Chapter Text
Adam couldn't sleep.
No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't sleep. He would close his eyes, only to find them open a moment later, counting sheep did nothing but bore his mind, humming the lullaby his mother used to for him only filled his thoughts with memories, waking him from pleasant nostalgia. He sighed, running a hand over his face as he slowly breathed through his nose. Adam was frustrated. He rolled over onto his left side, staring at the night stars outside his window with half-lidded eyes. He tried closing his eyes again…
He was on a boat.
He drifted through dreamless waters.
A sailor upon the sea of stars. The wind blows at the sail with the vigor of a determined heart, yet he drifts as though the wind was never there. Each bump at the edges of his mind creates ripples of peaceful melodies, like sirens calling him near with enchanting songs of woe. Yet, he drifts the melodies growing faint as though they never existed.
He drifted through dreamless waters.
Yet, he couldn't find a place to dock. There was nowhere for him to lay anchor, nowhere for him to settle down and let the waves rock him to sleep. The shooting stars above him were mere distractions, keeping him from finding his place of rest. What would have lulled him had disappeared into the darkness of that sleepless abyss at the end of the world. He teeters along the edge, watching as the starlight water pours down like a waterfall into a seemingly bottomless pit. His little paper boat innocently bumped against that tiny wall he had built, preventing him from plummeting down to a dark demise.
Yet, the abyss called his name, begging him to jump down, begging him to come to the bottom. It promises he'll fall asleep, it promises it will show him dreams. He hesitates, he refuses. He knows it's lying, it will only show him nightmares. The abyss reaches for him, thin tar-like tendrils rising from the dark to pull him under, the Kraken of his nightmares looming over him with ferocious intent. He couldn't move, and his paper boat began to sink, the water seeping into the material causing it to go flaccid and limp. He had drifted too far. He could only watch as the tendrils dove into the water, eagerly traveling toward him like eels…
The wind picked up, it pushed his boat back towards the sea. It was weak, but it helped. The abyss was chasing him, begging him to come back, it promises to show him dreams, and it promises to be good. He doesn't believe it. It reached for him again, demanding he come to it. He refused. It refused to listen. He climbed to the crow's nest, the tendrils snaking up the pole with an earnest determination to drag him under the water into a restless sleep. He felt tears prick the corners of his eyes. He tried to open them, but he couldn't, he needed to open his eyes, no sleep was better than what this thing would bring him to.
He tried to open his eyes.
Please, open.
Open.
Open!
OPEN!!
~Pa-pling~
His text notification went off.
His eyes snapped open. The stars still twinkled in the night sky like fairy lights. He rolled onto his back, glassy eyes trained at the bedside table where his phone sat. The screen was on, illuminating a tiny portion of his dark room. Adam sat up, making no attempt at grabbing the small device. If he did he could kiss any chance at falling asleep goodbye…
~Pa-pling~
There it was again.
His brow furrowed, he checked the clock… 1:28 Am… who in the world would text him this late/ early? Sure Kai had insomnia, but he never tried to text his friends when he was having one of those nights because he knew they had relatively normal sleeping habits, so the redhead opted to play video games to fill his time instead.
Adam stared at his phone with hesitation, his chest tightening with curiosity.
~Pa-pling~
He gingerly reached for the device with shaky hands, why are his hands shaking? The light burned his eyes for a second as he strained to see the pop-up notification through squinted eyelids.
It was Reeve.
He swiped up on the screen, typing in his passcode in under a second. He went to the home screen, opened his messages, and scrolled down to his and Reeve's chat room.
He read the last three texts.
Reeve: Yo. You up? My Ma dropped one of her jogging weights and woke me up. For some reason, she's going on a night run.
Reeve: I asked and she told me it's because of my Dad's snoring lol.
Reeve: But yeah, I can't get back to sleep. I saw you online and figured you couldn't sleep either.
Adam felt himself snicker.
Adam: Yeah, I'm up. Haven't been able to sleep all night. I'm probably gonna be a wreck tomorrow.
Reeve: Yikes. Do you think Kai's insomnia rubbed off on you?
Adam: That's not how that works Reeve.
Reeve: I know.
Adam: And no, I don't think that. If anything it might be because we've had a lot of lag in Hollow Life lately.
Reeve: Probably…
Reeve: You cool with me coming over?
Reeve: Wait nvmind, your parents.
Adam: My parents are away for the weekend remember? Said something about visiting my Aunt across town.
Reeve: Oh yeah.
Adam: Yeah… I'm 100% gonna get lectured by my Mom about playing too many video games when they get back on Monday.
Reeve: Just don't tell them.
Adam: Yeah, get back to me on that when your Mom gains the ability to read you like a book dude.
Reeve: Point taken.
Reeve: So… Can I come over?
Adam: Yeah sure. Just make sure you leave a note for your Mom, the last thing I need during a no-sleep headache is for her to come knocking at 5 in the morning cause you weren't in bed. And she somehow knew you'd be here.
Reeve: Dude… that was three weeks ago, and I said sorry.
Adam: Yeah, but it still pissed off my Dad. And he's like, the one person I never want to piss off. Remember what happened when Mira and I scratched our names in my driveway? And people think my Mom's the scary parent.
Reeve: Yeah, your Dad's pretty freaky.
Reeve: Anyway, I'll be right over.
Adam: K. Don't worry about puddles, he's sleeping in my parent's room, and you should be able to get in without waking him up. You have a spare key right?
Reeve: Yep. See ya in a bit.
Adam put his phone down and sighed, the low ambient noise in the room became present to him. He scooted back towards the headboard and leaned back against his pillows as he looked up and stared at the ceiling. The moonlight seeped in through the glass, painting the ceiling of his bedroom in a soft milky white glow. He felt relaxed, not tired, but relaxed.
And with his eyes open, he drifted through dreamless waters.