distressedude | 033 ~ [Action/Written]

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033 ~ [Action/Written]

[ Late Night - House One ]
[It's late at night when the usually peaceful House One will find itself rudely awoken by a scream.]

[Although it wasn't uncommon for Ion to have nightmares, usually he woke up with little more than a gasp. Sometimes he cried out, but never loud enough to disturb the rest of the house. But with the departure of a number of friends from Luceti, it seemed as though whatever control Ion had been holding onto since the draft had disappeared, and the added stress caused the nightmares to return tenfold.]

[Tonight was worse than usual. The scream was followed by a loud crash, like the sound of something being thrown against the wall.]

[The door is unlocked.]

--

[ Action - Written ]
[Following a very unrestful night, Ion will be trying his best to have a normal day, knowing that taking a nap would only make it more difficult to fall asleep that night. So he starts off his day as he would any other, beginning with a morning jog around the village with Colonel. Of course, given how tired he already is, it probably looks more like Colonel is just dragging him around. And at some point, Colonel is going to notice Ion's fatigue and force him to take a break in the most mature fashion possible.]

[After finally getting Colonel back home, he spends a little time in the library reading, but inevitably that proves to be too relaxing an activity and he winds up falling asleep, book still open. He won't be sleeping too deeply though, and just the sound of someone walking past him will probably startle him back into being awake. Though unless you want to see him fall out of his chair, it probably wouldn't be a good idea to walk up behind him.]

[Once he's back at House One, he spends the rest of the evening relaxing. But even though he's yawning and clearly tired, the light in his room stays on, and Ion won't be going to sleep just yet. And even after it seems like he finally has, sometime around midnight, a written message pops up over the network.]

I realize it's rather late, but does anyone have any experience in dealing with nightmares? Or perhaps, a method of how to prevent them from happening?

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[He remembers him. Of course he does, isn't that a silly question? What he doesn't remember is how he got to wherever he was. His body is soaked in a cold sweat, and his heart is pounding loudly in his chest. How did he get here? Weren't they just--]

Where... w-what...

[His mind feels heavy. He's trying to speak, but words won't come out -- it's like he can barely get a breath of air right now. And he doesn't even realize he's crying.]

I'm not going to hurt you. [She wants to move from the doorway so much. Seeing Ion so shaken and terrified of something that isn't tangible sends an ace through her chest.] You're sleeping, Ion. I- I know you can fight this off. It's not real.

[At least, not right now.]

[Not a Shift - it wouldn't switch off like a light switch. He doubts it's a curse seal, either. But taking a look at Ion as he recovers seems telling as to the true nature of his former state. He can't quite let go of him yet. He's crying and barely coherent. So he keeps Ion held out from him as he recovers.]

The worst is behind us now. It's alright. Just remain calm.

N-No...

[He can feel it. The cultist already killed the others, and now he was the only one left. No one was coming to save him, and he couldn't save the others. He'd never see them again.]

[But he couldn't let it end this way. He needed to do something, anything before it made it's next move. So he grabs the nearest weapon he can find--]

I-I said stay back!! [Unfortunately for Nephry, Ion keeps a bookshelf in his room. When he sank to the ground, he fell to the foot of it, where the larger books are. And he just picked one up and threw it haphazardly in Nephry's general direction.]

[He may not want to let go, but Ion doesn't have much strength left to stay upright. Even more pressing is the way he slowly bends forward, his face quickly losing whatever color it had retained before.]

[...thankfully Ion has a trash can in his room for paper scraps, because Jade might wanna sit him down and give that to him.]

[Fortunately, her eyes have adjusted enough to the dark that she can dodge the book; it strikes the doorframe and falls to the floor.]

I haven't come any closer. [All at once she's the diplomat and not Ion's friend, voice even and composed.]

[It's hard to say whether he's truly aiming for her -- he can't really see her, after all. Nor can he really hear her. Or at least, no matter what she says, he has no reason to believe her.]

[She's a cultist, after all.]

I... I-I won't... let you k-kill me!

[He reaches down and throws another book, this one more targeted than the last. Though of more concern than the throwing is the way he's breathing -- quickly, practically hyperventilating. He'll pass out at this rate.]

[There's just a slight widening of Jade's eyes.

And then he is moving like a Lorelai-damned machine, gently plopping Ion into a setting position, reaching to grab said waste basket with a minimal amount of movement and pivoting swiftly to hand it to him.]

[The second book strikes true, spinning corners-first into Nephry's forehead, above her right eye. Surprised at herself, and at him, she brushes her fingertips over the point of impact and tries to come up with something better.

Staying back isn't helping him, and leaving him alone might be worse. Nephry swallows her better judgment and gives in to what she wants to do - come closer.]

It's all right, Ion, I promise. You're just dreaming. [She has to get to his hands...]

[Good job Jade, right on time! Thankfully, dinner was a rather long time ago by now, so there's not much else other than some dry heaving. But, you know, better safe than sorry.]

[By the time Ion finally feels okay enough to pull away from the trash can, he's shivering and shaking like a leaf, somehow looking worse than he had a few minutes ago. He tries to take a few deep breaths to calm down, but they still come up shallow. At least he's sitting down now -- that helps, to a degree.]

[It's coming. His attacks didn't work. It was going to kill him and add his body to the pile, where no one would ever find or miss him.]

[He screams again and tries (and fails) to jump up and out of the way, but only stumbles back to the ground with a painful sound. He's definitely hyperventilating now, his body soaked in a cold sweat. He won't try and throw anything more at this point, but he will bring his hands up to try, in vain, to push the "monster" back when she gets close enough.]

[Jade will be patient. He figured there might not be much for him to exert.

He calmly sweeps a sheet off of Ion's bed and drapes it over his shoulders. It's not hard to guess what had affected him so deeply. When there's nightmares that can even leave Jade feeling unsettled, he can only imagine the impact they have on Ion.

He silently hovers nearby as he waits for the fon master to collect himself.]

[She can't stand seeing him this way. Is this what he goes through every night? How have they missed it for so long?

When she's close enough, she kneels beside him and ignores his hands of protest, wrapping her arms around his shaking shoulders. He's still so fragile.]

You're safe here. Nothing is going to hurt you.

[When Ion feels the sheet being draped over his shoulders, he reaches up with an unsteady hand and clings to it, pulling it closer. But even still, it takes him a number of minutes before he finally speaks up. His voice, as before, is still weak.]

...what happened?

[Once he speaks, Jade takes a moment to tweak at his glasses and responds calmly.]

You were sleepwalking, Ion. Or perhaps, more accurately, you were sleepfighting. [He sees no need to hide it from him; Ion has to know, in fact, if they're to find a solution to this.]

[He's in its grasp now. He can feel it -- feel it -- digging a blade into his shoulder. His back feels like it's on fire, and when he screams this time, his voice cracks, letting out only a terrified, near-silent scream.]

[He can't even move, his body stone-still in her arms as though he'd gone catatonic. But tears are still making their way down his face.]

I-It hurts... please, I-I don't want... I don't want to die...

Sleep... fighting?

[It takes a few moments for his brain to catch up. When he asked what happened, it was under the state of mind that what had just transpired in his mind was real. But the more he hears Jade's voice, the more he seems to realize it wasn't. He wasn't on the battlefield, he was in his room. He was still in his pajamas. He was safe.]

[But it was all a lot to take in, and somehow the overwhelming sense of relief just has him clinging to the trash can again.]

[When she pulls back at his stillness and the broken tone of his words, she is crying, too, without a sound. Her hands take his hands and hold on tight. All he has to do is wake up, but forcing him through it is killing her, her head is pounding and throat closing around tears.]

Nobody's hurting you. It's your bedroom, Ion, please- [As if acting on their own, her hands shake him, gently, once.] Please wake up.

[Jade frowns. Ion seems to still be waking up and getting ahold of things. It's a truly sad sight.]

Take some time to wake yourself up first. It may be easier to process then.

[In an instant, his entire body suddenly jolts, and his eyes widen. And he blinks. And he blinks again, staring blankly straight ahead before slowly looking up at Nephry. He's still breathing erratically and his whole body seems to be shivering... but he's awake.]

[But he doesn't understand. As far as he knows, he hasn't woken up. He just doesn't know where he is anymore. He was just on the battlefield, after all. When he finally speaks, his voice sounds just as broken as the rest of him looks.]

Ne... phry?

[Nephry doesn't know what he can see: how she looks, pale and crying and with blood on her face. One trembling hand touches the side of Ion's face, gently, before she leans forward and pulls him into an embrace again.]

It was a dream. You were asleep. [Due to the late hour or the tenor of Ion's words, or both, Nephry must reassure herself as well.]

[It takes a few more minutes with the trash can before Ion can even attempt words again. After a few coughs, he finally seems well enough to speak without sounding quite so dazed.]

It was... it was just a dream, wasn't it? [The question is only half rhetorical.] And I'm... not still dreaming, right?

[He can't see her very well at all, and even if he could, his mind is still spinning a hundred miles a minute. He's not even sure how he knew it was her, really. He didn't even hear her voice until after he woke up, but even still, he knew it was her.]

[And right now, he doesn't even register her words. He's still not convinced this isn't all just part of the event -- instead, he just leans into the embrace and buries his face into her shoulder, crying. But rather than his usual silent tears, these ones were raw and emotional.]

[Whether intentional or not, he's been holding back a lot of pain from the last draft. And right now it was starting to spill out.]

As far as I can tell, you're entirely conscious. [He keels down near Ion, taking a closer look. And he manages a teasing smirk.] But feel free to pinch yourself if the fon master needs absolute certainty.

...I don't think that would work with these dreams.

[Because the more he wakes up, the more he recognizes what sort of dream he just had. Certainly he's woken up on the floor after tossing himself out of bed, and he's even been known to talk in his sleep once or twice... but this was completely different.]

[And he's also certainly never mentioned any dreams like this before. This went well beyond your average nightmare, even without the whole hallucinating part.]

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