Hi fellas! Whoo, been a while since this thing updated. I know I do still owe some of you guys one-shots, and I swear those are going to happen! I promise.

But for now! I got a surprising number of questions about Cole's nightmares back in Chapter 83. That's what I get for changing the script at the last minute. XD So here's an "alternate" version of that scene, closer to the original! And slightly expanded.

Also, a few extra people asked questions for the Q&A more recently. Those have now been answered! They're at the end of the "More Q&A" chapter. ^_^''

Cole fell asleep easily—they were used to sleeping on bare rock if they needed to, sitting up on a sofa was no problem—but woke up again in the middle of the night.

"Are you okay?" someone murmured next to him. He blinked in that direction. Lloyd was awake, the glow of his phone screen lighting up his face.

"What are you doing up?" Cole mumbled.

"My sleep patterns are a mess after the last few nights," said Lloyd. "I couldn't sleep."

"You sure?"

"Yes, geez. I was just starting to get sleepy now," sighed Lloyd. "Why are you up? You just now kinda choked and woke up."

"Oh. Uh, nightmare." Cole rubbed one eye, yawning. "The usual."

"Wait, what?" Lloyd started. "You had a nightmare?"

"Yeah . . . "

"But . . . I was awake," said Lloyd. "I was here playing on my phone."

"Yeah, so?"

"I thought I was causing the nightmares. With the spell."

"Oh." Cole blinked groggily, processing. "Wow. That makes sense."

"But . . . you just now had a nightmare anyway? You're sure?" said Lloyd.

"You don't hafta sound so eager," grumbled Cole.

"S-sorry." Lloyd ducked his head sheepishly. "You, uh . . . you okay?"

"As okay as you always are," said Cole, giving him an ironic look. Lloyd huffed.

His phone screen blinked out as they sat. Meep made small sleepy fidgeting noises from somewhere inside Lloyd's blankets.

"So . . . what are your nightmares about?" asked Lloyd eventually.

"Ah, a lot of stuff," said Cole, throwing his head back. "Falling, dying. Dying of falling. You guys getting hurt . . . " He hesitated. "A . . . a lot of them still about my dad."

"Really? Me too," said Lloyd.

"Woah, really?" Cole looked up. "I thought you and your dad always got along pretty well."

"Ohh." Lloyd started. "I, uh—sorry. No. I was thinking of something else."

"Oh. I know what you mean."

Lloyd shook his head hastily.

"N-never mind, this wasn't about me. So, uh—yours are . . . uh . . . "

"Ah, nothing much." Cole shrugged awkwardly. "I mean, I guess I shouldn't complain. I . . . "

"You at least have a dad to have nightmares about, I know, I know." Lloyd waved in dismissal. "C'mon. That's not how it works. You can complain if you want to."

"Eh . . . " Cole shifted again. "Just—you know. There's probably some weird science explanation for it, but whatever, right? When I was little I used to have nightmares about my dad all the time." He hesitated again.

"That he was gone?" murmured Lloyd, blinking drowsily through the dark.

"Naw." Cole laughed tiredly. "That he was there. Like, sometimes I dreamed he was telling me to kill people, and I had to do it."

"Oh my gosh."

"Yeah. Or, I dunno. A lot of ones where something really bad would happen and he didn't care. Or . . . well, this one I've had a couple times . . . um . . . " Cole hesitated, then sighed. "Eh. There's this lady, and I don't really know what she looks like, but I know it's my mom. And my dad is telling her she has to go into this room, and somehow I know it's dangerous, she's gonna die. And I keep yelling no, don't make her go in there. But I can't stop him."

"Oh gosh," said Lloyd thinly.

"Ah, it sounds worse than it is." Cole tried to wave it off. "You know how it is. Being a little kid, getting told to practice music and dance all the time, not much freedom, lots of pressure. It does weird things to your brain at night."

Lloyd shook his head.

"And you still have those even now?"

"Nah, not much. They stopped after I made up with my dad, really just dropped off all of a sudden. It's just that . . . Usually when there's a lot of stuff going on, you know what I mean? Like now. Whenever I have a lot on my mind, they start up again. Heh. I guess my brain still thinks the only worrying I ever do is worrying about disappointing my dad."

"You're not worried about disappointing us, are you?"

"Ahhh . . . "

There was some shuffling around, and Lloyd's nest of blankets draped itself against Cole comfortingly.

"Aw. Well geez." He fluffed up Lloyd's hair, chuckling. "So you think I'm doing okay?"

"Mm-hm." Lloyd yawned, shutting his eyes.

"Then what's all this 'don't leave us' stuff I keep hearing?"

"That's . . . diff'rent," mumbled Lloyd. He began to explain, but he sounded like he was talking through syrup and his sentences made little to no sense. Gradually he tapered off into the occasional expository mumble. Cole nudged him lightly.

"Heyyyy. You're not gonna fall asleep here."

"'m too." Lloyd settled himself in tighter.

"G'wan, this is getting awkward."

"Deal with it." Lloyd dragged open one eye. "I've put up with two days of everyone asking me over and over what's wrong with me and acting like I'm made of glass. See how you like it now."

"Hey, sorry for caring," said Cole drily.

"You know what I mean."

Rolling his eyes, Cole ruffled Lloyd's hair again and let him stay.

A/N: Probably just as well that this version didn't actually happen in the story. Cole'd just spent way too much time making fun of Jay for hugging things in his sleep, and Jay can take pictures. :P