Nightmares ; Bonkai

chapter 2

By the time dinner rolled around Bonnie was not in the mood to eat, much less listen to Kai's incessant chatter so it is inevitably where she found herself. She glanced over at him as he continued whatever thought popped into his head as he waved his fork around and looked down at her own plate, annoyed to admit how delicious he could make a meal look.

"Oh come on, I know chicken parm's one of your favorites. You need the energy." He pointed at the chicken, "protein" the pasta, "carbs" and her stomach, "mmm."

She gave him a bored look as she twirled the spaghetti around her fork.

"I'm serious," he said as he leaned on the table. "If you croak out on me right before we find a way back then you're really gonna be kicking yourself. You aren't sleeping, not too keen on the human interaction thing we talked about and I haven't seen you eat much. Unfortunately for you, you have to hit the trifecta to be able to get past your nightmare problem."

"And you think all will be well if I talk to you, stuff my face, and pass out?"

An amused smirk hit his face, "Couldn't hurt."

"I'll take my chances."

"How about a little 'I'll show you mine if you show me yours?' I'll let you in on a secret and I'll even make it about the same topic. Sound fair?"

He took her shrug as a confirmation.

"I know it's hard to believe with this confident and chiseled exterior but I too used to have nightmares. Vivid ones, every night, for months when I turned 13; I figured it was brought on by the twin merge and becoming a teenager but Josette never had a single one."

"What did you dream about?"

"Eat your dinner and I'll tell you," he smiled.

She shook her head and stared at him as she deliberately took an enormous bite of chicken and raised her eyebrows.

He laughed as he continued. "I, also like you, was pretty wound up over my living situation and not fond of the people that surrounded me. I spent most of my time with Jo growing up; she was the least bothersome person I knew. I think knowing that one of us would inevitably kill the other started to fester somewhere in the back of my mind. I would get these crazy dreams of being at the merge ceremony and chaos breaking out; either both of us would refuse and the world would start to crumble or she would kill me and I would feel every painful second. The ways she came up with to off me though, I'll give dream Jo credit, she had no mercy."

"I find that hard to believe," she retorted, still fully emerged in her chicken parmesan. "All of those sociopathic thoughts and you weren't dancing up there during a murder spree?"

"Nope," he laughed. "Which is really the irony of it all, seeing where my life has gone since then, and that was the key to the whole problem."

She cocked her head in response.

"Killing Jo," he went on. "Obviously my subconscious was telling me all along to end her before her and the Coven ended me.

"You went through those dreams – for months – without ever killing her before she got you?"

His mouth was set in a firm line.

"Why?" she asked dumbfounded. "I mean, have you met you? Killing things is kind of your hobby and you've been talking about wanting power since I first heard you open your mouth. Why not do it and be done with it?"

"Maybe I wanted a different outcome," he shrugged. "I guess I kind of have a soft spot for her, tried to see if there could be another way. But what do ya' know, fantasy mirroring reality, the key to breaking out of both Hell dimensions was to do what I tried to avoid my entire life. Funny, isn't it? The dreams wouldn't stop until I gave into the darkness."

"And how is that supposed to help me?"

"Simple, take charge, give into the darkness..."

"Are you serious?"

"Of course! I don't make these things up. Well – maybe, but it really does work. Find that darkness in your dream, the core of your fear and face it head on. Who knows, maybe you won't wake up screaming."

"Mm. Sounds too good to be true, thank God it isn't something difficult."

His smile seemed genuine as he picked up her almost empty plate and brought them both to the sink. "You couldn't handle it if it was." He put the empty plates in the sink and kept his back towards her. "So, I know it's been a fantasy of yours to seduce me and get me into your bed –"

"Of mine?!" she interrupted.

"Okay ours," he continued without skipping a beat as he turned around to face her. "Anyway, I was just going to say that even if you're too exhausted to experience this," he gestured to his body, "I am still an excellent cuddle buddy."

She didn't think she had the energy in her to be able to laugh, yet here she was, holding her sides to ease the pain while she tried to catch her breath.

Kai watched her, legs and arms crossed as he leaned back against the counter, a large smile on his face.

"Well there's a reaction," he laughed. "Glad to see you still have that in you. But don't knock it 'til you try it! I had a few choice people that would back me up on this; I'm tall, can wrap you up into a burrito, keep you safe –"

"Safe..."

"From nightmares," he whispered, winking at her.

"That sounds like a fate worse than death. Or could be my actual death, both seem pretty likely."

"Why don't you sleep on it and get back to me?" he smirked.