Who: Samir Marcus and open. Where: Out in the city. What: Bad night, nightmares and some physical discomfort. WHen: After midnight. He don't fucking care. Rating: Probably high. Status: Open, in progress.
The cocky vampire they shared their apartment was presumably off to more fun pursuits after laughing his ass off all day at the commotion a certain Sirius Black had caused. And he'd never quite forgotten how soundly Erol and Kaya could sleep when they put their minds to it, which was one of the first reasons why he had moved out in the first place. Not in need of all the luxury that the Commander's chambers offered, Samir had moved into a simple bunk in the soldier's barracks despite heavy protest. And after sixteen years trapped in a tiny room with bunk beds, that had been just like finding a comfortable shell that fit him perfectly. And then there was this place, where he had his own bedroom with a king size bed. Sometimes, that felt too much like drowning.
Tonight had been particularly bad. In a strange turn of events, it was now Erol who had to beat some sense into him, practically in the same way he tended to tackle a certain unreasonable cousin himself - push him against the wall, get in his face and talk. It hadn't worked as well as Erol had hoped, but good enough to send him off to bed. But he'd lain there, staring at the ceiling until he couldn't take it anymore and his skilled feet took him soundlessly out of the apartment. At least they were asleep and wouldn't see him leave. That was a small comfort as he closed the door behind him and quickly slipped down the stairs. Moving, he had to keep moving - it was one of the ways to clear himself of that feeling of restlessness and dread that had settled in. And so he kept moving, arms wrapped tightly across his chest until his feet hit the ground floor. There was a familiar pain deep in his lungs as he drew in a deep breath. But it was always like that - the same old pains everywhere, that fever that wouldn't go away.
He knew how his body ticked, knew exactly how much it could take. Too much added stress was a definite no-go, but there had been too much of that, lately. The game, the arena and then Kaya somehow unearthed from a tunnel they hadn't been able to excavate ever since it had caved in. Upon seeing her, unharmed - but covered in the soot, dust and rubble of that very tunnel, his heart had stopped for a tiny second. But he hadn't really had time to deal with it. As always, he tried to make a stone of his heart to push those feelings away to deal with later.
It worked for Erol and it had worked for his mother, but he seemed to have been cut from a different kind of cloth. He was more like his father in that regard - when it rained, it always seemed to pour instead. He didn't make it out much further at first. Pausing to press his hot forehead to a cold window, he just knew that it felt too good to be true.
When his chest contracted and took his breath away, he slowly managed a step - then another. He had to calm down somehow - he just had to.