the haze closer and closer. Sydney worried he might’ve glimpsed Elijah through the odd sliver of light which slipped between his fingers, but this dizziness felt… different. Something in him ached, though he couldn’t place what.
“Just let me have you, god, please, I can’t hold myself together like this for much longer… make this easy for the both of us, darling… take it the easy way, while your mind is still clear…”
His hand then slid further up into Sydney’s hair, brushing aside the long strands of black and revealing the ghostly pale skin of his neck. He stole a hesitant kiss, pressing his lips gently to the cold skin of his Muse’s cheek, now warmer than it had been in years. He slowly trailed the kisses down, and down, until his mouth hung open and watering above the crook of Sydney’s neck.
“What… will you do?” The smaller man fought to keep his voice from wavering.
“Show you a love you have never known.” the words ushered another wave of heat across Sydney’s skin, he shivered at the sensation, and suddenly the ache had a name; want.
Elijah… wanted him. Elijah wanted him so terribly, just as much as Sydney wanted to be wanted. Here was the promise of satiation… baring its teeth right over his throat. The ache had a name, and the want had an object… .
“Elijah…”, Sydney called the name in a trepidant whisper… and then he nodded.
A silent, hesitant nod.
That was it— that was all it took to soothe Elijah’s delusional righteous ego. He sank his teeth into Sydney’s skin, set loose from whatever taught and splitting thread still held him to restraint.
A sharp pain shot through Sydney’s body, a shock which escaped him as a breathy whine, and jolted his body up against Elijah’s. Elijah’s hips pushed him back down, grinding against him as they did. He began to dress the suctioned bruise in kisses, sweet anesthetic pecks which trailed up and around the mark, interspersed with taunting scrapes of teeth which threatened another bite. It left behind a lingering warmth, a sensation which Sydney couldn’t distinguish between saliva and blood. The blind confusion left his head spinning.
“Aaah— let go, your hand—”
The man didn’t pull back, continuing to mouth at the skin, speaking with his face still pressed to Sydney’s neck.
“Oh, Muse… you know what will happen if I do that~” There was a thinly veiled arousal in his tone.
“I d— just let go, please…”
After a moment, Elijah slowed and drew back.
His smile might’ve frightened Sydney out of his certainty if he could’ve seen it then. Wide, wet lipped, and as the low light finally found Sydney’s now uncovered eyes… he saw blood red smudged over the man’s teeth.
A wave of sedation washed over him then, taking him under like water— he had to push against the pressure to move, too heavy to float and too tired to swim, just sinking helplessly deeper into the haze. Every muscle in his body fell limp, save for his eyelids, which fluttered in a pitiful effort to stay open wide.
The sight sparked something within Elijah, the quiet glint of fear in the eyes of his Muse, the way he melted into his touch all the same— he let a laugh slip, carried on a sigh.
“Haah~ oh, doll… look at you… you wanted this. Stay with me, now…”
Sydney’s face shifted, an uncertain fear, then an uncertain bliss, an uncertain grimace.
“You didn’t have to do all this… if you’d have just asked, I would've… would’ve closed my eyes, and let you in…” he spoke with more breath than voice.
Elijah smiled again, an unnerving saccharine grin which gave away unspoken feelings. He leant down and pressed a kiss to Sydney’s cheek, then set his head against the other’s so that his breath fell right upon his ear.
“You really have no clue what you do to me, do you?” The grim voice echoed through Sydney’s hazy little head.
“Oh, sweetheart…”
As he spoke, he slid a hand slide beneath Sydney’s jaw, holding firm to his face so he couldn’t turn it away. Elijah pressed a single taunting kiss to his cheek.
“Maybe I wanted to feel you struggle.
Maybe I wanted to know how easy you’d be to hold down…
You’re so pretty when you’re scared…”
Sydney shuddered. Elijah’s trance left him unable to think straight, his body just reacted on its own volition, crumbling beneath the other’s touch— no matter how loud his internal alarm bells were now ringing “danger”.
Elijah moved to trail his hand down Sydney’s neck, then down to his chest, settling right above his heart— his blood pulsed against its weight, following a frantic beat.
“Your heart is racing… you really are afraid of me, aren’t you?” The man teased, as if this was flirtation to him.
Sydney had no clue how to respond, he could barely find words at all—
“I— I’m… jus—“
“I know you are.” Elijah cut him off.
“Tell me, love… tell me how you really feel…” The sentiment was almost kind on a surface level, but he spoke with something sinister in his tone. As Sydney sputtered, Elijah shifted his position— slowly wedging one knee between the smaller man’s legs, splitting them apart as he drew it upwards.
“Mm— I just— everyone else, they—“
“That’s what they all tell you, isn’t it? To be afraid? That I’ll hurt you… you don’t think they could’ve been right, do you~?” he placed a hand on Sydney’s thigh and moved it up just as cautiously, breaching the hem of his nightgown and sliding beneath it…
“I— I didn’t think— you’re making me nervous, Elijah…”
Elijah pushed even further, slowly moving to caress the soft inner skin of his thigh.
“Mmh no— we shouldn’t— oh god, you tried to kill me, you’ve… you’ve been stalking me, this is— I don’t know why I— oh god…” As Sydney spoke, the other man had begun to rut a firm and unfamiliar shape against his thigh. He kept making hesitant sounds, the beginnings of words which never came to form, as if Elijah was swallowing them down… physically restraining himself from letting his thoughts out.
A moment of this passed as the man’s movements grew frustrated, harsher, losing control… until it finally slipped his grasp. He pushed Sydney’s legs further apart, and moved his free hand to cup the man’s face. They were both shaking.
“Fuck, you know I could hurt you so easily~ you’re in my hands now, it’s already too late. I could knock you unconscious and have my way with you… I could tear you apart… and no one is here to save you. Only me… I’m all you have here, all you’ll ever need… I could make you mine forever… do you understand what you’ve done?” his voice shook as he spoke, twinged with the hint of an accent.
“Elijah— you’re scaring me—“
The taller man shuddered at those words, caving inwards until Sydney could feel the stubble of his cheek grazing the skin of his own. Elijah swallowed down the saliva gathering in his mouth, he strained to keep his voice from shaking
“Say that again~”
“R—really, you’re scaring me, Elijah, I—“
He was cut off by a sudden kiss. In one swift motion Elijah had slipped his tongue into Sydney’s mouth, and his body between Sydney’s legs.
Sydney didn’t struggle— any words of opposition got caught in his throat, he couldn’t muster them… a part of him didn’t want to.
He felt Elijah grinding up against him, something firm desperately prodded him between the legs… and he kissed with the same fervor, shoving his tongue down the throat of his Muse as if he aimed to find and devour the very heart in his chest. He tasted of metal, of the same blood that coated his dirty clothes, he smelled of earthy musk and sweat, it all made Sydney sick— and yet he felt impatience. His heart pounded with ambiguous desperation, it defeated his sense of preservation, and Elijah must’ve caught on.
“Oh, doll…” He whispered, “You know I only want what’s best for you… I need you here, after all…” His accent had thickened, his words exasperated and shaky.
“I need you…”
Sydney felt the man clawing at the waistband of his boxers. His hips rose on their own volition, chasing after the other’s touch.
“I love you… ffuck, Я бы убил тебя, если бы ты не был у меня… you made the right choice, you know…” That tone… it was teasing, sickly sweet, it almost held mockery— he knew he’d hooked his prey.
Sydney glimpsed the man’s eyes for just a moment, fixed and hungry like those of a predator. Another wave of sedation washed over him, his body fell limp for a moment more, his head drooping sleepily in tow.
A “nod”— deniability. More than enough to Elijah.
It all moved so fast from there… Sydney squirmed in half-conscious compliance as Elijah undressed his lower half, before hastily freeing himself from the tent of cloth around his waist. He pinned Sydney’s arms down on either side, and pressed himself back up to a now unguarded entrance. Sydney could feel him, or a part of him— firm and flush with blood, rutting against him desperately like a plea.
Somewhere in the back of his mind, drowning in the trance’s fog, were his better senses all telling him to squirm free… to get this monster off of him and run. This isn’t how it’s supposed to happen— without any easing in, harsh and impatient, the way a wild animal pierces its teeth recklessly into its fresh kill.
But he wanted so badly to be wanted… its taste was intoxicating, and it numbed his mind to reason.
Elijah kissed him again, now pleading for entrance with his tongue…
Sydney’s muscles abandoned all strain, relaxing like he’d reached a melting point. His inhibitions broke apart just like that.
He blinked the tears from his eyes,
And he kissed Elijah back.
Barely a moment passed before he felt Elijah thrusting forward with an urgency, trying to line himself up with increasingly frustrated motions until—
Sydney let out a cry, his body seized from the pain of sudden intrusion. It sent shockwaves through his whole body, like a nauseating flood of butterflies set loose from his stomach— for just a moment, he thought this would break him.
Elijah wanted to believe this would be as good for Sydney as it was for him. It’s like he tried for *just* long enough to be slow and careful that he could delude himself into believing he’d been truly considerate. He gave up after just a few still-too-quick thrusts, picking up his pace with the urgency of a fervent desire, a starving animal finally given the chance to eat.
Sydney’s insides twisted from the indistinguishable pain and pleasure, he tried to stifle his sounds… Elijah, not so much. He’d given up on restraint, or maybe he just didn’t have it in him to hold back anymore— he came further undone with every movement, moaning out each heavy breath, mumbling interspersed words in a tongue Sydney couldn’t understand.
“Я так долго мечтал об этом”
He pushed Sydney further into the mattress, grabbing at his wrists like he feared his Muse would disappear should he let go.
“мне потребовалось все мое самообладание, чтобы не пробраться сюда и не украсть тебя во сне”
Sydney felt that pang of fear again as Elijah became more rough— he mouthed at his neck, trailing kisses along the delicate flesh and leaving teeth marks and bruises in his wake. Sydney squirmed, unable to produce anything more than breathy whimpers.
“Каждую ночь, пока я смотрела, как ты спишь... такой беззащитный, такой уязвимый... Я могла бы сделать с тобой все, что угодно... Я могла бы сделать то же самое, что я делаю сейчас... но я не сделала. Это все потому, что я люблю тебя, I love you, I love you, mmmnh~”
Sydney tried to move his wrists, but Elijah forced them right back down every time. He thrust into the man beneath him with a drunken fervor, unable to reel himself back.
“ты больше никогда не убежишь от меня, I need you, Я заставлю тебя нуждаться во мне, Fuck, you’re mine… you’re really all mine…”
Sydney couldn’t tell butterflies from nausea in that moment. It all blurred together and escaped him in delirious cries whenever their waists hit. Elijah took control of him entirely with nothing but touch… the weight of his body caging Sydney beneath him, the tender bruise that he’d made of Sydney’s neck, the depth of his reach inside… It was all so much. The cacophony of sensations cluttered Sydney’s mind and left him unable to hear his own thoughts, it was suffocating— soon enough, he found himself struggling for air.
The man above him slowed when he noticed, drawing back to get a look at his beloved’s face.
It only took a moment for their eyes to meet, for Sydney to shudder in one big deep breath before melting back into that familiar haze. In that moment, that precious moment, Elijah glimpsed a look of complete surrender in his eyes. A glint of fear… a split second of recognition when the trance took him under.
“Oh, darling… let me help you… there we go~”
Elijah watched that fear all melt away, leaving his Muse half-lidded and serene looking below him. Long hair splayed out on the mattress, tears welling in those big blue eyes… his cheeks were red, his lips parted to catch his breath… the scene felt sacred.
Elijah laid his sins bare before God, just as his God now lay bare before him.
Like some twisted confessional, he let it all out… though he didn’t want Sydney to understand his confessions; all he needed to do was receive them. Elijah thought the gesture was kind.
He didn’t want to scare Sydney beyond what he could repair.
For now, he simply ached to see that fleeting look in Sydney’s eyes again.
Elijah thrust his hips forth roughly without warning, and for a split second, there it was… it gave him a sadistic rush.
He pushed down those truer sick desires to kiss Sydney once more, softly on his lips, almost like an apology. To his surprise… Sydney returned it; eagerly at that, he clung to the moment of gentle comfort like he needed it, the way you need air, the way you need warmth in the winter. Elijah made a few more slow and gentle movements, truly gentle this time. It earned him soft little hums from Sydney in response… Elijah hadn’t heard that sound from him before… it sounded like approval. It made Elijah’s blood run hot.
“Oh, Muse…”
He continued moving slowly for as long as he could hold back, though his mouth watered… like a dog with some poor bird caught between its teeth, being told not to bite down, to be gentle, not to tear it apart.
He dragged his hands down Sydney’s body, caressing his sides and hips, taunting him with the gentle graze of sharp nails as he squirmed and bent to their touch.
Elijah’s gaze fixated on the soft, pale and yet unbroken flesh… he felt a secondary lust that brought to mind deep shades of red. He felt an ache behind his teeth. He thought of caged birds. He thought of nursing the wounded, wounded who needed him… who couldn’t leave his care.
He thought of breaking the bird’s wings.
Sydney noticed the man’s breathing gradually becoming laboured… drops of saliva fell from his mouth and onto Sydney’s chest, his hips soon lost their rhythm and came to move with a distracted impatience.
“Elijah…y— your nails, you’re hurting me—”
The sound of Sydney’s voice snapped him out of his imagination, to find he’d been digging his nails into the man’s hips without even realizing. Sydney reached to grab Elijah’s hands, barely grazing them with his fingertips before—
His wrists were forced back down to the mattress beside him. It knocked the wind from his lungs and left him stunned— Elijah pushed himself back inside with moral abandon, the last of his self-restraint having finally snapped.
“Fuck, I can’t— I’m sorry, I need to…”
Sydney tried to free his wrists, but Elijah’s strength over him made that impossible no matter how hard he tried.
“Mmh— Elijah wait, wwait—“
Elijah only grew rougher in response, like the sound of his name interspersed with those sounds was intoxicating, like it flushed his veins with wine.
“You…” Elijah struggled to speak as he lost control again,
“You really don’t get it, do you? Fffuck…” a thick Slavic accent had fully taken over his voice as he spoke now. He panted between words, becoming animalistic, almost violent, not realizing his strength over Sydney.
“S—st— wait—nggh-“ the smaller man could barely muster a full word, he didn’t have enough air.
“I— I have to… *make* you understand… that I love you… that you’re mine… Я бы похитил тебя и покалечил бы тебя, чтобы ты не смог сбежать, поэтому я понадобился бы тебе, чтобы обработать твои раны... я был бы нужен тебе... о боже, это было бы так легко сделать...”
Sydney grew louder beneath him— it only encouraged him to speed up as he dug his nails deeper into the man’s wrists. He pressed messy kisses to the side of his neck before easing into bites, ravaging the already bruised skin with a starving desperation.
“Please, nn—“ Sydney tried to speak before Elijah cut him off.
“I love you, I love you, I’m sorry, I can’t— can’t stop, I love you, I— I’m almost…”
He pushed Sydney’s wrists down further into the mattress,
“Nno, Elijah—”
“Say my name again~”
Sydney’s body began to seize up, his spine arched upwards and his voice rose in tune
“Elijah—”
The taller man lurched inward with one final howl.
Sydney felt a pulse that wasn’t his own… and then a warmth bloomed inside of him. It shot through him like a firework, branching all the way to his fingertips and setting his every nerve alight, escaping through his mouth in a cry of relief.
That feeling buzzed beneath his skin even after the surge had passed… that buzzing was all he could sense for a moment. He gasped for breath and tried to ground himself, but the rest of the world had turned to static beyond his grasp. He was left floating within it, directionless and spinning… spinning… spinning… slowly falling down to earth until he was back in his bed, supine and trembling.
A feeling of euphoric calm washed over him where he lay, like warm rays of sun against his skin, tingling within him where the real sun could never reach. Then came a feeling of dread, fear, a red hot wave of shame… then sun again.
He barely had the energy to move. At some point in the haze, he felt a hand cupping his cheek. He felt lips pressed gently against his own, and he heard a familiar voice coo to him… promising to take care of him. Telling him to just relax, “let me clean you up”, “just go to sleep, now…”
The voice apologized.
It told him it loved him.
It called him “sweetheart”.
After that, the memories became too foggy for Sydney to recount, blurring together with hazy dreams which wound the night on replay.

He began to stir again at some point in the early morning. His consciousness first gave way to a dream… of being cradled within the body of a small boat, rocking gently in the water. It rose and fell with the waves, up and down, up and down… its rhythm almost synced with his own breathing. He drifted peacefully in the embrace of soft, warm sunlight… eyes closed… a golden glow shone through his lids. Beneath the boards, somewhere deep down in the water, there was a drum-like beating… it followed him as he floated ever so slowly back to shore.
Then, he opened his eyes.
He was in his room… blinking drearily, in a state of half-awakened confusion. He still felt the waves rising and falling beneath him… he still felt the warmth, he still heard…
He heard a heartbeat.
Right in front of his face he saw a familiar aquamarine fabric, rising and falling with Elijah’s breath as he slept… with Sydney’s head on his chest. Elijah had his arms wrapped around his Muse tightly, one hand on his waist and the other on the arm which sprawled across his body.
It was early morning… the sun had shyly risen and it cast his room in shades of dim, golden light. Brief memories of the night prior flashed in the back of Sydney’s mind, though they slipped right through his fingers when he tried to grasp them. Anything more than a fleeting image or a few measly words overloaded his mind and made his head ache, he couldn’t remember, he couldn’t—
A hand tensed around his hip and broke his train of thought.
It held him gently, wrapping him just a little bit closer, almost automatically in response to feeling him stir. It pulled him back into his body, and… it incentivized him to stay.
It was loving… It was sweet…
It was a comforting thought to fill all the blanks in Sydney’s memory. Regardless of whether or not it was true… he was desperate enough to accept the palatable narrative without much question.
Elijah shifted to rest his head against Sydney’s, producing a groggy little murmur as he did… he was still asleep.
Sydney realized that Elijah must’ve positioned them like this after he passed out.
Elijah must’ve climbed in beside him and pulled his sleeping body to his chest… embracing him tightly on all sides, as if the man feared his Muse would vanish in the night.
Elijah had tucked them in there together.
He stayed… just like he said he would…
Wasn’t that enough?
He really meant it.
He really meant all he said.
Every single word.
Sydney made a decision then.
He closed his eyes… he let himself relax again, melting into the warmth of the other’s body…
And without the active influence of his sedative effects,
Sydney chose to fall back asleep in Elijah’s arms.