fandomtownies | MHA Complex then the Preserve- Very Early Wednesday Morning

Entry tags:

MHA Complex then the Preserve- Very Early Wednesday Morning

It had been a restless night for Connor. It had taken him much longer than normal to fall asleep, and when he did, he kept having bad, strange dreams. He'd wake up, get comfortable again, drift off, only to wake up from another dream. Eventually, he gave up trying and just got up and made his way to the kitchen to make some coffee. Rex was at his heels chirping softly. He too, seemed to be picking up on the restless energy as well and couldn't sleep either.

"Whatcha say we go out for a walk Rex?" Connor said as he finished his coffee and gave Rex a couple of head pets. "The fresh air and all might be good for us."

And it was a short while later that Connor and Rex were outside the apartment complex. Rex was busy flying around enjoying the cooler air and Connor found himself staring off towards the north, towards the preserve, not that he realized that was the direction he was looking. It was just where his attention was being drawn for some reason. He did notice as he looked back toward the apartments that there was a light on in Cutter's flat.

"Looks like Nick is having a rough night too huh boy?" he asked when Rex finally landed. "Think we should go see how he's doing?"

Rex gave a happy chirp and jumped up on Connor's shoulder as they headed back in.

(Post can be open while they are outside! Gentle modding of Cutter has been done with permission)

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Cutter had found he couldn't sleep, every time he started to sleep he found himself woken again. Not by his usual nightmares, this was something ... different.

But eventually he gave up trying to sleep and decided to get a cup of tea to try and see if that would help him calm down

Connor stopped outside the door across the hallway, debating for a minute whether he should bother Cutter or not. But since he seemed to be up he figured he might as well and gave a soft knock on the door and waited.

Cutter looked up as he heard his door knocking, then glanced at the clock, wondering who was also up at this time. He went to the door and opened it, "Hi Connor," he said softly with a small smile, "was I being too loud?"

He hadn't thought he was, but maybe he was being extra loud with getting his tea without realising?

"No no... not at all Nick" Connor said quickly as he held up a hand. "Couldn't sleep and Rex has been restless all night too. Went for a walk and saw your light was on. Figured I'd just stop by and see how you were doing."

"I couldn't sleep either," Cutter admitted, rubbing the back of his neck from his earlier attempt at sleep, "I thought I'd make a tea, would you like one? It's Herbal, Dr. Taylor thought herbal tea might help me on the nights I have trouble sleeping,"

Which was most nights really but some nights were better than others.

"Some tea would be nice" Connor said with a smile. "Thank you Nick." Connor hesitated a moment as he walked in, following Cutter and watched as Rex trotted over and hopped on the couch and made himself at home. "So... was... was it dreams for you too?" he asked softly as he watched Cutter start the tea.

Cutter nodded as he began to make the tea, "it was ... not my usual dreams though," he admitted, "it was ... different, I can't explain it," he said softly. "How about you?" he paused, "I mean, if you want to talk about it," he added, in case Connor didn't feel comfortable sharing with him.

"Yeah... not the normal nightmares here either" Connor said softly. Usually, they had been centered on Helen and what all had happened. But tonight had been different. "I... I kept dreaming... Connor took a slow breath. "About Tom," he said softly.

Cutter bit his lip, hesitating slightly, "I ... I've been dreaming about Captain Ryan,"

He hadn't thought about Ryan in ...well months and he felt guilty about that considering that he'd been responsible for Ryan's death.

Tom was often on Connor's mind. There were lots of little things that would remind him of his friend for a passing moment. But it had been a while since the dreams had been that vivid and that persistent.

"What are the odds... of us both suddenly having dreams like this?" Connor wondered, half to himself really.

"I ... I don't know," Cutter said quietly as he finished making the tea and then when to join Connor, handing over the mug to Connor as he did, "I thought ... I thought it might have been because of what I've been talking about in therapy but ... I don't think this is a coincidence," he said softly.

Connor nodded in thanks as he took the mug and took a sip of the tea. "I mean it.... it makes sense why I... I would be thinking about Tom more than usual" he said softly, staring into the mug for a moment. Connor closed his eyes and tried to push back those memories of Tom dying in his arms. "Today is... it's the anniversary of his death" Connor said, his voice trembling as he spoke.

And Cutter felt terrible that he hadn’t even made the connection … he had been there when Tom had died, had seen how devastated Connor had been, that Connor had wanted to quit that day … “oh … I’m so sorry Connor,” he said softly, “I … I …” there really was nothing he could to say that, he couldn’t say he didn’t know after all, “I’m sorry,” he fell silent and he stared down at his mug.

Connor blinked back the start of the tears that stung his eyes as he replied that moment over again in his head. "I... it's ok... I usually dream about him... around this time. But this time..." Connor sighed and shook his head. "This time it just... feels... more real in a way. If that makes any sense?"

Cutter wished he was better at ... this and talking about his feelings, it was something he was very much working on, "I understand ... I ... maybe ... this is a Fandom thing?" he said softly, "but why ...would Fandom do this?"

"It... it might be a Fandom thing. Not sure what it all means...." Connor thought for a moment, realizing his gaze was going back toward the preserve. "It's weird... the dreams they... they are uncomfortable but.... they don't feel like nightmares. At... at least mine haven't..."

Cutter nodded, "that was like my dreams, I didn't feel scared or anything, it was ... in some ways it was almost calming, like Captain Ryan was visiting?" he tilted his head as he considered how it had felt.

Edited 2023-07-05 09:48 (UTC)

"That's almost how it felt... with... with Tom" Connor said thoughtfully. "I... I actually felt worse about it all after I woke up. The dream was nice, it was of times we used to hang out... but once I woke up, the other memories kept coming in and keeping me up." Connor looked at Cutter thoughtfully. "Maybe the island is just... trying to help us deal with things a bit?"

"It could be?" Cutter considered, "maybe ... maybe the island senses we have some unresolved issues and it's trying to help us work through things?" he said softly, "I mean ... it wasn't a bad dream about Ryan either, it ... it was like ... some of those times we used to hang out at the Home Office, when we weren't on assignments? It was like ... it was like how things used to be,"

Before everything changed and he had screwed things up with the timeline.

"it... it could be. Island has done things before that seems to have a really specific goal, so... maybe this is one of those things."

Connor sighed as he drank some more of the tea. He looked out the window as the sky slowly started to brighten as the sun was coming up.

"I just wish I didn't feel so...." he hesitated, not sure what word he was trying to think of. "So... restless I guess? It feels like... like I need to be on the move. I need to do something, but I... I don't know what it is. It's hard to explain really."

"Maybe," Cutter nodded thoughtfully as he took a sip of his tea, "I know that feeling, that's how I've been feeling ... like I couldn't just settle back down and go to sleep, I thought tea might help me calm down ... but I don't think I'm going to be able to sleep for a while, I mean ... most days I don't really sleep properly," he admitted, "but I can usually fall back asleep,"

"Well, the sun's coming up... It'll be light soon" Connor said looking back out the window for a moment. "Maybe once it its light... a walk might help? Burn off some of this nervous energy and see if it helps any at all? Rexy and I had gone out for a little bit earlier, and it was nice... actually felt a little better than being couped up in here." Connor gave a small shrug as he looked over at Cutter. "I mean even if it doesn't we've at least gotten some good exercise in for the day?"

Cutter nodded softly as he stared down at his mug, "I think that might help, I ... I wasn't planning on stopping by the park today, I don't quite feel up to shenanigans this week," he admitted softly, two weeks of water based activities had gotten him just a little anxious about what would be in store this week, "but going for a walk sounds nice,"

"We'll avoid the park today" Connor promised. "Maybe we can head to the preserve? It's been a while since I've been up to that side of the island. Might be nice to just wander around for a little bit."

Cutter nodded at that, feeling relieved that they wouldn't be walking by the park, "a walk to the preserve would be nice, I think a change of scenery might be just what I need to not feel so restless," he admitted.

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject