Title: Run
Summary: No amount of running can help him but he doesn't know how to stop
Prompt: July 16th / Shadows
Note: This one takes place earlier than the "White Spaces" piece.
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A hand shakes her awake and she lets out a breath she had been holding for hours now. Looking up, she spots the wry smile on his face, the dark shadows under his eye.
"Sleeping on the couch isn't particularly comfortable."
"It's fine, it's fine." She sits up, her neck stiff and sore. On the TV she can hear the sounds of a cartoon before he turns it off. "Nothing a little stretching can't take care of."
"Right." There's amusement in his eyes at her expression as she gets up, her joints complaining of her abuse.
"Going to bed now?" She looks up at the clock, finds that it's already six. "Or not."
"I'll have a nap in the afternoon." He looks tired, just so tired, and she more than anything wants to tell him to stop. There are no ghosts he can save with this vigil of his. There are only nightmares and even if he runs all night, he can't avoid them forever.
She pauses at that thought, staring at his back as he disappears into the bathroom. It had been so long since she last saw him sleep. So long since she had seen him do anything and maybe it wasn't just his fears he was avoiding.
It's a thought she doesn't want to entertain, but it grows stronger with each day.