#jo 03

@johannakoning​

Not like it’s the first time. No, it’s a semi-regular occurrence, waking with a start like this. Thanks to memories more so than dreams, one could argue, though the more years that pass the more the finer details fog. Always the same scenario though, played plenty of times over. Not the first time in general, and not the first time in front of – “Fok.” Johanna, who stares at her with cousinly concern, because of course she does. “Sorry, sorry. I’m fine.” Her shaking hands and the sweat plastering her hair to her skin say otherwise, but Evi doesn’t stick around to be refuted. Instead, she shucks her tangled blankets and heads hastily toward the bathroom. A splash of cold water on her face helps some, as does pulling her hair into some semblance of a bun, though her own reflection makes her wince, her grip white-knuckled on the sink. Looking like a nightmare in and of herself. Kak. Checking her phone reveals the time, the date (seventy-two days sober), and some notifications (mainly from her insomniac of an AA sponsor). But those don’t deserve her attention right now. Not as much as her cousin does, watching her with a blown-wide pair of the blue eyes they share. Evi sidles up next to Jo, allowing their shoulders to lean into each other as she pulls the blankets onto both of them. “Bad dream.” She explains shortly, finger still drumming an anxious pattern on her own knee. “Didn’t mean to wake you. Sorry.” After a moment, and with her head now resting on the younger woman’s shoulder, Evi sighs, looking up at Jo’s present expression. “I feel like maybe I owe you the details, considering I keep waking you up like this. But also I know for a fact that even if you think you want to know, you don’t. Trust me.”