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John startles awake, his heart already running out of his chest and beating so quickly he's more than a little worried 'bout his health. He's halfway to sitting up when he hears a whimper from beside him, and he sinks back into the bed with a relieved sigh. The bed shifts as Chris twists and turns, and John closes his eyes even as he reaches out blindly, sinking half-way back to sleep.
He grunts as he moves Chris across the bed. The man certainly isn't light with all that damn muscle, but eventually John tugs enough that he's laid out over John's chest. His puffs of breath tickle John's neck. Pulling his legs up, he straightens Chris out over top of him with his thighs, getting the man properly settled all over him. Chris is warm from the night of sleep but John keeps them covered with the sheet that'd been thrown over them all night, wrapping his arms around the man's back and holding him close as he continues to whimper.
“Hey, hey it's okay, Chris, it's okay,” John coos, running his hand up and down the man's back in long, sweeping strokes. His body is littered with scars, each one a horror story in its own right, but his back is the worst. John focuses on the different textures in a bid to keep himself calm. The last thing Chris needs while waking from a nightmare is for John's heart rate to be going all crazy.
Chris' arms twitch, curling up around John's side as his body begins to shake. It's the same every time he has a nightmare, and each time hurts John as much as the last. He keeps up a mindless string of comforting words, focusing on keeping his voice as soft as he can. He knows what Chris needs by now, and this tends to help him the most. Planting his shoulders and feet on the bed, he raises them both up so Chris can slip his arms under John's back.
Once he's settled, he wraps his legs over Chris' thighs, feeling rather like a damn koala in his own bed. But, it makes Chris feel secure, having part of him held down like this. John switches to a tuneless humming now that Chris is awake, holding in a yawn as he keeps petting down the man's back.
“S'okay?” John mumbles sleepily, pressing the words into Chris' forehead. Chris makes a noise that sounds rather positive, though John still sometimes has trouble telling them apart. He pats the man's back just in case, holding him even tighter as sleep threatens to pull him back under.
Chris shifts and presses a kiss to John's chest, a silent single that he's alright, and John lets sleep claim him, knowing Chris’ll fall back asleep soon.