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william leaned against the hard post of ashe's bedframe, staring idly at the book which ashe held. the paper rustling as he picks up one corner and turns to the next. the breeze of the wind draws from the open curtains leaving a frigid chill in the air. will stuffed his hands in his pockets, trying to preserve some semblance of heat before it became hard to move them. moonlight shown down onto the pages of the book. william shuffled closer and leaned onto ashe, who adjusted the book for a better view in return.
ashe flicked his gaze upwards, and met william's curious stare, "what were we looking for again?" they had been searching these pages for the past hour or so, and he started to lose track of the point. he held his hand over the pages while waiting for will's response. william reached over to the book slowly, his hands shaking after a long day of work. he slowly flicked past the pages and read the titles of each one.
handing the book back to ashe, "nothing in particular, i was just curious as to what it could do. wanted to see if the was anything we could use." he hummed, fighting her lip slightly as he skimmed through each page. the familiar words stared back at him, words engraved in his mind through the countless hours he read through them before. ashe leaned back, blinking tiredly. through his hair falling down onto his face he could see will's face scrunch up slightly, squinting to get a better look at the pages.
rustling rang out in the room, neither needing to speak to enjoy each other's company. ashe's eyes lastly traced the pages. flick, flick, flick... until he landed on a new page, one which hadn't been there the last time he read through, though it was common for new entries to be added once a new soul was available for summon. leaning forward, he caught a glance at the title, 'Will 'o' Wisps', an odd name but a familiar one. quickly glancing at the small illustration in the middle of the first page he realised why.
william stared at the page, breathing faintly, watching the picture as if it were alive. he clutched the side of the bedframe so tightly he was sure he could break it, even with whatever strength he had left in his decaying body. his heart picked up to a pace which he hadn't had since before that night. frantic bounding unevenly as his body worked to a painful amount. the world seemed to spin but the blue flickers in his vision stayed hauntingly in place. he tried to suck in a breath but all that came from it was a raspy wheeze. the world swelling into a mix of colour until it fades and he is left with the taunting light, fliering just so slightly out of reach. trying to back up but being met with a blockade of sorts, he is arms falling like lead as dread creeps into his bones.
his lungs constricted painfully as he felt the ground beneath his palms scratch. his body wouldn't cooperate with his movements, sluggish responses only aided his panicked mind. he felt something grasp at his shoulder and jolting out of the way, tears brimmed in his eyes lighting his senses on fire. he swallowed thickly, trying to get a grasp on where he was, the dark colors blending till he could only make out the blue, until that too flickered out of existence, quickly snapping out like a book being shut.
"william?!" a voice nearly filtering through the haze. something grabbed his shoulder again but he couldn't shake it off anymore. the presence felt as if it was burning. he blinked again through fuzzy vision to try to see what was touching him.
"william, he look at me. hey." flicked his head towards the noise he found what he assumed to be the person talking to him. colors leading through his muddy vision, muted shades of purples and greys filtered barely through the black. everything still felt too dull, ringing in his ear threatened to pull him farther down the tunnel.
the voice was speaking again but William couldn't make out what it was saying. his tongue felt heavy in his mouth he tried to speak, but whatever words he tried to respond with were lost to just a few short gasps. the figure waved its hands in front of his face and William tried to lift his head again to meet its eyes.
"William, hey. you here with me? can you hear me?" William slowly nodded, rubbing his hands together as the fighting cold started to creep its way back. when did the cold stop? where was he? he traced his gaze around the room slowly, shapes barely forming in his vision. looking back at the figure he stared at the purple jacket, something in the back of his mind being him to remember the familiar pattern, and the long grey hair falling messy down onto it. vibrancy pulling itself back to his world.
"ashe?" William rasped out, he looked around the familiar space of ashe's bedroom which they were both sitting on. ashe had his hand rested loosely on top of william's shoulder, a small smile pulling up onto his lips and his pinched brows softened. william leaned in towards ashe and wrapped his arms around his shoulders, to which ashe quickly responded in part.
"hey man, you feeling better? had me a bit scared for ya." ashe spoke with a soft chuckle, slightly strained. he looked at william and shook his head, drawing slowly back from the hug, he grabbed will's hands tightly.
"yeah man, thanks." he let out a small sigh, a smile faintly gracing his lips and he closed his eyes for a few seconds, he was glad to have ashe by his side.