(Untitled)

[backinakidflash]

It was dark in the apartment, the quiet broken only by the sounds Bart made in his sleep. Bart's door is ajar, showing him lying sprawled in his bed, one leg uncovered by the sheet which had shifted as he moved. His face contorted in distress as he struggled against his imaginary tormentor. He whimpers

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[staysinmotion]

Thad has always been a light sleeper. It's part of how he was 'raised'. And even then, it's hard to fully fall asleep with the pain of the Speed Storm ringing in him. Bart's scream, muffled though it may be, wakes him with a start, and before he can even process the sound, he's in attack mode.

They have an intruder, Bart's in danger. He's in Bart's room in an instant. It takes him a second to figure out that Bart isn't, actually fighting some invisible foe, but is actually asleep. And Dreaming.

He's relatively unsure of his course of action, he hurts people when he touches them. And waking Bart from a painful dream, to a painful life... doesn't seem fair. So he kicks the bed, hoping that it will shake him somewhat awake.

"Bart! Wake up!"

[backinakidflash]

In contrast Bart's a rather heavy sleeper. The jostling of the bed fails to wake him as does the shout. However the shout does not fail to be perceived at all.

In the dream the words have been given a more sinister tone. "Bart, wake up." The dream Thad says, drawing out the syllables. Bart screws his eyes shut even tighter and begins to mumble 'no' a little. He's so scared, he's going to die and there's nothing he can do. He's helpless.

[staysinmotion]

He growls softly as he sees the lack of effect his actions have had. He stops and thinks a moment, and then takes a second to find thick, insulated gloves before returning to Bart's bedside. He reaches out and grabs Bart's shoulder, careful not to be any rougher than necessary as he shakes him.

"Bart!" Worry courses through him, that does not sound like a pleasant dream and he hopes that he can snap Bart out of it before it gets any worse.

[backinakidflash]

Bart struggles against your grip, making some sounds of distress. Within the dream the rogues are advancing behind Thad who's wearing a smug grin. Bart's absolute terror shows on his face. No... not again. Never again.

The dream Thad pounds into him again at superspeed, targeting his leg. He can feel the familiar pain of his knee shattering and he screams.

[staysinmotion]

"Bart!" He shouts, shaking him a little more violently. The dream sounds painful. Oh god, what if he's under some sort of psychic attack? Paranoia is starting to kick in. "Bart, snap out of it! You need to wake up!"

[backinakidflash]

Bart's eyes snap open. His pupils are dilated and he looks at you in pure terror. His mind hasn't fully escaped the dream, seeing Thad before him sends him into frenzy of fear.

"No, get away!" He shouts as he struggles. He lashes out, trying to punch you. "Won't let you do it! Get away!"

[staysinmotion]

He recoils near-instantaneously to Bart's terrified, yet awake, response to him, though it's not quick enough, in part to him not looking for it, to dodge the punch swung at him. The force of it makes him stumble away, just barely keeping himself from falling over. He's stunned for a moment, before he quickly darts to the other side of the room, trying to give Bart some space.

"It was a dream..."

[backinakidflash]

Bart watches you warily for a while. He's breathing heavily as he slowly calms down. The slow change as he becomes aware of his surroundings is obvious.

"Thad...?"

[staysinmotion]

He nods, watching Bart's body language and expression change, he's aware of the way his face is reddening, preparing for what will surely be a nasty bruise, but the pain is minuscule on his scaling, and Bart's safety is more important right now... maybe it's too dark for Bart to properly see it.

"Yes. I'm sorry, I didn't know how to wake you. That... sounded like an unpleasant dream?"

[backinakidflash]

Bart doesn't notice the forming mark, the darkness, the space between them and Bart's distraction make sure of that.

Bart nods slowly, not quite looking at Thad. His voice is quiet, still worn out from the screaming. "Yeah.... I.. Thanks.. for waking me."

[staysinmotion]

He nods again, slowly pulling the thick gloves off of his hands. "Sorry, that it took me so long... You... you wouldn't wake up." He doesn't really want to admit to having been worried, but as he looks away and fidgets, it's kind of obvious.

"Um, are you okay..?"

[backinakidflash]

Bart looks at you with a small, fond smile. He manages to untangle himself from the bedsheets after a small struggle so he can walk over to you. "I'm fine. Much better than I would have been if you hadn't have woken me up." He's not sure if he's lying about being fine, he's really not sure how he feels right now. Except he's relieved he didn't have to finish that nightmare

Once Bart's close to Thad he notices the red mark on his face. He stares at it with wide eyes. 'Did I... I didn't.... Oh God Thad I'm so sorry."

[staysinmotion]

Thad smiles a little bit at that. He's glad he was able to help a little bit, then... Though he's pretty sure that from now on he's going to spend a lot of nights listening to make sure that Bart's not suffering another nightmare. He knows everyone expects the Bats to do it, but would it be too weird if he bugged Bart's room? ...probably. "I see... good."

He blinks at Bart's expression, then remembers the bruise forming on his face and shakes his head. "Don't be. It's not as bad as it looks, and you didn't exactly know what you were doing. It's alright."

[backinakidflash]

Bart smiles wider, intensely glad Thad isn't asking what it was about. That would be very awkward. He thanks the high heavens Thad isn't like most other people he knows, who would ask him.

That doesn't make things better Thad! "Not as bad as it looks?! It must be terrible then because it's looking pretty bad." He moves to try and examine the mark, but remembers he probably shouldn't touch Thad and stops. "It's not alright Thad. I hurt you. I lashed out and attacked you because I thought.... you were someone else. I'm really sorry."

[staysinmotion]

Thad's smile takes a bit of grim, humourless twist, "you thought I was me. It's okay." He shakes his head. "You didn't mean too, I don't blame you. So don't blame yourself. It's alright."

[backinakidflash]

Oh sprock. "No I... I...." He closes his eyes and rubs them. "But it wasn't you. And I shouldn't have..... It's not alright. I hit you, how the heck is that alright?"