NaNoWriMo 08 - Intuition

Intuition

Edsel wasn’t the strongest of vampires, but he wasn’t used to being worn out by the end of the day either.  In fact, he couldn’t remember the last time he had actually felt even remotely tired.  Usually he slept simply because it was the thing to do at night and there were only so many hours in a day that he could take being awake.  So when he was dragging himself into the apartment after a full day at the fair, Edsel was surprised at just how exhausted he felt.

“Whoa, careful!”  Toki put his arm in between Edsel and the doorframe just before the vampire staggered into it.  “What’d that door ever do to you?”

“Very funny.  I can’t help it my senses are a little off when I’m tired.”  As if on cue Edsel yawned as he shuffled into the apartment.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you stumble before, your senses must be off.”

Edsel continued his shuffling, making it over to the couch before flopping down.  Edsel never flopped onto the furniture, and in fact he generally yelled at Toki for doing so.  “You’ve never seen me tired before.  It takes a lot to wear me out.”  

Toki bit back a remark that was not at all appropriate and turned on the light.  “Are you going to make it to bed or am I going to have to carry you?”

“Like I’d let you carry me.  You’d probably just try to weasel your way into my bed or something.”  Edsel paused as he thought about what he’d just said.  “I don’t mean in any kind of sexual way of course… just that it’s more comfortable than the couch.”

“Right… well then you should get your tired ass in bed before I decide just to sleep in it and leave you out here.  Y’know, to test your theory on how comfortable it is.”

Edsel grumbled and pulled himself to his feet.  He then proceeded to grumble quietly all the way down the hall, which only made Toki laugh loudly behind him.  Of course he wouldn’t mind sleeping in the bed with Edsel, and he knew that it was big enough for two even on non romantic terms, but once again he knew not to push it.  The couch wasn’t too uncomfortable after all.

Once Toki could hear the springs in Edsel’s bed stop moving, signaling that he’d fallen asleep, the Guardian headed to the shower.  He felt ridiculously pleased with himself for how the day had gone, and he was more than a little surprised at how quickly Edsel had admitted that he was having fun.  Toki had expected the vampire to put up more of a fight than that.  After the roller coaster Edsel didn’t argue about going on any of the rides, and actually seemed almost eager to do so.  Toki was pretty sure the only thing stopping him from flat out being eager was his silly pride.  They really needed to do something about that.

The water was starting to get cold by the time Toki stepped out of the shower, and the need for sleep was becoming stronger.  He wasn’t anywhere near stumbling as he tugged his clothes on, but he was getting closer to the half asleep point.  It was no wonder that when he heard a faint noise coming from Edsel’s room he wasn’t entirely sure what it was right away.  He did however, pause to see if it presented itself again, and when it did he knew exactly what the noise was.  Edsel was screaming.  It wasn’t your typical loud, blood curdling scream, but rather a strangled scream, the kind that signified absolute horror and the inability to properly voice it.  It definitely signaled that Toki should be in that room.  Luckily Edsel didn’t lock his door, so there was no need to break it down.

“Edsel!”  Toki cried, rushing into the room in only his pajama pants.  The room was empty aside from the lump of blankets in the bed that Toki assumed was his roommate, and it became apparent in that second that the scream was the result of a dream.  He lowered his voice as he repeated Edsel’s name.  “Edsel… are you awake?”

“Am now,” came the groggy voice.  “Why are you in my room?”  There was something about Edsel’s voice that seemed off.  Toki had heard his roommate speak when tired and this was a different tone altogether.  This tone seemed small and fragile.

“You were screaming… I was worried.”  Toki stood in the doorway, watching the lump move slightly.  “Are you okay?”

“It was a dream Toki.”  Despite his insistence, Edsel’s voice broke. “ I’m fine.”  

Toki shook his head.  “No you’re not, don’t think I’m stupid just because I can’t see you.”

Edsel sighed and pushed himself to a sitting position.  Through the darkness Toki could see that the bandages weren’t in place, and he felt almost as if he were intruding by looking at Edsel’s scars while he was in such a vulnerable position.  After a second he looked away rather than trying to make out any of the details.

“I don’t think you’re stupid, I just… it’s a dream… it’s nothing.  I’ve been having it for years and you can see I’m fine.”

“Then why do you sound like you’re about to cry?”

“You’ve never had an upsetting dream before?”

“Not one that I woke up screaming from and refused to tell anyone about.”  Toki reached out into the hall and turned off the light, blanketing the room in a thick darkness he had no chance of seeing through.  Now they were at least a little closer to being on equal terms.

“What are you doing?”

“Consider this my way of weaseling myself into your bed.  You are a rather perceptive guy after all.”  Toki made his way through the darkness over to Edsel’s bed and slid up onto it.  

“Really, I’m fine.  It’s a dream I have all the time, I know it’s just a dream, it’s just… hard… to relive.”

Toki arched an eyebrow.  If Edsel was reliving whatever his dream was about, then that suggested it was something that actually happened rather than just the work of his imagination.  “Edsel, there’s no shame in being affected by bad dreams.”

“I’m not ashamed!”

“Then why are you hiding from me?”

“I’m… not…”  But Edsel was.  He had pulled his blanket up to his neck, covering his bare torso and turning his face away.

“Edsel…”

“I…”  Edsel sighed heavily.  “I don’t want you to see my scars.  I’m not delusional, I know you will eventually but… not yet.  I’ve never shown them to anybody before.  I know it sounds stupid, but it’s… kind of a big deal to me.”

“It’s dark.”  Toki scooted over a little, reaching for Edsel under the blankets.  He knew that he was overstepping his boundaries, but he was certain he could convince Edsel that his motivations were completely pure.  “I can’t see anything.”

“How do I know you’re not lying?”

“Because I know how important it is to you that I don’t see your scars until you’re ready to show them to me.  I’m not going to betray you like that, there’s no reason for me to.”

“But-“

Toki felt Edsel tense once he touched the vampire’s skin, and pulled him over before he could fight back.  It didn’t hurt that he knew Edsel would be too tired to fight back all that much in the first place.  “Edsel relax.”

“You’re in my bed and you’re molesting me!”  In his current state Edsel could barely muster the energy to argue, and it definitely didn’t have the force his arguments normally did.  Even as he protested he rested his head on Toki’s shoulder.

“You can yell at me for it in the morning, how about that?”

“Mmm… I’m going to…”  A yawn broke Edsel’s sentence as he started to fall asleep against his will.  “I won’t forget.”

Toki smiled and pulled the blanket up to their chests.  “Oh I know you won’t.”