Post by NICHOLAS VINCENT LOVE on Apr 24, 2011 1:55:44 GMT -5
lalala
the moonlight is wicked
it continued.
even after the better part of a decade, nicholas found himself drowning in a pool filled with blood and bones. he never knew how he'd gotten into the pool or more importantly why he had, but the effect was the same. he couldn't swim and the blood filled his mouth and nose. jagged pieces of vertebrae bumped against him like sharks, threatening to pull him under once and for all. but nicholas never went fully under. he was already screaming, fighting at the constricting sheets that were always wrapped around him, something familiar to count on even when the night had betrayed him.
in all honesty, nicholas wasn't sure why he had the dream. he was a recurring nightmare that he had at least twice a week, if not more. you'd have thought that over the past seven years, he'd have gotten used to it by now. if you did the math, and nicholas had always been rather good at maths, he'd had the nightmare over 730.478 times. each time it was exactly the same, a pool of blood and bones and none of the times did the panic and fear ever diminish at all. he'd wake up with the coppery scent of blood in his mouth on the heels of a scream. for awhile, his mum had come into his room to check on him every time he had the dream, but that hadn't lasted long. sometimes, never predictably at any rate, nicholas would wake up and a minute or two later, liesel was in his room, crawling into his bed, snuggling with him to make him feel better, which only ever made nicholas feel worse.
it was no secret that nicholas hated when people went out of their way to make him feel better. that was what he did. he was always the empathetic one who could tune into people's emotions like magic. when people were upset, it made him upset and then he did his best to fix it. that was what he was good at. fixing people's emotions. nicholas always knew just what to say or do, depending on the person. liesel liked to talk about it in full detail and she didn't want any reaction other than simple murmurs of agreement. devlyn liked to be distracted. when devlyn's parents had divorced, nicholas had incited conversations about anything that didn't relate. they watched lady and the tramp and they played pool until nicholas was actually good at the game. they listened to green day and drove around until they'd used up a whole tank of gas. and when devlyn's dad killed himself, nicholas and devlyn made a documentary about the squirrels in nicholas's backyard, kinda of like meerkat manour. they even all had names.
but what nicholas couldn't stand was when people tried to make him feel better. the idea that people were going out of their way--that they were inconvenienced even!--for nicholas made him feel even worse without fail. but he'd never said anything to liesel. after all, it was her dream that he'd been having all these years.
it'd all started after liesel fell off her skateboard, right over the edge of their cousin's empty pool and hit the concrete bottom, easily a twelve foot drop. nicholas took one look at his unconscious little sister, one look at the cement around her head turning a horrendous shade of red, and he'd promptly turned to the nearest bushes and vomited. his cousin, however, had called for an ambulance and his mother in the amount of time it took nicholas to finish dry heaving. it wasn't that nicholas couldn't stand the sight of blood, it was that his sister had looked absolutely, undeniably, without a doubt dead. she hadn't been, obviously. she only received a minor concussion and a couple spinal cord injuries that didn't seem to affect her at all. it was the nightmares that really got to her. every single night, she was awake with a nightmare of drowning in a pool of blood and bone and nicholas was always with her in seconds while she choked out what had happened. and slowly but surely, liesel's nightmares disappeared.
that was when nicholas's started.
it was funny, really, that even after seven years, the dream still haunted him. it was almost like he'd taken it from his baby sister. but he didn't mind, really, just so long as he didn't need to hear her screaming at night anymore.
nicholas peeled the sweaty, cocooned sheets away from himself and got out of bed unsteadily. it was well after three in the morning, but he didn't care. he was hungry. he left his room quietly, trying not to make any noises that might wake up devlyn in the room next door. but it hardly mattered, because by the time he got to the kitchen, devlyn was already there, one hand propping the refrigerator door open, the other on his hip in a fantastically queer way. "we need more eggs," he said to nicholas without looking at him. nicholas almost asked how devlyn could possibly want to eat eggs at three in the morning, but decided against it. instead, he joined his friend at the refrigerator to peer inside of it. there was plenty of food, but devlyn was right. no eggs.
"i'll get some tomorrow," nicholas stated, then he instantly wished he'd said nothing. his voice was shaky and feeble and absolutely pathetic sounding. devlyn glanced at nicholas, his wide brown eyes studying his best friend's face. nicholas did his best to look normal, though he was sure that did nothing to help him. devlyn wordlessly put an arm around nicholas's shoulders, tugging the younger man closer to himself. nicholas let all of his weight fall onto devlyn who held him up without complaint.
and just like that, nicholas was okay again, tugged out of a dreaming world into reality where devlyn would always be waiting. nicholas felt a tiny smile tug at the corner of his mouth and he tilted his head up just enough to land a tiny peck on devlyn's lips. the two weren't that much different height-wise, with devlyn only an inch or two at most taller than nicholas. devlyn kissed nicholas back, a little bit more fiercely and with a smile on his lips. "can i sleep in your room?" nicholas asked after the kiss, though he wasn't tired at all anymore. he had different ideas, and he was sure devlyn knew what those ideas were. devlyn closed his hand over nicholas's wrist and wordlessly led his friend to his bedroom, pausing only long enough to let nicholas kick the refrigerator door shut.
the two curled up in devlyn's bed, wearing nothing but boxer shorts and--in nicholas's case--mismatched socks. nicholas placed his hand on devlyn's bare chest, letting it stay there while his other hand sought elsewhere, completely forgetting all about his nightmares.
even after the better part of a decade, nicholas found himself drowning in a pool filled with blood and bones. he never knew how he'd gotten into the pool or more importantly why he had, but the effect was the same. he couldn't swim and the blood filled his mouth and nose. jagged pieces of vertebrae bumped against him like sharks, threatening to pull him under once and for all. but nicholas never went fully under. he was already screaming, fighting at the constricting sheets that were always wrapped around him, something familiar to count on even when the night had betrayed him.
in all honesty, nicholas wasn't sure why he had the dream. he was a recurring nightmare that he had at least twice a week, if not more. you'd have thought that over the past seven years, he'd have gotten used to it by now. if you did the math, and nicholas had always been rather good at maths, he'd had the nightmare over 730.478 times. each time it was exactly the same, a pool of blood and bones and none of the times did the panic and fear ever diminish at all. he'd wake up with the coppery scent of blood in his mouth on the heels of a scream. for awhile, his mum had come into his room to check on him every time he had the dream, but that hadn't lasted long. sometimes, never predictably at any rate, nicholas would wake up and a minute or two later, liesel was in his room, crawling into his bed, snuggling with him to make him feel better, which only ever made nicholas feel worse.
it was no secret that nicholas hated when people went out of their way to make him feel better. that was what he did. he was always the empathetic one who could tune into people's emotions like magic. when people were upset, it made him upset and then he did his best to fix it. that was what he was good at. fixing people's emotions. nicholas always knew just what to say or do, depending on the person. liesel liked to talk about it in full detail and she didn't want any reaction other than simple murmurs of agreement. devlyn liked to be distracted. when devlyn's parents had divorced, nicholas had incited conversations about anything that didn't relate. they watched lady and the tramp and they played pool until nicholas was actually good at the game. they listened to green day and drove around until they'd used up a whole tank of gas. and when devlyn's dad killed himself, nicholas and devlyn made a documentary about the squirrels in nicholas's backyard, kinda of like meerkat manour. they even all had names.
but what nicholas couldn't stand was when people tried to make him feel better. the idea that people were going out of their way--that they were inconvenienced even!--for nicholas made him feel even worse without fail. but he'd never said anything to liesel. after all, it was her dream that he'd been having all these years.
it'd all started after liesel fell off her skateboard, right over the edge of their cousin's empty pool and hit the concrete bottom, easily a twelve foot drop. nicholas took one look at his unconscious little sister, one look at the cement around her head turning a horrendous shade of red, and he'd promptly turned to the nearest bushes and vomited. his cousin, however, had called for an ambulance and his mother in the amount of time it took nicholas to finish dry heaving. it wasn't that nicholas couldn't stand the sight of blood, it was that his sister had looked absolutely, undeniably, without a doubt dead. she hadn't been, obviously. she only received a minor concussion and a couple spinal cord injuries that didn't seem to affect her at all. it was the nightmares that really got to her. every single night, she was awake with a nightmare of drowning in a pool of blood and bone and nicholas was always with her in seconds while she choked out what had happened. and slowly but surely, liesel's nightmares disappeared.
that was when nicholas's started.
it was funny, really, that even after seven years, the dream still haunted him. it was almost like he'd taken it from his baby sister. but he didn't mind, really, just so long as he didn't need to hear her screaming at night anymore.
nicholas peeled the sweaty, cocooned sheets away from himself and got out of bed unsteadily. it was well after three in the morning, but he didn't care. he was hungry. he left his room quietly, trying not to make any noises that might wake up devlyn in the room next door. but it hardly mattered, because by the time he got to the kitchen, devlyn was already there, one hand propping the refrigerator door open, the other on his hip in a fantastically queer way. "we need more eggs," he said to nicholas without looking at him. nicholas almost asked how devlyn could possibly want to eat eggs at three in the morning, but decided against it. instead, he joined his friend at the refrigerator to peer inside of it. there was plenty of food, but devlyn was right. no eggs.
"i'll get some tomorrow," nicholas stated, then he instantly wished he'd said nothing. his voice was shaky and feeble and absolutely pathetic sounding. devlyn glanced at nicholas, his wide brown eyes studying his best friend's face. nicholas did his best to look normal, though he was sure that did nothing to help him. devlyn wordlessly put an arm around nicholas's shoulders, tugging the younger man closer to himself. nicholas let all of his weight fall onto devlyn who held him up without complaint.
and just like that, nicholas was okay again, tugged out of a dreaming world into reality where devlyn would always be waiting. nicholas felt a tiny smile tug at the corner of his mouth and he tilted his head up just enough to land a tiny peck on devlyn's lips. the two weren't that much different height-wise, with devlyn only an inch or two at most taller than nicholas. devlyn kissed nicholas back, a little bit more fiercely and with a smile on his lips. "can i sleep in your room?" nicholas asked after the kiss, though he wasn't tired at all anymore. he had different ideas, and he was sure devlyn knew what those ideas were. devlyn closed his hand over nicholas's wrist and wordlessly led his friend to his bedroom, pausing only long enough to let nicholas kick the refrigerator door shut.
the two curled up in devlyn's bed, wearing nothing but boxer shorts and--in nicholas's case--mismatched socks. nicholas placed his hand on devlyn's bare chest, letting it stay there while his other hand sought elsewhere, completely forgetting all about his nightmares.
