dismal dreams (POST)
Dan's night is like any other; they order pizza and play games, Mark's boisterous laughter filling the air, while Jack sqwuaks raucously, and Dan groans in exasperation. Normally, Phil's own cheerful input would be mingled amongst it, but his grandparents had been asking him to visit, and so he went.
He would have left a month ago, honestly, but then there was the incident with the Vevmilons, then they all talked about their secrets, and Jack and Mark meeting Felix-
It had been chaotic and messy for awhile.
Finally, when there had been a calm week, Phil decided to go visit his grandparents (partially from Dan's urging. "Family is important." "But that's maybe why I should stay.")
Dan could feel the wary unsure okay? stay safe from Phil, and, honestly, he could understand his trepedition; Dan himself still felt nervous, his sleep trouble increasing in the last month. Sometimes he felt like his voice was cut off by a muzzle again, claw-like fingers grabbing him-
Phil came into his room the nights that his fear strangled him in jumbled dreams of past-phobias and lingering-memory. The first two times he had nearly taken the door off of its hinges; the times after that were softer, calmer, with Phil shaking his shoulder to wake him up, and keeping his own emotions in check so that Dan could calm down. There were a few nights where Dan went to Phil, but his best friend had far less nightmares than he.
And while the range of his emotional output wasn't far enough to disturb Mark or Jack's sleep, he was certain that they knew.
But tonight, Phil was gone. He planned to be away for two weeks, and while normally this was a manageable challenge for Dan, especially since he had roommates for friends now, it was harder since he didn't flare to simple discomfort loss.
It was panic empty alone alone alone unsafe, clinging to him as he tried to sleep.
Walls warping, dripping darkness in the confines of his mind as dismal dreams melded towards memory-induced nightmares; sibilant speaking in hisses coupled with heavy, weighted hands grasping him and patting his hair, flickering moments of cold metal pressed against his neck, body thudding with rapid heartbeats and rushing blood-
He's crying, and choking on a salty ocean though he couldn't be breathing in the water through a mouth clamped shut, and all of a sudden the dark is pressing, tightly wrapping around him until he is numb and can ' g. . .
Hands are on his shoulders, shaking him from sleep; Dan's not sure why his first thought is a fleeting feeling of surprise that he's not crying. He's breathing sharply though, mind too numb to truly output any emotions, though he does feel the blanketing warmth that he associates with Mark.
It's okay here safe okay okay? safe friend here? that he catches, vaguely hesitant as Mark focuses on projecting his emotions to him.
Dan feels not only awareness trickle in, but his own emotions, fear giving in to Mark's calm okay here here friend safe here.
"Bad dream?" The half-Korean rumbles.
"Uh, yeah," Dan turns away awkwardly. "It's- I'm fine though. Thanks."
He knows Mark is frowning, feels unconvinced from him, but Dan is plenty embarrssed at the moment, so Mark drops it.
They sit in the quiet for a bit.
"How'd you know?" Dan eventually asks.
"Decided to sleep in the living room tonight. Jack's doing one of his heavy-sleep things, and you wouldn't believe how much he snores. Felt. . . uh, felt your nightmare."
While Dan doesn't chuckle at Mark's attempts to figure out terminology (and heck if Dan knows the proper terminology himself), he does smile. "Well, thanks, anyways."
Mark's nodding, even though Dan can't see it in the dark. "No problem. You want to come watch some tv with me? I know I'm not up to going back to sleep."
Dan wants to say no; feels like he may be inconveniencing him somehow. But he doesn't even get a chance to answer, body moving of its own accord to follow Mark out of the room.
They stay up until six am, watching Japanese game shows and re-running cartoons, joking quietly. And while Mark doesn't bring up the incident, it's evident for the rest of the time that Phil's gone he's sleeping in the living room, ready to help Dan through another nightmare, or to stay up with him the rest of the night.
And honestly, even as these incidents start to fade, Dan is quite thankful.