Work Text:
A sharp pain shot up, it felt like your head was going to crack open. Your vision was flickering, the smile on your face was long gone, as you winced in pain and the feeling of panic started to fill you up. All you could do was quickly move to the side of the hallway and hold onto Simone’s arm as your vision starts going blurry.
You could see your partner suddenly looking pale as her expression turns from concern into panic. “Hey, are you okay?” Simone frantically asked.
All you could do was shake your head, “Simone… I think I’m losing my vision also…”
“Wait here, I’ll call a doctor.”
Before you could react, you passed out.
Opening your eyes, you were only greeted by complete darkness. You brought your hands to your eyes, trying to find if there was something obscuring your vision, but disappointment greets you once again as your fingers gently touch your eyes. You blinked several times, trying to see if your eyes were truly opened or closed, still holding onto a sliver of hope that you would be able to see at least a hint of light.
You were already brought home from the hospital. You were relieved to hear that this blindness was just only temporary, your vision was affected due to the fumes you inhaled from the Wanderer from the mission. The ophthalmologist said that your blindness could take days, weeks, or in the worst case… a month or more. It is a strange effect, as you would think fumes shouldn’t affect one's eyesight but the sense of smell, but here you are.
Shifting around on the couch, you were getting tired of sleeping, you can’t just stay the whole day laying down. With that you sit upright, groaning loudly at how distraught you felt right now. Not being able to see is the major cause, but now the deafening silence in your home is becoming too much for you to bear. It felt like you were forcibly plunged into an empty world, barren with nothing to see and hear, you were just trapped in a pitched black pit. With how quiet it is today, it felt like you also lost your sense of hearing. You were starting to regret being a bit too prideful, proudly telling Simone earlier that you could handle staying home alone, saying you knew your place like the back of your hand and that you could even walk through it with your eyes closed.
‘Liar…’ You bitterly reprimanded yourself, because you just moved a couple of months into your new villa and are still in the process of decorating your place. But knowing Simone, she wouldn’t allow you to be alone and definitely be back to check up on you; all you had to do was prepare for her roasting later.
You hate the feeling of doing nothing, you can’t stay forever lounging on your couch. Not caring if you’ll break or hit any of your furniture anymore, you stand up from the couch and slowly move forward with your hands outstretched in the air trying to find an item or wall to hold or bump into. Shortly you elicit a painful yelp as you clumsily bumped into a coffee table and all you could do was glare downward. Edging around the table, and moving forward once again, it takes a full minute until you could finally feel the tip of your finger pressing onto a solid wall, and you quickly felt relieved as you happily pressed your body against it while you continued to traverse along the wall, hoping you are on the right path to the kitchen door.
A faint familiar jangling sound was heard, causing you to freeze on the spot. In a few seconds the sound of your door unlocking, the door opening and closing, shoes being taken off before being followed by the sound of heavy footsteps.
‘Oh no…’ The last thing you wanted was Zayne finding out about your current condition. ‘Wait… wasn’t he supposed to be at Skyhaven for a month due to his lectures at the university? Why was he here?’
With that you swiftly flip your position on the wall, your back now against it as you sheepishly smile to where you assume is the entrance where Zayne will be coming from.
“You’re back early.” You quickly say, “Did your lectures get cut short? Or did you forget something?”
Deep down inside you really hope that you were looking in the right direction.
A chuckle was heard “What are you doing over there?”
Brows furrowing you turn your head to the sound of his voice, “What do you mean, what am I doing over here? Also you haven’t answered my question.” With that you cross your arms, raising an eyebrow.
“I received a very important call to return back to Linkon.”
“Oh… if you need to do something important, why did you drop by here? To cut your lecture short, I’m sure it’s a very urgent matter.”
Hearing him chuckle a bit before sighing, you could hear him drop several pieces of baggage on the floor. “Did I do something wrong?”
Confused, all you could do was give a questionable expression. “Huh? Why would I?”
“Are you sure?” There’s a hint of mirth in his voice, as he gets closer to you.
You laugh, turning your head towards his direction. “Yes, I’m positively sure that I’m not angry or disappointed or something at you… why would you think I am?”
With that you moved away, sliding your back against the wall, hoping to put a certain distance between you and him. But in a few steps, you feel the side of your arm collide with something solid and all you could do was give a silly smile as your right hand automatically moves toward the object you just bumped into.
Forgetting that Zayne was nearby, you had run your hand to feel the object. ‘Did I run into one of the cabinets?’
You could hear another laughter emit from him, it was like music to your ears. Zayne finally recomposes himself, the sound of his throat clearing before walking closer to you.
“Then tell me… why aren’t you looking directly at me?” This time Zayne’s voice was right in front of you. Suddenly your face felt hot, feeling embarrassed as you frantically tried to move your eyes to where you assumed his eyes were at. “I recall my eyes aren’t there either.” You could definitely tell he was slightly teasing you while probing to get an answer from you.
“Zaayneeeee…” You whined as you step forward, wrapping your arms around him. The sound of his laughter once again fills the room, a bit more loudly than his previous ones, he returns your hug before placing a kiss on top of your head.
How you wish to regain your vision and see Zayne clearly again. “So… are you now going to tell me what happened?” He asks.
“Did Simone snitch on you?”
“Not exactly snitched, but her moment post… it had a big hint of your conditions; while Greyson on the other hand, heard some news from the nurse station about several hunters returning from a mission early this morning and one had fainted in the hallway after their initial check up.”
Your face paled a bit as you heard his response. What did Simone post? And you didn’t expect how fast the nurses got their news from a different department, you did not anticipate the news to reach the cardiology team, especially Dr. Greyson who ended up relaying it to Zayne. But then again, Zayne is so well known throughout the whole hospital and that you were indeed a regular showing up at Akso Hospital. At this point almost everyone knows you. Clicking your tongue a bit out of habit, all you could do was lean more into his embrace and wishing you could regain your vision quickly.
Before you could change the topic, Zayne called out your full name and all you could do was pout as you pulled away with your head hung down.
Knowing very well that you could never escape Zayne, you share your current condition with him. “I’m blind. Me and the other two hunters accidentally inhaled one of the Wanderer’s fumes during the mission… so we lost our vision for the meantime. The doctor said it’s temporary and could take several days, several weeks, or months.”
Big hands slowly cups your face, bringing it up. You could tell Zayne was looking directly at you, maybe checking your eyes.
“But don’t worry, I mean… they said it’s not permanent, I’ll eventually have my vision back in time. I just need to get used to this for the meantime… but Zayne…”
He hums in response.
“Don’t you have something urgent to do right now?”
“I do…”
“Shouldn’t you get ready to go?”
Zayne chuckles, “You are my urgent matter right now.”
It felt like the temperature grew warm as you heard his response, your silly smile spreading across your face. “Zayneeee, stop teasing me.”
“But I’m not… Do you think I’ll let you go around blindly at home?”
“Don’t you have on-going lectures in Skyhaven University?”
“I do.”
“You can’t just call off your lectures just for me.”
“I didn’t cancel it. I’ll still push through with the lecture, but I’ll be doing them through an online video conference instead.”
If it were possible, your smile would have grown wider and all you could do was nuzzle your head against his chest in an attempt to hide your giddiest smile. Despite not being able to see Zayne, he still felt like a warm light that suddenly showed up in your dark empty world. You were so thankful for having a partner like him.
A sigh of relief escapes your lips, holding him more tighter. “I wonder what I did in my past life, that I deserve someone like you? But I’m really glad that you’re here!” You could feel Zayne’s hand run along the top of your head several times.
“But why are you here, standing next to the display cabinet?” He asked.
‘Display cabinet?’
Having an idea of where you were, you could only tighten your hold with Zayne, burying your head even more, the embarrassment of knowing that you went in the opposite direction from the kitchen. Bringing one of your hands to shyly cover your mouth, you bashfully responded “I was hungry, I wanted to see if I would be able to get to the kitchen by going along the walls.”
With that you started rambling about how the silence was starting to drive you insane. It doesn’t take too long until you feel his hands now sitting firmly on your shoulder, you could feel him turn you into the correct direction to where the kitchen is, and without saying anything he gently nudges you forward to walk as he safely leads you into your kitchen. Later a gasp escaped your mouth, feeling Zayne’s hands on your waist and that you went airborne for a few seconds, before realizing that you were now seated on what you assume is your bar stool.
“Don’t move while I get your favorite snack.”
The doorbell rings several times, and both of you are startled and confused with the sudden barrage of consecutive ringing. Zayne reminds you not to move, as he moves to the entrance to check who's behind the door.
Since you’re far away from the main entrance, you couldn’t hear much. Though you could hear a familiar prank-like deep voice coming from the doorbell’s intercom, and the door suddenly opening causing the person on the other end to stop pressing the doorbell.
“DR. ZAYNE! OH MY GOD!? I-I di-didn’t know you were here, I’m so sorry for pressing the doorbell so many times! I was worried she was struggling, so I came back to check up on her.” You could now hear Simone very clearly from the main entrance, she sounded very startled with how she acknowledged Zayne and the way she talked very fast afterwards.
“She’s doing fine and in the kitchen, would you like to come in?”
“Ah no no! I-It’s fine, I’m just glad she’s doing okay and not alone at home. C-Could you please give this to her instead?” You could hear Simone being a bit frantic, and you could imagine her shaking her hands as she hands something to Zayne.
You knew this wasn’t the first time those two met, but why was Simone sounding a bit panicky?
“Are you sure you don’t want to come in?”
“Yup! I’ll leave her in your care Dr. Zayne. If ever you become busy and need help with her, just call me or Tara.”
“All right. Thank you Simone.”
You could hear the woman bid a high pitched quick goodbye and the door gently shutting closed. It didn't take long until Zayne was once again next to you. Now the sound of plastic bags being moved around fills the empty silence.
“I knew she would come back and to annoy me, but why did Simone sound so panicky right now?”
“That… let’s just say she brought it onto herself.”
You tilt your head in confusion, “What did she do?”
“After trying to lecture you through the intercom… Either she tried to imitate me or just tried to sound like a guy saying.” Zayne clears his throat for a bit before continuing with a deadpan voice “‘Babygirl you know I love you. I’m here, now open the door.’ and I decided to open the door for her after that.”
Now all you could do was burst out laughing as you imagine the whole ordeal that unfolded earlier between the two. No wonder she reacted so strongly when the door opened. Poor Simone, you know how much she just wants the ground to swallow her whole right now and eventually when you both meet up again in the future, she would be venting out on how embarrassed she felt with her antics.
The next several days, Zayne has been very attentive with you, ensuring to support and assist you while you go around your home. Knowing that you were feeling uncomfortable staying in silence due to your current condition, he allowed you to stay in the study room and listen to his lectures during the day. He would put you on a day bed nearby with several snacks on the side table while keeping you out of sight from the camera. Of course there are plenty of times where you would doze off, his lessons were not boring per se, but it was filled with too much medical jargon and very complex terms. It didn’t help not being able to see any of the diagrams and examples he shared throughout his presentations, so none of the information sinks in.
Sometimes you would wake up a while after his lecture was finished, yet you would feel that Zayne has already joined you on the day bed, the sound of light snoring, one of his arms underneath your head while the other draped across your stomach. Just feeling Zayne’s warmth would make you feel drowsy once again, and you would just turn to wrap your arms around him while you snuggle against his chest as he pulls you closer. Having him take a rest after his work, you don't mind this turning into a habit.
As days turn into a week, your mood slightly dampens. You were hoping that your sight would return and that you could quickly return back to your normal routine. Each day you started yearning to see Zayne’s face once again.
You wonder, would those teledrama tropes where the blind person would feel their loved ones’ face, would make you ‘see’ their face? ‘Maybe it wouldn’t hurt to try it?’
The sound of a book shutting close snaps you out of your thoughts, and you could sense that Zayne was looking over at you. Both of you sit on the couch in comfortable silence, the cushion slightly dips down as you feel Zayne scoot closer to you. His hand now on your shoulder as he nuzzles his head on yours.
“Zayne… Thank you for everything. I promise when I regain my vision, I’ll reward you with whatever you want.”
“You know I’ll always be here to help you. Just having you by my side and spending quality time together like this… it already feels like a reward.”
You don’t respond, but a smile spreads across your face as you bashfully move your head downwards. Your thoughts about feeling his face resurface and you decided to try this.
“Zayne?”
He hums in response.
“Is it okay if I can feel your face?”
Silence follows, yet you could feel Zayne gently hoisting you up and moving you to another position. Your thighs now draped over his as he brings you to a straddling position, your arms were now loosely wrapped around his neck, you could only assume that he had placed you on top of him. Grasping both of your hands, he slowly places them on either side of his face. In a hush voice he responded “You can.”
With that you kept your hands on both sides of his face, slowly running your thumbs on his cheeks. Zayne still has this usual habit every time you would caress his face and it doesn’t take long until you could feel his hands lightly take a hold of yours, pressing a kiss to the palm of your hands, caressing them with his thumb before returning your hands back to their previous position.
As always that small intimate gesture would leave you feeling flustered and shy, and it’s not helping that you could feel Zayne’s heavy gaze on you, closely watching your every movement and these small reactions you make. But despite the shyness, you still continue on, your hands slowly roam around his face, mapping and outlining every detail. The more you feel his face, the clearer his image becomes in your mind.
Running your thumbs once again around Zayne’s eyes, you quietly tell him “I miss seeing your eyes… they’re my most favorite part of your face.” With that you pressed a kiss to one of his eyes and you could hear a small gasp in response.
You could tell Zayne was now trying hard to keep control of himself, the sound of his breathing suddenly becoming rugged and heavy each passing second, you could feel a slight pressure of his fingers slowly gripping onto the side of your waist.
As you reach his lips, you shyly smile before slowly gliding your thumb against them. “It seems like Dr. Zayne doesn’t have dry lips today.” You joked, causing Zayne to clear his throat yet he seemed to have leaned closer to you.
“Thank you… I’m done.” Stammering a bit, you pull away. But he stops you from moving further, his free hand now moving to the small of your back, bringing you closer. Your hands finding their way to his chest, feeling the steady pace of the beat of Zayne’s heart now suddenly spiking up to a faster rhythm, and you could only blindly look up at him.
You could sense he leaned in, his mouth right next to your ear as he responded in a raspy low voice “Don’t you think it’s unfair to abruptly end your session like this?”
Boldly moving your eyes to where you assume Zayne’s eyes were, your hands once again find their way to the back of his nape, and instantly the gap between you closes. Zayne’s lips meeting yours half way, his strong arms now wrapping around your waist as your body is now flushed against his.
Your senses were now heightened, the small touches and kisses felt more magnified this time. It doesn’t take long until you are whisked away, pressed onto your bed as you spend a long blissful and heated experience for the remainder of the day.
It’s been several weeks, and you have been acclimated with being able to blindly go through your home now with a support cane. Zayne, of course, would sometimes quietly follow you around to ensure that you got around safely. Since Zayne knew you could go around with no problem, and having no lectures for today, he had left you to do some groceries. Mentioning that your food supplies were now running low and requesting if you could just stay on the living room couch while he wasn’t around. To ease his worries, you agreed and decided to take a nap after he left.
Waking up abruptly, you grunt in pain as you feel a familiar sudden pain shoot up and you start seeing white for a few seconds causing you to forcefully close and cover your eyes in agony. After a few seconds you could feel the pain slowly reside and you take a small peek before fully opening them again as the light eases up. You now see a blur of different colors… much better than the usual pitch black that you would see. ‘Was your vision returning?’ Your heart pounded in excitement, it felt like watching a heavily frosted window slowly defrosting as things became clearer as the seconds passed by.
After a few minutes, your vision cleared up. You blinked several times before happily looking around as you drank in the sight of your living room. The clear vivid colors of your walls and furniture greet you, looking over at the big window you can see the clear blue sky along with your very luscious green and colorful garden.
Standing up from the couch, you twirl around in excitement and happiness before running off and entering into every room of your home.
Hearing the main door unlocking, you stay put for a while in your bedroom with your ear pressed up against the closed door. Hearing Zayne’s heavy footsteps and pausing abruptly in the living room. You could hear him call your name several times, the last one sounding a bit frantic and louder.
Before it was always Zayne that would rush out to welcome you when you arrived home. This time you wanted to do the same thing. With that you abruptly opened the door of your bedroom, and rushed out to welcome him. “Zayne! Welcome home!”
Zayne had a huge surprised look on his face, before quickly putting all the grocery bags down and opening his arms to quickly catch you in time as you rush and dive into a hug. He holds onto you, happily twirling you around for a bit before putting you down.
Happily taking in the sight of Zayne, as you circle around him. He takes your hand, causing you to halt and brings you into another hug once again as he peppered you with several kisses on top of your head.
You slightly pulled away, your hands reaching up to the side of his face. Zayne’s eyes were a bit doe-like, as he looked at you with a confused expression before the corner of his lips slightly raised up. Intently you gaze into his eyes, those beautiful hazel colored eyes. The unique mixture of green, gold and a slight reddish brown made you so mesmerized once again as you saw them up close. His eyes softened up, that special smile reserved for you was now etched onto his face. Zayne closes the gap between you; gently pressing a kiss first onto your forehead, onto your nose and now onto your lips.
It was just a sweet gentle kiss between you and him, not too long and not too short. A content smile rests upon your face. It feels nice to finally see again, especially the man that brought vivacity into your life and also the one who became a source of ‘light’ and warmth during your moments of darkness.
“I love you.”
Zayne’s eyes slightly widen for a bit, his ears turning crimson red before giving you a very rare gentle expression. His eyes are filled with adoration and love as he looks at you.
“I love you too.”