Chapter Text
Asleep.
A certain hat-less Hat Guy was laying down on a makeshift couch in the Curatorium of secrets. The ground and surrounding cushions were littered with any and every pillow that was within a certain horned friend's reach, to the displeasure of the establishment's feline whose peace had been disturbed too often the past few weeks.
It's been hours since Albedo placed the core back and Hat Guy hasn't moved an inch, he could just be resting, or maybe the core needs more time to properly process being placed back where it belongs .That is what everyone said, yet Durin couldn't help it; he's becoming more and more restless and every minute that goes by is one more layer added to the anxiety pancake he's been internally munching.
Ever since becoming human, one thing has been abundantly clear - the lack of control on one's thoughts, something that all living beings struggle with, but for some reason the voices have been louder and more frequent since he forwent his mini form and became 3 times his previous height (though much shorter than his block dragon form)
What if Hat Guy doesn't wake up? What if something went wrong and the core was damaged in the fight somehow, or maybe they placed it wrong? batteries have two different ends, maybe they just need to rotate the core?
No, Albedo wouldn't make that type of mistake, but then how about-
As if the world finally heard the young dragons' pleas -or maybe having had enough of them- the purple haired youth slowly, almost mechanically, raised his body and sat upright, eyes hazy and unfocused; still adjusting to his surroundings
"Hat Guy!!"
Durin lunges forward without a second thought , his yell is heard by the few remaining people in the Curatorium, the rest of which are cleaning up much of the mess the mad scientist left in his ever gruesome wake.
The purple haired youth, startled, is pushed back onto the soft bedding below him.
"You took so long and I was so scared you weren't going to wake up, or that I messed up somehow I-"
Durin jabbered with no seeming end in sight, fully opening the dam he'd been building for the past two days; relief pouring on him rendering him a complete mess.
At this point Albedo, the Traveler and Paimon made their way to the bundled disasters in the room, a babbling dragon hugging a frazzled puppet while Ashru had leapt far away, doing his best at looking irritated.
The Traveler's face lit up seeing the two and started walking over to them, that is until Albedo held them back, urging them to wait.
"Something's off"
Albedo shook his head, patience was a virtue to someone like him, to observe and correctly ascertain the situation both properly and critically, and while he would seldom go off on intuition alone, something about the scene in front of him made him pause.
Hat Guy was a very closeted person, and even amidst the major relief Durin felt at finally seeing his friend wake up, he more or less expected to be shoved away shortly after with some snarky remark, followed by an attempt to hide underneath his hat, only to realize he's not wearing it and scoff.
Yes, that was what Durin imagined their reunion would be, yet it was the length of which Durin was left hugging that made the dragon quite down and let go.
"Hat Guy?"
Durin pulled away, holding his friend's shoulders, eyebrows knitting together in confusion due to the lack of complaints and insults.
The purple haired youth cocked his head to the side, an odd -borderline innocent face was drawn on one that was only known to hold either indifference, a scowl, or a wide mocking sneer.
"Who?"