Kia didn't rush him.
He just stayed.
Ryan's eyes slipped closed, lashes wet, his breathing still uneven but no longer panicked. He didn't speak again. He didn't need to. He let Kia's voice wash over him, let it sink into the places that hurt too much to name.
"You're safe right now," Kia murmured gently. "Nothing's chasing you. Nothing's asking anything from you."
Ryan's shoulders loosened, inch by inch.
"You don't have to fix everything tonight," Kia continued. "You don't have to be strong or sharp or untouchable. Just rest. I've got you."
Ryan swallowed, throat working once, but his eyes stayed closed. His grip on the phone slackened slightly, like his body finally believed him.
"I know you think you're alone," Kia whispered, voice warm and steady. "But you're not. You never were. Even when I wasn't there… I was still yours."
The tension in Ryan's face softened.
His breathing evened out.
Kia watched the change with aching care—the way Ryan's brows smoothed, the way his chest rose and fell slower now. His bunny looked impossibly small slumped against the office desk, exhaustion written into every line of him.
"Sleep," Kia said quietly. "Just sleep for me."
Ryan didn't answer.
A minute passed.
Then another.
Kia smiled sadly when he realized it.
"Hey…" he whispered. "Bunny?"
No response.
Ryan was asleep.
Right there in his office. Phone still in hand. Head tilted awkwardly against the desk, mouth parted just slightly as he breathed.
Kia's chest ached—soft, full, painful in the best way.
He reached toward the screen instinctively, thumb brushing against the glass like he could tuck Ryan in from miles away.
"I'll let you rest," he whispered. "I love you. Sleep well."
He didn't end the call.
Instead, Kia set his phone down carefully beside him and lay back on his bed, keeping the screen angled toward his face. Ryan slept on the other side, unaware, peaceful for the first time in what felt like forever.
Kia stayed awake a little longer, murmuring quiet things—nonsense, promises, affection meant only for sleeping ears.
"Goodnight, my bunny."
His eyes finally closed.
Not long after, he drifted off too.
Two hearts connected by a glowing screen in the dark.
Miles apart.
But full.