i'm faithless now

[specifiercity]

Who: Arthur (specifiercity) & Asami Sato (futureinventor)
What: Event & General prompts for November!
When: Throughout November
Where: All over! I'll update here for the open prompts!

Content Warnings: event warnings generally apply, a little bit of Arthur's PTSD getting triggered (within the event)

[if you wanna plot with me hit me up at dreamalittlebigger!]

Comments

[falsify]

[ Eames makes a soft, pleased noise when Arthur's curled up to his side and tentatively he lifts a hand to cover Arthur's on his chest and closes his eyes. ]

[ ... And he's out like a light. ]

[specifiercity]

[Arthur's out soon too, but it doesn't really feel good. Less like rest and more just like the temporary escape that it is.]

[And it proves to be quite temporary.]

[He's only asleep a few hours before a nightmare wakes him. After a minute or two of panicked, wordless murmuring he lets out a soft yelp and sits straight up in bed, eyes wide and breath heavy.]

[So that's cool.]

[falsify]

[ Eames' sleep isn't exactly peaceful either, and when Arthur wakes suddenly it wakes Eames up in a panic. He sits up straight, adrenaline overriding the fact that that's a fucking mistake as his eyes dart back and forth to try and find the source of the danger. ]

[specifiercity]

[Arthur pretty much woke up mid panic attack, so now he's just trying to get his breathing under control. He's vaguely aware of Eames sitting up beside him, but all he can do is murmur that he's sorry between gasping breaths as he buries his hands in his hair, knuckles white.]

[falsify]

[ Eames turns his head, trying to calm himself down. This is fine. They're at home, they're safe in their room. He's breathing heavy, one arm across himself as pain starts to bloom at the edge of his senses like that'll help at all. ]

[ He swallows, gasping down a deep breath. ]

Wh-- what happened?

[specifiercity]

[Arthur's curling in on himself, knees drawn up and head bowed.]

I — I had a...

[He rubs his eye with the heel of his hand.]

It was just a dream.

[falsify]

[ Eames groans, mirroring Arthur and curling in on himself for different reasons. He puts a hand down on the bed between them and leans on it with a soft grunt. Still breathing heavy, but it's fine. everything is fine. ]

Where are you now?

[ like are you still in it or still freaking out or what ]

[specifiercity]

I'm here, I'm here.

[His eyes are squeezed shut but he turns his head a little towards Eames.]

I'm sorry.

[falsify]

No- no.

[ He shakes his head. ]

It's not your fault.

[specifiercity]

[Arthur shakes his head.]

I don't wanna do this again.

[He looks up, looks at Eames, as exhausted as he's every felt.]

You should lay back down.

[falsify]

Yeah.

[ Arthur's right. Eames sighs and carefully tries to get himself laying back down, biting his lip to try and hold in the grunts of pain and effort as he does. ]

[ He looks up at Arthur with a frown once he's finally laying on his back. ]

What are you going to do?

[specifiercity]

I dunno...

[Sigh.]

I... I need some water.

[He slips out of bed, pushing his hair back, all at once alert from the adrenaline and exhausted from everything else.]

[falsify]

[ Eames makes a soft noise of understanding and nods. He'll just. Stay here. On high alert. Staring at the ceiling. ]

[specifiercity]

[Arthut takes a minute downstairs, downing a glass of water over the sink so he can refill it before he even considers going back up to bed. This is hard. He didn't ever want anyone to see him like this, maybe least of all Eames, but he knows now that every time he falls asleep there's a risk...]

[He looks in the direction of the stairs, flipping through all the possible solutions to this unfortunate conundrum. Maybe he should have gotten his own place after all, maybe it was stupid not to... The thought of falling asleep without Eames' presence beside him makes his heart ache a little but if he's being practical about it... he doesn't know how long these nightmares are going to stick around, and Eames needs to sleep off his wounds.]

[He sighs and shakes his head. He just needs to get through this night, then he can think about this in the morning. He heads back up and puts the glass down on the nightstand, carefully slipping back into bed.]

Still up?

[falsify]

[ Eames lays there, almost unmoving, eyes closed as he tries to will his breathing and his heart rate back to normal. There are so many images that run through his mind — of chains and blood and torture, of zealot faces replaced by witches and vampires, a red ribbon that once bound a white cat — his fingers curl in the sheets next to him and he lets out a soft groan of frustration while he waits for Arthur to get back. ]

Mm.

[ He looks at Arthur thoughtfully, wondering if there's anything he can say that would help. Probably not. But he can demand Arthur cuddle up to him. ]

C'mere.

[specifiercity]

[Arthur curls up to Eames' side with an unhappy sigh. He works his jaw a little bit, trying to decide what to say.]

I, uh... I used to get dreams like that back in the military.

[Deep breath.]

I don't wanna keep waking you up.

[falsify]

[ Eames shakes his head. ]

I'd rather you wake up next to somebody than alone.

[ "Somebody" is him in this situation. ]

[specifiercity]

[Arthur frowns, eyes cast downward.]

You need to rest.

[falsify]

And if I don't get enough sleep at night I can sleep during the day.

[ He searches out of of Arthur's hands so he can take it and give it a squeeze. ]

[specifiercity]

[Something about all of that makes Arthur's breath catch in his throat, so it's shaky when it comes out. He makes a soft sound to indicate he'll drop it for now, inching just a bit closer.]

[He didn't have this the first time. Someone to wake up beside. It's better and worse, and Arthur's not going to argue himself out of it tonight.]

[falsify]

[ Eames sighs softly and tugs on Arthur's hand to pull him in a little closer. He'll go back to sleep real quick but he wants Arthur as close as possible first. ]

[specifiercity]

[Arthur gets as close as he can without putting too much pressure on Eames' various wounds. He'll probably sleep pretty quickly and pretty soundly for another few hours, but only because of Eames' familiar weight beside him.]

[falsify]

[ Eames is out like a light, and his sleep is restless but it is, at least, sleep. Without any disturbance he'll sleep a solid eight hours too, body doing its best to take care of the worst of his wounds. They won't exactly heal, but they're not bleeding so much, looking a lot less angry. Maybe he'll even be able to sit up without help. ]