[ Ben lets out a tiny, hiccupy laugh when Klaus says he's only going to get an hour of sleep before Klaus wakes him up with a nightmare. It is easy enough to picture, considering how many time Klaus and his nightmares has distracted Ben from whatever he was reading or thinking about at the time. That mental image helps to edge out the one that had been spinning around in his head before: Klaus, waking up in a bed next to his corpse, touching his shoulder only to find it cold and stiff.
There's no evidence for anything that Klaus is saying. It's just wishful thinking - but his voice is full of a conviction so fierce it is almost like anger. Ben wants to believe it is true. He tells himself that it must have happened for a reason. Whatever had given his body back to him had done so for a purpose. That purpose isn't fulfilled yet. So maybe - maybe he won't die.
Ben can't answer at first; he has to just breathe for a little while, controlling his inhales and exhales, keeping it together, if only barely. Klaus's presence helps, and Ben is glad that he moved closer. By small degrees, the worst of the panic fades, leaving Ben feeling stretched thin, transparent with exhaustion. ]
...Okay. Okay. I'm gonna... sleep, and I'm gonna wake up in the morning.
[ Swallowing, Ben shuts his eyes and tries to empty his mind out, to let it be a complete blank so that he can just get some rest. But nothingness proves ineffective at keeping out thoughts that are intruders. So instead, he casts his mind to the last book he had been reading, back at the house, after the funeral. He runs through all the details he remembers from it, trying to sort out the timeline, remember the names of each of the characters - and eventually, the fatigue wins and sweeps him into a deep and dreamless sleep. ]
no subject
There's no evidence for anything that Klaus is saying. It's just wishful thinking - but his voice is full of a conviction so fierce it is almost like anger. Ben wants to believe it is true. He tells himself that it must have happened for a reason. Whatever had given his body back to him had done so for a purpose. That purpose isn't fulfilled yet. So maybe - maybe he won't die.
Ben can't answer at first; he has to just breathe for a little while, controlling his inhales and exhales, keeping it together, if only barely. Klaus's presence helps, and Ben is glad that he moved closer. By small degrees, the worst of the panic fades, leaving Ben feeling stretched thin, transparent with exhaustion. ]
...Okay. Okay. I'm gonna... sleep, and I'm gonna wake up in the morning.
[ Swallowing, Ben shuts his eyes and tries to empty his mind out, to let it be a complete blank so that he can just get some rest. But nothingness proves ineffective at keeping out thoughts that are intruders. So instead, he casts his mind to the last book he had been reading, back at the house, after the funeral. He runs through all the details he remembers from it, trying to sort out the timeline, remember the names of each of the characters - and eventually, the fatigue wins and sweeps him into a deep and dreamless sleep. ]