Darlin was good at pushing through their emotions and taking care of themself even when it got bad. Well, they were good at their version of taking care of themself. That meant getting out of bed to eat and use the bathroom, and showering at least once a week. If they realized it had been a week.
Sam changed that habit, though not particularly in the way you’d expect.
On days that Darlin’s brain refused to get up out of bed, Sam would wake them up slowly. Kisses placed deliberately across their face, hands slowly running across their body.
He’d lay with them in silence, interrupted only by soft hums and tiny giggles— until they spoke first. Once they spoke, he’d bring them into a conversation, letting them take the lead on the topic changes.
He’d wait for the sleep to fade from their eyes, and then he’d ask for them to join him in the kitchen. He’d put on a pot of coffee and start warming a pan to make breakfast.
He always made food for himself too on days that Darlin wasn’t feeling well. He knew that it made them feel better to see they weren’t the only one eating.
The two would sit together and eat, discussing whatever came to mind, or not talking at all.
When breakfast was eaten and plates were empty, Sam got up to wash the dishes. Some days Darlin would follow, holding onto Sam as he bent over the sink. After the dishes were clean, it was time for a shower.
Sam would start the shower and set it to how Darlin liked it, undressing the both of them and coaxing them into the warm water. He’d wash their hair, comb through it while the conditioner set. He’d tell them how much he loved them, how beautiful they were.
He’d wrap them up in a towel, sit them on the toilet while he got his own towel on, and then bring them over to the sink to brush their teeth.
Sam took care of Darlin when it got hard, because he knew that they could do it, but they just struggled with starting the things they needed to do. They just needed an extra push and a little extra loving on the bad days.
i will forever be mad at the redacted fandom for making erik cut the bright eyes and fred story from the main characters. I DIDN’T GET TO LISTEN TO THE PLAYLIST BC I JOINED LATE (if there was any).
Yall are sensitive af. THE LISTENER IS ALLOWED TO BE FLAWED. Not every listener that Erik creates for any of his characters has to be a good person all the time.
i was able to watch the video of quinn's attack and two of the videos with sam before they were taken down. it was so. fucking. good. i'll forever be upset with their removal.
omg i’m so happy that this new audio confirmed a lot of what i’ve been theorizing and headcanoning about Dreamer: that they’re lowkey scared of their powers, and that the dream is affecting them a lot more than they’re letting on.
god i knew it and rahhhh the angst potentials here are incredible.
it’s so fascinating, part of me wonders if they’re scared that they’ll get stuck in a dream again, or that they’ll lose control. Can you imagine if it’s a fooliverse type situation where the dream starts taking control of itself (or that mr sovereign man can actually mess with dreams in canon, that would be wild)
i’m so curious to see if i’m right about them lowkey blaming themself for what happened in the dream, or if they see it as not real trauma because it happened in a dream (they keep making comments about how their magic isn’t real magic, etc)
god i wish we knew what kind of magic users their family was, and if their family also views dreamwalkers like this and that’s where Dreamer’s feelings are coming from, or if it’s purely their own insecurity coming through.
it’s also very interesting to see their self esteem issues start to come out of the woodworks, we knew they existed because of what happened in the dream: the sovereigns telling them they aren’t enough, they aren’t needed, and i’m again, really glad to see Erik showing that in the audios.
It’s just really cool to me to see how characterized Dreamer is becoming, and i’m really glad we’re starting to see how that dream is affecting them because we know how traumatic was for them: it got their powers unstuck so it had to have been.
i hope they eventually get to punch Mark.
oh- speaking of Mark, does anyone know where in the timeline of the dream the bonus audio takes place?? is it before or after Dreamer takes over? if anyone knows i’d be very grateful for that knowledge.
if you read through all my rambling, thank you, you’re amazing.
i’d love to hear your thoughts and theories about Dreamer and their story!!
[looking at people younger than me] you have your whole life ahead of you [looking at people older than me] you have your whole life ahead of you [looking at myself] its over
hc: porter when he saw alexis taunting darlin remembered treasure. he only knew them for a short period of time, but he hated the way alexis talked about darlin being mortal, and he doesn't even want to think about treasure being turned