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bakerstreet2025-06-01 10:01 am
indecisivesock) wrote in bakerstreet2025-06-01 10:01 am
Insomnia 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.
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She'd grown too used to the sounds of the city. New York was never quiet, not even in the early morning's smallest hours. But little stirred after dark, out here on the Wakandan plain. Well, little stirred around here, anyway. Natasha finally gave up trying to drift off and got out of bed, padding from Barnes' small guest room on silent feet and went for the equally small kitchen, fetching a glass of deliciously cool water and fetching up near one of the windows to sit, sip, and stare, gazing out over the moonlit savanna.
It was definitely beautiful, in a wild, magical way. Even she felt the pull of its primal call, whispering in her blood, making her just a little bit edgy. And to think, she'd accepted the invitation to find a little peace of mind, only to be besieged with this...restlessness.
The night breeze stirred her loose curls, and Natasha closed her eyes and took a long breath, inhaling the cool moonlight and the scents of the jungle that loomed on the far horizon, carried for miles on the winds, and the scents of earth, dirt, and growing things that were but imaginings when compared to the scents and smells of the city. Still, she liked it. She liked it here.
Even if some nights she did find it a little difficult to fall asleep. But that wasn't at all unfamiliar; insomnia was an old unwelome friend even without the new ambience.
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Having Natasha here means there's another person puttering around the cottage, but he doesn't mind. It's another layer of comfort, frankly. It means she's here, safe, with him, and that they're safe, together. He doesn't know how long she'll be able to stay, but he's going to enjoy the time he has with her while he can.
He hears the moment she leaves the guest room, moving almost silently around the kitchen, running water. He finds her lit up from the moonlight that streams in the window and he holds his breath for a moment.
"Want some tea?" he asks softly, not wanting to startle her if she hadn't realized he was up now too.
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"Sure, if you're making some." She didn't bother asking Did I wake you, because she knew she hadn't. No doubt Barnes had heard her the moment her feet met the floor. Natasha was hardly the only one who ever had trouble sleeping. And if only half of what she'd gleaned about his nightmares was true, it wasn't much of a surprise.
But he seemed to be doing quite well here, which eased her silent worries, her unspoken concern for HYDRA's former weapon. On his own (more or less), in his own mind (however splintered it may still be), and seeing to himself (as far as Natasha knew); Bucky Barnes was making progressive steps along the road to rehabilitation and recovery.
Steve would be happy knowing it.
Natasha met Bucky's eternally tired blue eyes with her soft green gaze, rising with a fond smile to precede him into the tiny kitchen. She rinsed her glass and set it to dry before moving aside to let him make the promised tea, and slid onto the second barstool, elbows on the table and chin on her hands, to wait companionably.
"It's nice out, tonight," she offered by way of conversation, glancing out of the kitchen window then back to her host, not at all abashed to simply watch him as he moved, a deliciously aesthetic ballet she thought she might never tire of. "I've never seen Wakanda by moonlight, before now."
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He was making progress - more every day even if he doubted his mind would ever be free of the nightmares that plagued him when he did manage to sleep. He wondered how often she had them, too. He watched her from the corner of his eye as he worked on the tea, filling the kettle with water and setting it on the burner.
"It is, yeah. It's beautiful." His voice was hushed even though it was just the two of them. In the dead of night, quietness seemed to be the way to go. "We could go for a walk. The lake's really pretty under the moon when it's close to full." He glanced back at her, offering a small smile. "We could take our tea out when it's ready."
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Rather than take the tea with them, Natasha instead suggested, "We could have it when we get back?" Whatever time that might be. Even if they spent the entire night outside, seeing what there was to see, they could always nap later. There weren't any hardcore schedules here in Wakanda. Not for a recovering Winter Soldier and his former SHIELD...acquaintance? friend? guest, at any rate.
"Give me five minutes and I'll be ready," she promised, sliding lightly off the stool.
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The nights in Wakanda were much cooler than the days, but it would still be plenty warm, so he just went with his sandals for shoes. The goats would be excited to see them out and about even if he wondered if it confused them, the kind of hours he tended to keep.
He waited patiently by the door as she got ready. He'd gotten so used to the solitude, but he really enjoyed the company. He'd spent some time with some of the Wakandan's of course, and the kids especially seemed to love hanging around him for some reason. But it wasn't the same as having someone who knew about his past, either. Or at least parts of it.
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She smiled at Bucky as she approached, holding out her hand for him to take. "Ready?" She knew his feral cat tendencies, but she was determined to show him that not every touch promised violence. But it was always his choice to reciprocate; she never forced the issue.
"Will we need a flashlight or can you see in the dark?" A gentle tease; the moon was full and hung low enough to drench the plain in silver light, throwing dark shadows here and there.
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He looked down at her outstretched hand for a moment before taking it—not with hesitation, exactly, but with quiet deliberation. Her hand was warm. He liked that. It reminded him that not everything in his life had to be cold.
The night wrapped around them like a loose cloak as they stepped out into the Wakandan twilight. Bucky felt the tension start to unwind, just a little.
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She'd never had the chance to spend much downtime in Wakanda, and if she were honest, Natasha wasn't entirely sure what had even prompted the invitation, but she certainly hadn't declined it. "Getting away from it all" had a completely different meaning here. And it was nice, this semi-vacation with Barnes. No expectations, no agendas, no schedules; just quiet companionship, easy conversation (when they did have it), and perhaps both wounded weapons relearning how to simply...be people all over again.
As they walked, following a small path through the tall grass, Natasha felt her host...settle, a bit, some of the underlying and ever-present tension fading away into the night. She instinctively shifted a bit closer in response, tucking her arm beneath his as a gal from the forties might have done while strolling with her fella down a boardwalk above the beach. There wasn't really a beach here, unless one counted the small lakeshore, but it was comparable all the same.
The nocturnal noises carried on the breeze, the only sounds until Natasha asked quietly, lightly, "Deep thoughts, malyshka?"
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The question lingered in the air, soft as the breeze rustling through the tall grass. He let it settle there, like so many of the things he didn’t know how to put into words. Her voice managed to cut through the noise, even when she didn’t mean to. Especially then.
Bucky glanced sideways at her—her arm tucked in his like it had always belonged there, like it hadn’t taken him months to get used to someone standing that close without setting his nerves on fire.
“Not deep,” he said eventually, voice quiet. “Just… steady.”
That was new. And rare.
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"That's...different." Her grin winked in the moonlight, bright beneath deep green eyes. "No chance of being chased by one of those big kitties, is there?" An adrenaline rush like no other, of that she was sure.
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"I mean there's always a chance," he says, voice light. "But I'm more likely to try and cuddle with it if it tries to chase me." Is he kidding? Is he serious? It's anyone's guess. "But I haven't actually seen one since I've been here. I think they mostly prefer to avoid people." And there's plenty of other wildlife for lions to stalk.
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Something he could take care of, that would flourish under his attention. A pet might truly do a world of good, not that Bucky wasn't doing remarkably well as it was. A pet might be a next step, perhaps.
"Although the goats would probably be jealous," she added, voice light. "You paying another animal all their attention."
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"Hey, I could totally have a cat," he said. "A grumpy one. All attitude and judgmental stares." He gave a little shrug, deadpan. "We’d get each other."
His hand tightened around hers just a little, not out of tension but in a quiet kind of gratitude—for the way she said things like that so easily, like it wasn’t a question.
He smirked again, playing it off. “Anyway, you’re right. The goats would stage a coup. That one with the little horn nick? Already gives me side-eye like he knows I’m too soft on ‘em.”
He let the silence fall again for a few steps, comfortable now, then added with a faint smile, “If you stick around long enough, you’ll be on the receiving end of their jealousy too. Fair warning.”