Project: Neverbound (A Double Life AU fanfic)

11 - Nightmares, Dreams, or Neither?

Impulse opened his eyes to the same dream he had the previous night. He and Bdubs's shared bedroom was once again a shade of green, and Impulse was detached from his body. He groaned in annoyance, this time deciding that he wouldn't leave his bed until he woke up. At least he wished that were the case.

"Hello? I know you're back, you can't fool me by hiding in your body," the same man from the night before said, standing behind Impulse as the brunette laid on the bed. Impulse only knew it was the same man because of the heavily British accent he carried, that is to say, it was a very unique voice.

"Go away," Impulse said point blank, squeezing his eyes shut. "You're not real, this is all a bad dream that I'll be waking up from any second now,"

The suited man sighed. "Look, I'm sorry about scaring you yesterday, I promise it's under control now. I have my mask on, it's fine to look at me."

Impulse didn't respond. He tried to block out anything he was hearing, just trying to end whatever nightmare he was having. But the suited man wouldn't give up.

"I can prove that I'm real, if that'll get you to listen," he said. Impulse was still having none of it until he heard a rattling noise. He looked back to see the man pushing around a picture frame Impulse kept on his nightstand, a picture of himself and Bdubs that he'd taken one of the first days they met.

"Hey! Don't touch that!" Impulse said, moving his hand to prevent the pushing only for it to go straight through the frame. An odd tingling feeling rung throughout his hand for a moment.

"Sorry, it takes a lot of focus as a ghost to move things in the mortal realm," the man said. His mask was a light salmon color, with pure white eyes and a white cartoony mustache that definitely helped cover whatever his face was meant to be. He continued to push the frame around. "I would show you how to do it, but since this is clearly all a dream, I don't think all that stuff matters,"

He kept moving the frame, much to Impulse's distain. Finally, it became close to the edge when Impulse reached out his hand again, this time aiming for the man's wrist. Now that was something he wouldn't phase through, and so he grabbed it successfully, but the force of him grabbing said wrist was met with quick opposition, and the man pushed the frame too far off the edge.

Impulse heard the sound of glass shattering as his eyes shot open. The green tint was gone from his view once again, and he was turned away from the table with his arms around Bdubs. His soulbound stirred awake as Impulse turned to the source of the noise despite his effort to not bother him while he slept.

The noise had come from exactly what should've been expected. The picture frame once on his nightstand had been knocked over and subsequently shattered, tiny fragments of glass now on the floor. Impulse looked on horrified, while Bdubs just began to sit up and rub his eyes.

"Imp...?" He called to his partner, yawning with his eyes still half lidded in sleep. That and his headache from the alcohol-filled night before would've made him lay back down had he not noticed how tensed up Impulse was. "You ok...?"

Impulse didn't respond. Not out of any malice, but his eyes were still trained on the broken frame and his thoughts were still trained on what he'd just woken up from. He tried to convince himself that it was a coincidence, but his senses weren't having it. The time between his breaths shortened, and Bdubs picked up on it quick.

"Hey, deep breaths honey..." Bdubs said quietly, placing a hand firmly on his partner's shoulder. There weren't a lot of times where the shorter would be calm and quiet, but in moments like these, either where it was early in the morning or someone's anxiety was peaking (the current moment so happening to be both), his energetic personality would back down quite a few notches. As Impulse did as instructed, being caught at just the right moment before it'd gotten bad, Bdubs looked over to see the broken frame.