𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐋𝐋𝐘 𝐆𝐎𝐎𝐃 𝐐𝐔𝐀𝐃𝐐𝐔𝐄𝐋 𝐓𝐇𝐀𝐓'𝐒 𝐁𝐄𝐓𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐓𝐇𝐀𝐍 𝐏𝐔𝐒𝐒𝐘

Chapter Fifteen: Aspectabund

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as·​pect·​abund

(adj.) letting or being able to let expressive
emotion show easily through one's face
and eyes

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My eyes snapped open, and I sat up, gazing about at my dark surroundings. I had no clue what had just woken me up, but I was wide awake now.

"What the fuck..." I whispered to myself, anger starting to grow within me.

Before I could comprehend what was going on, the silence was shattered by a piercing, terrified cry that caused me to jump a foot into the air and fall off the couch.

"JESUS CHRIST-" I shrieked, looking around wildly to see the culprit of the sound. "B-Ballora?"

She was sitting bolt upright in the bed, a look of utter terror on her face, her eyes wide with panic. Her hand was resting on her throat as if it had been feeling for something that wasn't there, and she was breathing as if she had just run a marathon.

"Wonder-!"

I instantly picked myself up at the sound of her shaking voice and stumbled over to where she was, starting to panic myself.

"Ballora?" I repeated softly, to not startle her. "What is it? What's wrong?"

She didn't reply or do anything other than continue to gasp for breath, her entire body quivering with fear.

"Oh god..." I muttered before an idea fought its way through the clouds of fright and sleep that cluttered my brain. "Listen, I promise, you're going to be alright, just- just calm down, it'll be fine...just count to ten with me. You'll be fine, alright? Just count with me."

Counting with someone had always been an easy way to calm them down; it had worked for me before. Ballora slowly turned her head towards me, looking up at me with terror-filled eyes. I could barely stand to see her in this position.

"One..." I began slowly. "Two...three..."

I heard her voice join me as soon as I started counting, and I felt a rush of relief.

"Four...five...it's alright now...six..."

I continued to reassure her of her safety as we counted.

"Seven...I promise I won't hurt you...eight...nine...ten."

Her breathing had slowed considerably as we had counted, and some of the fear had dissipated from her eyes. Slowly, hesitantly, I brushed my fingers against her hand, which was still resting on her throat. When she didn't pull away, I gently took it with mine, lowering it and letting it fall back into the bed.

"What happened?" I asked.

Ballora took a slow, shuddering breath.

"Had a nightmare..." she murmured, almost as if she was embarrassed to admit it. I tilted my head.

"What of, if I may ask?"

She looked up at me. "What makes you think talking about it is going to help?"

"Well, experience for one," I said. "I know all too well that not talking about your feelings only makes them worse; I found that out after Techno died. But if you prefer to not talk about it, that's all good with me. I'll go back to sleep if that's the case."

I paused for a moment, allowing her to reply, but she didn't say anything. "Alright then..." I murmured, turning away from her and walking back to the couch, unable to hide my slight disappointment.

"I couldn't breathe."

I paused, turning back to her. "Wh-What?"

"I couldn't breathe," Ballora repeated, fear shining in her eyes. "Something- someone was holding me down, and I couldn't get away from them. I-I was suffocating, and there was this agony, this- this fire in me that wouldn't go away, no matter how hard I struggled, no matter how much I pleaded. I don't know exactly what it was, but I think it was some kind of electricity, because I heard someone call 'That's electric!' while it was happening. Whatever it was, it hurt worse than anything I've experienced before in my life."

"Oh damn..." I muttered, forcing myself not to make a reference to a particular Gorillaz song. Instead, I moved closer to her. "Did you see anyone? Anyone you knew?"

"Yes, Quackity..." Ballora said, her voice trembling ever so slightly. "He- He just stood there, watching me. I cried out to him, but...but he just laughed. He laughed as he watched me suffer...watched me die."

"Christ...that sounds like something he'd do, but I never thought he'd do it to you..." I murmured, putting a hand on her shoulder. "But it-it's just a dream, right? Quackity would never hurt you, he already made that mistake."

Ballora nodded, looking up at me. "Just a dream..." she repeated disbelievingly. I stepped over to her side, and sat down on the bed near her, watching her closely. To my surprise, she started to tell me something new.

"I don't want to go back to him," she said. "I-I know it was a dream, but after he shot me...who's to say he won't do it again?"

"He was upset," I told her. "He wasn't thinking right because he had found out that you triggered the bomb."

"But if he finds out that I've been with you all this time..."

I took Ballora's hands in mine. "He won't," I murmured reassuringly. "He won't find out, I won't allow him to. Nobody's going to hurt you, and if you do choose to stay here with me, I promise I won't either."

Ballora looked down at our hands, and I swore I saw a faint blush creep upon her face, though it was probably just the lighting. After a moment, she nodded, exhaling slowly. "Thank you..." she mumbled.

"Of course," I said. "I care for you, and I won't let anything bad happen to you."

I stood up, letting go of her hands, and turned back to the couch. "Goodnight, Ballora."

"Wait."

I paused, turning back to her. "Yes?"

"I..." She paused for a moment. "I don't want to feel alone."

I nodded, taking a step back toward her. "What would you like me to do?"

"Sleep with me," she said simply.

It felt as though my face had spontaneously combusted. "Wh- What?"

"Sleep with me," she repeated. "on the bed. Please?"

"I-" It took a second for me to comprehend her words. "S-Sure, alright, I'll do that."

"Thank you," Ballora said, laying on her back once more. I moved to the side of the bed, lifting the blankets as I got into bed beside her. A quiet sigh escaped my lips as I relaxed into the mattress, keeping my body as far away from Ballora's as possible as I pulled the blankets over my body.

"Goodnight," I said a second time. Ballora looked over at me.

"There's no point in you being here if you're going to be so far away," she told me.

"Wh- What do you want me to do, then?" I asked. "Should I just...?"

I shuffled a bit closer to her, her warmth enveloping me like a second blanket. Fatigue settled over me once more as I stopped just short of touching her, though part of me wanted to be even closer to her. The prospect of feeling another presence beside me as I sleep was almost too tempting to resist, but I didn't want to make Ballora uncomfortable.

"Thank you," she murmured quietly. "Sleep well, Wonder."

"You as well," I whispered, closing my eyes, peace and serenity filling my soul as I fell asleep at last.