Fantasy Restless Nights & Sweet Dreams (TragicTrees & TrashNyann)

[elytra]

Staying up late wasn't an uncommon occurrence for Charlie.

He was pretty sure it wasn't uncommon for anyone on his particular path. All pre-med students had stayed up 24 hours or more at points; if they hadn't, it was likely they were failing their classes. It was that or they were some sort of genius. He wasn't one for cramming, of course. That just led to disaster. He did, however, have a lot of material to cover in a short amount of time. If he didn't, he'd fail his exams, which meant failing his classes, which meant dropping out of school, which was the absolute last thing he wanted to do.

So, no, it wasn't unusual, and no one was surprised to see him in the library right up until it closed, at which point he switched over his dorm to continue studying more. He did this until about 6 am, at which point he switched over to getting things ready for his 8 am class, and the cycle repeated all over again. It was common. He only got sleep the night afterwards, when he was completely sure that he had done everything he could and when he knew not getting rest was going to be detrimental to him. It was all normal.

What wasn't normal was the sleep paralysis.

He knew what it was, obviously. It was when your brain, essentially, 'fucked up'. You would wake up, but your body would still be in the mode of sleep, mostly in the way that your breathing was slowed. You wouldn't be able to move or speak, and so your brain would conjure up an image- a hallucination of sorts -in order to give the nonsensical situation some explanation. He hadn't ever experienced it though. He assumed that if he did, it wouldn't really do much to him. Since he knew what it was, and since he knew the things he saw wouldn't be real, he'd remain calm. He completely forgot that thinking about situations was entirely different from actually being in them.

Unlike what he assumed, he freaked out. In his head, obviously. He couldn't speak or move, which was disorienting in itself, but it was only made worse by the thing that was at the end of his bed. Dark, shadowy, probably literally the stuff of his nightmares, and it was just standing there. His thought process mostly consisted of what the fuck what the fuck what the fuck for the first few moments, before shifting over to him anxious reminding himself this only lasts two or so minutes this only lasts two or so minutes thisonlylaststwoorsominutes. It didn't help, but it wasn't as if he could scream or force himself to sleep. He was stuck until his brain decided otherwise.

 

[trash.nyann]

Watching others, or rather- watching humans, was a pleasant past-time for Zelophehad. It was just something he found himself doing as of late, and it's turning into a strange addiction. At first, he was just content with watching from afar, but over time, it wasn't enough. He had to get even closer.

So, his habit of casual watching turned into a habit of frequent visiting.

His fellow demons didn't even bother to question him as he passed through the Hell-gate, simply giving him a nod of acknowledgment as he went over to the human realm. Contrary to human beliefs, demons didn't leave Hell all that often unless prompted; they were usually content with their lives down in the depths. But Zelophehad wasn't like most demons, and while most of his peers found his actions odd, they never bothered him about it. Once down on Earth, he'd simply follow the first person who caught his eye. Sometimes he'd follow the same person for a few weeks before moving on to the next.

Recently, he's been trailing behind a certain human boy, for much longer than his usual stalking period. He learned the human's name was Charlie and liked the way it rolled off his tongue when he said it to himself. He found himself learning quite a bit just through Charlie, and again the urge to get even closer, enveloped over Zelophehad over time.

And now, here he was, looming over Charlie at the end of the bed, in the middle of the night. Like a creep... He scoffed softly at the thought, pushing it down in favor of continuing to stare at the sleeping male, none the wiser to his presence. He was a demon, it didn't matter if he was acting like a creep or whatever...but if he was honest with himself, he was pretty surprised by his actions thus far with this specific human. Zel prepared himself to slink out of the room, giving Charlie one last glance...only to be met with wide brown eyes staring straight back at him. Oh, fuck was the only thought that ran through his mind as he just stood there, frozen.

After a long moment, Zelophehad slowly relaxed, thinking carefully about what to do next.

It wouldn't do any good to get nervous...I have no reason to be nervous. I know he can see me, but he's not...doing anything? Hardly even blinking... Most people would jump out of bed with fear, I'd assume. Maybe he's just scared, which is pretty understandable. In that instant, Zelophehad made a split-second decision and, with some of his demonic energy, used telepathy to connect their minds, making it easier to talk without actually talking. He was able to tune in to the panicked thoughts of the human, and with slight hesitation, pushed his own thoughts out and over into Charlie's mind. "Uh...hey dude. Sorry to freak you out." Zel raised his black clawed hands up to his chest in surrender, hoping to show he meant no harm. "I was just about to leave, so..."

 

[elytra]

Charlie was predominately occupied with panic, if he were entirely honest. Anyone would be, he assumed, but there was a difference between fear and panic in his mind. The line was drawn mostly at the ability to act. Fear for him was less serious than panic. You could have fear without panic, but usually not panic without fear. With fear, he would be able to do something, possibly tune in to the built-in flight-or-fight response in his head. Fear still had possibility of action.

Panic, however, came around when lack of action introduced itself. Panic was being backed into a corner and not being able to find a way out of it. This was the sort of thing that started panic, because there was quite literally nothing Charlie could do about it. That, of course, freaked him out- he hated not having control over situations. The thing was, he really thought that would be the extent of it. That he'd be panicking and then at some point he'd stop, mostly because the hallucination would be gone and he'd be out of the mode he was currently in.

But then it got weird, because the thing spoke to him, and that wasn't normal. Hallucinations didn't really speak in these sorts of scenarios, and they certainly didn't use the word dude.

That was when most of the feelings that he was experiencing melted away into confusion. He was still freaked out, which he was pretty sure was understandable, but the whole talking thing seemed to indicate....well, he wasn't sure. It wasn't really talking, because it was in his head, but he clearly wasn't thinking the words himself, and it seemed to be coming from the thing in front of him, which shouldn't have been real, but apparently had enough of a mind to apologize to him about freaking him out. That was weird, and he wasn't sure if that was better or worse than the alternative of it just being a hallucination.

Probably worse, but he didn't want to dwell on it.

It took him a moment to figure out where to go from there, as well as to get himself to a state where he could sort of think clearly. He assumed that thinking was how to communicate with it, seeing as it was projecting its own words at him, but that was just a theory and it was entirely possible he was just going crazy. But its fine. People went crazy all the time. He could deal with that issue later. Instead of continuing to think on that fun possibility, he instead decided to try and 'talk' back, unsure if it'd work.

"What the fuck is going on?" Was it the most polite way to start off? Of course not! He thought it was understandable seeing as he was having a minor crisis, though.

 

[trash.nyann]

What the fuck was going on? Zel really had no idea how to answer that. His sudden lapse of judgment was unexplainable, and now here he was, lost for words. "I...uh..." He started, only to pause and ponder once more. He could tell the truth, or he could not. From the looks of it, Charlie was responding to him, admittedly a bit confused and panicked, but it was something. At that point, Zel figured it was best to just keep going. "I'm...a--you know what? I'm sorry again...for all this..! It really was a spur of the moment idea, and I thought it would be cool to talk to you and I really liked your room and uuuhhh... I'm rambling now.." Letting out a short sigh, he continued. "Anyway, my name is Zelophehad. I'm...a demon, but I'm not here to possess you or anything...I just found you kinda...intresting." He left it at that, not having much energy left to speak further after that whole awkward spiel.

Zel was dying to leave at that point, to just disappear in front of Charlie's eyes and have him think it was all some strange dream, but he was also just so, so curious to see what the boy would say next. Say to him.

 

[elytra]

Demon?

That wasn't....okay, there was a point, far back in Charlie's life, that he believed in ghosts. By extension, he believed in demons, of course. He'd been interested in the paranormal-slash-supernatural-slash-what-have-you. Had books upon books about the topic. That happened to be when he was 8, though, which was also a point where he believed in Santa Claus, who was not real, just like demons were not real, nor were ghosts. People claimed that the supernatural was just science that wasn't able to be explained yet, but Charlie had firmly planted himself in the idea that there was a difference between not knowing the scientific reasoning behind a bowl falling from a shelf and blaming it on a dead relative. It was a fun what-if, an interesting hypothetical, but it wasn't anything but hypothetical.

Well, until now, maybe.

He wasn't still wasn't sure if he believed that what he was experiencing wasn't a hallucination, but there was a small chance that it wasn't, supported by the fact that they were having something that resembled a conversation. If he admitted that the possibility held weight, however, he'd also have to admit that the person- thing, Zelophehad, whatever -in front of him might be a demon. He wasn't sure he was ready for that. He tried to chill out anyway. The guy seemed way too nervous to have ill intent anyway, and while it was weird and concerning to not be able to move...well, he'd deal. It was fine. He could handle this.

"....A demon." He was sure he sounded skeptical, if one could sound like anything when projecting thoughts to someone. But, if he was here and on the off chance that this truly was happening, he figured that he might as well clear things up. "The biblical sort? From hell?" He wasn't sure what other sort there could be, but he could admit he didn't know everything at points. As an afterthought, he tacked on "...And I'm Charlie.", an attempt at being polite. Maybe it would make up for what he started off with.

 

[trash.nyann]

They were really having a conversation. Zelophehad took everything in with bated breath- the fact that he was talking to Charlie, Charlie is talking back to him, admittedly a bit skeptical but- he'll take what he can get. He was glad to be covered by shadows, as to not scare the boy with his sudden little grin. Inching closer, Zel made himself comfortable sitting on the edge of the mattress, tired from all the standing around. Plus, he felt like it might make Charlie more comfortable if he wasn't so imposing, giving how tall he was.

"Ah...yeah, I guess you could say that. Hell is very much real, but it's different from how the bible talks about it..." He could just go on and on about how boring Hell is, how souls don't really get punished all that much anymore, and how God and Satan came to a compromise about humanity, giving how the world pretty much went to shit all on its own. But Zel figured that would be way too much to even comprehend all at once. Keeping it simple is the way to go. "And I'm Zelophehad...wait- I.. already said that... ugh, sorry." With a nervous chuckle, Zel promptly shut up, feeling slightly embarrassed all over again.

Not knowing how to continue, the demon looked around the room once more, trying to find a new topic to chat about. Once full of questions, he now found himself unable to utter any.

"If you have questions about anything...or, well- anything about me or just demons in general...I can try to answer them, honestly and to the best of my ability," he suggested softly, giving Charlie the chance to take more control over the situation at hand. It took a lot of effort to quell his urge to blurt out his own questions at the boy, his lips still upturned with a grin at the thought of learning more from him. But the morning was close at hand, and he still was grasping the air for any inquiries to ask of Charlie. He only hoped the boy would allow him the chance to come back and ask them.

 

[elytra]

He was still trying to get over the fact that there was someone claiming to be a demon at the end of his bed- or sitting, now, which was a bit easier on his nerves -and was drawing a blank on questions. Of course, he had questions, he was sure. Lots of them. Who wouldn't? But where was he going to start, that was the problem, along with the fact he was stuck in place still, and that wasn't the most comfortable of situations. It wouldn't be comfortable even if he didn't have a supposed demon at the end of his bed.

But that wasn't what he should've been focusing on. He really should ask something.

Despite his resolution to pose a question, he stayed quiet a few moments longer. Not for lack of trying, but it took some thought, and he didn't want to insensitive even if this was a demon. He also needed a second to deal with the whiplash he was still experiencing from the swift change in tone of the interaction. He was fairly sure it wasn't going to wear off anytime soon.

"Are you the reason I can't move, or is that just a coincidence?" He finally decided upon, figuring it was best to get it out of the way. He wanted to know, because if the demon could remove him from the state he was in before he went into another panic, it would have been much appreciated. Then again, he wasn't sure if demons could cause sleep paralysis. He hadn't been sure demons had existed until around a minute before that point, so his knowledge was rather lacking on how they functioned.

 

[trash.nyann]

"...I'm not so sure about that myself, actually..." Zel trailed off softly, now eyeing the human with a concerned look--not that Charlie could see it anyway, but still. "This is my first time doing anything like this...but we can always test that theory-- I mean, if you'd like to that is.." Charlie did look pretty uncomfortable just laying there, wide awake but unable to move anything... Zel almost felt bad, and then felt worst about not feeling as bad. But if it weren't for the human's lack of mobility, he wouldn't have made it this far to be able to talk with the other male.

Glancing toward the window, Zel frowned at the slight of sunlight peeking over the horizon and knew his time was very limited. "I can't stay around for much longer, I don't have enough energy to withstand bright lights, and what's brighter than the sun, you know~" He laughed slightly, "we have time for one more question, I think..? We'll just have to see~"

 

[elytra]

Not having the demon know...well, it wasn't reassuring to say the least. After all, if he wasn't causing it, something else was causing it, and it was safe to say that Charlie didn't like the idea of something else suddenly giving him sleep paralysis. Not that he liked the idea of sleep paralysis in general, considering how uncomfortable even the idea of it was to him, but he liked knowing at the very least. That probably contributed to his next projected thought being "Testing the theory would probably be good." without really mulling over the consequences of basically inviting a stranger to chill out in his room while he was unable to move.

Not that he found himself regretting it much, even after he mulled it over. He did want to know, and there was only one way to find out. Curiosity killed the cat, but the much more forgotten part of the phrase said that satisfaction brought it back. It would bother him if he didn't find out, he knew that, and no harm had come to him yet so he was betting on that trend continuing.

"So...do all demons not like light, or just you?" Seemed like a reasonable last question, all things considered. He figured that if another demon- which was still a crazy concept -happened to come around, then he ought to know what they did and didn't like. He didn't think anything such as that would ever be a worry for him, but apparently he should've expected the unexpected.