Villain's Second Heart: Trapped in A Fantasy Novel (BL)-Chapter 65: Cuddle Time

Ezra and Oberyn crawled into their shared bed, comfortable and warm from their soak. They each wore thin robes - gifts from Rav, with a faint cloud pattern adorning the white fabric.

The Nephilim 'glowed' out their dinner earlier in the onsen, and didn't need to strip down to sleep.

'For the best,' Oberyn smirked to himself as he snuggled into the blankets. 'Not like Ezra and I can be trusted to be naked around each other.'

Oberyn laid on his side, Ezra behind him. The strong human put his arm around his delicate Nephilim, pulling him into a loving embrace.

"I'm not sure where to start."

Ezra stroked the Nephilim's back, gentle and soft. His eyes fell to the faint curse mark on the back of his neck - a grim reminder of the challenges that loomed on their shared horizon.

"What do you miss the most?" Ezra replied, pensive.

Oberyn shifted in the sheets, pressing tighter against Ezra. "About the moon? The people, I suppose...but I guess that's kind of a bummer answer, isn't it?"

"Not at all," Ezra smiled, even though the Nephilim couldn't see. He buried his face in Oberyn's golden hair, and spoke softly into his neck. "Tell me about them. The other Nephilim. Oh, but before you do, I have a question. How...how do you all breathe up there?"

"Hm?" Oberyn wondered. "Breathe? I...I guess it's not any different. Why do you ask?"

"Well, my Earth had a moon too," Ezra said. "But a human could never go up there. We'd die in a second! There were some that could, though. They're called astronauts, and they had special suits that let them breathe even when there was no air."

"Nothing like that, Ezra. I guess our moon is a lot different than yours."

"Well, nobody - human or Nephilim, lives on the moon from my Earth," Ezra said wistfully. "But up in the sky, it looks just the same."

Oberyn pondered another world - one similar to this Earth he found himself on, and yet different in every way. A world where special armor let people breathe without air. A place Ezra once called home.

"On my moon," Oberyn said, "Everyone is together. We share everything. We support each other. It's like a big family, even if we don't all know each other. Venetio - he's a bit younger than us, was like a little brother to me. He used to chase around after Tiana, Kieran and I all the time..."

His voice trailed off, bittersweet memories filling him to the brim. Things, people he hadn't thought about in far too long.

"Kieran was my best friend, and my next-door neighbor. Tiana...well, you know. My childhood crush, eventual girlfriend. Someone I...thought I'd spend my entire life with."

"Yeah."

Ezra squeezed him just a little tighter, pressing his lips to the nape of Oberyn's neck. He didn't say anything. All he wanted was to hold him close and listen, letting the Nephilim speak at his own pace.

Oberyn let out a heavy breath. Not quite a sigh. Not quite a sob.

"She was the best of us," he murmured. "Tiana. She always knew what to say. What to do. She made the hardest things feel easy." A wistful smile played on his lips, unseen in the dim room. "If she were here, she'd probably call me an idiot for how I treated you at first."

Ezra chuckled softly. "She sounds smart. I can see what you liked about her."

Oberyn hummed in agreement, but a weight lingered behind the sound.

"She was my world," Oberyn continued, his voice softer now, like he was telling secrets to the dark. "I thought we'd always be together. Grow up. Grow old. Watch the new generation of Nephilim take their first flights."

He hesitated.

Ezra didn't rush him.

"...And then I fell."

Ezra's grip on him tightened. Not possessive. Not desperate. Just present.

His fingers curled into the blankets.

"Within a day of arriving on this Earth, I had a chain around my throat."

Ezra's heart twisted. It sounded familiar.

He swallowed hard, his fingers finding Oberyn's and lacing them together beneath the sheets.

"And then... they told me I could never go home."

A sharp, silent pain cut through the room.

Ezra exhaled, slow and steady.

"They made you their prisoner."

Oberyn closed his eyes. "Yes."

The weight of that word filled the space between them.

Ezra thought of everything Oberyn lost. his home, his people, his first love...no, his entire world. And yet, here he was, curled up against him, trusting him with his story, his body, his future.

It was hard for Ezra to imagine. There was nothing that tied him to his original world - he desired to be here so much he even sold his soul to the Storyteller. But all Oberyn wanted had been to stay in the life he was born into.

A deep well of fierce devotion burned in Ezra's chest.

"You're not alone anymore," Ezra whispered. He kissed the shell of Oberyn's ear, voice steady despite the unease simmering within. "I'm here, Oby. I'm always gonna be here."

Oberyn turned around in the bed, facing Ezra. In the dim light, Ezra could see the emotions in Oberyn's heart clearly painted on his face.

Uncertainty and conflict. A deep, bottomless ache. A hole that didn't seem possible to fill.

Updat𝓮d fr𝙤m ƒгeeweɓn૦vel.com.

But then -

Oberyn leaned in and kissed him. Softly and slowly, full of passion.

Ezra pulled him in, his hands sliding up Oberyn's back, holding him as the Nephilim burrowed closer, burying himself in the warmth of the only home he had left. Ezra.

"Stay with me," Oberyn whispered.

Ezra rested his forehead against him, breathing him in.

"I'm not going anywhere, Oby."

They kissed again, and Oberyn wrapped his thigh around Ezra's waist as the human caressed his back.

It was enough to embarrass Ezra, as he already found himself growing engorged. He wanted him. Badly. But for the first time since this all began, he was more content just holding him.