It was normal for Korvo to be woken up in the middle of the night.

Sometimes it was his own fault; his mind was so preoccupied with thoughts of ship repair that he had to get up and leave the room, either because he wanted to work longer or because of an excessive amount of gooblers. Sometimes he'd hear lasers firing in the replicants' room and get up to investigate. A few times he'd woken up to the sound of giggling on the sidewalk and eggs splattering on the windows.

But mostly it was Terry who woke him up. The Shlorpian had a tendency to sprawl out when he slept, more often than not invading Korvo's side of the bed. He also talked in his sleep every now and then, although it wasn't too hard to tune out after some practice. And then there were the times when Terry's arm found its way around Korvo's shoulders, which kept him awake for more reasons than one.

Tonight was fairly quiet, thank goodness. Korvo had checked and double-checked the ship before turning in, so he was sure nothing there needed his immediate attention. The replicants had been exhausted from the school day and gone to bed early, and so far it seemed like no one planned on vandalizing them this week.

Ah, peace. In this house, it was hard to come by.

Unfortunately, it was ended by Terry's arm smacking him in the face.

Korvo groaned, groggily fumbling for the offending arm and moving it away. Rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, he squinted up at the ceiling, silently asking the Great All-Tree if it was too much to ask for one night of uninterrupted rest. As if in response, Terry's arm twitched again, this time hitting the side of his thigh.

"Goddammit, Terry," he mumbled, turning his head. "Would it kill you to hold still for two seconds, I swear to-"

He stopped short.

Terry's arm wasn't the only thing that was twitching. He kept turning his head side to side on the pillow, as if looking for something. His shoulders were tensed, and his expression was twisted in discomfort as he rolled back and forth, breathing shallow and ragged.

For a minute Korvo was motionless. He knew Terry was an active dreamer, granted, but he'd never seen him look so distressed in his sleep before. At first he wondered what dream could warrant this level of unease, but then Terry let out a soft whimper and his heart sank.

Fuck, fuck, fuck-

Korvo quickly pulled himself to a sitting position on the bed, reaching out for his friend's shoulder. His hand stopped just inches away, hovering in indecision, then gently pressing against Terry's sleeve and shaking him a little.

"Terry."

No response. If anything, Terry's face scrunched up even more. A few gooblers popped out from just above his eye.

Korvo gripped him tighter, shaking him with a bit more urgency. "Terry?"

Terry's hands found the sheets and dug into them. He'd started mumbling under his breath, but it was too quiet to catch the words.

If Korvo was worried before, he was downright anxious now. He grabbed Terry's other arm, just below his sleeve. His friend's skin was clammy.

"No," whispered Terry, almost inaudibly. "No...no, no…"

God, the panic in his voice was unbearable. "Terry!"

That did it. Terry's eyes snapped open and he shot upright in a shower of gooblers, seemingly unaware of Korvo's hands on his shoulders. His breathing was ragged and desperate, and for a minute his eyes darted around the room, as if to confirm where he was.

"Terry…" Korvo scooted closer, moving his hands away so his friend could move freely. "It's okay. You were dreaming."

Terry didn't seem to hear him. His eye movements began to slow, moving with more purpose. They went to the window, then the nightstand, then the door, and finally to his lap.

Now more grounded, he exhaled shakily. "...fuck."

"Terry?"

Finally, he turned to Korvo, as if noticing him for the first time. There was still clear discomfort in his face, but it was no longer panic. Korvo wasn't sure what expression he was wearing, but whatever it was, it made Terry's face go slack.

Terry was quiet for a minute, then murmured. "Heh heh...fuck."

He ran his hands over his face, grinning and laughing deliriously under his breath. Korvo, as worried as he was, doubted anything he said would be heard at the moment, so for the time being he stayed silent. He raised a hand, hesitant, and placed it on Terry's back, rubbing small circles under his neck, and to his relief Terry didn't pull away.

It took a while, but eventually Terry's laughter dissolved into soft breathing, then silence. His hands lingered on his face, then fell with a thud into his lap. He turned to face Korvo again, and to the scientist's relief he no longer looked scared, just tired.

"Are...you okay?"

Terry let the question sit for a moment, then mumbled, "A little."

"...you scared me."

Suddenly Terry seemed more alert. "I did? Shit, I'm sorry-"

"No, no, no," Korvo interrupted, waving his hands in vehement denial. "No, don't be sorry. It's okay."

He wanted to continue, but what else could he say? Now wasn't the time to make this about him or how worried he was. This was about Terry. His mind started breaking down the situation like a new mission, lining up various objectives: Help Terry. Make Terry feel safe.

He rubbed the back of his neck. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Terry was the type to talk about his feelings, he knew that much. It seemed to help him work through his emotions and get them out of his system, the same way ship repair helped Korvo de-stress after a long day of...well...ship repair. Maybe this was the same kind of situation.

Terry didn't answer at first. Instead he let out a shaky sigh and fell backwards onto the pillow with a dull thud. The moonlight from the half-open window lit up his face with a ghostly sheen, highlighting every spot and curve.

"...it's stupid. I'm fine," he said quietly, after some thought.

Korvo furrowed his brow. "You're not fine. You're shaking."

"Am I?" To confirm, the Shlorpian lifted his hand in front of him. It took everything Korvo had not to reach out and take it. Instead, he shifted under the covers, scooting a little closer.

"Terry, please."

Terry gave in. He let his hand drop, then propped himself up on his elbows. His eyes flickered to a half-empty water bottle on the nightstand, and Korvo took the cue and passed it to him.

"It started out stupid," he began, taking a grateful sip of water. "We were on Shlorp. Except it looked like Earth, but, you know, dream-me knew it was Shlorp. There was something with a giant squid and, um-I don't know, random dream stuff."

Here he handed the water bottle back to Korvo, who returned it to the nightstand and lay down again. Terry did the same, although he didn't meet Korvo's eyes.

"...and…"

Terry bit his lip. "The asteroid hit, but we were still here. No ships, no evacuation, no countdown clock like there was for real. Just, all the sudden…"

He made a small "boom" gesture with his hands, and again Korvo's heart sank. The destruction of the homeworld was a theme of his nightmares as well, albeit not as often now that they'd settled into their new normal. Of course that would be the setting for his friend's night terror.

But, he considered, was it enough to warrant the amount of panicked stress Terry had been under? It was no secret that he wasn't entirely happy on Shlorp; he'd told Korvo before, under the influence of several drinks and a dash of cocaine, that he hadn't mourned the planet for long. Still, though, if it was enough to bother Terry, it was enough to bother him.

Comforting words weren't his strong suit, so he didn't try to conjure any. Rather, on impulse, he placed his hand in between Terry and himself; no commitment, no expectation, just a hand put there in the hopes that Terry knew it was there for him.

To his surprise, Terry's hand immediately grabbed his. For a moment his breath hitched in his throat, his eyes transfixed on their intertwined fingers-touching him touching him touching him-but then his gaze found his friend's face again and immediately he went back to worrying. The little calm Terry had regained was now gone; in fact, he looked like he was about to cry.

"It's okay," his mouth said without his permission. "It's okay."

"Korvo-"

Oh shit, he was crying. Tears were running sideways down his face, dampening the pillow, and his lower lip was trembling. He was gripping Korvo's hand like a lifeline. It only took a second for the silent tears to turn into loud, ugly sobs.

Korvo didn't even think. He pulled himself closer, wrapping his free arm around Terry's trembling shoulder. Terry buried his face in Korvo's neck, shaking and gasping for air while Korvo rubbed patterns in the back of his nightshirt.

"I couldn't find you-" he choked out between sobs. "Or Jesse-or Yumyulack-I looked everywhere-"

Oh God, suddenly everything made sense. Korvo stopped rubbing his partner's back in favor of holding him as tightly as he could. Shit, no wonder Terry had been so afraid-although he'd never admit it, a dream like that would terrify him just as badly.

"Terry-we're here. I'm right here."

No answer, not that he expected one. Just sobbing.

His own throat was choking up now. "I'm here. Everyone's safe. You found me. We're all okay, Terry."

Terry's hand tightened around Korvo's, and he rolled over so the two were facing one another. Tears were still rolling down his face, but his breathing was slowing a bit, and when he met Korvo's eyes the scientist could see a vulnerable hope deeper in them. The sight made his chest pang, and Korvo had to swallow.

"I...I know," Terry breathed, lifting a shaking hand to scrub his face. "But still...Korvo, I don't want-"

"Everyone's safe," Korvo interjected. "The replicants are safe. You're safe. I'm-" For whatever reason the words felt strange in his mouth. "-I'm safe."

For a moment the two were silent. Then, as his tears finally slowed, Terry lifted his free hand. Korvo watched as it hung between them, almost apprehensive, before Terry's expression flooded with resolve and the hand came up to touch Korvo's face.

Korvo promptly forgot how to breathe.

Terry didn't seem to notice. His eyes dropped down to their clasped hands, then rose to meet his partner's. To Korvo's immense relief there was reassurance in his face, a comforted expression, and he felt his shoulders relax.

"...thanks," Terry whispered.

"I-uh-of course."

Terry smiled, then removed his hand and let it flop between them. "Ugh, and the dream was so good until that last part..."

Korvo raised an eyebrow. "Terry, I fail to see how anything about that was good."

"No, no, no, the first part was okay!" Terry said, waving his hand around for emphasis. "So it started in a fancy bar, right? And I was wearing that dress I got from the mall, chatting it up with the bartender, when all the sudden Chris-fucking-Hemsworth slid up next to me and offered me a drink-"

Korvo felt himself smiling without his consent. "Uh-huh."

"And I thought, oh, it'd be RUDE if I didn't, but then I noticed he was wearing a bikini for some reason, and that's when the floor melted-"

As Terry rambled animatedly on, Korvo nestled under the covers and let his eyes close. He doubted this would be the last time his partner woke with a night terror; thoughts of the homeworld and worry for the family weren't things that could be dismissed any time soon. But at the very least, losing a few hours of sleep was a small price to pay to make them feel safer-to make Terry feel safer.

It was all worth it if it was for Terry. Without question.

"Oh, oh, and then the squid fucking EXPLODED, Korvo-"

He was still holding Terry's hand.