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'Well, it’s just one movie’… Koda thought to himself. ‘ How badly could it go?’ Koda hated horror movies. Admittedly, he never watched one, but still. They never appealed to him & he didn’t like to be scared, so he thought horror movies would give him a heart attack. So, he never watched them. You don’t have to try everything to know you won’t like it. Some things like kids not wanting to eat vegetables are an exception, but horror movies are something Koda knows he won’t like.
Unfortunately for him, his boyfriends love them. Well, mainly Tokoyami, but Shoji was interested in a new horror movie Tokoyami talked about. None of them have watched it, so they’d all be reacting to it blindly.
“This movie isn’t gonna be super scary, right?” Koda asked.
Tokoyami shook his head. “We can always pause the movie if you get too scared,” he reassured.
Koda nodded, relaxing himself into his pile of pillows. It was just a movie. It wasn’t like it was going to hurt him or anything. Besides, he was able to fight off whatever danger came over to him himself. Even if it was real. Which it wasn’t. Right?
Shoji selected the movie & hit play, leaning against the wall while watching. It was a psychological horror, with the mix of quirks added in. A masked killer with a really scary quirk. Nothing Tokoyami or Shoji hadn’t seen before. It did have a cool added bonus of the movie being filmed in first person perspective, making it extra creepy.
Koda covered his eyes for the first ten minutes of the movie, but eventually decided to look. He didn’t want to be a chicken. Especially in front of his boyfriends. Even if they said they didn’t mind, he knew that they, especially Tokoyami, would be disappointed if they had to cut the movie short because of him.
As the creature got closer to the screen, it began to scare Tokoyami too. Except he was smiling while watching it, only ever releasing short gasps of shock before reverting right back to a more neutral expression. Kouda’s eyes were still fixated on the movie. An unnerving feeling built up in him, watching the killer move around the screen.
When the final scare arrived, all three boys yelped, hiding somewhat behind something. Either their hands, or a pillow, or whatever. By the end of it, Kouda was hiding under a blanket, covering his eyes from the final, bloody shot that appeared on screen. Meanwhile, Shoji was checking his heart rate & trying to slow it down, & Tokoyami was hiding behind his blanket.
Looks like the movie spooked them out too...
Once Shoji calmed down a bit, he readjusted himself & sat back up. “Wow,” he said. “That was…”
“Scary-” Tokoyami finished.
Shouji turned his head to look at Kouda, whose head was still under the blanket. “How was the movie Kouji?” he asked in a soft tone. He didn’t want to scare the guy. He looked spooked.
Kouda pulled the blanket down, taking a peek at the teen next to him. ‘I-it was a-alright…” he managed to say. “M-maybe we can watch another movie?” he asked. He’d suggest a more light hearted movie in order to prevent any nightmares.
Tokoyami opened his beak to yawn, shaking his head. “I’m quite tired actually,” he said. “I prefer to sleep instead.”
“Yeah, it’s kinda late anyways,” Shoji agreed. “Besides, we can always use the extra sleep.”
Koda nodded. “G-good call,” he said. He really didn’t want to sleep now, but it wasn’t so bad. He was able to protect himself from some stupid horror movie character. He got up & followed the two boys to where they would be sleeping for the night.
The three of them were sleeping over on the floor in Koda’s room. They thought it’d be a nice relaxing break for the three of them to do. Kouda especially liked it since he had many stuffed animals & pillows he could cling on to when having his inevitable nightmare.
Kouda was shaking in his sleep, trying to wake himself up from his dream, but being unsuccessful. His breathing became shaky the longer he was.
He was hiding in a shed. In a corner, cowering in fear as he hid from the scary horror movie creature. He looked so realistic. It’s like he was actually face to face with that thing. He was alone, crying to himself as he tried doing everything to wake himself up.
He knew this was a dream, but just couldn’t escape it. He was trying so hard to, but couldn’t. He began crying, practically sobbing for someone else to come save him from whatever was attacking him. He tried opening his eyes one more time but only saw darkness. He began breathing heavily, his heart racing faster. He felt like he was going to pass out. He was dreaming. How could he pass out? Was he even in his dreams anymore? Was this a dream? Was he dead? That's what the darkness was. He was dead, wasn't he?
He curled into himself more, trying to focus, closing his eyes again. He didn't know where he was or what happened to him. Maybe he was still dreaming. The floor was much softer now. Dead people can't feel things, right? Unless he was a ghost. He kept breathing heavier & faster, almost to the point of hyperventilating.
A firm grip was placed on his shoulder, startling the boy more than he already was. Kouda didn’t dare to look at who it was.
“P-please d-don’t hurt me…” he choked out, being too scared to shoo the person away.
The person didn’t say anything, gently rubbing his shoulder with their thumb. It felt sort of...calming? Who was this?
He slowly opened his eyes again, allowing himself time to adjust to the darkness. He began to scan his surroundings. He was in his room.
He looked to the side of him, seeing the hand on his shoulder. The softness he was feeling, were the blankets under him. His eyes slowly moved up as he now came face to face with the calm expression of his boyfriend, Shouji. Apparently, he was trying to wake him up gently. It seemed to have worked. Somewhat.
He took a shaky breath, looking to his other side, Tokoyami was also there, staring at him with a look of concern. His shadow was resting on his shoulder, also looking at him. He almost broke down again as he realized he was safe.
The two boys gave Kouda gentle pats on his shoulders & back rubs, letting him cry it out. Touching him any more than that may freak him out, so they settled for simple, comforting touches.
It wasn’t until Kouda shifted to hug the both of them that they wrapped their arms around him tightly, holding him as he cried. They were both shushing him & rubbing his back to calm Kouda down.
It seemed to have soothed the boy, making him loosen his grip on his partners. He eventually let go of them, wiping the last of his tears. He was still unable to go to bed, but a little less scared.
Breaking the silence in the room, Tokoyami asked. “Are you okay, dear?”
“I-it was a n-nightmare…” he admitted. He didn’t want to lie & say he was okay, but he didn’t want to say he wasn’t okay & make it seem as bad.
Tokoyami frowned at the answer. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I had no idea how badly the movie could scare you.”
“I-it wasn’t that bad…” Kouda responded. “I just g-got a bit scared…”
“I don’t think you were just a little bit scared,” Shouji said. “It looked like it was way more than that.”
“O-oh...s-so I guess I woke you up, huh?”
“Not true,” Tokoyami said. “The movie was scary enough that dark shadow was unable to sleep, & it decided that I shouldn’t be able to sleep either.” He glared at his quirk who sheepishly giggled.
Kouda nodded. “Oh, I see…” he said, turning to Shouji. “What about you?” he asked.
Shouji shrugged. “I just wasn’t able to sleep,” he explained.
“I see...” Kouda said. He looked over to see where Yuwai was, wondering if he woke him up. Thankfully, he didn’t. Yuwai was still asleep in her bed, chest moving as she snored. He wanted to pet her so badly, but he also didn’t want her to wake up because of him.
He sighed, scooting forward so he could lay down again.
“Tired?” Shouji asked, looking at him.
The rock shaped mutant shook his head. He knew that he would’t be able to sleep, especially now, but the warmth of his pillow & blankets were comforting. Even if he was sleeping on the floor.
His eyes were still open while he lied there, trying to think of anything other than the movie.
He felt a weird presence slowly slither down, resting in front of him. Staring at it longer, Kouda was finally sure that it was Tokoyami’s quirk, coming to comfort him. He gently lifted his hand & pressed it on Dark Shadow, petting it. This caused the quirk to let out soft purs as it melted into the touch.
Despite how scary the quirk may seem to other people, it really loves affection.
The petting seemed to calm Kouda down a little, almost making him sleepy. But he couldn’t sleep. Not when he could easily have another nightmare.
He began giving himself small jolts & moving around in an attempt to stay awake, which his boyfriends took notice of.
Shouji sighed, scooting forward & laying down next to him, directly in front of Kouda view. Tokoyami did the same, laying down behind him. He wrapped an arm around Kouda, gently rubbing his arm.
“If we stay with you like this, will you go to sleep?” the bird headed boy asked.
Kouda shrugged. He really didn’t want to have another nightmare.
“We all need to sleep,” Shouji said. “You shouldn’t be the only one who doesn’t get sleep.”
“I don’t want to have a nightmare,” Kouda said, now clinging onto the shadow.
“The evil of those nightmares will not hurt you,” Tokoyami assured. “Promise.”
Kouda stayed silent. He only snuggled in closer with the two, removing space between them. Being held like this was nice. It made him a little safe. He shifted a little to lie on his back, now allowing Tokoyami to rest his head on his chest. Shouji moved his head, pressing his forehead on the side of Kouda’s head.
After a few minutes, everyone was silent. He looked over at Shouji. He was sleeping, snoring a little. Looking down at Dark Shadow, it was asleep too. Tokoyami’s hand around him began to go limp, as if he had just fallen asleep. Glancing up a little at his chest, Tokoyami was there, eyes closed & feathers puffing as he took slow breaths. Looks like he was the only one awake now.
He sighed, closing his eyes. He wouldn’t have another nightmare. He was sure of it. He focused himself on his breathing, eventually drifting to sleep with his boyfriends beside him.