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xp_logsBoth Layla and Sarah wake up from nightmares, after which they both try to play it off as if it was nothing.
To say that Sarah hadn't been sleeping well since their return from Genosha would have been an understatement. The first few nights had been especially bad, then things slowly got better until she was eventually getting close on to a full night's rest. There were still many naps had during the day, the amounts and lengths of which varied pending on the previous night's performance. Having Layla present helped immeasurably as well, and on the quantity front things were getting better.
Quality, however, was an entirely different issue. Nightmares had been part and parcel of her non-waking hours, and they unfortunately were showing no sign of going away. If anything, they'd been getting more vivid and lifelike, with Sarah recalling their horrible details more and more upon waking. At first it had been strictly based on the events of Genosha - her brain torturing her with things she might have done to her friends as a mutate, their capture and maltreatment at the hands of their captors, the horrible final fight with Moreau - but lately her mind had seen fit to incorporate other past events into them.
She'd just woken up from one of the worst ones she could ever remember having, sitting upright and panting, sweat soaking her brow. Normally she'd just wake with a start, her eyes flashing open but no jumping up or anything of the sort. This nightmare, however, had been a real doozy. She'd been chased by a wolf, one that she couldn't see but which she could hear snarling and gnashing as it chased her, nipping at her heels, darkened by its shadow. Once again she was clad in her leather outfit from Hallowe'en, but she was herself now, not whatever persona had overtaken her that night, and once again she was running through a corn maze.
Rounding a corner she found a large box and leapt inside, closing it behind her as a last resort against the beast. It stopped and seemed to disappear, but before she could breathe a sigh of relief the box tilted backward, placing her flat on her back, and it unfolded to reveal she was now laying on an operating table. Straps flew up and held her arms, legs, neck, and forehead in place and she couldn't move a single muscle.
Her eyes snapped shut because she knew, she knew and feared what she'd see if she opened them, and maybe keeping them closed would prevent anything from happening. It didn't, however, and the next thing she felt was cold steel on her forehead, cutting through her flesh and carving something out. Sarah tried to scream but she couldn't, no sound came out, and the dark shadow hovering over her just laughed and kept moving the scalpel, cutting away despite her cries.
Another sound could be heard, someone else crying, and Sarah's eyes were able to move just enough to one side to see a box on the floor. It wasn't Yvette inside this time, however; the voice was distinctly that of Layla, crying out for her to help her, to save her, to get her out of there. But she couldn't move, she was helpless, and the dark figure seemed to laugh even harder as she made that realization.
Suddenly he stopped and was gone, and her restraints disappeared. Bolting upright, she moved off of the table and tried to find the box that held her girlfriend but it wasn't there. Instead there was a mirror, hanging on a door. She wiped some of her own blood out of her eyes and looked at her reflection, seeing what had been carved into her head. The word numbers "1337" were freshly cut there, and before she could move away the door swung open, revealing the same machine into which she and her friends had been forced into to become mutates.
She'd woken when the door to the machine had slammed shut, sitting upright and screaming. Her hands went immediately to her forehead and she was at first alarmed to find it wet, but it was thankfully only due to sweat and not blood. Sarah turned to see if Layla was there and hoped she hadn't disturbed her.
Layla never had screaming nightmares that ended with her bolting upright in bed. No, she just woke with vivid images at the forefront of her mind as she stared at the ceiling. She'd been like that for an hour or more when Sarah started to make unhappy, distressed sounds. Like usual, Layla had tried to wake her but as was par for the course Sarah seemed trapped in her dreamscape until she broke free on her own. This time it was a bit more like barreling out of it as she shot upward. By time Sarah turned to look for Layla the blonde was already sitting up.
"Hey, you're okay," she soothed in a soft voice. Her arm snaked around Sarah's shoulders, careful to keep it loose so Sarah didn't maybe get set off by being constrained too much by it. "You're safe. You're with me."
Sarah's immediate reaction was to reach back and hug her girlfriend tightly, her breathing rapid and shallow from the panicked state into which her mind had driven her. She clung there for a second before pulling back, taking a deep breath and trying to calm down while forcing a little smile for Layla's benefit.
"Hey, I'm sorry, I just had... it was just a weird dream, that's all." By which she meant it was a horrible, terrible nightmare, though even she figured that was patently obvious to someone who knew her as well as Layla. "I didn't wake you, did I? I didn't mean to, I'm sorry."
"Nah, it's okay. I was already awake." Her arms kept Sarah close, not really sure if letting go was the right thing yet. Layla figured hanging on a bit wouldn't get her in trouble with Sarah so it was probably the way to go. A corner of her mouth quirked upward for a moment before Layla leaned forward to rest her forehead against her girlfriend's. "Weird dreams, too. You haven't woken up from dreams for a while." She'd nearly called them nightmares but if Sarah wanted to pretend they were just dreams then Layla would indulge her.
Quietly nodding in the affirmative, Sarah was content to leave her forehead resting against Layla's for the time being. Her eyes remained closed for a few seconds as she calmed down and her breath slowed even further to an almost normal rate again. Opening her eyes, she raised a hand to Layla's hair, stroking it a little. "Sorry you were having weird dreams too. Are you ok?" She was calming down now and the nightmare was mercifully starting to slip back into her subconscious, and focusing on her girlfriend's well being was helping her to forget about her own dream, even if only temporarily.
The blonde wrinkled her nose in the dark but nodded despite it. "Yeah, I'm cool," she answered, voice hushed to not disturb the silence that seemed to wrap around them more and more heavily the longer she was concentrating on it. "Just...stuff. Y'know, the kind that wants to make sure you never unsee it? That stuff." People being killed, people trying to kill them, Sarah being taken away, that little girl just...evaporating into nothing... Pleasant sorts of things.
"That kinda stuff, yeah." It sounded like the same sort of stuff that'd been fueling her own nightmares, those things that you didn't want to remember but could never truly forget. "I'm sorry, Layla." There wasn't anything she could really do for her, just like she knew there was nothing her girlfriend could really do for her, other than being there and supporting one another as best as they could. She reached over and hugged her tightly, unsure of what else to say at that moment.
The hug caught Layla a little off guard even though it probably shouldn't have, as did the strength of it. It felt like all her air got compressed for a moment and she couldn't breathe, but then her brain and the rest of her caught up and returned the gesture, though a bit less bone-crushingly than Sarah was administering. Not that Layla would mention that since it was probably all in her head anyway. "S'ok. Not like it's your fault." Layla pressed a kiss to her girlfriend's temple. "Wanna watch stupid movies 'til we can sleep again? I could go get ice cream."
She hadn't meant to hug the blonde girl so hard, it had just happened that way. Perhaps her nightmare had scared her more than she'd let herself believe, and she was glad Layla was there beside her to help her through it. Sarah nodded and smiled a little at the suggestion. "I'd like that a lot, I think. You can do that and I can set up the movie, yeah?" That way she could be lazy and use her powers to help out while she stayed in bed, which was kinda selfish of her, but she didn't want to chance running into anyone else at the moment after her nightmare, even if the chance of doing so was slim at that hour.
"Mmkay." Layla considered giving Sarah movie parameters or something but her girlfriend's nightmares seemed to be worse than Layla's from what little she could make out. Light, fluffy, silly without being mind-numbingly stupid were probably all things Sarah would already opt for. "You got like thirty seconds for flavor requests or I surprise you," the blonde told her just before she stole a quick kiss and began to slip out of the other girl's arms.
"Surprise me, please! And I'll surprise you." She grinned at Layla, sitting up as the other girl slipped away. Sarah's mind was on the same page with respect to what they could watch, something light and fluffy would be perfect for just this kind of situation. Thankfully she owned many titles that fell under that rubric, many of which they'd already seen, but Sarah was sure she'd find something inoffensive to throw on while they ate ice cream and tried to fall back asleep.
"'Kay." Layla slipped off the bed and stole another kiss before heading for the door. Inconspicuously, she reached over as she came to the door and turned the dial of the overhead light's dimmer until a golden glow washed over the room. She hated being in the dark alone after nightmares so she just sort of assumed Sarah wouldn't want to be either. She explained the move with a throw away comment about not wanting to trip when she came back and then disappeared through the door.
Sarah thanked her by blowing a kiss her way, grinning at the nightlight. It was definitely appreciated because it had been a particularly bad nightmare, so a little light was never a bad thing after something like that. Rifling through her collection, she found the perfect pick: Despicable Me, something light and funny, not one of her usual romantic movies, just the thing they needed. She popped it into the DVD player and quickly got back into bed, using her powers to set things up while she got all snuggled up back under the covers and waited for Layla to get back with the ice cream, the after effects of her bad dreams already beginning to melt away.
To say that Sarah hadn't been sleeping well since their return from Genosha would have been an understatement. The first few nights had been especially bad, then things slowly got better until she was eventually getting close on to a full night's rest. There were still many naps had during the day, the amounts and lengths of which varied pending on the previous night's performance. Having Layla present helped immeasurably as well, and on the quantity front things were getting better.
Quality, however, was an entirely different issue. Nightmares had been part and parcel of her non-waking hours, and they unfortunately were showing no sign of going away. If anything, they'd been getting more vivid and lifelike, with Sarah recalling their horrible details more and more upon waking. At first it had been strictly based on the events of Genosha - her brain torturing her with things she might have done to her friends as a mutate, their capture and maltreatment at the hands of their captors, the horrible final fight with Moreau - but lately her mind had seen fit to incorporate other past events into them.
She'd just woken up from one of the worst ones she could ever remember having, sitting upright and panting, sweat soaking her brow. Normally she'd just wake with a start, her eyes flashing open but no jumping up or anything of the sort. This nightmare, however, had been a real doozy. She'd been chased by a wolf, one that she couldn't see but which she could hear snarling and gnashing as it chased her, nipping at her heels, darkened by its shadow. Once again she was clad in her leather outfit from Hallowe'en, but she was herself now, not whatever persona had overtaken her that night, and once again she was running through a corn maze.
Rounding a corner she found a large box and leapt inside, closing it behind her as a last resort against the beast. It stopped and seemed to disappear, but before she could breathe a sigh of relief the box tilted backward, placing her flat on her back, and it unfolded to reveal she was now laying on an operating table. Straps flew up and held her arms, legs, neck, and forehead in place and she couldn't move a single muscle.
Her eyes snapped shut because she knew, she knew and feared what she'd see if she opened them, and maybe keeping them closed would prevent anything from happening. It didn't, however, and the next thing she felt was cold steel on her forehead, cutting through her flesh and carving something out. Sarah tried to scream but she couldn't, no sound came out, and the dark shadow hovering over her just laughed and kept moving the scalpel, cutting away despite her cries.
Another sound could be heard, someone else crying, and Sarah's eyes were able to move just enough to one side to see a box on the floor. It wasn't Yvette inside this time, however; the voice was distinctly that of Layla, crying out for her to help her, to save her, to get her out of there. But she couldn't move, she was helpless, and the dark figure seemed to laugh even harder as she made that realization.
Suddenly he stopped and was gone, and her restraints disappeared. Bolting upright, she moved off of the table and tried to find the box that held her girlfriend but it wasn't there. Instead there was a mirror, hanging on a door. She wiped some of her own blood out of her eyes and looked at her reflection, seeing what had been carved into her head. The word numbers "1337" were freshly cut there, and before she could move away the door swung open, revealing the same machine into which she and her friends had been forced into to become mutates.
She'd woken when the door to the machine had slammed shut, sitting upright and screaming. Her hands went immediately to her forehead and she was at first alarmed to find it wet, but it was thankfully only due to sweat and not blood. Sarah turned to see if Layla was there and hoped she hadn't disturbed her.
Layla never had screaming nightmares that ended with her bolting upright in bed. No, she just woke with vivid images at the forefront of her mind as she stared at the ceiling. She'd been like that for an hour or more when Sarah started to make unhappy, distressed sounds. Like usual, Layla had tried to wake her but as was par for the course Sarah seemed trapped in her dreamscape until she broke free on her own. This time it was a bit more like barreling out of it as she shot upward. By time Sarah turned to look for Layla the blonde was already sitting up.
"Hey, you're okay," she soothed in a soft voice. Her arm snaked around Sarah's shoulders, careful to keep it loose so Sarah didn't maybe get set off by being constrained too much by it. "You're safe. You're with me."
Sarah's immediate reaction was to reach back and hug her girlfriend tightly, her breathing rapid and shallow from the panicked state into which her mind had driven her. She clung there for a second before pulling back, taking a deep breath and trying to calm down while forcing a little smile for Layla's benefit.
"Hey, I'm sorry, I just had... it was just a weird dream, that's all." By which she meant it was a horrible, terrible nightmare, though even she figured that was patently obvious to someone who knew her as well as Layla. "I didn't wake you, did I? I didn't mean to, I'm sorry."
"Nah, it's okay. I was already awake." Her arms kept Sarah close, not really sure if letting go was the right thing yet. Layla figured hanging on a bit wouldn't get her in trouble with Sarah so it was probably the way to go. A corner of her mouth quirked upward for a moment before Layla leaned forward to rest her forehead against her girlfriend's. "Weird dreams, too. You haven't woken up from dreams for a while." She'd nearly called them nightmares but if Sarah wanted to pretend they were just dreams then Layla would indulge her.
Quietly nodding in the affirmative, Sarah was content to leave her forehead resting against Layla's for the time being. Her eyes remained closed for a few seconds as she calmed down and her breath slowed even further to an almost normal rate again. Opening her eyes, she raised a hand to Layla's hair, stroking it a little. "Sorry you were having weird dreams too. Are you ok?" She was calming down now and the nightmare was mercifully starting to slip back into her subconscious, and focusing on her girlfriend's well being was helping her to forget about her own dream, even if only temporarily.
The blonde wrinkled her nose in the dark but nodded despite it. "Yeah, I'm cool," she answered, voice hushed to not disturb the silence that seemed to wrap around them more and more heavily the longer she was concentrating on it. "Just...stuff. Y'know, the kind that wants to make sure you never unsee it? That stuff." People being killed, people trying to kill them, Sarah being taken away, that little girl just...evaporating into nothing... Pleasant sorts of things.
"That kinda stuff, yeah." It sounded like the same sort of stuff that'd been fueling her own nightmares, those things that you didn't want to remember but could never truly forget. "I'm sorry, Layla." There wasn't anything she could really do for her, just like she knew there was nothing her girlfriend could really do for her, other than being there and supporting one another as best as they could. She reached over and hugged her tightly, unsure of what else to say at that moment.
The hug caught Layla a little off guard even though it probably shouldn't have, as did the strength of it. It felt like all her air got compressed for a moment and she couldn't breathe, but then her brain and the rest of her caught up and returned the gesture, though a bit less bone-crushingly than Sarah was administering. Not that Layla would mention that since it was probably all in her head anyway. "S'ok. Not like it's your fault." Layla pressed a kiss to her girlfriend's temple. "Wanna watch stupid movies 'til we can sleep again? I could go get ice cream."
She hadn't meant to hug the blonde girl so hard, it had just happened that way. Perhaps her nightmare had scared her more than she'd let herself believe, and she was glad Layla was there beside her to help her through it. Sarah nodded and smiled a little at the suggestion. "I'd like that a lot, I think. You can do that and I can set up the movie, yeah?" That way she could be lazy and use her powers to help out while she stayed in bed, which was kinda selfish of her, but she didn't want to chance running into anyone else at the moment after her nightmare, even if the chance of doing so was slim at that hour.
"Mmkay." Layla considered giving Sarah movie parameters or something but her girlfriend's nightmares seemed to be worse than Layla's from what little she could make out. Light, fluffy, silly without being mind-numbingly stupid were probably all things Sarah would already opt for. "You got like thirty seconds for flavor requests or I surprise you," the blonde told her just before she stole a quick kiss and began to slip out of the other girl's arms.
"Surprise me, please! And I'll surprise you." She grinned at Layla, sitting up as the other girl slipped away. Sarah's mind was on the same page with respect to what they could watch, something light and fluffy would be perfect for just this kind of situation. Thankfully she owned many titles that fell under that rubric, many of which they'd already seen, but Sarah was sure she'd find something inoffensive to throw on while they ate ice cream and tried to fall back asleep.
"'Kay." Layla slipped off the bed and stole another kiss before heading for the door. Inconspicuously, she reached over as she came to the door and turned the dial of the overhead light's dimmer until a golden glow washed over the room. She hated being in the dark alone after nightmares so she just sort of assumed Sarah wouldn't want to be either. She explained the move with a throw away comment about not wanting to trip when she came back and then disappeared through the door.
Sarah thanked her by blowing a kiss her way, grinning at the nightlight. It was definitely appreciated because it had been a particularly bad nightmare, so a little light was never a bad thing after something like that. Rifling through her collection, she found the perfect pick: Despicable Me, something light and funny, not one of her usual romantic movies, just the thing they needed. She popped it into the DVD player and quickly got back into bed, using her powers to set things up while she got all snuggled up back under the covers and waited for Layla to get back with the ice cream, the after effects of her bad dreams already beginning to melt away.
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