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. |
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
zizz) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
bakerstreet2014-03-25 11:55 pm
Stiles Stilinski | Teen Wolf | OTA
Of course 7.
All she knew was that she didn't want to be alone. Her mother had tried to be understanding in her own way. Lydia knew by now that she didn't deal well with this type of thing. But sleeping pills and a hug wasn't really what she needed. She needed someone there with her, she needed to be reassured that when she woke up, she wasn't going to be alone. She needed to know that she wasn't going to lose anyone else, after losing her best friend and her kind of boyfriend on the same day. And almost losing Stiles on top of it. She had to be sure he was okay, and if it had been up to her, she wouldn't have let him leave the school without her, but Derek had pulled her aside and she had been in too much shock to really fight him.
She knew Stiles wasn't okay yet, he was far from it. How could he be when he remembered everything? When his body had been put through hell and he needed to physically recover as well as mentally. Maybe that had been the real reason why Lydia ended up there. Maybe it was more selfish than that and she needed the reassurance he was okay.
Either way, she knocked on the door and waited. Because she just had to see him.
Naturally >.>
If the words death warmed over hadn't been such a fucking appropriate description, he would have scoffed at the cliche. He hated cliches. And yet here he was living out one of the biggest ones ever.
He still didn't understand, really, why or how he'd managed to survive at all. No, that wasn't true. He knew exactly how he'd managed to survive. Because Scott and Lydia and the pack and his dad and Melissa and Chris Argent hadn't given up on him. God if they had, maybe if Chris had just shot and killed him when he'd had the chance, everything would have turned out differently. He tried to focus on just breathing as the guilt threatened to crush him. Allison was dead. She was dead, and Scott had to live with the memory that she'd died in his arms. And Lydia was minus her best friend and the guy she'd been seeing. Isaac had lost the girl he loved. He buried his face in the pillow beneath him. His dad wasn't home -- the station was a wreck still from the Oni attack. His dad had almost died. Melissa McCall, too. Deaton.
It had literally gone after everyone who'd mattered anything to him at all. And somehow even after death, it had been Allison who'd ultimately saved the day. It shouldn't have been her. It should have been him. He should be the one dead and not her. Not even Aiden and he'd never liked the guy.
In the distance he heard a knocking sound and his eyebrows furrowed as he lifted his head, wondering if he was imagining it. But no, it sounded again, and he slowly pushed himself up and out of bed, legs feeling like jello -- hey another cliche. How great, he thought bitterly, making his way down the stairs and rubbing a hand over his pale face. The nogitsune hadn't been too worried about human necessities like eating and sleeping and taking vital medication. His body was severely off kilter and he had a feeling that recovery time was going to be much slower than he wanted it to be.
He made his way toward the front door, unlocking it without bothering to check who was there at 2:28 in the morning because he just didn't care that much. He opened it, blinking a couple of times at the sight of Lydia on the doorstep. "Hey." He pushed the screen door open, stepping back to let her in and wondering what was going on. Please don't be another crisis. Just a couple of days without a crisis. Just a couple, he thought.
no subject
But when he finally appeared, she managed to swallow her anxiety. He still looked terrible, but he was alive. alive and himself. Because all it took was one look In his eyes for her to be able to tell who she was talking to. And this was Stiles, just Stiles.
Stiles who had been through hell in the past few weeks, Stiles who felt responsible for all the damage that thing had done, even if it had damaged him the longest. Stiles who was probably never going to be the same sarcastic but secretly optimistic guy she had grown to know and to care so much about in the past few months. Stiles who seemed to believe in her more than anyone else did, more than she believe in herself. Stiles who needed someone to be strong for him for a change instead of dumping on him more reasons for him to feel guilty.
That realization was what made Lydia decide not to just wrap her arms around him and cry, and grief and be grateful he was there like she wanted to. That was what made her head inside the house after a simple "hey" in return.
Once he had closed the door, she stepped forward, closer to him and took his hand. She might have made the decision not to break down on him, but she wasn't made of stone. She needed the physical reassurance at least, even if it was a relief to see him standing on his own. "Did I wake you?" She asked quietly, forcing her voice to sound firm but still, not bothering with hiding her concern.
no subject
But this wasn't about him. At least he didn't think so. She'd come for a reason. It was after 2 on a school night and while they were all known for missing days of school at a time, he knew Lydia liked to stay on track as often as possible. For some slight shred of normality and predictability. For something to focus on when everything else kept falling away. Or being violently torn away. That was more accurate, really. He was already so far behind in classes that it was ridiculous. He wasn't even sure he was going to be able to catch up. No doubt the next trouble was already brewing.
Fucking demons. Fucking nogitsune. Fucking nemeton. Fucking Beacon Hills. He hated this town.
"Lydia?" he prompted, voice quiet, worried. "Are you okay?" he asked, searching her eyes. There were dark circles under there, but they weren't quite as defined as the ones beneath his own. Then again he'd had a demonic fox possessing his body for weeks.
no subject
But Stiles was different, he knew everything, he knew she couldn't possibly be okay because she knew he couldn't possibly be okay either. Not with everything they had seen and been through in the past couple of days. Not with everything they had seen and been through in the past few months.
Which was why she knew she had to distract him from her answer. Because she was standing in his living room at two in the morning and he had to know something was going on. Maybe she should just be as honest with him as she could allow herself to be without really telling him how she was feeling. Because she really had come over because she needed the reassurance he was okay amongst other things. Other things that she definitely didn't want to bring up now, not to Stiles.
"Your hand is freezing, are you still cold?" She asked worriedly. Maybe, if he didn't let her get away with it, she was going to tell him that partial truth, but not just yet. Instead, she just wrapped her free hand around the one she was already holding, then brushed her fingers against his skin to try to warm his hand up even if just a little.
no subject
More things he was to blame for to begin with.
He looked down at her hand in his, and the urge to pull away was strong because he didn't want her to worry about him. If everyone had just worried less about him to begin with maybe things could have turned out differently. Maybe it could have been him instead of Allison and Aiden. Instead of all those other people who didn't even know what was going on. God, he wished it had been.
"Yeah," he admitted, because there was no sense in denying it. She could feel how cold his skin was. His insides felt even colder. Like a block of ice was just sitting in his chest. Even Mrs. Yukimura's chamomile tea hadn't helped him warm up. Neither did all the extra blankets on his bed. He'd thought about researching the effects of demonic possession, but he just hadn't had the energy to sit up for that long.
no subject
Today, however, she had no plans of letting him focus on her. Because the more she looked at him, the more she was able to tell just how incredibly fragile he really was, and the more she worried. She couldn't lose Stiles too, she couldn't lose anyone else, but she really couldn't lose Stiles. And that just reaffirmed her plan to focus on him instead, because in the end, it just might be what they both needed.
Lydia didn't even hesitate as she stepped closer to him. "Do you have a space heater anywhere? Or a fireplace?" They rarely used either of those in California, so in case he didn't have any, she was already planning on taking him out to her car. Because she felt like direct heat might work better than central heat. At least until the rest of the house got warmer.
no subject
He shook his head slightly at her question, looking down at the floor. They rarely ever even had to turn on the heater during winter, let alone have a space heater or fire place. He let out a breath. "No, nothing like that. Just...a lot of blankets. You uh, you want some tea or something?" he asked, eying the sofa out of the corner of his eye. He wasn't sure how much longer standing was going to work out.
"Or do you wanna sit down?" he offered, rubbing his free hand over his face.
no subject
Her arms were still sore from earlier, from holding on, supporting, pushing and pulling Stiles, but somehow facing the Nogitsune while being able to keep him close had been comforting. She had barely been able to see Stiles at all in weeks, and she had forgotten just how different having him around felt. It wasn't something she could describe or even fully understand, but Stiles' presence definitely changed things. It changed the dynamic of the group. Having him around, even in this state made her feel more confident in her abilities when it came to all things supernatural. Just by being Stiles.
And it was just one more reason why she had to make sure he was going to be okay.