m for drowning nightmare

Grim hadn't slept in days.

Literal days, so many so that he had long lost count. Though, sleep deprivation wouldn't allow him to remember it anyway. In reality, he had gone just three nights without sleep.. but that included near constant hunting and extra patrols at night on top of his usual rotation during the day. It was clear that he was not handling it well and his appearance had changed beyond the glazed over look and bags under his eyes. He'd dropped weight, since despite the amount of hunting he'd done, it rarely included eating. When he did eat, it wasn't much. He was visibly weak, but it wasn't stopping him. If he stayed awake, the nightmares wouldn't haunt him and he would be fine. Of course he was not fine in the eyes of others if any stopped to actually look at him, but that was likely due not only to the amount of time he was spending outside the armada hunting. He otherwise did fairly well at hiding his mental state from others, but unfortunately hiding his physical body was a greater challenge even with his standoffish behavior naturally.

Returning from an unsuccessful hunt about and hour before dawn, Grimshaw decided to take a small pit stop under a tree to rest. Only to rest his eyes and body of course, because he certainly would not be falling asleep. However, despite his greatest efforts, he quickly succumbed to the sleep his body needed. When the nightmares start, they usually are quick about waking him albeit abruptly. This time however, Grimshaw was stuck due to his body's absolute need for sleep and the nightmare would only continue on for him. It was the same as it was every single time, trapped in the water again reaching for the surface but only feeling weighted or held down. He could always see the surface, a bright light despite the darkness in the world of the memory, and was always out of reach until it began to hurt. That was usually when Grimshaw would wake up, when the nightmare was actually drowning him. Although this time, it must've been having some fun with it's newfound time.

In the land of the awake, Grimshaw paddles and reaches his forelimbs outwards many times, as if he's reaching for something. Whines and cries range from soft to fairly loud in the quiet night, certainly earning him some kind of attention as he laid somewhere along the border of the armada near where it met with ashen.

"Speech."

To be honest, Malachai had kind of a fucked up sleep schedule, being in Ashen meant he was mostly nocturnal but he liked the daytime. It warmed his pelt and made him stand out more, the streaks of blue in his fur were more visible in the light, and though he wasn't stuck up like some of his cousins but like yeah he did want to be noticed. The point was it wasn't really odd for Malachai to be up at this time of night. Nor was it odd for him to be patroling the borders, though if what he was doing was a real patrol was maybe up for debate. He was more wandering aimlessly in the general viscinity of the border. Still he was certainly close enough to hear the whines, a frown tugging at his brows. The scent was... Grim? Malachai approached carefully, unsure what he was about to walk into. Images of his friend's broken body laying bloody and mangled flashed through his mind, luckily it was no such thing. It seemed he was... Sleeping? His twitches were erratic though and based on the sounds coming from him it didn't seem particularly restful. Malachai's ears twitched nervously, he really wasn't sure how to handle this. He gently nudged at his friend with his toes. "Hey, uh... Wakeup." He said. "Speech

Art by Cloudy!

Grimshaw was stuck in his horrible nightmare, fighting frantically to break free from it's confines but held into it like the crystal held onto him and weighed him down. Much like in the memory, Grim couldn't escape the dream either. His legs thrashed as he swam violently in his nightmare, reaching longingly for the light that shined at the surface. It went on like this for what seemed like hours to the young man twitching and suffering through massive reflexes, but wasn't but an hour or so to the awake. His crying and whining hadn't gone unnoticed, but unfortunately just the presence of another wouldn't wake him. But when he was touched, it changed everything and suddenly the man was anything but asleep, gasping for breath as if he'd been holding his the whole time he'd been asleep. His eyes were wide, pupils nothing but a tiny dot as he stared straight at Malachai in the first moment he was awake.

In the second moment, Grimshaw scrambled to press himself into Malachai in some form of a tackling hug. Malachai had saved him from the real drowning event, so waking up to see the man looking down at him was exactly what he needed. As Grimshaw pressed into Malachai and his arms wrapped tightly around him, his face buried into his chest so that he could sob out of exhaustion, fear, and everything else that had been bottling up inside of him.

"Speech."

Grimshaw jumped under his touch, eyes snapping to focus as his lungs heaved for a breath and that moment seemed to stretch on forever and yet all too quick all the same as before Malachai's heart even got a second chance to beat his friend was throwing his forelegs around him and Malachai grunted under the sudden new weight, but he adjusted quickly only stumbling slightly but remaining on his paws, strong, resolute, able to support his friend in this moment. He felt warmth spreading into his face and he was glad Grim wasn't able to see it from his angle. He gently started to lower himself, one forelimb instinctually wrapping around his friend to support and hold him as he tried to move them onto the ground, he wouldn't be able to support him long term as they were now and his first priority in that moment was to make sure he was whatever Grim needed in that moment. "You're okay, you're safe." He managed in a husky tone, his deep baritone rumbling oddly at this soft volume. "Speech

Art by Cloudy!

CODE & ART © SKELLE 2022
"Speech!"
Grimshaw was rushed into the land of the living, however his mind was still very much trapped in the nightmare in his first few moments. He crashed into him and felt the man stumble slightly, though he hardly cared if they fell. Malachai kept them upright however and accepted his vulnerability. Grim settled into the comfort of Malachai's embrace as they started to lower towards the ground, his face pressed into his chest slowly migrating towards his neck as they shifted. His body curled tightly against itself everywhere he wasn't touching his friend, otherwise he reached desperately to make the most contact and to press his fimself deeper into him, hiding from the world and his fears as he sobbed.

Malachai's words were reassuring, calming him some and allowing his body to relax slightly. It was enough to keep him from sobbing, but tears still streamed down as his cheeks as he shifted slightly to speak. "I hate this," He softly whined and sniffled, his body shivering from the aftermath of the night terror as it replayed in his conscious brain.

every second i'm without you i'm a mess

CODE & ART © SKELLE 2022
"Speech!"
Malachai would not have considered himself generally particularly affectionate. He'd never really been raised to be, sure he wasn't nervous about physical connection every now and then but he usually only extended it to things like play wrestling with his sister or friendly pushes and nudges. But somehow, and despite the sobbing of the man he held at his chest, holding Grimshaw like this felt right. Of course he wished his friend wasn't distressed so he'd take this moment of realization with him to his grave but he couldn't help but notice just how well their bodies seemed to fit together.

Grimshaw lamented his situation and Malachai squeezed the other boy for a moment. "I know, I know." He cooed softly. He didn't, not really, he couldn't really understand the terror that coursed through his friend, and even if he discovered it's origin he would never be able to fully identify with it. That day hadn't exactly been sunshine and roses for either of them, Malachai had feared he might lose his closest and really only friend but he couldn't begin to empathize with the fear of death that had come over Grimshaw. But it still felt like the right thing to say. "I'm right here though, if you need me." It was true, Armada and Ashen had ever been close allies and they were mostly allowed to come and go between the pack lands as they wanted, Malachai was literally right next door if Grim ever needed him.

"Speech!"

every second i'm without you i'm a mess

CODE & ART © SKELLE 2022
"Speech!"
Clinging tightly to Malachai as if letting go would plunge him back into the depths of the nightmare, Grimshaw wept into the mans neck as his friend squeezed and soothed him. If he had the room to think about how good it felt to be held by him, then perhaps he'd be allowed to calm down and relax into the embrace. However as the aftermath of the nightmare coursed through his present thoughts, he wasn't allowed the freedom to think of anything else at the moment. Everything was too fresh and too soon for the young man and between the haunting nightmares and lack of sleep, there was only so much the man could take.

"Will you stay with me tonight? Please?" He asked then, fearful to even really sleep but especially alone. Even if all they did was lay there and talk it was better than being alone with the fresh thoughts of the nightmare and the memories that caused it.

every second i'm without you i'm a mess