SHERLOCKTALE: its just ptsd, i'll be fine...
by Nikikeya-chan
Probably the most jarring change that came with living with someone was that; rather due to the odd hours Sherlock kept, or just because John was louder than he thought, when nightmare inevitably found him in the late, dark hours of the night, instead of being left to toss and turn, struggling against invisible foes, John would instead find himself being shaken awake gently. Waking to see Sherlock's young, ernest face staring down at him in concern.
The first few times it happened, John had been horribly embarrassed about it, apologizing profusely, and having trouble making eye contact with his cheerful flatmate the day following. Sherlock however never seemed to notice this, (or if he did he politely ignored it.) instead simply acting as if nothing had happened and going about his usual routine: experimenting, and complaining about being bored. Pestering John to stop napping on the couch and help him with his work instead, and herring the older skeleton until he finally gave in, and ate something.
After the fifth time, a sense of almost... safety? developed... John finding himself a little less hesitant to try and sleep at night, thought still embarrassed at the thought of bothering Sherlock.
After the eighth time it happened, Sherlock finally spoke. There was a long, awkward pause after his initial wake up call. Instead of asking if John needed something, and then leaving upon John refusal, Sherlock instead stayed kneeled beside the bed, face set in an almost petulant scowl.
"...What do you dream about John?" the younger skeleton asked finally after several minutes had passed, John by this time had sat up and was perched on the side of the bed watching the other monster with a hesitant curiosity.
"It must be quite bad. You always trash about so violently... Like... you're fighting for your life..." Sherlock continued softly, becoming steadily more quiet as he spoke, till the last sentence was delivered in barely more than a whisper.
All the younger skeleton's usual childlike exuberance, and boisterousness were gone. And John felt dirty for a moment to think that he was the reason for the sudden change in the usually cheerful monsters demeanor. It made him wish he could lie, protect the other somehow from the truth... Which of course was ridiculous; this was Sherlock he was talking about. The younger monster might have been brash and overly optimistic in general, but he was hardly naive. He was a homicide detective, he knew that there was evil in the world, and that people died... And even that sometimes even good people had to do horrible things in order to survive... Stay sane...
"I'm sorry."
John looked up in surprise at the other skeleton, "what?"
"I shouldn't have asked... I... know you probably don't want to talk about it. Its just... I'd like to understand... Maybe... If I knew more about what you'd been through, than maybe I could help you somehow... make it more... bearable... somehow..." Sherlock said, grinding his teeth fretfully.
A warm flush of affection for the other skeleton swelled up in his chest, and with a chuckle, John reached out and scuffed a hand over the others skull in an affable manner.
"its okay kid... you already help a lot just by doing what you do... i really do appreciate it... its been... a long time since somebodies gave a damn about me..." John admitted softly.
Sherlock sat up a bit straighter, chest seeming to swell, and impulsively he reached out, taking both of John's small hands in his own large ones. His longer ones completely encompassing John's, much to said older monster's amusement it seemed, as he smiled tiredly, and made no effort to pull away.
"I'll wake you up as many times as need be! I don't mind, I'm usually awake anyways so its no trouble! And... maybe a nap or two during the day wouldn't be too bad for you... Just not too much! You still need to sleep at night!" Sherlock declared importantly, ignoring how hypocritical he'd just been demanding John sleep at night after just admitting that he didn't.
John chuckled again, "Thanks mate... That... means a lot to me..."
Sherlock beamed.
UNDERTALE Papyrus and Sans belong to TOBY FOX
SHERLOCK belongs to the Brits.
SHERLOCKTALE is mine.
For full character list please go here.
John= Sans
Sherlock= Papyrus
Thanks for reading~
~Cloudy
