once upon a dream (5/5): Finale
Chanyeol stirs awake to warmth ghosting over his neck and sunlight streaming in through the window. He takes a moment in stretching, curling his toes in the sheets and slowly opening his eyes to the bright light filtering the room. It’s late in the afternoon, but curled against his broad chest, Minseok is still peacefully asleep. His red lips are parted, chest rising and falling in a rhythmic pattern as he drifts through his dreams.
Chanyeol’s breath hitches, taking in the sight of Minseok. Though they normally wake up together, and Chanyeol decides that there’s something different that makes this moment more special than the rest of the mornings. There’s not a peep from the dragons or from the village kids screaming from outside. Not even Luna is here to scratch his arms or his cheek.
He sighs, shifting closer to Minseok. He cups the trainer’s face and brushes his thumb over his rounded cheeks, feeling his eyelashes flutter against his fingertip. It’s late and they should probably get up before anyone walks in on them, so Chanyeol leans down and peppers kisses over Minseok’s face until he awakens.
“Ngh, Yeol,” Minseok groans, rubbing his fist in his eyes in a poor attempt of opening them. “Lemme sleep… just five more minutes.”
Chanyeol laughs, breathless as he watches Minseok’s lips turn down into a pout. Minseok pulls the covers up higher, up to his mouth, and attempts to shrink himself until he’s a macroscopic dust on the bed.
“Not gonna work today,” Chanyeol exhales, laughing as Minseok wiggles underneath the bed covers. “If we don’t get up, guess who’s going to--”
And just as Chanyeol says it, there comes the sound of shattering glass filling up the warm, morning silence of his bedroom. Startled, he pulls the covers tight around his body like a cocoon- similarly to Minseok. When he gets the courage to get up, he finds a ball rolling around on his floor.
“Sorry!” Jongdae yells from outside. He’s in the middle of playing catch with Luhan and a few kids, their voices now filtering in through the broken glass window. He has his tail shifted and uses it to swipe whatever balls away that the kids decide to throw. “I’ll fix it later, I swear!”
Chanyeol simply groans, forcing himself out of bed and carefully stepping around the glass. Minseok laughs from the bed and throws a pillow at Chanyeol, laughing even harder as it smacks Chanyeol square in the face.
He growls, stomping out the door and through the living room.
Jongin and Zitao are curled up in the living room, backs pressed against the couch and an audience of children at their feet. It’s story time for the kids, and though they have no new books to read, Jongin has become a great storyteller. Chanyeol never would have pinned him to be the kind of guy, but he sees the way Zitao growls under his breath, guiding Jongin through a story and smiling as the gazes of the kids light up at every turn of the tale.
Outside, Yixing is on the porch. There are a few boys who are marveling at his wings, asking him endless streams of questions. Now that there’s nothing to be afraid of, Yixing answers everything eagerly without missing a single beat. His wings flutter pleasantly as he tells them his own stories that feed into the kids’ eager imaginations.
Chanyeol gathers the dustpan, smiling as Soojung and Sooyeon crawl their way into Jongin’s lap and effectively separate the two dragons to start touching Jongin’s ears, though Zitao obviously doesn’t enjoy it. He walks back into their bedroom and swipes up the glass and trashing it quickly.
“We’ll need to replace the window,” Minseok sighs, petting Luna who has now climbed into their bed. Chanyeol whines, really reluctant to be scratched by Luna today, but Minseok is eagerly beckoning him back to bed with a blush on his face and perfect, red, swollen lips and how is Chanyeol supposed to disagree.
“I’ll just close it up,” Chanyeol murmurs, leaning down and kissing Minseok. His heart flutters pleasantly in his chest. “We’ve got all the time in the world to fix it.”
Minseok smiles, searching for Chanyeol’s hand under the covers and interlacing their fingers when he finds the other’s much larger, warmer hand. “Let’s just go back to sleep for today then,” he hums.
They live a quiet lifestyle now. Minseok and his dragons no longer have to live in fear, and so they’d quickly moved into Chanyeol’s home as soon as they found it safe. The villagers had no problems with the dragons and were especially grateful when they helped out with building projects and any heavy lifting. The kids were the most thrilled, and Chanyeol essentially housed them all because they never seemed to leave the dragons. Everyone had fallen into the story line seamlessly, like they’d never left this village that they’ve made their home.
“I can hear you thinking,” Minseok murmurs, his eyes slipping closed again. “Tell me what’s on your mind.”
Chanyeol smiles and kisses Minseok, savoring the way his pulse beats on his skin. “You, Sleeping Beauty.”
Minseok opens one eye. “Sleeping Beauty? That’s a new nickname.”
“Well it’s true,” Chanyeol murmurs. “I swear you sleep half the time.”
At that, Minseok laughs. He tugs Chanyeol closer into his side and throws an arm and a leg around him. “Then sleep with me, Prince Charming. Everything can wait.”
Chanyeol smiles, fixing the covers around them and letting Minseok’s head fall on his chest to sleep. He cards through Minseok’s hair until his eyes begin to droop shut from the rhythmic consistency of brushing through the trainer’s hair. He kisses the crown of Minseok’s head and decides that a bit more sleep couldn’t hurt. There’s not a thing in the world that could separate them now.
Minseok mumbles as he drifts back into sleep, lips trying to form around heavy words that fall loosely from his lips. He falls quiet after, snuggling into Chanyeol’s warm body against him.
And just like that, they lived happily ever after.