Apartment Above Stark Industries [Super Early Thursday]

[heroic_jawline]

Steve had decided logically that the best way to avoid nightmares was to just not go to sleep. He could go for days without sleep, so he'd just ride this wave of awful right out.

He was tucked up in bed next to Tony with a really, really thick book about the Korean War in his lap, reading quietly and trying very hard not to doze off. It was only an hour or so to go before it wasn't a ridiculous time to go running, after all...

[OOC: For the fiance!]

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[imafuturist]

Tony could go pretty long without sleep himself, but it also ended in moderate levels of paranoid psychosis. Which he was attempting to avoid.

So, he was half dozing, using Steve's lap as a pillow. Which would have been very good if it didn't bring with it a dream of dark, damp caves in a dessert and shouting in Kurdish.

[heroic_jawline]

Steve reached down to stroke Tony's hair. "Shhhhh."

[imafuturist]

Tony twitched, curling in on himself as the dream became more real as he could feel himself being dragged back into that room, arms tied behind his back and the rudimentary arc reactor digging painfully into his still healing chest.

He couldn't breathe and then he couldn't breathe once he saw the water.

[heroic_jawline]

Steve's own breathe caught in his throat and his fingers gripped Tony's shoulder tightly.

Oh God, how could he see this?

[imafuturist]

Because everything was terrible and it was new levels of terrible this time around!

Tony whimpered and clutched at the blankets and Steve, but in his dream his head was forced under and wasn't it just great that they had a shared knowledge of what drowning felt like?

[heroic_jawline]

So, so great.

Steve tried to talk but his voice seemed caught in his throat as he relived the horrible, helpless feeling of a mouthful of water.

[imafuturist]

Being so close to each other, that pulled Tony out of his own horrible memories, but it replaced them with Steve's instead. He woke up gasping, still stuck in this loop of theirs."

[heroic_jawline]

Wasn't the North Atlantic delightful, Tony?

Steve was trying very hard not to hyperventilate as the feeling of water crushing him again continued to play out in his mind.

[imafuturist]

Tony tried to push himself up, but felt that pressure pushing down on him as though he was there in Steve's place. "Steve?"

This wasn't right. It wasn't him.

[heroic_jawline]

It was really difficult for Steve to breathe, let alone think there might be someone else there with him.

He was stuck inside this terrible, terrible memory. Thanks for that, Night-Mare.

[imafuturist]

Their saving grace came in the form of Patriot barreling into the side of the bed in a panic over what was happening with the two there. Which didn't stop Tony from clinging a little to Steve's shirt, but cleared a little of the fog in his brain.

[heroic_jawline]

Steve gasped like he'd been stuck under water again, panting hard and staring at the wall.

"What was that?" he panted.

[imafuturist]

"I have no idea," Tony said, hand going to his own chest unconsciously.

[heroic_jawline]

Steve reached out to hold onto him tightly. "Oh God."

[imafuturist]

"I think I got your nightmare," Tony said, cling back as Patriot whined and futily attempted to make it up on the bed, all while ignoring the ramp built specially for him.

[heroic_jawline]

Steve reached down to bring Patriot up and cuddle him. "I definitely got yours," he murmured.

[imafuturist]

"I'm sorry," Tony said automatically. Like it was his fault that something weird was happening here.

[heroic_jawline]

"Darling idiot," Steve said, clutching him and the dog, "that wasn't your fault."

[imafuturist]

"Safe to say whatever is happening is getting worse, huh?" Tony muttered into Patriot's fur.

[heroic_jawline]

"Much worse," Steve said, shivering.

[imafuturist]

"I think I have back up plans for telepathic attacks." They wouldn't help here, mind you.

[heroic_jawline]

Steve tried to laugh but it came out a little strangled. "Of course you do. Brilliant man."

[imafuturist]

Tony kissed him for that, trying to infuse as much comfort as he could into it. "Okay, so no more sleep."

Or just not next to each other. Which didn't seem feasible.

[heroic_jawline]

"Maybe turn on some lights," Steve added.

Like all of them.

[imafuturist]

"J?" The lights came on in unison as JARVIS took care of that. And it was weird how that seemed to help so, so much. Even Patriot stopped wriggling and whining so much.