towerofanimus | To dream, perchance to sleep...

Characters: Link and Link (and possibly other residents of 2-16 if they get loud)
Setting: Room 2-16, night
Format: action
Summary: the newest Link cannot sleep
Warnings: None. Will update as needed

[He'd been there for close to seven days and hadn't slept once since then. He'd started to feel the exhaustion kick in the day before and tried sleeping in that damn bed he'd been given like his counterpart had told him he needed to. But as much as he'd laid there for hours, trying to force his body to get the sleep it needed, he hadn't been able to. The bed was too soft and his mind was too busy, besides. The strange shadows of people running around, causing havok in the fog that choked the tower even now made it even more difficult to let his guard down. But he needed sleep. He could feel it.

Maybe the other him knew how to deal with the stupid beds. He'd been at the tower longer, so he must. Link made his way up two floors through the fog and shuffled into the room he'd been told to go to. He looked around, spotting Ganondorf's bulk in the darkness and headed over to that bed first. using it as waypoint, he began checking the other beds until he found his counterpart.

He had to climb to get on it, short as he was, but when he was up there, he crawled in to lay along side his other self and gently shake the man's shoulder while whispering.]

Hey. Link. Wake up.

[It was rather reminiscent of how a fairy once did the same.]

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[ There is a brief sleepy moment of, at first, mild "shoo Navi I'm trying to sleep" thoughts going on. This is nearly immediately replaced by mild panic when Link realizes something's passed over the ward spell they had laid on this bed by a friend (precisely to keep Ganondorf AWAY), and then realizes also that someone is shaking them. It causes them to nearly fall out of bed.

Normally it was kind of hard to wake Link, but they'd been pretty jumpy lately, what with all the Shadow business going on. Things had finally settled down for the night and besides that Link basically never left themself too far away from their weapons.

Their hair is a mess. ]

Ah...

[ Wait it's just tiny them. PHEW. Crisis adverted? Their reply is sleepy. ]

What... is wrong?

[For what it's worth, tiny them looked apologetic at disturbing big them.]

Can't sleep.

[He was kind of jealous big them could sleep so peacefully, actually.]

[ ... Oh. Well that's not good! ]

... I could not either, when I first came here. It was too... cut off.

[ From home. From the forest... I mean sure there'd been plenty of times Link had had to bed down under the stars, but it just wasn't the same here. ]

Perhaps there is something we can do...

[ There must be something they can do to help...? ]

Cut off? ...maybe.

[He'd gotten used to being cut off from things.]

Bed's too soft.

[Link clarified his own problem with a yawn and lay himself down with arms crossed under his chin.]

You said it was important to sleep in the bed so I don't die. I can't sleep in it though.

[ Why is this... oddly cute somehow? ]

... It could also just be the stress of this place.

[ Ocarna has a small headrub while they think. ]

I... know that it takes a few days at least. I think you would be fine if you just napped there? They are not... specific about it...

I don't nap, either. I don't sleep unless I have to. I can't.

[He sighed and bent his head to rest his forehead against his crossed arms.]

[ ... Mmm, even when they'd been worried over Ganondorf and the Sages Link had HAD to bed down once in awhile between Temples. You couldn't go on forever. It makes them wonder, had being sent back to that timeline truly changed them this much? ]

... I used to like sleeping in.

[ When things were... well, relatively normal, in the Forest. That seemed so long ago. Technically, it WAS seven years ago. ]

Something is keeping you up... perhaps you need to tire yourself out first? Find something constructive to do. The last week has been hard on everyone.

I've been awake since I got here. I haven't slept in seven days. You think I'm not tired?

[Link didn't want to admit it was fear that kept him from wanting to sleep. But this was himself right? Or another version thereof...]

I've been trying.

[ Okay, this required sensitivity now. ]

... Mmm. If that is the case... then you are your worst enemy there.

[ A person's mind can be hell to itself, after all. Ocarina, now fully awake, swings over the bed proper to give the smaller Link space to sit better, if they'd like. ]

Please talk to me. Something must be troubling you beyond the obvious. Even if you think it is small or insignificant or foolish.

[ ... I mean, how bad can it be? They're technically the same... person? ]

[Link watched the other man as he sat up, teeth worrying his bottom lip while he thought about it. When he decided, he gave a single nod and sat up, scooting close to his counterpart and leaning against the closest arm/side.]

Have you ever woken up afraid that seven years have passed again?

[ ... This is a private thing that they've never admitted to anyone else. Yes, they really did have the same problems, didn't they? There's a short pause, here, and the older one looks at the floor. ]

... Often. Very often.

[ It never quite left them, that horrible fear that perhaps they would ALWAYS wake up and everything would be torn and hurt and it'd be too late by seven whole years. They... were always too late, it felt. ]

[He didn't look up, but he did turn his face into the other man's body, seeking a measure of comfort in another person he should be able to trust completely.]

It got worse when I could no longer travel the river of time to the future. After I was sent back... and more than that, I couldn't let myself sleep for three days.

...three days lasts a really long time.

[ ... Oh... okay, Ocarina here can no longer truly shake off the feeling of wanting to help the other Link. It's not even weird anymore, really, it's just pure concern and wanting to make them happier, help them.

They know this is their own future, but their happiness was never a question in this. They desired it, yes, but Ocarina truthfully knew that in the end, they would sacrifice that happiness for others repeatedly if it meant they were happy. Or at least less sad. This is a case where they want to comfort the other and help them. Maybe it's just a... weird thing from being here. ]

... You went through another great ordeal. I was aware, but no one told me the specifics...

[ There is a look given to the other here, essentially saying, "if you want to talk about it, you are allowed to, I will not judge you. I will listen." ]

[Link looked up at the other hesitantly and then back down at his hands.]

Do you think our world was really destroyed? If you think it is, I'll tell you. Because then it won't matter if you know, right?

[ ... They don't want to think it's true. There's hesitation in the reply, here. ]

I would like to hope that is a lie. Because if it is not, all that we have done will have been pointless, in the end. All the sacrifice everyone went through, all the pain. Even if it is... I am not entirely sure it would matter. I do not think some things can be changed.

[ Destiny was kind of a bitch. ]

[Link was quiet again for a little while, thinking about this. Finally he nodded and sighed, keeping his head down and his hands in his lap.]

After we were sent back in time... we had to leave Hyrule and ended up in a world called Termina. We had three days to stop the moon from falling down and destroying the whole of that world.

To dream, perchance to sleep...

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