Work Text:
One two three four, one two three four.
A steady tempo is all he can keep his mind on. The click-clack of A.B.A.'s boots hitting the sidewalk is the only thing that was grounding him in this cacophony of bustling streets laid out before the couple. They just needed to get through this town to get to their next destination. Paracelsus didn't know where they were going but by the looks of it, A.B.A. doesn't know much either. He decides not to push on it right now because of his partner's increasing agitation. He takes a deep breath and shuts his eyes.
About a mile out of town by now and the sky was beginning to shift from orange to pink as the final hours – *probably minutes* at this point, had drifted off with it's usual promise to return in the morning. It leaves the two in increasing darkness.
"Um.. A.B.A.? I think we should stop for the night, it's starting to get really dark..."
A.B.A. only grumbled something in response. Paracelsus didn't quite catch it, something about the town they had just walked through. He didn't exactly blame the girl, he's not fond of humans either but it is a bit odd for someone who has such a fascination to have a phobia that mirrored the fascination's intensity. He sighs again, before his focus was interrupted as his body vibrated from being placed down onto the ground. A.B.A. had gone rigid and still, like a deer in the headlights. Paracelsus glances out to the direction the homunculus was fixed on and squints, trying to make out what she was seeing.
...
It was a scarecrow.
"A.B.A., I don't think that's-"
He was cut off by a shriek and Paracelsus felt his brass begin to thaw out and give way to black sludge. He bit his tongue, thinking of how to get out of this. If she continues this, she might catch the attention of *someone,* literally anyone and that would only escalate her increasingly frantic emotions.
On a whim, the key axe begins to hum. His voice cracks a few times, breaking apart from the sharp edge of his – and partially A.B.A.'s emotions that seeped out and affected him. She glared back up at the key and lashed out, clawing at his face. Paracelsus doesn't relent, only grunting in response to A.B.A.'s outburst.
It was an old tune he had heard many *many* years ago. He had heard it a few times, a tune that was popularized during The Crusades. It wasn't something he had thought about in a long time and he didn't really have a reason to. Back all those years ago, when he was Flament Nagel, he had despised the music, and would always end up angry if it had ever crossed his mind.
It wasn't blood.
Brought back to the present by A.B.A.'s green eyes locking into his, he had realized that his humming had done something and it didn't exactly soothe his partner's nerves completely, it did subside some of it. A.B.A. had a death grip on his leather strap and gasped for air, in a attempt to self-soothe. A lousy attempt, it only caused her to look a little queasy. It usually does, the girl is prone to fainting spells enough as it is. A.B.A. pulled Paracelsus in closer. He didn't exactly have a visible ear but being this close to her, he could hear the ragged rattle in each of her breaths that she took. Something in him wished he was even closer, to hear her heartbeat. Was that wrong?
By now, the couple had been in an embrace for around half an hour now. A.B.A.'s panic attack had subsided now, and Paracelsus was glad the liquefying feeling within him that accompanies A.B.A's roller coaster of emotions had stopped as well.
"..Do it again."
It was so quiet, he had almost missed it.
"Uwah?"
"Hum that again."
Paracelsus felt his insides twist. Her voice sounded so raw, so discheveled. He looks around. He knows no one else is here but the idea of him being heard by anyone else makes his face itch in discomfort. Assured that no one was within ear-shot, he obliges to his partner's request and begins to hum for her again. Voice cracks still sprinkle throughout the tune, and it embarrassed him each time it happened.
Something tells him that A.B.A. doesn't mind though.