Danger in the Night (Sean)

[Joshua Bernstein]

They were after him.

He pressed one hand against his side, wishing that he could still his heartbeat. He didn't know how they hunted, whether by noise or by nose. How the dead still had any senses was beyond him, but they certainly seemed to know when the living where nearby.

Hiding was only useful if one had a way to keep them out, and if one had supplies. He didn't have anything. No food, no water. Certainly no weapons to defend himself. Any makeshift weapons would require them to come too close, would be too risky.

And so he ran.

He knew he couldn't run forever. Even if he wasn't in his fifties he would eventually run out of energy. But perhaps before then he would find a safe place, find other survivors who could help him.

That was the best hope there was.

He could hear them behind him, shambling wrecks of their former selves. People he had once been fond of and admired moaned their way after him, desiring to feast upon his flesh.

He didn't want to be eaten alive.

He didn't dare turn around; that would cost him precious time. Not that he really knew where he was going. He had no plan other than to run until he couldn't run anymore, because survival required it.

Then up ahead of him another group shuffled into view. He could see Sean there, ahead of the rest.

Or what had once been Sean.

You weren't supposed to think of them as anything other than the predators they were, but it was so difficult to divorce the body from the deceased person it had once housed.

That was perhaps one of the reasons this spread so rapidly; it was a disease that preyed upon affection and empathy.

But with Sean's group ahead of him and the other behind his prospects dimmed. He turned abruptly, hoping that there would be none to the left. There had to be some place free of them, some place that wasn't overrun.

If only he could get there.

And then Sean moved with a lightning speed he couldn't quite believe possible from the dead, and reached one rotting hand toward him and ---

Josh jerked upright, panting. Sean was beside him, decidedly not dead or reanimated.

Thankfully.

The attorney laid back down, nuzzling his face against the telepath's shoulder and pulling the covers up to his chin. Maybe he could fall asleep again soon.

And maybe he wouldn't have one of those dreams again. Maybe he would even have a dreamless sleep; that would be nice, given how dark most of his dreams were. He could do without any dreams at all.

[Dr. Sean Neville]

Sean hadn’t slept well, which was common enough. Insomnia was an old friend, an acquaintance that felt comfortable sneaking upon him with little or no warning, which kept him up at night, or disturbed his sleep so that what little he had on those nights was of poor quality. The sleep that he’d had had been of such poor quality that he had woken over an hour ago and had not been able to fall asleep again.

The telepath had chosen to pass the time with a bookmark nightlight and a book that he had taken out of the library about Harry Houdini’s skepticism work.

As such, he was awake when Josh woke with a start, panting heavily. He had immediately set the book down, turning to look at his partner with concern. Since his powers did not include dream walking, he was typically oblivious to the precise contents of Josh’s nightmares. However, the images were vivid in his partner’s mind, and the same vivid bursts entered his own due to the telepathy and their close proximity.

He frowned to himself and wrapped his arms around the other man, holding him tightly as he felt Josh nuzzle up close to him.

“A nightmare?” He asked, although he didn’t require the confirmation. A mental image of his own visage with flesh melting from his cheeks and chin provided that to him.

[Joshua Bernstein]

"Sorry," Josh whispered against Sean's shoulder. He found the embrace comforting, particularly given that his partner had featured so prominently in this dream, as he so often did. As he had even before the reconciliation. "I didn't mean to disturb you."

He knew that the telepath often had difficulty sleeping, and he didn't want to do anything to prolong his partner's wakefulness. His own nightmares not withstanding he had little sleep troubles of his own, and he could easily fall asleep once again without the reassurances, nice as they were.

[Dr. Sean Neville]

“Don’t apologize,” Sean replied reflexively. He leaned in then to press his lips to the top of Josh’s head, offering him comfort through that physical contact, in addition to the embrace. Considering the contents of that nightmare, the remnants of which remained vivid in both their minds, it was understandable that his partner would remain shaken.

Although he was also concerned by the thought which flittered through, that his role in Josh’s nightmare was common in others. It followed, given the function that dreams had, and the relationship that he and Josh shared. However, it was potentially concerning, depending on how frequently his partner suffered from nightmares.

“Have you had this one before?” He inquired. Sean considered turning on the bedside lamp, but he decided against it, purely because doing so would require that he disentangle himself from the embrace. At the moment, he prioritized using both arms to offer physical comfort over the ability to turn on the lamp. There would be time for that later.

It wasn’t as though this was keeping the telepath awake. He would be awake regardless of Josh’s nightmares and current position. At least this way, he could help soothe the other man, in the way that lovers did for one another.

[Joshua Bernstein]

"Yes."

The answer was somewhat muffled, given that his face was still buried into Sean. Then he removed himself long enough to look his partner in the face, adding, "But I really am sorry. I'm not five, I shouldn't worry so much about a dream. Everyone has nightmares."

He assumed that other people had them with the same frequency that he had, as well, so he had no cause to complain about how often they occurred. That was simply one of the pitfalls of sleep.

"Anyway, this one isn't new. I think I have it once a week, at least, so I don't know why I'm bothering you about it now."

He offered the telepath a shaky smile to prove that he was, in fact, quite fine.

[Dr. Sean Neville]

Once a week.

Josh had just said that he experienced this ghoulish nightmare at least once a week. More than that, he had said so casually, as though he considered this typical.

If he had such vivid zombie nightmares once per week, Sean supposed it was typical for him, as distressing a notion as that was. Particularly since neither he nor Josh consumed horror media, so it wasn’t as though his partner was exposed to a constant stream of triggering images in the form of entertainment.

That was quite distressing.

“Because we both happen to be awake,” the telepath replied, which was his way of both absolving Josh of any guilt for discussing it, as well as assuring him that he – Sean – was fine to discuss the topic. In fact, the psychiatrist in him wanted to have this discussion now. Now that Sean had been made aware of the situation.

“How long have you been having this?” He asked, although he kept his voice equally casual, matching the tone that Josh displayed. He didn’t want to make the other man begin to worry that something was amiss by Sean asking questions, not until they had actually reached the crux of the matter and the telepath had more to work with.

[Joshua Bernstein]

Josh squinted thoughtfully at Sean's question. He'd been having this particular nightmare for such a long time that he could hardly remember a time when it hadn't been a recurring theme.

"I've always had nightmares. Doesn't everyone?"

That was a rhetorical question; he was sure that everyone did.

"But this particular one? It's hard to remember...I think....it's been at least since I was seeing Sanjay."

He still didn't like referencing his exes, least of all around Sean, but that was the best approximation he could give. At least he could say their names without his stomach twisting up into guilt now.

"Because I remember having one with him and his taxi. Zombies in taxis, let's hope that never comes to pass."

[Dr. Sean Neville]

Josh had just admitted that he had a nightmare about zombies attacking him once each week. For a dozen years, which was roughly how long it had been since the other man had dated Sanjay.

Doing mental multiplication wasn’t high on Sean’s list of priorities at the moment, but he knew that was at least 600 zombie nightmares.

600 zombie nightmares.

Once per week since George W. Bush had become president, the first time.

More than that, because Josh had expressed this particular one as a sentiment, which meant that there were others. That was to be expected, since few people had the exact same dream every night, and his partner had only accounted for one night per week. Although if Josh had a schedule...

Sean was no stranger to poor sleep and strange dreams. Although his own dreams were often influenced by other people’s thoughts during the day; he recognized the patterns of when his dreams were his alone, and the worst of them were stress-related. With clear cause and effect.

“Do you have others?” The telepath asked, shifting in bed to encourage Josh to lean against him more heavily than he had been a moment ago.

Even if he didn’t, once each week for so long was hardly typical.

[Joshua Bernstein]

Josh complied with the tacit suggestion to lean further into Sean, reveling in their closeness. Despite the less than pleasant reasons for his wakefulness he enjoyed this sort of cuddling, and since it was on offer and he had no reasons to feel any particular guilt at the moment he was willing to take it.

The question, however, confused him. He thought perhaps he was simply too tired to have understood properly.

"Others? Other nightmares? Well, that's normal, isn't it? It would be concerning if I always had the same one, wouldn't it?"

Or had he misunderstood how other people's nightmares worked, and everyone had a single nightmare that they had over and over again, every night? If this were the case he supposed that he was grateful for the variety. Not all nightmares were created equal, and some were only stressful when he had them but only seemed a bit silly when he woke up.

[Dr. Sean Neville]

Sean rubbed his partner’s back in long strokes, trying to soothe him through the touch. He turned his head, resting his chin in Josh’s hair for a moment, although he couldn’t keep with that position. Not if they were to have this conversation verbally, instead of through telepathy. Given that Josh still seemed a bit out of sorts, Sean though it best to have this discussion verbally, which was more natural for non-psychics.

Once he had lifted his chin from Josh’s hair, he shook his head to indicate that wasn’t quite what he had intended to ask. He clarified, “With any sort of regularity, like the zombie one. I don’t mean if you’ve ever had other nightmares.”

The occasional occurrence of varied nightmares was typical. The notion that his partner might have a schedule of two or three – or more – nightmares each week, such that he didn’t find them concerning was atypical. It was something that Sean wanted to explore with him and discuss, since there were implications that they might want to tackle in therapy sessions together.

Josh had proven himself capable of responding to therapy with the telepath, even if Sean knew that his partner resented the notion. First things first – to find out more about the contents of Josh’s dreams.

[Joshua Bernstein]

"Oh. Ahh...well, yes." Josh admitted, too tired to pursue the hint of suspicion that arose at this line of inquiry. He had thought recurring dreams were a normal occurrence for most people, so he didn't quite understand why Sean was questioning him on this. They were only dreams, there was no reason to have this type of interrogation over them.

"Is this a roundabout way of asking what they are? There's the one where I'm at the coast and I have to outrun tidal waves and warn everyone they're coming at the same time. Sometimes I have to save all the bunnies in town, too. There are always a bizarrely large amount of bunnies just hopping around the streets for any sort of town. And ahh....sometimes I am a bunny and a hawk is after me. Usually the dream changes before it swoops down."

He tugged the covers up again, largely as something to do, before adding, "And I still have school related nightmares sometimes. Not as often as when I was in school. I forget my locker combination, or find out that I actually never graduated from law school because I still have a class I haven't taken. And there are work nightmares. Being unprepared, mostly. And ahhh....some are worse."

Those were more difficult to admit to, but since the telepath had asked he supposed he ought to at least acknowledge the contents.

"Sometimes there are uprisings, you know, war and that sort of thing. They tend to be rather...ahhh....violent."

And usually ended with Sean being horribly murdered.

[Dr. Sean Neville]

Sean listened attentively as his partner described his nightmares; while Josh spoke, the telepath continued to rub his back.

Some of those nightmares were quite typical. Many people had the dreams about not having actually graduated from school – high school, college, professional schools – due to not having completed the underlying assignments. That was because positions were tenuous, and the loss of degrees would lead to disgrace, the potential loss of jobs and the ability to support oneself, and possible anxiety over practicing a profession without a license.

As with teeth falling out, those were so common that Sean didn’t find them concerning.

His partner’s affinity for rabbits as his favorite animals made the other dream understandable enough, as they were a substitute for children. He was familiar with dreams about having to save children or other vulnerable people from disasters.

Violent dreams weren’t wholly uncommon, but they were typically rare for the average person. For someone who didn’t suffer from trauma such as wars or sexual assault. He heard the stray thought about the dreams ending with his own demise, which Sean didn’t find concerning. In fact, that was expected enough, since he was quite familiar with his own relationship with his partner.

The totality concerned him.

“How many nightmares would you say you have in a week?” Assuming that Josh remembered all of them.

[Joshua Bernstein]

"How many?" Josh echoed, baffled by this line of inquiry. At least it had taken his mind off the zombies, but he still didn't understand why this had to be the distraction Sean chose.

"I don't know, I don't even remember my dreams every night. Three or four a week?"

By which he meant, he thought he probably had three or four nights per week during which he had nightmares; each night itself could have more than that, what with the kaleidoscopic nature of the dream world and how everything shifted and morphed into new and different and generally equally horrifying dreams.

And that was a conservative estimate, but since he had never bothered to keep any sort of record he didn't think it was fair to be expected to know off the top of his head.

[Dr. Sean Neville]

Three or four a week.

Once of which was a dream about a zombie attack, and the rest of which included violent attacks and painful losses, in addition to the more mundane and typical nightmare contents.

Josh’s anxiety was more elevated and ever-present than Sean had believed. Particularly since, by his partner’s admission, the nightmares predated, by decades, his assault by the Degreas Twins in the woods.

The telepath responded by tightening his arm around Josh, communicating love and support through the physical contact. He shifted on the bed, making himself a bit more comfortable against his pillow while simultaneously not wanting to dislodge his partner in the process.

“Do you remember pleasant ones?” Sean didn’t say at all because, to do so, would mean that a single pleasant one would be seen as a triumph. This was about self-assessment on the whole rather than isolated examples. Three or four each week meant three or four that weren’t nightmarish, but the telepath didn’t know if they were mundane or if they were pleasant. And, regardless of which they were, if those were the ones that Josh forgot.

Vivid dreams tended to be more memorable. His partner had no shortage of horrific vivid dreams, apparently.

[Joshua Bernstein]

"Of course I do!" Josh responded immediately. There were occasions he woke up wanting to relive a dream, though usually they faded so quickly from his memory that there was no use attempting to describe them to anyone. Perhaps if one of them was recurring he would be better able to recall them later.

At least he remembered them sometimes, even if he couldn't rattle off a list like he could the bad ones.

"Just last night I had a dream that involved you and the shower."

Regardless of whether his dreams were good or bad, Sean was often the star.

He shifted, rolling over onto his side and draping one arm across the other man to share in the embrace. "And I had a dream once that I baked a pie that won an award in a quaint town fair. Then we ate it."