Work Text:
Being the closest one to Lord Eclipse was terrifying at first. He was yelling, hitting and punishing him for every little mistake he made. And it was like that for a long time.
Then a Moon from another dimension came. And the chaos started. Wither Storm appeared. The war was bloody. The monster ate every citizen it could find. Their God hid the ones who survived the apocalypse. Lord Eclipse defeated him after a long amount of time. And he fought too, like every closest servant would. A half of their realm was gone, a lot of people were killed and he was heavily injured as well. Luckily, The Lord showed him mercy and healed him with the star power. And he was thankful. Though, he did ask to keep the scars on his body, so it would show that he is ready to do anything for his God.
After that war, everything changed. Lord Eclipse was more merciful towards him. He stopped punishing him, never raised a hand to him and yelled less. It was shocking, but he didn’t complain. The Lord even praised him for his work sometimes. It was… inspiring. He was at the same place, same schedule, but different conditions. He had his own room now, with the things that were only his. He was allowed to sleep at night, then he worked all day. In the evening he could do whatever he wanted in his living space, if his Lord didn’t call him, of course. Lord’s needs still were higher than his, but his wishes were being taken into account as well. All in all, he liked how he lived now. It was a lot better and the Lord was kinder to him.
So now, like always, Sun cleaning the library with his feather duster and checking if there were any strangers, while also mumbling some songs to himself. Though, today something was different. Since he woke up, his whole body felt incredibly heavy, he felt hot, his internals hurt and the usual dim castle light was too bright for him. But he still went to work. He couldn’t disappoint his Lord, especially after everything he gave to Sun now. So he greeted his Lord like always, with a bow, and went to the library. But as he went through the cleaning, he felt weaker and weaker with every passing minute. It was hot and his fans weren’t cooling him down. Tremors ran through his whole body. His vision was getting darker by second. The last thing he knew was falling, and then everything went black.
…
Sun woke up to the feeling of lying on something soft and a cold hand pressed to his faceplate, just above his optics. He stirred and groaned quietly. The hand felt great, but his insides were still burning. He took a few stimulated breaths to try and help his fans to cool his systems down, but it just wasn’t working. He groaned again. The cold hand felt so good against his overheating body, he just wanted it to stay there forever. Sun leaned to the freezing touch. He didn’t want to open his eyes. He just wanted to lie like this with the soft touch on his forehead. When was the last time the touch didn’t bring pain with it? He doesn’t remember, actually.
Wait, a hand? But there isn’t anyone in the castle, beside him and-
Sun’s eyes shot open and he quickly backed away from the touch, locking his gaze on the owner of the hand.
“M-my L-Lord, I-I’m so s-sorry, I didn’t- I-I’ll do better, I p-promise-!” He was panicking. Lord Eclipse just started to give him more freedom, now he would never forgive him for his behavior, he’s sure of it.
But the Lord just raised a hand, silently telling him to stop talking. “Why didn’t you tell me that you weren’t feeling well?” He asked instead.
“I-I didn’t want to disappoint you, m-my Lord! I should work, l-like you said!” He sat up in the bed. He was in his room with the lights dimmed more than normal, on the bedside table was his good old feather duster. The next thing he noticed was the fact that he was half naked, without his shirt and jacket. He also wasn’t under the covers. Sun yelped and tried to block his nude torso from view with his arms and legs. Thankfully, he still had his pants on.
The Lord sighed. “You must always tell me, if something happens to you. Do you understand, my servant?” He asked. Lord Eclipse never called Sun by his actual name. At first it was just ‘servant’, like he was nothing but a pathetic dog. But after the war he started to add ‘my’ to this. Now he was saying it differently, like Sun was something more than a simple dog, like he was… at least a worker to him.
“Understood, my Lord.” Sun replied, he was gazing at his God with a tired expression, but he didn’t dare looking anywhere but his eyes.
“Good. Now, tell me how are you feeling, my servant?” The Lord’s voice was low and calm.
“M-my body feels heavy, head hurts and… it… it’s burning.” Sun said, only now noticing the slight static in his own voice.
“Come closer, lay down.” The God commanded and Sun followed the order without question. When he was spread on the bed again, Lord Eclipse reached to the servant’s faceplate again and Sun flinched at first, but the hand just gently laid on his forehead. The touch was so cold, it felt so good. “You may change your position as you please and rest.”
Sun was shocked, but he didn’t question his Lord. He turned to the side, so he was now facing the Lord, that way the God was more comfortable with the hand on his face. And Sun himself felt a little better like this. The presence of his Lord gave him some kind of comfort, he felt safer knowing he wasn’t alone here. He closed his optics with those thoughts and slowly went to the sleep mode.
…
The next time he woke up he was alone in the room. His internal clock showed that it was already afternoon. Wait, what?! Why didn’t he wake up?! What day was it?! He must work!
He shot up from the bed after that and started frantically searching for his clothes. Thankfully, he found his shirt and jacket hanging in the closet, right where they should be. He was trying to put everything on so fast, but he just couldn’t get his arms in the sleeves. Only when he got the first one on he heard the door open and stopped immediately. He looked at the entrance and saw the Lord standing there, also frozen. They stared at each other for a couple of seconds and then the Sun remembered his manners.
“M-my Lord, m-my apologies, I’m g-going to the l-library r-right away! I-I don’t know what came over me!” He bowed like he always did at the sight of his Lord. He thought about how pathetic he must look right now. Having only half of his shirt on, without his shoes. And only now he noticed the slight tremble in his own posture. That was rude to stand before his God like this. He deserved a good punishment right now and he was waiting for it. But nothing came, except a sigh.
“Look at me, my servant.” Lord Eclipse commanded and Sun did as he was said. The Lord was still standing in the doorway and looking at him, but his gaze wasn’t as stern as it always was. There was a glimpse of… pity. The Lord continued. “You have a very strong virus and you need to rest. You can’t work like that and I won’t force you to.” He walked up to Sun started carefully getting him out of the shirt. Then he put it back on the hanger and in the closet. Sun looked as though he was being hit as the Lord leaded him back to his bed. He was shaking and just noticed the feeling of coldness that crept over his body. Lord Eclipse pulled covers over his servant and put a hand on Sun’s forehead, but now it was warm. The Lord himself sat on the wooden chair beside the bed. “Something is bothering you, my servant. Is something the matter?” His tone was so gentle, it was calming.
“My Lord, am I…” his voice was cut off by static, he reset his voice box and tried again. “Am I getting replaced? I-I’ll do better, I promise! P-please, don’t get rid of me!” Sun was begging. His optics were watering. This castle was his life now, he didn’t have anything else outside of this. If he was being replaced, then he would have nothing to live for.
“Shhh… calm down…” the Lord wiped his tears away. “You’re not getting replaced. You are my only servant and it always will be like that. You are just sick and need to recover. I will take care of you, alright?” The God traced the scar across Sun’s left optic with the warm touches.
“Okay…” he whispered. “I’m sorry, my Lord… I don’t want to be a bother, you surely have other things to attend to…”
“They can wait.” The Lord assured shortly.
And Lord Eclipse sat there, in silence, just slowly tracing Sun’s face with his warm hand. The servant didn’t say anything either. The silence lasted for ten minutes or so, before the Lord spoke up.
“Why did you want to leave those scars on your body?” He asked quietly, as if he didn’t even mean to say it aloud. “They show all the pain that you endured. They are the traces of the bloody war. They are the evidence that I couldn’t protect my own servant.” And Sun had many scars. Across his left optic, on his arms and hands, on his neck pipe, the most big ones were on his torso, half of his right leg was grey as it was replaced most recently.
“Yes, they are. And I’m sorry they remind you of such horrible things, my Lord. But I’m proud of them. Because they remind me that I’m ready to do anything for you. That I’m always by your side, even when happens something that terrifying. For me, they are the evidence that I’m ready to give my life for my God. That I’m not just a pathetic servant that is scared of everything. They are my best reward.”
Silence settled once again. Lord Eclipse was tracing the faceplate of his sick servant with his warm fingers. His touch was gentle, Sun doesn’t remember being treated like this in his life. But every moment comes to an end sooner or later, and so did this one. The Lord slowly stood up.
“I’ll be back soon.” With that he walked out of the room.
Sun was left alone. Normally, he would like some private time, but now it felt too… lonely. He was just lying in his bed, trying to warm up under the covers, though, it was cold now, without the warm presence of his Lord. The time was ticking incredibly slowly. The air around was thick, it was suffocating. His voice box glitched out in a whine and he sat up too quickly that everything span. As the spinning stopped, Sun wrapped himself in the blanket and carefully stood up. He quietly left the room and walked down the long hallway, leaning on the wall. He was weak and cold, his whole body was shaking, but he heard voices on the other end of the hallway, in the main library. As he went closer, the voices grew louder.
“I lost my Sun unfortunately, though, I guess I can build a new one.” He heard his Lord say, then there was another slightly familiar voice, but he wasn’t listening anymore.
Lost him? Does that mean that he is a dead weight for his Lord? Is he useless now? Will Lord Eclipse replace him?
He flinched.
Will his Lord get rid of him?
The world around him felt like it was shattered and crushed. His head was spinning, he couldn’t think, he couldn’t breathe.
He didn’t want to die. He could do better if his Lord gave him a chance. But what if his Lord would use the state Sun’s in against him? He needed to run.
And so he did. The blanket fell on the floor. He was tripping over his legs, everything was spinning and it was nauseating, but he didn’t stop. It was cold and he was shaking like a leaf. But he continued running. He got to the other side of the library and hid between shelves. There were thousands of books staring at him. He just tried to stifle his cries and shivering that made his metal body rattle.
***
That Moon finally left. So annoying with his questions! At least he has useful schematics now, and from another Eclipse non the less. He can return to his servant now.
As he walked up the stairs and to the hallway, he felt something soft under his feet. He glanced down and found it was a blanket that he stepped on. It was with a checkered pattern, in maroon and brown colors.
His servant’s blanket.
The Lord immediately snapped his head around. Where did he go? What happened? Why did he leave the blanket here?
He called for the energy of the Star and felt the presence of his servant nearby. He slowly started walking towards it, taking the blanket with him. As he was deep in the library, he heard familiar sobs and quiet ramblings. He sped up. The sobs hitched and stopped.
As he turned again, he stopped at his tracks at the sight of his servant curled up on the floor, with only his working pants on, though, they were crumpled now, shivering like crazy and mumbling to himself in panic. As the Lord stepped closer, the servant’s head snapped in his direction and his panic increased, now Lord Eclipse noticed tears staining his faceplate. Sun backed up in the corner in panic, his frantic eyes on the Lord’s figure.
“N-n-no, n-no, p-please! I-I-I d-don’t want t-to d-d-die!” His voice was hitching hysterically, he was stuttering because of his fear and coldness.
“Sun-” for the first time in his existence the Lord called him by his name while talking to him directly, but the servant didn’t notice that in his panic.
“P-please! D-d-don’t k-kill me!”
“Sun, listen to me-“
“I-I’ll do b-b-better, I p-p-promise!”
“Sun.” It was the Lord’s ordering tone which made his servant quiet down immediately. “I am not going to kill you. Where did that even come from?”
“…” he didn’t say anything first, but then he began. “I-I am s-sorry, m-my Lord… I-I h-h-heard that you… you s-said that I-I… d-d-died… I-I…” Sun heard the Lord sigh and stopped, fearing that he had done something wrong.
“You thought that I would kill you.” The Lord continued and Sun nodded slightly. “You are alright, my servant. I won’t hurt you, like I said before, I won’t replace you. I just said that because… it was that Moon who I was speaking to.” He said that with disgust. The servant’s optics widened and he began shivering with new force, his plating rattling. “How are you feeling, my servant?”
“C-c-c-c-cold…” he gripped his shoulders to tried and warm himself up. “And everything s-s-spins… t-tired… f-fuzzy…” his voice box glitched out.
“Sh-sh-sh- it’s okay.” The Lord wrapped the blanket around his servant and picked him up, making his own body warm. “Let’s get you to bed and rest, alright?” Sun just nodded silently.
They were quiet as they were making it to the servant’s bedroom. But on half way there Lord Eclipse heard faint snores just where the human’s ear would be. He turned his head and saw a sight of Sun sleeping on his shoulder. Guess he was really tired. The Lord chuckled to himself as he walked in the room and gently laid Sun on the bed, covering him with the blanket.
“If only I understood it before, how dear you are to me.” The Lord lowered himself to the bed level and kissed the sick Sun’s forehead softly. “I don’t want to lose you again, my servant.”