( insomnia )

[absurdities]

the i n s o m n i a meme

It happens to everyone - sometimes, you have nights where you just can't fall asleep, no matter what you do. It could be for a number of reasons, or no reason at all. And this is what's happened now: you've been laying in bed for what feels like hours, just tossing and turning, and nothing seems to help. So what's left to do? Get out of bed and go wake someone else up, of course. If you're not getting any sleep, then why should they?   i n s t r u c t i o n s • Post with your character (note the name and fandom in the subject). • Other people reply to you by generating a number from 1 to 10. • Have fun!   o p t i o n s 01 • FEAR. Maybe you're hearing strange, indeterminable noises; maybe there's a severe storm happening outside; maybe you watched a scary movie before bed? Whatever the reason, you're terrified and it's keeping you awake. You just want to wake someone else up so they can protect you from the monster in your closet. 02 • HUNGER. Your stomach is growling and it just won't stop. Or perhaps your throat is so dry you could cough up a tumbleweed? Well, you've gone to the kitchen to remedy this and hey, that was a pan that just dropped on the floor. It was loud enough to wake the dead! Oops. 03 • PAIN. Your body is completely worn out, be it from exercise, battle, sickness, or what have you. Either way you're in enough pain to keep you from sleeping, so maybe someone else has a home remedy or something, or can at least help you take your mind off of it. 04 • SOLITUDE. For some reason, your bed just feels so empty at the moment. You're feeling terribly lonely and really just want someone to keep you company for a while. Maybe it'd be easier to fall asleep if you're with them... 05 • DISCOMFORT. Your room is an oven. Either that or a freezer. Or maybe this bed is just really uncomfortable? Who knows why you can't get to sleep, it feels like it could be anything. Why even bother trying? Maybe someone else can preoccupy you until you feel tired enough to ignore your discomfort. 06 • PENSIVE. Something's on your mind, and no matter how hard you try to focus elsewhere, it's just not going to work. Your body may be tired, but your mind is incredibly busy and it's virtually impossible to get to sleep. Surely, talking it out with someone else will help? 07 • SADNESS. Something terrible has happened that day, perhaps; or you could just be severely depressed. Either way you're trying your hardest not to cry yourself to sleep, and it's not working at all. Better find a way to get it out of your system somehow; you need a shoulder to cry on. 08 • ANGER. You are just... fuming. Who knows why - that annoying dog is barking again, or maybe the people next door are getting busy and keeping you awake. Whatever the reason for your ire is, you'd better put an end to it so you can get some damn rest already! Go wake up a friend so you can complain to them. 09 • RESTLESS. You're far too energetic to sleep right now. Maybe you're just trying to do so out of necessity - you have to be up early tomorrow! But you just don't think you'll be able to fall asleep for a while now, so why waste the time trying to sleep when you could be doing something else? Namely bothering someone else - you're totally jealous because they're getting more sleep than you. 10 • WILDCARD. Choose one of the options above, or make up your own scenario

Comments

05

[watchmaker]

[another clandestine date night, another hotel room. it's raining; the-world-is-over kind of raining with thunder and lightning that makes you wonder if it's randomly hurricane season. there's no tv, no eating tons of room service, no making out. only sylar pressing a pillow over his face and making whiny dying noises.]

[bittersweeter]

Hey. [He's like a puppy. The kind that burrows under the blankets during storms shivering and looking dolefully up at their owner during the lulls like what did I do to deserve this. Except he's a grown man, so she's sort of not getting it. She nudges him lightly when the thunder slows enough.] Are you gonna live? Death wasn't part of this deal, if you're suffering from cranial hemorrhaging, I need to know.

[watchmaker]

[he slooowly slides the pillow away from his face.] If I were, I'd just get better. Probably. No, it's just — I hear everything, you know that, right? Everything. I can hear things from miles away. So when something that loud, that constant gets going ... I feel like my head is being stabbed with an ice pick.

[bittersweeter]

[Oh now she is genuinely concerned. She knew he had creepy blind guy hearing that everything is kind of excessive. (She can be concerned and judgemental of his powers at the same time.) Her forehead scrunches up in thought.] Can you focus on one thing to sort of... drown out the rest?

[watchmaker]

[it's pretty obnoxious in its excessiveness; it's true.] That's what I usually do, or I'd go crazy. But as soon as I lock on to something — [thunder loudly crashes, as if on cue. :') and he makes an intense wincing face in reponse.] — that.

[bittersweeter]

Can I do anything? [Her hands flutter in her lap helplessly, fingers twisting together, not sure if anything she could do would actually help or hinder.]

[watchmaker]

You can stay, for one thing. [he tries to smile, but it comes out very ... pained.] And maybe find painkillers? Heavy stuff, not Tylenol. Can you do that?

[bittersweeter]

[His smile may be pained, but Lila's is relieved. This she can definitely do. Because you know what existing everyday on a couple hours of sleep gives you? Pain. Ever present, chronic pain, like her bones are made of shards of glass that rub together every time she moves, chipping glass dust into her blood stream. (There is a reason people survive longer without food than without sleep.) Pushing off the bed, she retrieves her bag and rifles through it until she unearths a coin purse in the shape of a blue polka dotted octopus. Perching back on the bed, she tugs out not change, but a sandwich bag full of pills of all shapes and sizes.] Welcome to Lila's pharmacy, we have... ibuprophen, naproxen, toradol, excedrin, demoral, codeine, hydrocodone, oxycotin, duramorph, tramadol, femcet, vicodin, percocet, darvocet, empirin, midol... tic tacs. Do you have preference?

[watchmaker]

You're an angel. [he laughs briefly, bc laughing begins to hurt after 5 seconds.] Give me the percocet.

[bittersweeter]

Yeah well, I worked a pharmacy tech when I first got here. [She shrugs, fishing the pill out and handing it over.] You want water?

[watchmaker]

[he winces as obnoxiously loud thunder roars and lightning crashes.] Water would be great.

[bittersweeter]

Broken watches and thunder, I'm learning all your weaknesses... [She disappears to the bathroom to get the water, letting the tap run a while until its cold, and comes back with one of those little hotel glasses, holding it out for him.]

[watchmaker]

It's not a weakness, just an annoyance. [ he sounds all huffy and , but not actually angry or anything. but then she comes back and he's all too happy to take the water and swallow his medication.]

[bittersweeter]

You're taking narcotic painkillers for an annoyance? [She raises her eyebrows like come on, its me, don't even front, and sits down again. She gives her lap a pat. Come here, she'll play with your hair.]

[watchmaker]

[he resigns himself to ... her being right (like basically always) and slides back down into a lying position. and also rests his head on her lap.] I'm practically invincible, though.

[bittersweeter]

Except against [thunder, a room full of out of sync clocks, Justin Beiber's high pitched plaintive wailing, probably Riverdance....] my considerable charms. [She commences with languidly playing with his hair, fingers smoothing through it in a simple, steady pattern.]

[watchmaker]

That's the only exception. [it sure is nice to feel like a cat.]

[bittersweeter]

[PREEN.] I'm a pretty good exception. [At least having been a cat Lila knows how to make absent minded hair playing with feel like a professional head massage ok.]

[watchmaker]

[more thunder roars, and he jerks a little but overall doesn't seem to take it as poorly as he was before.] You're the best, or else you wouldn't be the only.

[bittersweeter]

You've just dedicated that Paramore song to me.

[watchmaker]

[his pop culture check was high enough to get that, but he also thinks it's silly so he rolls his eyes and simply says] No.

[bittersweeter]

Yep, you totally did.

[watchmaker]

I did not. [being five is cool, right? right.]

[bittersweeter]

Suuure did. [She leans over all flexible like to kiss his forehead fondly.] You're kind of adorable when you're all dying of pain and kitteny.

[watchmaker]

I'm not kitteny. [he tilts his head to look up at her and ensure that she sees the lemon face he's making.]