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[darkinferno]

Dante Rantanen

"Hey, you've reached Dante. I'm not in right now--you know what to do."

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[erythristic]

[if she knows what's actually going on, she has the decency to not show it. to pretend that he's just fine and preserve his pride - because he's young enough to need it, and because it gives her the chance to have this settle in her heart. people weren't let close with her - they simply ended up there by circumstance and some coincidental design - but even so. even so it feels less like a duty and more what simply should be.]

Of course. Anything.

i'm still upset about those keywords 8(

[darkinferno]

[The way she responds, without hesitation and so willingly, almost makes him want to rescind his question. "No, never mind," he might say, and then this feeling of lightness in the air would perhaps remain for a little while longer...

But no, because he can already feel the truth in the back of his mind, nudging at him in spite of this newfound connection, this warmth in his heart. Waiting for him to turn away.]

How do you... [Ugh. He doesn't want to admit this. But when, if not now?]

I can't... really sleep very well. Do you know anything that would help with that?

[Some way to avoid the nightmares that plague him?]

[erythristic]

Depends on the cause.

[and she looks thoughtful for a moment.]

How long has this been going on? And have you made any recent changes to your life that might have affected your sleep?

[it's with that same sincerity - treating this as a problem they can fix. she can look at this as a doctor might, not a counselor trying to pick apart his brain. again and again she'll protest that none of this is her specialty, that she's not that sort of doctor, but when it comes to sleep...she's had issues of her own. this is something she can address a little bit.]

[darkinferno]

Since sometime in the mines. A little over a couple weeks, maybe.

[Time is an illusion and all that--except Dante's still not entirely certain how long they spent in the mines before they made it to the swamp, or how long they were trapped in the mansion for. Too many nights of interrupted sleep, too many naps caught when they could find a moment's peace. He only knows the date as it stands now thanks to his phone.]

It's... the memories. And the stuff that happened in that mansion. It's all running together.

[erythristic]

[she nods slowly, thinking about it. how her own dreams felt lost in the underground from time to time - it happened.]

The obvious and most difficult solution is to talk about it, to get some of it out of festering in your mind unchecked. But if that's not possible, then some things do work - physical activity to tire yourself out, sleeping in a different location like your couch sometimes works, leaving music on or the the like as a sort of subconscious distraction. Using any sort of chemical substance for sleep is a last resort, not advised until the condition cannot be solved by any other means because of the risk of dependency. That includes drinking.

[darkinferno]

[Dante at least has the grace to look abashed, even if she's not directly calling him out for mixing alcohol and medicine.]

If I couldn't fall asleep after that last fight, I don't think any amount of physical activity's going to help. I should've crashed as soon as I made it in the door. But I was still texting Prompto around 8:30 this morning because I... couldn't sleep.

It's... it's harder once the sun goes down.

[erythristic]

And a different location hasn't really been easing it, I see.

[she nods, taking in the words, before a thought comes to mind.]

Maybe you just need someone there every now and then. Someone you trust that if the nightmares wake you and you feel scared, they'll tell you where you are. Do you have a friend like that?

[darkinferno]

[He shakes his head, a confirmation. No, moving to the couch hadn't really helped much at all.

But someone else...]

Maybe. I think I might have a couple people who wouldn't mind if I crashed at their place sometimes.