#dbdask

Quentin's issues with Freddy are so unbelievably unique that Steve is constantly working at a proper solution. The very first thing Steve tries and mostly succeeds in is fixing Quentin's self-medication. A few things Quentin will do to deal with his trauma and lack of sleep are to self-isolate, to dissociate, to deflect, and on really bad days, even harm himself just to keep himself awake. For Steve, a solution for these issues was easy coming. Steve knows better than most what it's like to be the center of attention, so he gave that to Quentin. Any moment outside of a trial, Steve was right there with Quentin even if the tired teen didn't want him around. It took time but Quentin eventually came out of his shell a little and let Steve in on more of his issues; he let Steve help.

The one thing Steve didn't see coming was Quentin's determination to remain awake, and the effects that came with it. Nothing could prepare Steve for Quentin's sudden outbursts and fits of panic as he believed he'd just seen a spider as big as his eyeball crawling up his shirt. Steve didn't have a clue as to why Quentin was suddenly incredibly irritable and blaming everything under the Entity's moons as to why his stuff was missing (when it wasn't).

The first time seeing all of that was a shock, but Steve realized that Quentin, more than ever, just needed rest at that point. He'd coax his boyfriend into a power nap that would suddenly turn into a full 10 hours of sleep. Yeah, Quentin would feel a little hurt that his boyfriend would just let him fall into Freddy's realm like that, but even Quentin knew that he needed to sleep eventually.

For the most part, Steve thought that all of that was the full package; there wasn’t anything else Quentin could throw at him that would surprise him over his lack of sleep. That was before Quentin came at Steve with a set of medical scissors. 

Steve hadn’t been counting but if he had, he would have known that Quentin was on his fourth day without sleep. Quentin was primed and ready at that point to fall face first into detailed hallucinations. So, when Quentin returned from a particularly nasty match against Freddy and couldn’t stop seeing the killer in every person he looked at, Quentin naturally reached for a weapon. Steve was both lucky and unfortunate enough to see his boyfriend and approach first, not realizing what Quentin was ready to do. Quentin lunged, trying to stab the scissors into Freddy’s (Steve’s) jugular. Steve blocked the attack but earned a clean stab through the hand. 

The moment Steve screamed, the camp was up in full panic mode. Every survivor rushed over to help Steve and try to restrain Quentin. While Jake and David and a few others took Quentin’s attention, Jeff and Claudette pulled Steve away and out of danger. Quentin would swing and mumble things no one caught, but none of it sounded pleasant. When Quentin swung on David, the Brit was quick to snatch Quentin’s wrist before reeling back and punching his lights out with one swing. Even though that fixed the issue at hand, Steve and many of the others were livid that David had done that. 

Claudette and Cheryl gingerly patched Steve up the best they could afterwards. Quentin was given a bed of discarded sweaters and jackets to rest on. As a punishment for his rash behavior, David was issued the task of retrieving a bundle of snow from Ormond, to help with Quentin’s rapidly swelling face. The camp was eerily quite while they waited for Quentin to wake up. Everyone had their theories for the teens behavior; from having finally snapped to just being bored. Steve knew better than to believe any of them and just waited patiently by his boyfriend’s side. 

The moment Quentin stirred back to consciousness (9 hours later), the first words out of his mouth were a lispy, “holy shit,” as the pain immediately hit him. Steve was all over him, making sure he was okay, checking on him, doing everything to avoid the question of what had happened. Nea wasn’t as patient and immediately asked the question anyway.

“Why’d you attack us?”

Quentin had no idea what they were talking about, insisting that he’d fallen asleep after his trial and dreamed that he’d fought off nearly a dozen Freddy’s. When told otherwise, and shown proof, Quentin was up in hysterics. He apologized profusely, made sure everyone was okay. When he found the same couldn’t be said for Steve, the teen actually fell into a panic attack, crying uncontrollably and apologizing so much that the words began to fuse together until they were unintelligible. Steve could only hold his boyfriend, repeating over and over again that it was okay and they’d work through it. 

That attack didn’t put a mark in their relationship, if anything it only helped it. Steve and Quentin knew at that moment that they needed a system in place for Quentin’s problem. They couldn’t have the hallucinations or the paranoia if they were going to continue to make things work, not just for Steve’s sake. 

Naps very quickly became a celebrated thing. A short hour nap was perfect, it kept Quentin from worry about Freddy attacking him and it calmed Steve’s nerves about if Quentin was getting enough rest. Quentin would tell Steve he was going to take a short nap and Steve would keep time on his watch. Sure, maybe an hour turned into four here and there, but at least Quentin was getting some proper rest. When the camp slept, so did Quentin, that was a rule from then on out. Even if it was just a nap, Quentin had to sleep when everyone else did, Steve made sure of it (most of the time). If Steve couldn’t, someone else would (usually a rotation of Claudette, Kate, and Ace, surprisingly).

Quentin will commonly feel like he’s a hinderance on Steve, saying that it shouldn’t be his job to watch over him that much. But much like how Quentin reminds Steve that he cares about him, Steve is quick to retort with: