the i n s o m n i a meme

[bababooey]

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

JC Dobrenan | Superhero-verse OC | OTA

[civillian]

[sibylservice]

[JC's reasons for not sleeping are his own. Phaedra's excuse is that she's a vampire and it's the middle of the night, so of course she's not sleeping. She's out at some public park, off work tonight and already fed, and with her spare time, she is climbing a tree.

Look, she didn't have time to properly be a kid, so now she's making up for it.

When she sees JC from the comfort of her perch, she lets out a whistle, two quick notes that sound like a question mark, low-high.]

[civillian]

[He hasn't slept soundly in a long time. It's almost become routine these days to wake up around midnight and go back to bed at four, when his mind has settled down some. With his superpowers, JC had grown up unafraid to walk the city streets at night; anyone who might accost him typically reevaluated their desire to finish that fight when they realized who they'd crossed.

The fall always finds him even less restful, powers reacting to the changing of the seasons by flaring up. If he could, he'd unleash it all, blow it out of his system, but, well. That's too much of a risk these days. When he looks up at Phaedra, his eyes are bright and alert, despite the lateness of the hour.]

You're up... late? Early? One of the two. [He smiles, flicker-brief and unsteady, as if the expression no longer comes naturally to him.] How's your night going, either way?

[sibylservice]

I'm up perfectly on time, given my nature. You're up weird times. [But it's a light tease, as she moves to sit on a branch above him, bare feet dangling down below herself.]

But my night's going better now. Are you coming up, or am I coming down?

[civillian]

Full moons give me an energy boost, [he admits, which is uncharacteristic for him. Normally no one can pry information about his powers out of him, but it's easy, with her. She won't judge.

With a not inconsiderable amount of effort - it had been a long time since he'd lived in the countryside and had the time and opportunity to climb trees - he hauled himself up onto a branch. He nearly slips off twice.] Next time, I choose where we hang out.

[sibylservice]

Next time, text and ask, instead of happening upon me. [She giggles a little at his difficulty, but offers a hand to steady him the second time he slips.]

I'm curious, though, what sort of a place you'd choose.

[civillian]

I didn't know if you had plans, [he points out. So sue him, but he's never been good at knowing when people are free to hang out. He takes her hand and ends up more-or-less stabilized on the tree, though it's not particularly comfortable.]

Well, I... actually hadn't thought that far ahead, to tell you the truth. But I feel like there's probably a better place than a literal tree.

[sibylservice]

[Her hand lingers in his, icy cold against his feverish warmth. It's comforting to her, the contrast.]

What can I say? I like to be tall. It gives me a sense of perspective.

[civillian]

[Hot as his body runs, the ring on his ring hand's pointer finger almost burns, and he's careful to tilt his hand so it won't sting her. His father's wedding band is both a poor fit and too much a keepsake to forsake, much as it's raised questions from people from time to time.]

I like being at the top of hills, looking down at the world. It makes things seem bearable. Small, distant, contained. I used to love seeing the city lights on the river at night. The world felt... manageable. Small enough to escape, someday.

[And that had proven to be a correct thought. Eventually.]

[sibylservice]

And yet you mock my trees.

[She's not actually upset at all, just trying to make sure the conversation stays light for the moment. JC doesn't need to obsess over his past when he's already having trouble sleeping.]

[civillian]

Yes, because tree branches are very prone to breaking. Hilltops, not so much. My angst was strategic and sensible.

[Bold faced lies, it was purely about finding a lonely place to blast sad music on his MP3 player and stare at the city. His teen years were peak emo, despite the region not being home to that subculture.]

[sibylservice]

The key is balance, JC. Both with angst and with tree branches.

But then, I might be a little jealous because I didn't have many places to escape to as a teenager myself.

[civillian]

I didn't have a ton of places. But I had two, and that was good enough for me - despite the regrettable lack of trees.

[He fiddles with the ring on his hand, tilting his head thoughtfully.] Where did you go to get away, if you could?

[sibylservice]

I'd trade chores with my siblings and cousins so I could do things that let me be alone with the animals on the farm, whenever possible. They were always a lot easier to talk to than any of my family.

[civillian]

Ah. I'm an only child, but I understand what you mean about animals. The dogs of the city were good company, though inevitably I wasn't allowed to keep them. They were good listeners.

[A pause, and then, carefully:] Do you miss the farm?

[sibylservice]

I mean, the farm was basically a cult compound, and I don't miss most of the people, but...the rhythms of life there were something I could have enjoyed in another context, I think. It's complicated, trying to disentangle how much I miss the place itself from all the other associations.

[Her gaze flickers sidelong at him.]

You understand, I'm sure.

[civillian]

You miss the routine, knowing what would come next from season to season, having some pattern that could be seen even if other things weren't entirely certain. Yeah, I... I understand.

[He meets her gaze, struck both by how young she looks and how tired. They're too young to be this level of worn down, but maybe that means they're young enough to pull back from it and find happiness again. JC would like to think that, anyway.]

I miss the food. It's stupid, I know, I know, but, well. You understand, I'm sure.

[sibylservice]

[To be fair, she stopped aging when she became a vampire; he doesn't actually know how old she is. It's only been ten years, but still.]

I miss food in general. But I definitely know what you're talking about. The stuff you can't get here, that most people think you're crazy for remembering fondly.

[civillian]

[People with superpowers age on delay. He'll end up in the same boat as her eventually, looking young despite not being it, but at the moment JC looks like what he is.]

I learned early on that people here don't find the idea of hot pepper in jelly particularly appealing. Worse, here it's a hipster product. I'm thinking of learning to make my own, honestly, just so I don't have to shop at stores with names like "The Dancing Rainbow" manned by people named things like Crystal Raven and Ash Oakenthorn and I'm realizing mid-sentence that as a pagan who lives in the same city as me, you may know the people I'm referring to.

[Fuuuuck did he just insult her friends?]

[sibylservice]

[She laughs aloud at that comment, though, shaking her head.]

It's Oakthorne, not Oakenthorn, and he's a huge teddy bear once you get to know him. But honestly, I've got no room to judge, given I totally chose my name out of Greek mythology, like my sire did before me. Like, if I introduced myself with my full name and title, I'd sound like as much of a prat as Swansong Merriweather, High Priestess of the Moon-Blest Circle, honestly.

[civillian]

I simply gave up on people here pronouncing my actual name correctly. J makes a Y sound and C makes a Ch sometimes in my native tongue and it's just a headache. I guess the advantage of using Greek and nature names is that it gets around that problem, but... it's a little hard to get used to.

[Crystal Raven is a weird mental image, no matter how many times he hears it.]

[sibylservice]

See, that just makes me want to try and learn to pronounce your name as well as possible, just so you can occasionally hear it from time to time.

For me, taking on a new name was throwing off my family's power and declaring who I wanted to be. I did keep my surname, though. That part, I kind of like.

[civillian]

My mother called me by pet names and nicknames a lot of the time. I don't associate my name with too many terrible things, but it's likely I'll never be able to truly be at ease with endearments like 'darling' and 'sweetheart' and especially 'little one'. I have thought about changing my surname, though, once I'm legally able to do so. I don't like the associate it has.

[He pauses, considering whether to say it, but looks over at her and says softly,] It's Jefrosinije Ćiro. My full name. You don't - you don't have to use it if you don't want to. I know it's a bit much.

[sibylservice]

ye-FRO-sinny-yay CHI-ro?

[An attempt was made to replicate the sounds that just came out of his mouth. Truly, an attempt was made.]

[civillian]

Yef-roh-sin-ee-ey Cheer-roh. More or less. I'm aware it's a mouthful, and it's fine if you don't want to deal with it. Really.

[It's a lot. It's also deeply religious, in context. Fortunately that's gone over her head, so the risk of it making her uncomfortable is negligible.]