Midnight Manor Private Residence, Sunday Night

[pocketpretzels]

Well, it sure has hell had been a day. There was a lot of bread currently populating both the private residence's and the boarding house's kitchen, let's just put it that way. And we won't even talk about the dough in the freezer.

Eventually, though, Watts had slipped into bed exhausted, falling asleep rather immediately.

The smell of vomit and sweat hit him like a wave as soon as he stepped inside.

It was overwhelming, he was practically choking on it. He wanted to run, be anywhere but here- but at the same time, he knew he needed to be here, this might be the last-

Watts awoke with a gasp, scrambling out of the bed and scribbling a quick note for Steven indicating that he'd be on the balcony. He threw on a pair of trousers and a shirt without checking whose they were- probably Steven's, honestly, judging by the softness of the fabric if nothing else- and all but flung himself out the balcony door and on to the outdoor sofa.

[ooc: details of conversation NFB please!]

Comments

[hasaknightjob]

Steven let the silence linger. He kept stroking his fingers through Llewellyn's hair while listening to the sound of the waves below.

[pocketpretzels]

"I couldn't breathe," Watts said finally, quietly.

[hasaknightjob]

"What?" Steven looked at Llewellyn with concern. "Are you ill?"

[pocketpretzels]

"What?" Watts gave Steven a startled look. "No, no- I don't- I'm not- Do I look unwell?" he asked.

[hasaknightjob]

"You look tired," Steven said, since they were honest with one another. "But I asked because you said you couldn't breathe while you were sleeping."

Not exactly what Llewellyn had said, but what Steven had heard.

[pocketpretzels]

Well, it wasn't as if Watts had been terribly clear about what he'd meant.

"In my dream."

It wasn't much of a clarification, but at least it was something of one.

[hasaknightjob]

"I see." Steven moved his hand back to Llewellyn's shoulder to give him a comforting hug. "You were having a nightmare."

[pocketpretzels]

Watts nodded, taking strength from that embrace.

Sorry, Steven. It was likely you were going to get this story in drips and drabs, a bit at a time.

[hasaknightjob]

That was all right. Steven wasn't going anywhere.

"My poor love. And here you'd started to sleep well again."

[pocketpretzels]

Well, the days were getting noticeably shorter, so that had been likely to come to a grinding halt soon anyway.

"I've told you I don't. Remember very much. From my childhood?" Watts said.

[hasaknightjob]

"Yes," Steven said. He gave an attempt at a smile. "Makes two of us?"

[pocketpretzels]

Which got another one of those wan smiles back.

"How exactly my parents died is one of them. It might have been cholera. Or influenza."

[hasaknightjob]

"Suppose that makes sense," Steven said, after giving it some thought. "Considering when it happened. You were young. Of course you wouldn't remember the details. They probably tried protecting you from it as well."

[pocketpretzels]

"Hmmm." Watts hummed, because there was no way to verify that.

"I do remember it was illness," he said slowly. "And- the smell of it. Sweat and vomit."

[hasaknightjob]

"Smell can be closely tied to memory," Steven agreed.

He hadn't had the body when they'd gone into Arden's room. But he knew enough of what it had been like in there to guess, "Today with Arden must have been hard then? Seeing her that way?"

[pocketpretzels]

Watts nodded. "It smelled like death in there."

[hasaknightjob]

Steven hugged Llewellyn tighter. "And now the memories are resurfacing."

[pocketpretzels]

"Every time I close my eyes, it's death, and fear, and that smell, and I can't- I can't breathe."

Hence the need to be outside.

[hasaknightjob]

Steven suddenly worried he was holding Llewellyn too tightly, given that there was a concern about a need to breathe. "Sorry - should I not be so firm?"

[pocketpretzels]

"What?" Watts tilted his head up at him, giving Steven a confused look. "No, no, you're fine," he assured Steven.

[hasaknightjob]

"I didn't want to make it harder for you to breathe," Steven explained. He hugged Llewellyn again to show he'd gotten the message though. "And my poor love. So you're reliving memories, most like. Or what your mind can conjure of them."

[pocketpretzels]

"It's all- bits and pieces. Scattered," Watts confirmed.

[hasaknightjob]

"I know what that's like," Steven said. He rubbed Llewellyn's arm sympathetically. "I'm sorry you're having it over a bad memory. Connected to such a hard time as well."

[pocketpretzels]

The reminder that Steven dealt with fragmented memories on a far more regular basis had a feeling of guilt curling in Watts's stomach.

"I'm sorry," he muttered.

[hasaknightjob]

"What?" Steven was completely lost. "Whatever for? It's not as though you woke me up to come out here."