towerofanimus | Nightmares

Characters: VenAU and Room 2-18. (Taiki, Eridan and Eraqus.) for now
Setting: Room 2-18, 6 days after this.
Format: I'll match you.
Summary: Nightmares.
Warnings: ..Ven's PTSD getting triggered to hell and back.

Nightmares. Night terrors.

Neither are easy for anyone to deal with. While Ventus's had a few bad dreams since arriving - most of them in the last week, most are easily ignored and never draw more than the odd whimper/thrash and sometimes whine from him. Not so this one. It's more like a night terror of broken, shattered bones, faces (Memories) from his past mingling in with Things from the Tower and pain.

Pain and blood. Fear and helplessness. Terror. Fighting against something he can't win against - a darkness so suffocating that at one point Ventus starts to choke and thrash in his sleep. Not that this lasts long as Ventus jolts 'awake' with a terrified yelp-shout, eyes unseeing under the blindfold as he claws at something under the tower collar. "Don't -- I wasn't-"

And then Ventus is scrambling back with a ragged gasp - though having tangled himself in the sheets somewhat does not help in the slightest. Which only sets off another round of pleas before Ventus goes still, curling up a bit with with a low, scared whine.

It's doubtful that he even knows where he is, right now, either.

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Sleep had not been peaceful for Taiki either, he spent his nights curled up with Sanshi who had long since given up on treating Taiki like an adult. There was no one to disprove of her babying him and even with Sanshi's warmth next to him Taiki still woke most nights whimpering from nightmares of his roommates dying or him drowning in blood.

He had heard Ventus' whimpers before and Eridan's but this seemed like it was a worse nightmare than both. Taiki hadn't really been sleeping and he padded over to Ventus' bed, careful not to touch him.

"Ventus? Ventus... it's alright..."

Eridan, of course, also had nightmares nearly every night. Without sopor, his dreams were particularly dark and violent, and he often woke lunging towards invisible enemies with teeth bared and a snarl in his throat. Since the incident with his moirail's death, his nightmares had turned even darker and more frequent.

He woke with a start when he heard Taiki's voice, and opened his eyes, blinking away the last of the visions with a scowl.

"Is it Vventus?" he asked, pushing himself up.

"No --" his roommates voice do not help in this instance. Caught as he is between reality and the dream-memories, his mind takes them and twists until he's kicking out again - frantically trying to escape the sheets.

It's not their voices he's hearing, but someone else's. Someone much, much darker. "No-- It wasn't my fault!"

Taiki glanced over at Eridan, since the incident with Feferi Taiki had been terrified to leave any of his roommates alone and most his nightmares were about them being hurt. He nodded, "I don't want to touch him... he doesn't like being touched..."

Eridan draws back the blankets and stands, but he doesn't know what to do, either. He hovers in place. "Wwell wwhat should wwe do, then? He's not wwakin' up properly."

His own apprentices had been plagued by nightmares when they were children, his own Ventus rarely ever having that problem after he'd been brought to him. So it took a bit for Eraqus to get up and for his eyes to adjust. Like the others, sleep wasn't peaceful but he didn't consider them nightmares. Just truths he rejected vehemently.

He listened to them talking and stood to watch Ventus. He didn't like being touched?

"It is like sleepwalking. You should never attempt to awaken them, just try to keep them from harming themselves, indirectly." Which meant... trying to distangle Ventus from his sheets before he strangled himself, somehow.

By this time, Ventus was shaking visibly - struggles against the innocent sheets stopped for whatever reason. Though the trio could probably feel the fear - no, terror - coming off the young man, threatening to drown him. His breath was in ragged spurts as he shook his head. "I don't know why you can't- Vanitas d-don't- DON'T TOUCH TH--"

Well.. that just ends in Ventus gagging with a jerk against the sheets, but now it's clear who this nightterror is of: Vanitas, or at least his own.

Might wanna snap him into reality soon guys, even if it means touching him.

"I... don't know..." He glanced over at their fourth roommate a little bit wary of him. He seemed nice enough though and seemed to know what he was talking about so Taiki nodded.

He inched closer to Ventus as he shouted louder. Taiki didn't know who Vanitas was (even though he had met him, he had never learned his name...) he took the sheet and tried his best to untangle Ventus from it.

"Wwhat happens if wwe wwake him?" Eridan asked, glancing over at the last roommate. He thought that was probably silly, though the guy did act like he knew what he was talking about.

He gently shook Ventus' shoulder, since he literally couldn't think of anything else to do. "You're just dreamin'!"

"Waking a person suddenly could cause them to lash out and hurt themselves and other around them. Or cause them enough panic that they could have a heart attack." Nothing he'd ever experience, or deal with but he had visited many world when he was younger.

And not that it matter now, as he watched him shake Ventus' shoulder lightly. He knew the disdain he felt for Eraqus so... Glad it wasn't him trying.

Ventus stiffened at the touch, breath coming more and more ragged. But it worked - jolting him, mostly, out of the nightmare. Oh god oh god oh god who what -- no --

He whined low in his throat and for a long few seconds it looked like he might lash out and attack, keyblade appearing in hand as the sheets where slowly untangled --

But then he locked his muscles as the sheets were removed. While he still thought that the Floods and Vanitas were around -- his roommates were here too. He might not trust them but they had been good to him so far and Taiki had helped him.... He couldn't - would not allow them to get hurt because he didn't know something. Any of them.

"Run....-" A choked back whimper. "He's here. He's here and he's anger-- NO DON'T!"

His hand is back at the tower collar, but not actually pushing at it, rather what's under it.

Taiki stepped back when the key appeared in Ventus' hand. "It's okay Ventus... erm..." He glanced at the others when he started telling them to run.

"No one's here, it's just us... erm... Taiki and Eridan and... Eraqus..."

Okay woah, Eridan stepped back, too. That thing was a strange sort of weapon, but it was clearly a weapon. He'd never heard of KEYkind as a strife specibus, though. Whatever. Ventus was an alien.

Either way, he didn't want to deal with it getting smashed into his face by a blind idiot in the grip of a nightmare.

"Wwe're not goin' anywwhere, you stupid fuck," he snapped. "WWAKE THE FUCK UP before I go and get a load a wwater to dump over your stupid head!"

Nightmares

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orz for the wait.

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