hyperventilating | waking up disoriented | "I just need a hug"
april is the cruelest month day 30
characters: hero and villain
warnings: cursing, captive whumpee, nightmare
675 words
~
Hero stares at the ceiling, hand under her head as she watches the ceiling fan spin. She blinks slowly and turns her head to look at the clock.
With a sigh, she runs a hand over her face and mumbles, “It’s too damn late to still be awake. Come on, fall asleep.”
As soon as she says it, she looks at Villain, sleeping next to her, and watches for any signs of him waking up.
After deciding he’s still deep asleep, Hero smiles softly and rolls over onto her side and stares at him. Her fingers ghost over freshly-pink scars on his arms as she watches his chest rise and fall slowly.
His brow furrows and he shakes his head, Hero curses herself, she did wake him up.
“Stop,” he mutters, hand curling into a fist at his side. “Stop it.”
He’s having a nightmare. What’s Hero supposed to do? Let him sleep through it? Isn’t it dangerous to wake someone up when they’re having a nightmare? No, that’s sleepwalking. Right?
She could look it up, that might work. But after a few seconds of trying to turn her phone on, including holding down the power button, a red battery icon shows up and Hero groans in frustration.
She gently puts a hand on his arm, hoping it would offer comfort. Should she wake him up?
He shakes his head and the rise and fall of his chest starts to quicken.
Fuck it.
She sits up and turns on her side, propping herself up with her elbow and puts a hand on his chest.
“Villain,” She whispers, tapping his chest softly with her thumb. “Wake up, you’re having a nightmare.”
“No,” He mumbles, pushing her hand off of him. “No stop.”
Her fingers wrap around his arm and she shakes him gently, “You’re having a nightmare. You’re in bed with me, it’s alright.”
Villain springs up, ripping his arm out of Hero’s grip and he struggles to get a breath in. His knees draw up to his chest and he holds his head in his hands.
“Supervillain?” He manages, tucking his chin to his chest. “Where-where are we?”
Hero sits up and scoots up next to him in the bed, leaning her head on his shoulder. He tenses and curls more into himself, slowly gaining control of his breathing.
“It’s me,” She says, snaking her arm around him and pulling him closer to her, “You’re with me, not Supervillain. Don’t worry, you’ll never see her again.”
Villain makes a strangled sound and he tries to pull away from Hero, but she tenses her arm around him, making it nearly impossible for him to get away.
“Stop it,” He whimpers, barely loud enough for her to hear. “Let me go.”
Instead, she wraps her other arm around his front and presses herself against him. She inhales deeply and sighs.
Villain cries softly, chest heaving with every hurried breath between sobs.
“Shhh, you’re alright,” She says, rubbing his shoulder with her thumb. “I just need a hug, then I’ll let go.”
Every muscle in his body tenses and he screws his eyes shut, “Please stop,” he whispers, voice shaking. “Please let me go-” he cuts himself off.
‘Let me go home.’ The word feels sour in his mouth, like him saying it would ruin its meaning, so he doesn’t.
Hero slowly releases him, pulling her arms away from him and into her lap. She leans her head on his shoulder again and sighs.
“Bad dream?” She asks.
Villain takes a shaky breath and shakes his head. He screws his eyes shut and swallows a sob. “No.”
Hero hums softly and lays back down, then pulls him down next to her with the collar of his shirt and curls up next to him, a soft smile on her face.
Tears well in Villain’s eyes, blurring his vision. His heart aches as he thinks of Supervillain, alone at home, nobody to yell at the T.V. with, nobody to try her…eccentric food experiments. All alone, worried and hopefully looking for him.
