Edens Sleep Token one shots collection

Nightmares

A little bit of hurt comfort today. I set out to write fluff. ..this isn't fluff.Content warnings: implied near death experience, dissociation, drowning, graphic descriptions, panic attacks
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To be cold but too hot, burning alive, sores forming on the skin from the heat far too close. Yet at the same time, to freeze. For ice to form in the very midst of your blood and pierce the skin, leaving gashes as frozen spikes pin your body to the ground.

The sensation itself was confusing, to be drowning, salt burning your lungs, yet the violence of the waves leaving the body numb to any feeling apart from what existed within. Something about it was so familiar, the dark at the edges of his vision, the peace pulling him under... There was something so familiar about the suffocation of it all. The feeling of falling slowed down to mere milliseconds passing by.

Something about it was so real.

Too real.

This wasn't a dream, yet something whispered in the back of his mind that it was. Deeply hushed, nothing more than an echo in his thoughts, yet also something that clawed at his very being. Something that dug into him and dragged him deeper, further down, inspiring a will to fight that wasn't his own. A will to survive that he didn't know he had, a will that couldn't possibly be that strong on its own. A will that his body took, thrashing in the water without air, the weight of it making his limbs weak until he couldn't feel them properly anymore. It all felt so peaceful, so serene somehow, though he knew he was moving, struggling to a surface something told that he would never reach. That peace felt like nothing more than a lie, a fool's game. It felt like false hope, something to ring him out and leave him to wither away.

The tips of his fingers brushed against open air before being dragged back down again, something unfamiliar wrapping around his throat, choking the air from him, his will going with it as numb hands wrapped around the strange thing. His body was pulled back down again, vision fading in and out the deeper he went. For a moment, he could have sworn he heard piano playing in his ears, a melody he had heard thousands of times. A melody he knew by heart, a melody that seemed to get louder the deeper he went.

The light doesn't reach down here, he realized, lungs no longer needing air to breath. Was he dead? Surely not, it still felt like he was breathing but nothing was going in or out. A strange sensation of what felt like a hand wrapping around his wrist in that dark space, cold skin against his own. It was prominently there, he knew it was, yet at the same time... part of him questioned the reality of anything at all. He questioned the reality of himself, of this space. Something about it felt so filled but his eyes showed him nothing, his hands and senses showing him nothing. Perhaps his reality itself deceived him, left him somewhere he knew yet brought him somewhere else, showed him something he was not.

That reality... was something he could tolerate, perhaps, though at the same time... he didn't actually know for sure. He didn't know anything for sure. A reality of nothing and everything, a reality where he both did and did not exist. A reality in which he would hear a name called to him, a name that was not his own but also a name he couldn't not recognize.

A name he recognized.

Called to him over and over again, insufferably loud but impossibly quiet.

It felt like something was touching him, pressure on his arms gripping slightly tighter every few moments, jostling his body around in this void he had become so suddenly familiar with. An age old existence, somewhere he had known for his entire life, somewhere he had never left. This was where he belonged, in the midst of all things. The midst of existence, between perhaps heaven and hell, between reality and fiction, maybe between the very folds of time.

Though... something about that voice called to him, speaking ever closer as the seconds passed. A hushed whisper in the back of his mind now sounding like someone speaking right next to him, their voice and words nothing but a blurred bubble of speech in an infinite ocean of words and phrases.

He knew they were talking to him but couldn't quite make out what they were saying, though those words grew louder the longer he listened, the longer he focused on them alone. Hushed, blurred words, glimpses of something beyond, mumbled, almost spoken-

"Wake up." It demanded, falling silent as his eyes shot open. Each breath was labored as if he hadn't had a breath of air for days, throwing off the blankets and curling in on himself. It felt near impossible to breathe, sweat dripping from under his mask. Too hot, he was too hot...

"Vessel..." A quiet voice cooed his name, a gentle set of cool arms pulling him into the body of another, something calmer, something much colder pressed against him.

"Shh..." It whispered, adjusting itself so he could curl into them instead,his beacon of safety. The cooler temperature against him was comforting, gently easing away the heat that had quickly consumed his body upon waking- or perhaps it had been there for a while and he just never noticed. The entity brushed their hand through his hair, gentle strokes as they shushed him, slowly easing away the stress that had been so quick to consume his mind.

"There you go, you're safe, little vessel." It's nickname for him did what was needed to clear away the fog resting over his mind, their hand resting gently in his hair to pull the damp strands away from his face. Vessel leaned into their touch a bit further, not fully able to relax but not as tense either. The mere presence of Sleep demanded more attention from him than the anxiety that had dug so deep in his mind, tearing him apart slowly. Even then, Sleep had stepped forward so quickly to fight it off for him, to pull him into their protective aura and remind him where he was.

"You're alright." They whispered again, keeping their arms loose around him. It was a while after before either interrupted that perfect moment, Vessel opting to try and relax into the god's embrace and Sleep going out of their way to keep him safe and comfortable. Each gentle stroke of their hand through his hair was filled with love, twisting the small strands and leaving small curls and messy tangles in his hair that they quickly resolved.

They knew they could make him feel safe, offer that bubble away from the world, and somehow... Sleep had always been there right when Vessel needed them. They left a gentle kiss on the top of his head, encouraging him to relax further into them.

"I'll keep you safe little one, relax." They kept their voice low still, adjusting with their vessel to keep him comfortable all the same. Sleep reached for the blanket with one of its tentacles, wrapping it around the both of them. Vessel tugged the soft fabric closer to him, leaning his head against the deity's chest.

"Can you stay? Can I fall asleep with you?" He spoke quietly as well, his own voice hushed for different reasons. Vessel glanced up at Sleep and saw them nod, shifting them both to lie down properly. Sleep held his body close to its own, being sure to keep the blanket how he had it- there's no reason that he should have to get comfortable all over again- and allowing itself to become his pillow.

Vessel laid his head on Sleep's chest, listening to the sound of his own breathing and any quiet murmurs the god had to offer. Small, hushed words of praise or reassurance found his ears from the god, slowly pulling him back to a dreamless sleep.

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Just a tad bit of wholesome-ness and a reference to an earlier chapter. He'll be fine...