Date: Wed, 2 Aug 2000 20:40:17 -0700
From: Justin Robinson-Prickett 
To: T.J. Jankun-Kelly 
Cc: Penny Gronbeck 
Subject: Restless Dreams


Damon would have come to bed with Ivy.  If she wakes up during the night,
she'd hear him pacing in the living room.
 
Ivy will go and see what's going on.
 
Damon is out there, turning his box over and over in his hands,
absently.  He's pacing and thinking.
 
There are other puzzles on the table...
 
she'll just watch for a moment, check him to make sure he's awake and not
somnambulent.
 
Ivy shakes her head.  "I don't actually sleep a lot." 
 
She moves closer to him.  "What's going on?"
 
note:  she's still shirtless.
 
Damon's eyes keep wandering down to her chest, then meeting her eyes. 
He's in his pajamas.
 
"Oh, nothing.  Couldn't sleep."
 
Ivy sits down next to him.  "You don't sleep a lot either."
 
Damon smiles mirthlessly.  "No.  I don't."
 
"Why?  I mean, I don't have to sleep... but you don't have my mutant
power."  She touches his shoulder.
 
Damon shakes his head.  "I... I just don't sleep much."  He turns away
from her, rising and pacing again.
 
Ivy follows him with her eyes.  "Tell me, Damon."
 
He turns to her, and his eyes are wrapped in moisture.  "No!  I'm not a
child anymore!  I shouldn't have this..."
 
Ivy steps towards him, concerned and a little surprised.  "This what?"
 
He blinks, and the tears fall.  "Nightmares... stupid baby nightmares..."
He collapses into a chair, his head in his hands.
 
Ivy goes and puts her arms around him.   She doesn't speak for a moment.
 
Damon's shoulders shake.
 
She strokes his hair.  "Oh, Damon."
 
His voice is muffled by his hands, and thick with sobs.  "I understand if
you don't love me, anymore.  I'm not what you thought."
 
"What?"  Ivy is obviously surprised by this.  "Damon, don't be stupid, of
course I still love you.  Having nightmares isn't going to make me stop."
 
He looks up at her.  His normally impassive face is streaked with tears. 
"I'm not strong, Ivy.  I'm not... what I need to be..."
 
Ivy shakes her head, concern written all over her face.  "You're strong,
Damon.  You're stronger than I am in a lot of ways."  She brushes a tear
aside. 
 
He closes his eyes and leans into her hand.  "I've had them forever. 
Most nights they come."
 
"You should tell me about them."  Ivy puts her other hand on Damon's
shoulder.
 
"No.  They're my problem.  Besides, you don't want to know about them."
 
Ivy moves closer to him.  "If they're your problem, they're my problem
too because I love you."
 
"And I love you, but you don't need to know... they're awful..."
 
"It might help you to tell me, though, even if that's true." 
 
"It's a thing... I don't know.  A monster... it's awful.  Every night it
comes and every night I fight it.  Every night... every damn night."
 
Ivy nods, but doesn't interrupt.
 
"It wants something.  But I don't know what.  And no matter how many
times I drive it back to oblivion, it comes again and again."
 
Ivy touches Damon's head, trying to comfort him.
 
"It will come tonight.  I know it.  I.. can't.. face it.  But I will."
 
Damon yawns, and Ivy can tell his body can't take it like hers can. 
"Y-yes.  Just tonight."
 
Ivy debates giving him ritalin, then decides that's probably not a good
idea.  "Come sit on the couch with me."
 
Damon nods and lets her help him up and to the couch.
 
She sits down with him, holding him.
 
He holds her like a drowning man in slowly calming seas.
 
Ivy touches his head and back, trying to soothe him. 
 
After a moment, she notices his body has gone limp.  He's snoring softly.

----------------------
  "Capital punishment turns the state into a murderer. But imprisonment
turns the state into a gay dungeon-master."
              - Emo Philips