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It was supposed to be a regular night for the Lark. Clémente was ready in their bunk, before asking Cole very nicely to sing them before they fell asleep, Kingsley found themselves falling asleep to the melody despite it being mainly for Clémmie.
Before Kingsley fell asleep, They heard Clémente asking Cole if they could sleep with them once again. Cole would usually agree, but this day was different, since Cole barely slept last night and wanted a bit of personal space. It sounded like they were panicking while explaining, but Clémmie started speaking in a very soft tone, which was very muffled to Kingsley who was just falling asleep, which was followed by a smooch and climbing.
Clémentes ladder to their bunk was quite screechy therefore characteristic. Hence the fact they once invited everyone of the lark on their bed for fun... Kingsley never forgot how panicked Cole was when they heard a small snap
But, when Kingsley fell asleep they weren't met with their usual lucid dreams, or a dream of every lark being a fruit or vegetable. They were having a nightmare. Again, not one that was them being chased by a giant bunny version of Cole, nor one where they got lost in a forest then fell off a tree.
They were having an extremely vivid nightmare. One that everything felt real in, that they ran and fet tired. And it wasn't a light dream either, it was one for sure a 9 year old would find terrifying.
When Kingsley woke up, they sprung into a sitting position, gasping for air touching the back of their neck. Tears filled their eyes as they breathed heavily. It was just a dream, everything was just a dream. But it felt too real, everything felt too real in that dream. Kingsley wasn't one to cry too often.
The air in their throat caught, and a painful lump was there as well. They sobbed, but tried not to wake anyone up especially Peregrine who was in the bunk underneath them. Yet it was too late, since Peregrine practically never slept.
In their bed, Peregrine heard Kingsley crying so they got off their bed and looked up at the bunk above before climbing the steps to their bed. Peregrine looked over and saw Kingsley shaking and clearly trying to breath and having visible trouble doing so. Peregrine sat next to them almost immediately when they noticed the signs of a probable panic attack.
-Whoa, hey, stick bug look at me?-
Their voice was softer than usual and Peregrine cupped the child's face encouraging them to look at them. Kingsley was stiff though, when they felt Peregrines hands they just looked down still trying to take a deep breath but failing
-Deep breaths, m'kay? Your okay, just follow mine if you're having trouble...-
Peregrine took deeper breaths for Kingsley to mimic and calm down, just a little bit.
Eventually, Kingsleys breathing was still shakey but slower that it was before. They were still sobbing and hicing, snot slowly dripping down from their nose. Peregrine wiped their tears and gave a small comforting smile retracting their hand
-You did great bug... Now uh... Mind telling me what caused you to have a panic attack at 2am in the morning?-
Kingsley sniffled and hiced, their voice slightly hoarse. Sobs have subsided for now, and they took a deep breath then wiped any remaining tears on their face
-Nightmare... Really really bad...-
The child sniffled and looked down. Peregrine started glancing around, and wondered how to comfort Kingsley. It had been a while since they have had a nightmare themselves, although since they've moved to Felicity then met Cole and Kingsley, the nightmares and bad dreams have basically gone away. And when Peregrine used to have nightmares, no one was there to comfort them. Comforting was more of Clémmies thing and sometimes Coles. Though, both were fast asleep in their bunks.
-Ah... I see, would you like to tell me what it was about?-
Perrine tried to say something to help, maybe if they heard what the dream was about, they could soothe the child's fear? They didn't really know, at this point, Peregrine was throwing stuff at the wall here
The dream was still quite fresh, therefore when revising it, a sniffle or hic would interrupt their sentences
-I...it was Felicity...like... Normal town of Felicity! We were getting ready for a show and... and we were getting ready per usual! Vocal warm ups, practicing o-our songs real quick... A-and then we went to the stage...-
Kingsley paused, they were about to get into what actually made them so scared, but for some reason a lump in their throat formed at the sheer memory of it. But, they swallowed and continued, hics still interrupting their speech
-a-and when we started performing I... just... Something went terribly wrong... Really badly... F-first Mx. Playwright got attack by someone... Then they started attacking us.... A-and I remember very very vividly... We ran back stage to hide then...-
Once again they were paused by a lump in their throat. what was this... Kingsley was so used to speaking about what was bothering them and about their feelings. So this was very weird to them. Tears welled in their eyes wanting to spill... But they continued despite
-Clémmie hid with Cole before they got caught a-and the guy who attacked just... Ruthlessly stabbed them—! I-i heard Clèm begging for mercy as they held Cole—
...t-then he found us... A-and we were hiding in a supply closet... Then you tried to attack him to save me and... Got you too... I-I saw you get stabbed Perry... You were screaming for him to stop and I couldn't do anything! I-I was just standing there so...helpless... He wasn't even done with you when he threw his weapon at me, stabbing my neck and everything hurt, my mouth was...-
The tears and sobs that were gone for a moment came back. What hurt most was that Kingsley is known for having very vivid dreams, more commonly lucid dreams. But something this vivid was sure to cause such an immense reaction to a 9 year old. As Kingsley sobbed they managed to let out four silent words before sobbing again
-everything felt so...real..-
Those four words made Peregrines heart break. Yes, they've seen Kingsley cry, but never this much. Kingsley would often cry out of frustration when their hair didn't coparate, or when they were cleaning and something wasn't right and they spent over an hour trying to figure out what it was. Evenntually they just threw everything to the ground. Cooper had calmed them down that day alongside the Playwright.
Peregrine didn't know what to do. They wanted to help Kingsley, but twenty ideas popped into their head at once. As one stuck out the most, so they decided to follow it. Without another thought, Perrine pulled the younger into a hug to let them cry out and slightly muffle them so Clémente and Cole wouldn't wake up.
Kingsley hugged them back sobbing into their friend, holding them tightly as if the terrorist from their dreams would come back and stab them again. Although, the fear from earlier had slightly subsided, but the need to cry was still there. Peregrine rubbed their back trying to shush them Mx. Playwright would when they'd have bad days.
Eventually, Kingsley calmed down enough to finally stop sobbing that is. When most emotions have disappeared Kingsley pulled away slightly looking up at Peregrine with eyes wet with tears, then the older spoke to them wiping excess tears from their face using their sleeve
-Are you able to fall asleep again?-
Kingsley thought for a moment. They weren't exactly sure, but knew that they'd have trouble sleeping on their own. So, they looked down and spoke a bit embarrassed to ask
-Uhm... Could I stay with you...? I-I don't wanna sleep on my own... It's quite spacious here and I think just... Less space would help me...?-
-So, you feel like a more uh... Compressed environment would help you sleep? I mean, I suppose I can tell how some would find that comforting!-
Kingsley nodded, a small smile appearing on their face
-Yeah! Compression was the word... And y'know your bigger, so if you hug me then that would be a lot of compression... Not to mention your bed is quite small so that would cause some sort of compression as well...-
Peregrine blushed slightly then remembered that Kingsley liked affection. So, cuddling was quite a common request from them even if it was a straightforward ask or not.
-Ah... I see what you mean... Then, you wanna come to my bed? I-I mean you have to if you wanna sleep with someone... Look, I've had a long night, let's just get to bed m'kay?-
The younger giggled softly at Peregrines stutter then followed them to their bunk climbing down. When the two got to Peregrine's bed, Kingsley lied down in a comfortable ball-like position, and Peregrine lied next to them.
While cuddling with the younger was quite normal, they couldn't help but be a bit hesitant not knowing what to do with their arms most of the time. But eventually, Kingsley snuggled up to them comfortably which caused Peregrine to loosen up then rest their hands on Kingsleys back a bit close to their waist.
Peregrine had trouble sleeping—a lot. But when they felt Kingsley just relax and heard as their breath calmed down, it caused them to calm down and get sleepy themselves. Perrine got comfortable then started letting sleep take them away.