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He was floating.
Or was he sinking?
He couldn’t tell, not with his eyes closed. He felt… light, but heavy. Cold, yet warm. He dared himself to open his eyes. It wasn’t until he tried that he realised the were already open. Panic wormed up from his stomach to his chest, his heart racing as he opened his mouth to call out, to scream, anything.
No sound came out.
He tried to take a deep breath, only for a sharp pain at the back of his throat to rip a silent scream for him, which in turn made him take a deep breath, which made his scream once more. It was an endless cycle, he couldn’t breathe, his lungs hurt, his throat hurt.
He tried to swim upwards, but which way was up? He could barely move, the air as think as honey. Tears burned in his eyes, and before he could stop himself, he gasped in fear, sending a final stab of pain through his throat to his chest before he slowly felt nothing at all.
Patton screamed, sitting up in his bed and clutching at his chest with both hands. They fell on his cardigan, and he quickly found himself ripping it off over his head and throwing it down on the floor. He choked back a sob, wrapping his arms around himself to calm himself after his nightmare.
Except… It wasn’t his nightmare…
It couldn’t have been.
Patton’s nightmares were never like that… Patton’s nightmares were about past events, potential future events, mostly involving Thomas’ friends and family, or people he once loved and trusted but now no longer could. Patton’s nightmares were like movies, played out in Thomas’ mind.
Not like… whatever that had been…
Patton liked to think he knew his kiddos well enough to know what kinds of nightmares they all had, since they had all come to him at least once about nightmares.
Roman’s nightmares were always fantasy based: Roman was the hero, out to complete a quest of some sort to save someone he loved. He often won, defeating the dragon-witch or Manticore-Chimera to win back his loved one, but sometimes, he failed… Sometimes, he was forced to watch the one that he loved die, sometimes as he died and saw the hope fade on his loved one’s face… Patton would never get used to holding the sobbing Prince those nights, running a hand through his hair and telling made up stories until the Creative side fell into a deep sleep.
Virgil’s nightmares were either typical nervousness dreams about anxiety inducing events, or they were really messy dreams, just blurs of things that made Thomas anxious, made worse by the random occurrences in dreams, such as blurry reflections, distorted words. They upset him more than anything, and he often sought Patton out for comfort, nuzzling as close to the dad-like side as he could as Patton whispered soft words of comfort as the Anxious side slipped into safe and secure unconsciousness.
Dee’s nightmares sounded horrible, and Patton didn’t quite understand himself, but Logan had once referred to it as ‘sleep paralysis’, and made it worse by telling Dee he was actually conscious in those ‘dreams’. Dee would find himself lying on his front, paralysed; Unable to move, unable to speak, while a devil-like creature crawled over him, often hurting him before suffocating him. Patton dreaded the sight of Dee at his door with tears streaming down his face, but did his best to calm him by brushing his hand over the Deceptive sides scales, guiding him to a shielded slumber.
And Logan, well. Logan didn’t dream. He’d told them so before.
Once his breathing evened out, Patton slipped out of bed and crept across the room to his door. It opened with a soft creak, like Thomas’ bedroom door used to when he was a kid, as the father-figure-figment peered out into the corridor of the mindscape.
All was quiet and dark. Roman’s door was firmly closed, decorated in red and gold stickers. Virgil’s poster-covered door was also shut tight, as was Deceit’s fabric-coated door.
However, Patton could see the Logical side’s door was open, a soft light leaking out into the hallway. With a frown, Patton crept out into the hallway, approaching the door curiously and peeking into Logan’s room.
Logan wasn’t in there.
“Logan?” Patton whispered, just in case, but he received no reply. He wondered where Logan would be, and why he could be so careless as to leave his lamp on and his door open. He was usually so… organised. Patton sighed, turning and heading to the living room.
He froze as a soft noise reached his ears. It took him a while, but after a brief scan of the room, Patton located the source of the sound behind the couch, curled up into a small ball, clutching a glass of water to his chest.
“Logan…?”
Logan flinched so hard the glass slipped from his hand and spilt across the carpet, earning a strangled sob from the logical side. Patton quickly swept in, shushing Logan with soft whispers and pulling him up and out of the wet spot.
“It’s okay, it’s okay… I got you, Lo, just breathe…” Patton whispered, rubbing Logan’s back.
“I-I do not… P-Patton…”
“Was that your nightmare…?” Patton asked softly, an expression of hurt and confusion on his face. “The one that felt… felt like floating and drowning at the same time… was that yours?” Logan looked ready to protest, but one look from Patton told Logan he daren’t try it.
So he nodded.
“Oh, Logan…!” Patton choked, throwing his arms around Logan, earning fresh tears from the logical side as he whimpered, grabbing at the back of Patton’s shirt like a lifeline. “It’s okay! Everyone has nightmares, they’re nothing to be ashamed of!”
Patton clung tight to Logan, sinking out and pulling them both up into his own room. Logan sniffled, looking around slightly, but didn’t question their new environment. Instead, he let Patton hold him.
“Do you need new pyjamas?”
“I am not wet…” Logan muttered, his voice cracking slightly against Patton’s shoulder. “Thank you.”
“Do you wanna talk about it?”
“If you experienced it… th-then there is no need.” Logan wiped his eyes. “I apologise for that.”
“Do you know
why
I saw it?”
“No…”
“Logan…?”
“I…” Logan sighed. “I called for you.”
“You… called for me?”
“In the dream, yes, I tried. I believe… perhaps… i-it was a ‘cry for help’.”
“Well, I heard it pretty darn loud and clear…” Patton chuckled nervously. Logan didn’t seem amused. “You don’t have to pretend you don’t go through the things we all do. It’s normal to have dreams, even nightmares. Tey’re a projection of your fears… and that’s okay.”
“I… I fear having no control. I was powerless a-and afraid… there was nothing to ground me, it was just myself and my emotions, there was no logic, no… no anything.”
“You could say you fear
nothing
!” Patton blurted before he could stop himself. “No, no, I’m sorry, Lo-”
But to Patton’s surprise, Logan chuckled.
“Or that I have
nothing
to fear.” Logan pulled away with a soft smirk.
“Aww, Logan!” Patton giggled.
“I believe I am in a more stable state.”
“And I believe you’re still a bit upset and so you’re gonna sleep in here with me, okay?”
“That is acceptable.”
When Roman, Virgil and Dee searched for Logan and Patton the next morning, they didn’t expect to find them both in bed and cuddling, Logan’s head on Patton’s chest, Patton’s arms around the logical side.
Virgil took a photo. You know, for insurance purposes.
Roman took 40.