Sleeping With Sleep

XII

II had returned with two coffee cups and a bottle of water. I smoothed out my shirt and hair, feeling awkward. Vessel simply laughed softly and adjusted his painfully obvious erection, crossing his legs to try and hide it. II rolled his eyes and held out one of the coffee cups to Ves.

"Here, horn-dog. Three cream, six sugar, right?" Vessel hummed and nodded, taking a careful sip of the steaming drink. II tossed me the water bottle and I thanked him, my face bright red.

"Ok, um... So, what's a... Gate?" Vessel spit out his coffee and coughed, catching the spill with his hand. II plopped heavily into his original seat.

"Well... This might be hard to follow, but let's see." Vessel wiped his mouth and shook his head.

"Mm-mm... Don't bring her into that. It'll scare her." I furrowed my brows and folded my arms.

"Ves. I watched you blink six fucking eyes at me, you've pinned me down with vine-tentacle things, I've been possessed, seen III teleport, seen IV shoot thorns from his fingers, and seen fucking II over here turn into a god-damn Wendigo. I don't think much is gonna freak me out anymore." I look back to II, glaring.

"Spill, bitch." Vessel just sighed heavily and sipped on his coffee again. II smiled, impressed.

"Alright then, Miss All-Powerful. Anyone that has been in a rough enough place mentally can be a gate. Anyone who has previously been a vessel can be a gate. A gate is basically someone who fucks up bad enough to let Sleep in. Vessel was the first one. He... probably told you already, by this point... But yeah. All of us were in shitty enough places that when Sleep approached us, we were seeing them through rose-colored glasses. The offers sounded amazing, but they only started to kill us. When we were arguing about it back in V's room, we were assuming he just straight up let Sleep back in. He's done it before... A lot. But it's never been that volatile...

Sleep getting to you was... A shock, to say the least. But they clearly saw an opening when you panicked about Vessel. They can always read what you're thinking. And considering you mean the world to Vessel, Sleep knew there to escape to. Dumb ass choice, you're the weakest of any of us. No offense." I just blinked, still taking it all in.

"N-none... None taken..." II sipped his coffee and crossed his legs.

"That said, my only concern now is why Sleep made you a fucking vessel rather than a-" Vessel cut him off.

"Don't you fucking dare... " II put his hands up.

"Hey, you know I'm not wrong. Her being a vessel is a huge fucking deal. It could... It could cause problems later. No doubt Sleep will be back. They've got unfinished business. With you and her, now." I furrowed my brows, cocking my head.

"Wh- Me? Why? What's the difference between a vessel and a... meat suit?" Vessel chuffed, but stayed silent. II sucked his lips into his mouth, leaning his head on the wall.

"Well... A deity can pass through someone for a short time and the person won't even know. It's like... A glass bowl with a heavy stone inside. As the holder of the deity or spirit, you are the glass bowl. Fragile, weak, open to damage. But when you're a... meat-suit... the stone is just sitting there. Just waiting until they can find an opening into the mind of the person. If they don't find one, they leave. Back to the ether. But if their bowl has a crack... A weak spot... They will smash their way in, destroying what the bowl is and taking over. A glass bowl with a stone in it is just a meat-suit with a dormant deity. A vessel is a possessed being. A smashed, broken glass bowl, where all is left is the tiny shards of what used to be and a powerful, solid stone. Does that help?"

While I stayed frozen, realizing what this meant for me, Vessel sat up.

"Fuckin' hell, II, can you not with the 'meat-suit' thing?" II looked up at Vessel, confused.