2020-01-23 - Aftermath

Once he got back to bed after his trip to the bathroom once he returned from the Dream, Jonathan made sure to curl up close enough to Katy to wrap an arm around her. While he drifted off to sleep, he didn't exactly sleep well, after a while starting to twist a bit while he mutters something to himself. It's not one of the Dreams, but an old-fashioned mundane nightmare, it would seem.

Katy finds herself shifting a few minutes before her 6am alarm, as she always does. Over her shoulder, she can feel Jonathan tossing and turning, hearing him mumbling and she turns towards him, placing her hands firmly on his shoulders. "Jon, sweetie, wake up. You're having a nightmare," she says in a calm, soothing voice.

Still tossing and turning a bit, although it's made harder by the hands on his shoulders. It takes a few moments longer, before he opens his eyes, looking like he doesn't really know where he is for a few moments.

"Jonathan? Sweetheart, it's me, it's Katy." Her soothing voice continues to speak in an attempt to reach him. "You're okay now." Keeping one hand on his shoulder, the other pulls the covers away, in order to see if she can spot anything unusual on him, any injuries or anything of that nature.

Taking a few deep breaths as he seems to find himself again, Jonathan leans back a bit more. "I..." he begins, shaking his head a bit. "The Dream..." There should be no visible injuries, but clearly whatever happened troubled him quite a bit.

"You're okay, sweetheart, I'm here," Katy continues to say, still in complete soothing mode, rubbing his shoulder and using her free hand to hold one of his. "The dream, it's over."

"Over..." That word makes Jonathan relax quite a bit more, as he lets out another breath. "They feel so real..." he says, finally.

Katy sits next to Jonathan, opting not to start her morning routine and when her alarm goes off, it is immediately turned off. "I know. But they're not real. You know that," she maintains her soothing voice as she speaks.

Jonathan nods, a bit wordlessly. "She seemed so real, though. And so afraid. I tried to help..." It's said a bit quickly, as he looks around as if expecting trouble to strike at any time. When it doesn't he smiles, letting out a bit of a breath. "Not real."

Katy doesn't look to be judging, simply nodding in understanding. She mentally curses herself for having had her abilities for over a decade and not having learned much about any of it. She has no way of truly helping Jonathan cope and it makes her feel a little upset. "Not real. There's nothing here that can get us," she says quietly. "Whoever she was, she was lucky you had her back. You did what you could."

"She said... 'Mommy was taken by the Shadows', or something like that," Jonathan replies, before he adds, "And she called me Daddy..." He lets out a bit of a breath. "When I was back here again, I was cold sweating. I thought I could sleep, but not that well, I guess."

"Maybe she was just part of the dream? Or maybe she thought you were someone else?" Katy offers, a bit confused, "Unless there's something you're not telling me..."

Jonathan shakes his head. "Must be part of the dream. I mean, the place I was in, I could never have afforded that in the building. And I don't think anywhere was... It was strange."

"I can believe that. Strange stuff's been happening a lot lately," Katy says quietly, "Sometimes, I can still hear your screaming in my head when I close my eyes..."

Jonathan grimaces, as he nods. "Quite a bit of strange stuff. More than before, I think."

"It might be my fault," Katy says plainly in that tone that she uses when she refuses to hear any arguments. Turning away from Jonathan, she looks towards the balcony doors where the sky had yet to show signs of morning, sunrise being a little under an hour away still. "Do you need anything right now?" she asks, changing the subject.

"Your fault? Why?" Jonathan asks, frowning as he hears that. He offers her another smile, before he looks to the balcony doors as well. "I don't know. I should drink something, I think. If I stay up for a while longer, maybe I can get so tired that I'll just fall asleep without dreams."

Katy doesn't respond to his first question, but she does suggest, "Maybe a hot bath or some time in the hot tub will help relax you. I have some tea that might help too if you want to try that."

Jonathan raises an eyebrow at the non-answer, before he smiles, nodding a little bit. "That sounds like a good idea, the tub. The tea too, really." He watches her for a few moments, before he smiles, "I hope you slept well."

"Best sleep I've had in a couple of days." Katy still seems calm to Jonathan, still caring and nurturing, but he better than anyone can tell when there are cracks in her composure. And he can tell there's a crack in her composure. "I'll go run the bath for you if you want."

There's a pause as he watches her, noticing the crack in the composure, and he moves to hug her. "Now what did you mean when you said it was probably your fault?" he asks, quietly.

His hug takes her by surprise, immediately disarming her of any sort of attempt at deflection or otherwise avoiding the question. "You weren't there, but I took the first shot," she says quietly, "I was told that the reason you shouldn't use Glimmer is because it makes you a target. I made myself a target and you...I have no idea. But now they know about you too."

Jonathan pauses as he hears that, nodding a little bit. "How do we deal with them? That's the question now," he replies, after a few brief moments of pause. Still hugging her for now, since he thinks at this moment, they both need that hug.

"I don't know." Katy lets Jonathan hold her, not letting him see that she needs the hug as much as he does. "Do you want that bath?" she asks after a couple of minutes, not making a move to pull away, but curious.

Jonathan nods a bit as he hears that, although he still doesn't let go. "The bath sounds quite wonderful now, yes."

Katy slips free of the hug, only to hold Jonathan's hand to head towards the bathroom together. "I have some chamomile tea in the kitchen, I can get that ready too," she offers.

Letting her lead him to the bathroom, Jonathan smiles. "That sounds quite good as well," he replies, before he adds, "The bath sounds most tempting right now, though."

When they finally get to their bathroom, Katy runs the bath a bit hot to make it relaxing for Jonathan. The tub is rather large and it definitely has room for the two of them, but Katy seems to be focused on taking care of Jonathan, and doesn't seem to have the intention to relax herself.

Waiting by the tub until it's starting to get ready, Jonathan reaches for Katy's shoulders as the bath gets ready. "Room for two in there, and you look like you need to relax as well," he tells her, offering a smile.

A quiet 'hmmmm' escapes Katy's lips as Jonathan reaches for her shoulder. "Was hoping to get an early start, I'm still playing catch up with work..." she explains quietly, though her resolve is somewhat compromised.

"You just need to relax for a little while. It'll probably help you get more focused for the work," Jonathan replies, offering her another smile. "Being relaxed helped me when focusing on studying during the college days, after all."

It appears as though Katy is about to protest but then her expression becomes completely flat and unreadable as she sits at the edge of the tub to watch it fill up, dipping her hand in the water.

Jonathan raises an eyebrow as he sees that unreadable expression. "You got to admit I have a point, right?" he offers to her, moving to place himself next to her. "Water feels good?"

Jonathan's questions are met with simple, quiet nods. "That tea...I should get that for you," Katy says, struggling to turn off her impulse to take care of Jonathan instead of taking the time to relax herself, as she moves to stand.

Jonathan reaches out to wrap his arms around her again. "The tea can wait a little. Just take ten minutes, maybe fifteen, to make sure you're relaxed and rested too," he offers to her, with a quiet smile. "Please?"

Jonathan's arms are met with a surprising amount of resistance for a brief moment before she relents and she melts into his arms. "Okay, I'll stay, babe," she whispers, with some degree of reluctance, as she turns the tap off.

Nodding as he hears that, smiling at her. "Good. After all, it's important for me that you take care of yourself as well," he replies, smiling at her. "Ready to go into the water, then?"

In response to the question, Katy simply hits the button to run the jacuzzi jets. She slowly and tentatively strips off her silk nightgown, before she slides into the tub. If there was one weakness she had as far as Jonathan was concerned, it was her inability to say no to him at times.

With a smile, Jonathan follows suit and gets into the tub as well. "It's always so relaxing, being able to relax in here," he offers, as he reaches for her hand as well, holding it gently.

"Yeah, it's nice to have..." Katy replies quietly as she lets the hot water wash over her. "Hmmmm..." She looks to Jonathan and sighs. "Are you okay now?" she asks.

Jonathan nods at her words, "Much better," he replies, before he smiles. "How about you?" Leaning back a bit as he lets the water wash away the stress and bad feelings from the Dream and the nightmare.

"Yeah...it's fine, you know I only get worked up when you're not okay," Katy tells him with a faint smile.

"I know," Jonathan replies, offering her another smile. "And I'm sorry if I seem to try forcing you to do things to take care of yourself when that happens." It's offered quietly, with a smile.

Katy gives Jonathan a kiss on the cheek. "I won't hold it against you, I know you mean well."