nightmares had plagued him almost every night since she found him, which had led to very little in the way of peaceful sleep for either of them. he hadn’t said anything, really. in his entire time with her he’d barely spoken, only when it felt important. even if he did want to speak more, he wouldn’t know what to say, vocabulary beyond limited. he’d picked up on things from her, from listening to her and working things out through context and further explaining, but he still had the vocabulary of a child who’d spent his entire life locked up in a lab. head shakes gently, shaky hands moving to rub the sleep - and the tears - from his eyes. “bad.” at first it’s all he offers, content in that much. but slowly he comes to the decision to open up more, to truly open up. “lab.”