Nightmares

<speNih|Offline> [You have been working to keep Epi in good health for the past... you're not properly sure how long, honestly.  Time is hard to judge in the Magicant.]
<speNih|Offline> [You've been making sure that he gets plenty of fluids and complementing them with mild soups to make sure he gets more than just water and juice in his system.]
<speNih|Offline> [You've /also/ been giving him decongestants and antibiotics at their recommended intervals:  you want him to get better, and if this is an infection, you want to fight it properly.]
<speNih|Offline> [Luckily, his fever had spiked and broken early, so you don't have that to worry about.]
<speNih|Offline> [You took a break while he was asleep one time to steal a Land Bed and a normal bed, for him to use whichever one he prefers.]
<speNih|Offline> [You've been a busy, busy woman.]
<speNih|Offline> [And, when you settled into the overlarge recliner you set in the corner, you finally dozed off and fell asleep.]
<speNih|Offline> [You can't have been asleep for too long - maybe an hour and change.]
<speNih|Offline> [Just long enough for you, with your permanently-broken Sleep Ratio, to begin to dream.]
<speNih|Offline> [You are often a quiet dreamer, but not when you have nightmares.  And, from how you're tossing slightly and how your eyes are dancing under their lids and the quiet noises you're making, it's a doozy.]
<epiele|offline> [So much for offering her the other bed once you settled down.]
<epiele|offline> [You're actually awake, a little bit, for once. She's been doing so much and sleeping so little that you're not going to disturb her.  You've been reading quietly, instead.]
<epiele|offline> [But that doesn't /look/ like normal sleeping.]
<epiele|offline> [Skaia knows you've had enough experience with nightmares, yourself...]
<epiele|offline> [You silently roll off the bed and drag yourself over to get a better look. You're not sure what waking her up will do, but this early in the game, at least, it's unlikely to kill either of you.]
<speNih|Offline> [You'd taken to having a lap blanket on when you settled into the chair, just to have a little something extra to cuddle into while you read novels on your phone or compushades.  By now, it's been kicked off and hangs half-off the arm of the chair.]
<speNih|Offline> [You've got a crease between your eyebrows and your mouth is tight and drawn and thin with some combination of terror, anger, and anxiety.]
<speNih|Offline> [Those quiet upset noises?  Not nearly as quiet now.  Your eyes are frantically moving under their lids and your hands are grasping for something that isn't there.]
<epiele|offline> [You're waking her up. You avoid her arms, because pinning them down would make her feel trapped and she might wrench them with voidstrength if you're not careful.]
<epiele|offline> [Instead, you shake her gently by the shoulders and then take her head in your hands, one hand under the chin and the other behind her eyes. "Spen. Spen, look at me."]
<speNih|Offline> [You've always been a light sleeper, as long as you can remember.]
<speNih|Offline> [You flinch into full awareness, black eyes wide and round in your face.  You go fully and completely silent and the reflections on your eyes move, betraying their movement.]
<speNih|Offline> [You're tense, taut, like a wire stretched tight to the snapping point, and your muscles bunch in an instinctive get-ready-to-strife response.]
<epiele|offline> ["Shhhhhh. I'm here. You're okay. Do you remember what you made for dinner?"]
<speNih|Offline> [There's a hand on your chin and another on the back of your head and that voice is /familiar/ and it's enough to keep you from hauling off and throwing him across the room.]
<speNih|Offline> [... what did you make for dinner?  How could he ask that when you're in /danger/, when there's something, coming /after/ you--]
<speNih|Offline> [Your mind dredges up the details anyway.  Soup, chicken noodle, with lots of veggies.  You'd almost dumped in sugar instead of salt, which is why you decided to sit down for a bit.]
<speNih|Offline> [You're starting to relax, just a little.]
<epiele|offline> ["It's your thirtieth session. You're married. I'm adoptive siblings with your daughter. Whatever you were out there with, it's not there anymore."]
<speNih|Offline> [You snap back into yourself with sudden, crystal clarity.]
<speNih|Offline> [It's hard to tell that your eyes focus, but it's equally hard to miss your entire body relaxing in one shudder.]
<epiele|offline> [Okay, /that's/ what you were looking for.]
<epiele|offline> ["You all right?"]
<speNih|Offline> [You nod slightly and then shake your head  And then nod again.]
<speNih|Offline> [You dig the heels of your hands into your eyes.]
<epiele|offline> ["...do you need a hug?"]
<speNih|Offline> [You nod.]
<epiele|offline> [You let go of her head, and hug her as tightly as you can.]
<speNih|Offline> [You hug him back - not as tightly as /you/ can, mind, you don't want to hurt him.  But you /do/ give him a squeeze.  He's warm, and real, and giving you a hug.]
<speNih|Offline> [You sigh into his shoulder and lean back slightly, fumbling for your glasses.]
<epiele|offline> [You sit down on the floor next to her and wait.]
* speNih|Offline PESTERS epinephrineElectrified: (thank you)
* speNih|Offline PESTERS epinephrineElectrified: (she's sorry if she woke you up)
<epiele|offline> ["I was already awake, if that matters to you."]
* speNih|Offline PESTERS epinephrineElectrified: (oh)
* speNih|Offline PESTERS epinephrineElectrified: (okay)
* speNih|Offline PESTERS epinephrineElectrified: (thank you for waking her up and getting her back though)
<epiele|offline> ["No problem. I'll... try to find the literature I filed away, a while ago, on how to help yourself the next time this happens."]
<epiele|offline> [You look down.]
<speNih|Offline> [You pull the blanket back on your lap.]
* speNih|Offline PESTERS epinephrineElectrified: (she)
<epiele|offline> ["Mine used to be worse. It can get better."]
* speNih|Offline PESTERS epinephrineElectrified: (could probably use that)
* speNih|Offline PESTERS epinephrineElectrified: (if you have time)
* speNih|Offline PESTERS epinephrineElectrified: (she's glad yours have gotten better)
<speNih|Offline> [You rub your cheeks.  Yours aren't usually this bad.  You think it's the stress.]
<epiele|offline> [You reach a hand up and hold onto hers. "I've got time. Right now, I apparently have nothing /but/."]
<speNih|Offline> [You look over at him when he holds your hand.  You don't look much like an old, dignified veteran right now.  You smile a little and squeeze his hand.]
* speNih|Offline PESTERS epinephrineElectrified: (thank you)
<epiele|offline> [You smile back.]
<speNih|Offline> [Scene?]
<epiele|offline> [Scene.]