wildestlogs | Sleep is for the weak

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Sleep is for the weak

Who: Mio and Tommy
What: Mio's refusing to GO TO SLEEP ALREADY
Where: Camping spot
When: The night after the wishing well situation
Warnings/Notes: Referenced murder/sacrifice and curses

Mio might not have bonded with anyone just yet, but that doesn't mean she doesn't come with her own set of labels: she is the strong twin, the brave twin, and the responsible twin all in one package. A package that completely loses meaning in absence of her twin sister, ~~especially since she herself murdered her~~ but it's not like she can let go of these traits, for practical reasons.

Yes, there we go, there are practical reasons to stay awake, it's because she has the weapon to protect her teammates. Not everyone can use the Camera Obscura, some have been driven to madness by it. So she can't let that happen to anyone.

Also, the curse of the Sleeping Priestess had her fall into a coma before she was brought on the Rig - come to think about it, she didn't sleep for that couple of days either -, so she is technically afraid to sleep because if she falls into a coma again the functioning of rest of the team will be impaired, certainly not because she's afraid of ghosts punishing her for what she's done.

Why would she be afraid? She's 16, but she grew up fast, that makes her an adult and adults know better than to be scared.

"AAH!"

She instinctively grabs the Camera Obscura and shoots whatever it is that she heard moving...Which turns out to be Tommy.

"Oh, it's you." she puts the camera down, showing horrible dark circles under her eyes "You startled me."

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Tommy's not a practiced patrolling sort of superhero. He's much more running quickly and randomly around NYC and stopping anything he runs into in a loose, freeform, speedster version of a patrol. Most of the time, people don't even know Speed was there, and that's fine. Much less chance of somebody tracking him down and being all "We agreed your team wouldn't be superheroes on the regs anymore."

Which means that, in this state of Speed-not-having-speed, Tommy is not subtle or quiet in his patrols of the camp. It seems like something he should help with, and so he does, but he's not used to worrying about startling or disturbing someone.

So he's not used to worrying about someone grabbing her magic exorcism camera and taking a snapshot of him. The flash is bright in the dark, and Tommy yelps and slaps a hand over his eyes.

"What the hell?!" His vision is basically two white-out stars. "I am not Spider-Man! Go take pictures of someone the Bugle will actually pay you for!"

"Relax." Mio scrunches her nose "I wouldn't have taken a picture if I knew it was you."

She's about to yawn but holds it back, making an odd grimace.

“You took a picture, and you didn’t know it was me. I could’ve been anybody. What if I was Crowley?”

Tommy rubs at his eyes, trying to clear them. He peers at her, squints, and repeats the process. “I can’t see. Is that your face or are you making one?”

"I don't know what you're talking about."

Mio is not necessarily confrontational, but this kid seems really determined on starting their interactions on the wrong foot.

"Also, I'm sure Crowley would have known better and announced himself."

“Known better than to what, exist? That’s a weapon. No one else is shooting first and asking questions later. Just you.”

Tommy isn’t going back down on that - she’s being the kid of irresponsible that gets actual rules out in place, and he won’t let that happen. “No one else is up in the middle of the night either.”

Kinda blatantly untrue, as he’s also up, but at least some of the camp is asleep. “Taking photos. At night. Not creepy at all.”

"So am I shooting in self defense or being creepy? Pick one." dumbass is the unspoken final word in that sentence. See, his concerns are perfectly fine, but the way he expresses himself, complaining just for the sake of arguing? Mio doesn't get it. Maybe it's because she would rather die than have others know she has complaints and concerns herself.

"Look." Mio sighs "I'm sorry, I'll try not to react next time."

See? She's above confrontation--

"Even though it might get us killed."

Sleep deprivation is known for causing a certain crankiness even in the nicest people, after all.

“Both?” She can definitely do both at the same time; nothing about being on your guard means you’re not also being creepy.

Tommy has no compunctions about letting someone know that he’s a person with thoughts and feelings. If they’re bad, they’re bad. Nobody feels better ignoring the bad shit. “Mm. Yeah, like you taking a photo of anyone demonic might not kill them? The Nightrenders might attack, but you’re wasting ammo cause you’re too scared to patrol in the dark. Half the camp patrols. If it makes you nervous, use the body system or stay by the fire. Don’t take it out on me cause you shot too soon.”

Mio sighs. She does feel the impulse to argue, if only to express some pent up anger, but it's not worth it.

"Alright. Whatever. Are you done now?"

She yawns.

“Done what?” Tommy hadn’t even told her what he was doing or how far along he was, but it wouldn’t matter anymore. Patrolling on his own is now on pause. “I only just started sticking with you so you’d chill out.”

He’ll bodyguard her from things that go bump in the night, and camp from her. Everyone wins. “Are you done?”

"Look," Mio rubs her eyes in pure exhaustion "I promise I will be less jumpy, but I should be watching for threats."

She’s rubbing her eyes like a little kid. And she definitely just yawned like a champ. Tommy doesn’t care what people do with their lack of self care, as long as they don’t smell at a six foot distance and don’t hurt anyone, pull that all-nighter.

“It’s a big camp. There’s like fifty people, and other people are awake enough to watch for threats. Take a damn nap. Because you’re a threat with that camera.”

"I can't." Mio suppresses another yawn "Trust me, it's better like this."

“You can. You absotively can.”

It’s better like this? When she’s struggling right in front of him now? Pull the other one. “Go find a comfy spot and close your damn eyes. It’s not hard. I’ll watch the camp. You’re going to get hurt.”

"No, really, I can't."

She bites her lip. She very quickly runs through all the information in her brain to cherry pick it in a way that sounds acceptable.

"Last time I went to sleep, I fell into a coma. And I am bound to experiencing it again, because I have been cursed."

She suppresses another yawn. Yes, this sounds like a good enough explanation. The reason why she got cursed is not something she needs to disclose.

Who can expect a story like that? She’s doomed to go into a coma every time she falls asleep.

This chick is going to die, like, tomorrow because it’s impossible to not fall asleep indefinitely. “When did you get cursed? Did you get cursed here, because we will find that witch and make her fix this. You can’t not sleep - you’ll go crazy and die. Are you crazy yet? Yeah. You are. Let’s go.”

"I was cursed back home." replies Mio making a pained expression as she stifles another yawn "The problem is that we need the Camera Obscura here, but at the same time it can't be handled by just anyone. So if I fall into a coma and it stays here, it might cause danger because as much as it works it also attracts ghosts."

An exhausted sigh.

"So yeah...We're screwed."

“We don’t need the camera,” Tommy snipes. If she blinds him again with it, he’s throwing it into a lake. “You could keep it with you when you nap like a doll. It’s going to attract ghosts whether you’re awake or not, so you might as well sleep before you’re dead.”

"I can't even tell if you're serious or if you're messing with me."

She is that tired. Eventually, her legs are tired too and she sits on the ground.

"Do you think it's possible that the effect of the curse may stop in this dimension?"

She tries to sound neutral, but it's clear that she's begging to go to sleep.

"I'm serious. You can go crazy and die if you don't sleep." Tommy is almost positive that that's true, but, regardless, he's not trying to mess with her. "And yeah, I think it might. This place has different powers rules. It took away my powers. What makes you think your curse is still working?"

Tommy offers her his hand. "C'mon, I can carry you back to camp. I've got a pillow if you want to borrow it."

"Would you really do that for me?" she sounds tired but also very grateful "Thank, I'd appreciate it."

“Do you always ask stupid questions, or am I special?” Tommy says as he bends down and scoops her up in a bridal carry. There’s no great way to carry someone, but he thinks this is less demeaning than a fireman’s carry.

Also less chance of anyone farting in anyone else’s general face.

“Yeah. I’d do that for you. If I wouldn’t do it, I’d just keep my mouth shut, and you wouldn’t even know it was an option” Tommy starts walking towards the camp. “Do me a favor and let me know if you see any really bad roots coming up. I can see where I’m going, but not my feet.”

"I'll let you know." Mio assures him while also ignoring the unnecessary yapping that came before "Thanks for the help."

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Sleep is for the weak

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