3 - Late Nite (Sleeping) Action!

[iamawaited]

Who: Nux and the Red Fish crew
Broadcast: N/A
Action: S.S. Red Fish
When: Any night during his first few weeks!

[There are a lot of things Nux really likes about this new life on the Red Fish. Having clean water and food available on demand has already been an enormous luxury. Having a whole ship to play with is even better, even if it's under Zhas's command. He hasn't been sure what to make of the fact that he's been here for a while now and hasn't seemed to get any sicker, but he knows it's ultimately a good thing.

Furiosa had told him to live, and somehow, he is. He learns what it is to stop being hungry and thirsty all the time, he learns about clean. He even stops wearing his war paint.

He's also never had a space of his own before, though. There are probably some people who like that part, too, but when Nux tries to go to sleep cloistered away in his little bunk, the Red Fish suddenly feels very empty and very cold. Some nights, he can handle it. Others...

Well, there are nights those crew members that don't lock their doors might wake up to find a scarred-up, gangly bunch of limbs trying to curl up beside them.]

Comments

[child_of_bhaal]

She appreciates the thought even if it didn't work out. She rarely gets solid sleep, and its likely she won't get back to it tonight. But it's hardly her first concern.

"I'm used to having people around too. Not to bunk with usually, but nearby." She gets it, a little, of what she's trying to say. And she has no intention of sending him away. Not when he's only on need of comfort. "Even with the noises the ship makes, it's too quiet sometimes."

[iamawaited]

He gives her a hasty nod -- exactly.

"There were hundreds of us in the Citadel. Always something going on, even at night. Crews in the shop, war parties coming in and out, Pups running around. Everything gets so... still, here."

[child_of_bhaal]

Her eyes get a little wider in the dark. So many people! No wonder he was feeling a bit lonely. Probably more than just a bit actually.

Empathy double over his situation, she shuffles over a few inches, and offers him the spot next to her. It's only a double bed, but Syeira didn't really have a concept of mattress size beyond 'it's bigger than a cot'.

"Come on. You can share with me tonight."

[iamawaited]

Having a real bed at all is a luxury for Nux; as often as not he'd wind up sleeping on stone or in the back of his car as in a cot. The loneliness, the quietude, make it a luxury he appreciates less than some, but he brightens and gives Sye a boyishly pleased smile at the offer. "Okay."

He lies down and tugging the blanket just over himself, then shifts onto his side so he can still look at her. "Do you still get nightmares?"

[child_of_bhaal]

The smile is its own reward. She helped, and a sleepless night is hardly a sacrifice for that. While he gets comfortable, she only settles back a bit, half sitting up against her pillow and the wall.

"Yes, but you should be fine. I'm already awake now."

[iamawaited]

He shakes his head; he didn't mean he'd mind it. He was just wondering if it would happen again. Maybe wondering if he would need to catch her, calm her down, the way he had before.

Maybe--

He shifts again so he can put a hand out between them, resting palm-up on the covers -- there, if she wants to take it. "You can go back to sleep," he offers.

[child_of_bhaal]

Oh.

Oh dear. She's not expecting that, the offer of a comforting touch. Just a hand to hold, something to pull her back up, in case the nightmare comes to swallow her down. It was something totally new. She knew it was something people did, yes. She'd done it for Imoen, when they were little, whenever the younger girl would get scared of the dark. She saw people do it for each other if one was ill, or sad, or hurt. But she couldn't recall a single time in her life someone had offered their hand to her, just to comfort, while she slept.

She swallows a sudden thickness in her throat, blinks back mist in her eyes. She's fine. It's fine. See, she can totally slip her hand into his and it won't make her start weeping for no good reason at all.

"I'll try." She scoots down properly, never letting go of this hand. And then she remembers. "Thank you."

[iamawaited]

It's funny, but for once, Nux doesn't need to ask what he's done. He sees the way her face changes, and he hadn't expected to see it in her, but he recognizes the expression all the same. This is what Capable had done for him, not so long ago, and he remembers so clearly what it had felt like, that first brush with something he would soon come to learn had names like comfort and kindness.

He sees Capable in her so often that it's strange to think of their roles reversed; he smiles a little to himself at the thought, puzzled and piqued by it. "Yeah," he says, holding tight onto her hand. "It's okay."

[child_of_bhaal]

"I've never shared a space this closely when sleeping. I can't promise I won't have another nightmare." Meaning. She doesn't know if she'll accidental hurt him. Her nightmare are never subtle.

[iamawaited]

Nux nods. He didn't really need the warning, both because he'd assumed that was a possibility and because he doesn't really care. It's hard to really hurt him. The kick to his ribs had been more of a surprise than anything else, already forgotten.

She's telling him, though, so he nods, settling in. "I might," he says after a moment, realizing maybe she meant it to be reciprocal. "If the fever comes."

[child_of_bhaal]

She didn't mean it that way. She'd meant it as a warning and a preemptive apology if she kicked him again or something equally violent. But his confession holds her attention. She's immediately concerned.

"Are you feeling ill?"