Blood Stained Memories
His heart pounded in his ears and he could taste his pulse on his tongue as he crouched behind the flimsy shelter and prayed the demon wouldn't notice him. The blood trickling down his side had increased to a flow and while he wasn't in danger of dying, yet, he would prefer a chance to heal before confronting the next enemy. Sudden pain shot through his good shoulder and he turned to see shiny black claws digging into his skin and reddened eyes looming over him. The feel of hot breath on his face increased the feelings of fear and rage and he lashed out, a sudden whimper indicating that his fist had hit its mark.
Whimper? Demons didn't whimper. His eyes reluctantly opened and saw a familiar cracked, dingy ceiling, his breathing slowing from its previous harsh pants. It had just been another nightmare.
But his hand was throbbing from the force of the punch he had thrown in the dream and turning his head he saw Joshua huddled against the wall, a bruise already fading on his arm. Cursing, Connor leapt off the mattress and hurried to his friend's side. "I'm sorry Josh, I didn't mean it."
"Bad dreams," the other man said sadly. "Connor was making unhappy noises; Joshua wanted to see if he was ok,ay you didn't mean to hurt."
Connor slumped against the wall next to him and gave a weak smile. "I'm okay Josh, just remembering." Ever since he returned to this dimension, in his dreams he was still Steven and back on Quor-Toth, fighting for bare survival. Now those memories blended with nightmares of Cordy, and the first time he realized he wasn't Connor Reilly, and the horrors after the Pulse with the chaos both humans and demons had caused. It made him glad that despite not having shark DNA he didn't need a whole lot of sleep.
Once that fact had kept him alive, now it just helped keep him sane.
"Are you hungry Joshua?" Connor asked, seeking a distraction from his thoughts.
"Joshua always hungry," the shaggy man replied enthusiastically, dragging Connor to his feet as they headed towards the mess. A real smile briefly illuminated his blue-grey eyes as he let himself be pulled along; at least here he wasn't making any new nightmares, and maybe, eventually, the old ones would fade away.