distressedude | 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.]

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[ 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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[Jade listens carefully. It sounds like an unfortunate pattern, to be sure. He's also still not accustomed to hearing Dist's name said like that. He looks on curiously as he sifts through his thoughts.]

It sounds like an unfortunate trend, to say the least. [He goes on, making sure there's no judgement in his tone - just a candid observation.] You truly came to think highly of Dist.

...he was my friend. [But unlike other friendships in Luceti, rather than going back to a world where they never knew each other, Dist had gone back to a world where they were enemies. Perhaps that's what made it so difficult to accept, even after all this time.]

[It wasn't exactly relevant to the topic at hand, but truth be told, Ion was more than happy to move on to a different topic -- even if only for a little while. Usually he tried to avoid talking about Dist in front of Jade. After all, the man Jade grew up with seemed very different from the one Ion called his friend. But regardless of whether it's just a result of being so shaken by the nightmare or not, Ion doesn't bother to filter his thoughts when he speaks.]

He was always looking out for me. When I was injured on the battlefield a few years ago, he was one of the ones who helped save me. He stayed by my side until we were sent back to the village, and continued to worry over me until I recovered. Even when he complained, I knew he wouldn't have done all that if he hadn't cared about me.

It may not have come close to making up for all the things he did on Auldrant, but... while he was here, he was a good man. And a good friend.

[He gives it fair listen. Dist's behavior - and even moreso the fact that it worked at swaying people to like him - has been one of the most puzzling phenomena he's encountered in Luceti. Dist has always been a constant in his life; Jade has accepted long ago that Dist is incapable of true change and will always be stuck in the past. That's how he marks the difference between them: Jade was able to move on and change. Yet here, could it have been different?

All of his time in Luceti has made the subject much less sensitive to him. So Jade attempts to keep an impartial attitude as he listens and remarks, stroking at his own chin.]

I see. I suppose that it isn't the least likely thing I've ever heard. This is the kind of place that wouldn't enable his usual schemes, as well. But even beyond that... Perhaps this was the type of existence that he never knew that he was seeking.

[A simple life in a village, surrounded by caring people... and ah yes, he couldn't forget that other factor.]

The Professor's time here overlapped with his, didn't it? Yes, that would further explain a great deal of it.

...it did, yes. [And on at least one occasion, Ion had something of an argument with Dist about his motivations in regards to the professor back on Auldrant. Though even now, Ion can't say he understands the whole story.]

But I don't know if you can say that was the only factor in his behavior here. Even in the beginning, he gave the impression that something must have happened to him back on Auldrant just before he arrived. ["I had been attacked by a monster close to Mount Roneal"...]

In any case, it was only a few months after her time here ended that he was sent back as well.

033 ~ [Action/Written]

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