Disclaimer: I do not own David Archer or the Mass Effect franchise. They rightfully belong to BioWare and EA Games.


Restless

"It's too loud," David murmured as he covered his ears with his hands. The sound of the air conditioner was an annoying buzz to David's ears.

David lay on his bed; curled up in a tight ball. He clutched his bed sheets in a vice-like grip but he enjoyed the pressure he created in his hand. It kept him grounded; rooted to where he should be rather than to be lost in his thoughts. Lately he didn't want to be left in his thoughts. One thought let to another and he would find himself shaking in fear or breathing rapidly. Pressure was good. Pressure was there for him to cling on. Pressure suppressed his thoughts.

He gazed around the room where other students slept peacefully. As far as he could tell he was the only one awake. Those moments were not foreign to him. He had developed a habit where he could not sleep after Project Overlord. When he first arrived at Grissom Academy he refused to sleep and it took three days for the doctors to sedate him with medication that forced him to sleep. The doctors asked him why he didn't want to sleep and his answer was that he was afraid that he would wake up Aite again. That he would wake up in his cage.

He wasn't tired; he had no desire to sleep. He did not mind this. He just wished that he would not have anything to think about. Thinking lead to thoughts he would not like to have. How wished to just focus on one thing and nothing else. Just that one thing.

'You can always talk to us, David…'

David frowned at the unexpected voice. "But we talk all the time…" he whispered. He didn't particularly spoke to anyone. To anyone else who might have watched him they would see him staring at a wall with a faraway glint in his eyes.

'You are the only one who could hear us. Talk to us. We like talking to you…'

"I know…I'm sorry," he apologized quietly.

The voices laughed quietly, 'There's nothing to be sorry. Now, would you like to talk about something?'

David bit his lips in thought; concentrating to find a subject to discuss about but nothing came to mind. Or rather, nothing that he would like to talk. "N-Not really," he admitted shyly; feeling guilty.

'Are you sure? You know that you can tell us anything you want. I-We will listen.'

"Don't I tell you everything?" he asked quietly. The voices had no time to reply because another voice joined in.

"David? Who are you talking to?" A sleep voice asked him.

David jerked at the sudden voice but immediately felt at ease once he recognized the voice. He looked over his shoulder and there he saw Lucas rubbing his tired eyes with his hands. He was sitting up on his bed across from David. He turned to Lucas and stared at him with wide eyes. "W-What?" he asked but he sounded like he choked out the word.

"I thought you," Lucas let out a long yawn and then continued, "I thought I heard you talking. Are you alright, buddy?"

David looked away from Lucas and said, "Y-Yes…I am fine…I'm sorry for waking you…"

Lucas smiled sleepily and yawned once again. "s'No problem. Having trouble sleeping?" David nodded his head. "Well, you want me to stay up with you?"

David shook his head, "N-No…You don't have to…G-Go back to sleep…We have a test tomorrow. You need rest…"

Lucas let out a snort and said, "I might have to wake up early to study for that test. You may be a natural at calculating the rate of electrical signals needed to increase the effectiveness of Eezo but I sure need to remember the equations and formulas." He chuckled quietly but cut it short when he saw the look on David's face. "Are you sure you don't want some company?"

David shook his head and whispered, "No…Thank you…Goodnight Lucas." With that he turned away from Lucas. He could hear Lucas let out of sigh; or was it a yawn? Lucas also bid him good night and he heard Lucas falling back into his bed and not a moment later did he hear Lucas' quiet breathing; indicating that he had fallen asleep.

David laid there in his bed and he felt his eye lids growing heavy. It looked like sleep was catching up to him and he let it be. Before drifting away into slumber he heard the collective voices whispering in his mind.

'Sleep well, David…'


A/N: Hello again! I see that people are still interested (thank you by the way, jakethecap for following!); which makes me happy that some are enjoying this. This is a short one, but so far one of my favorite to write. I want to explain about this chapter in particular. I have a headcanon that when David gets low, he hears these voices whenever he truly feels alone or frighten. You can say it's one of the outcomes from Project Overlord (where as he could "hear" the Geth's processing thoughts before, he could sometimes imagine that those voices still haunt him). It happened a while ago during an RP event. Like I said, completely headcanon, so no need to apply it to your own. You're more than welcome to message me about if you have any questions. Still taking any requests you want me to write about!

As always, I hope that you've enjoyed and I'll see you again next Sunday!

Your humble servant,

PurpleViolin