Deprive a character of sleep for three days and write about how it affects them.
For Sebastian, with Jaime.
FUTURE, YEAR UNKNOWN
Heâs seeing people in the trees.
Shadows that move in his periphery. Sticks that crack under a phantom weight in the distance.
Each time his mind plays the trick on him, he flinches back, stumbling into Sebastianâs unsteady frame. They catch each other in a scramble of shaking hands and whispered reassurances.
âItâs okay.â
âItâs just us.â
âWe have to keep moving.â
They havenât slowed down for days. Not for more than a couple of hours at a time. Theyâve barely slept. Theyâve kept their rations low. They canât afford to stop for long. Not until they reachâ
Another branch breaks in the distance and Jaime lets out a startled cry. Sebastian grabs him by the shoulders and spins him to face him. The green of his eyes are rimmed in a bloodshot white. He blinks hard and presses his forehead against Jaimeâs. Jaime presses back, and that brief leaning of weight against each other is almost enough to fall into, to let his muscles finally rest andâŚ
âLook at me,â he whispers, licking his dry lips. Jaime does, even though he feels his eyelids dropping. âWeâre so close. Weâre so close.â
Jaime nods, the knotted tangle of his overgrown bangs mingling with Sebastianâs.
âWe keep moving,â Jaime whispers their mantra.
Sebastian pulls back long enough to place a long, warm kiss against his forehead.
âWe keep moving.â
