[PRP] I refused the pun title and here we are (Finn/Ripley)

[Enoh Love]

Ripley woke from the dream with a startled gasp. He sat up like a shot, his hands grasping at the covers around his waist. Between the panic and the sudden realization that he could actually breathe again, it took him a moment to notice that he was holding something else.

A mask, his mind supplied. The mask.

He let it go, and it slid off of the bed to clatter on the ground beside it. It was easily forgotten in that moment, as he lifted his hands to hold his head, burying fingers into his white hair. His heart pounded in his chest, and the only way to stop his trembling hands was to grasp his own hair tightly, fingers digging into his own scalp. He leaned forward, resting his elbows on raised knees. Breaths came in deep and fast as he rode out the initial panic.

For the moment, it seemed he had forgotten that he was not alone.

Seussi

 

[Seussi]

Finn was never a very heavy sleeper. Having somebody sleeping next to him, even if that presence was of the warm and somewhat comforting persuasion, had never made that any better for him. The moment Ripley shot awake with a gasp, Finn's eye flew open, for a moment surprised himself, heart skipping a beat as he transitioned from sleep to wakefulness, his brain attempting to process what it was that had awoken him, why it was odd, and, yes, even where he was as for a split second, he didn't quite recognize his surroundings. "********." He muttered, reaching up a hand to rub at his eye as the light tendrils of sleepiness were shoved away.

There had been movement next to him, a clatter on the floor, quick breathing. Ripley, of course, as that was who he had fallen asleep next to. Finn rolled to his side and peered at him in the dark, eye adjusting to the dim light that fell in through the window.

"Hey." His voice came out groggy, a croak, and he cleared his throat, frowning as he began to make out the silhouette of Ripley, how he was sitting, the way he was breathing. Finn pushed himself up into a sitting position, and reached out to place a hand on the other mans back.

"Hey." He said again, a little louder, voice less raspy. "What the ******** was that?"

His way of saying are you okay, apparently.

enoh love

 

[Enoh Love]

The weight on the other side of the bed was ignored. The initial swear and the attempted conversation were overlooked. It was the touch to his back that finally made him pay attention, though it did startle him greatly at first. He lifted his head and looked over his shoulder, catching Finn's silhouette in the dim light. Right. Yes. They slept together most nights. Of course he would wake up with him.

"Just a nightmare." He replied, followed shortly by a shaking exhale. The stress of his dream was slowly ebbing. It would no doubt stay there in the back of his mind, but at least it was slowly leaving him in control of himself again. His hands began to still, and his breathing slowly began to even out.

"I'm okay." He willed himself to calm down, and once he had, he slowly peeled the covers off of himself. "I should go. It'll be morning soon anyway."

seussi

 

[Seussi]

A nightmare. Right, that made sense. But how often had Ripley ever woken up in bed next to him in a state like this? No other time that Finn could ever recall. The moon hunter sat up a bit straighter, hand still resting on the other mans back as he shifted a little closer, as concern began to well up inside of him.

Nightmare. Pay attention to your dreams. Pay attention to Ripley. Watch out for anything strange. Something Jack had told him. It had been ages ago, but the words had stuck with him, because he knew the life hunter wouldn't have told him that if he didn't think it was extremely important.

"What kind of nightmare?" He asked, eye narrowing, focus sharpening on what he could see of the pale haired man, but gaze moving when he began to get out of the bed, his concern now mixed with a sudden surge of confusion.

"Wait, what?...Why?" He asked, hand sliding away only to catch on the other mans arm in a loose hold. "Do you suddenly have somewhere quite pressing to be first thing this morning?" Because as far as Finn had been aware, neither of them really needed to do anything particularly early...though he had been pretty sure he could have found some kind of activity for the two of them to engage in together.

enoh love

your username has never been more apt to me omfg

 

[Enoh Love]

"The fire." Ripley replied easily; at least he wasn't technically lying. His nightmare did contain this memory, at least in passing, but for the life of him, he couldn't understand the depth of their meaning any longer. Where he once remembered being upset and disturbed over this event from his past, he now felt…nothing. The sort of empty you feel when you hear of something horrible happening to a total stranger. Disconnected, in the strangest way. "The hospital." He continued, knowing that Finn would understand what he meant. He had seen it, after all. The death hunter sighed a bit, pressing the heels of his palms into his eyes, as if it would help him focus. It failed, naturally, but when he got his glasses, he'd be fine again.

Once he got out of here, he could ponder the curious lack of feeling.

Finn stopped his efforts. The grip on his arm was loose, but it was enough to make him pause in his escape. He frowned at the blurry shape of his bedmate, and then he pulled his arm free of the little hold, just so he could lean over to take his glasses from the bedside table.

"Well...no. I didn't phrase that right." Was his response, as he put his glasses back on; it didn't help much, considering it was still quite dark, but it was better than the blurry nothing from before. "I just…need to not be here right now." Ripley paused at the edge of the bed just long enough to retrieve his shirt, and to pick the mask up from the floor, tucking it into the fabric to hide it as he stood up to go retrieve his pants.

Seussi

your (backwards) username is appropriate too ok :<

 

[Seussi]

"That's it?" Finn frowned again, letting Ripley slide his arm away easily, in no way attempting to force him to stay in bed if he really felt that he needed to get up and move around. "I mean, ya, obviously that's a shitty thing to dream about but...." His voice trailed off. But what? It seemed like a reasonable enough explanation for the other mans waking reaction. But it still felt...off, somehow. Particularly because Finn had never seen anything like this happen before. For the most part, Ripleys feathers were pretty difficult to get ruffled, but now he was behaving, well, was strange even the right word to use?

Finn drew his knees up, half bent beneath the sheets, elbows resting atop them. "Why?" He repeated, again, watching as Ripley first gathered his shirt, and then moved to get his pants.

"Also, while you're up, you should pass my smokes over."

enoh love

fjfgjggjkb ok true

 

[Enoh Love]

Ripley's gaze shot towards Finn, very close to snapping at him - what did he mean, that's it? - but he closed his mouth again as he continued on, negating his unfavourable response. Though still frowning, he shrugged in an almost noncommittal way. His search for the rest of his clothing was pretty quick, and he found his pants fairly easily, along with his coat and scarf, which were draped on the back of a nearby chair.

"It seemed more real than last time." With his clothing in hand, Ripley placed the shirt - with the hidden mask - on the same chair his coat was on, and quickly started to get himself dressed. He had just zipped up his pants when Finn asked him 'why'. "I'm not allowed to go clear my head?" It took him a moment to untangle the mask from his shirt, and without much hesitation, he put that on as well. He only really paused to pull his hair free from under the fabric.

"Yeah, sure." Walking across to the dresser was easy, and the pack of smokes were easy to spot, even in the darkness. He opened it long enough to make sure there was a lighter in there - the brief chill of the metal was all he needed - and then he moved to stand beside the bed, offering out the pack to Finn. "Here."

seussi

 

[Seussi]

Okay so that look, however masked by darkness, was enough to tell Finn that he might have stepped over the line into total uncompassionate a*****e territory. Seeing no need to dig himself a deeper hole, he pursed his lips and, despite still feeling in his gut like something more was wrong than Ripley was really letting on, kept further questions to himself.

"I see." Was all he managed when Ripley made an attempt at further explanation.

He watched the other man get dressed without moving himself, but when he saw the man take something out from his shirt and set it down on a chair (an object he couldn't quite make out properly in the dark), he stared towards it for a moment, before his attention snapped back to Ripley, realizing he had responded to the "Why?"

"Of course. You're allowed to do whatever the ******** you want. I just thought maybe you'd want, I don't know, some ******** comfort or some s**t. If you need to leave, than by all means, leave." Some form of indignation was rising up inside of him, a desire to not let on that he cared and that he was actually worried, overriding his common sense.

He accepted the pack of cigarettes after shifting over towards the edge of the bed, closer to the nightstand where an ash tray sat. His gaze went back to the chair, however, and he nodded towards it, with another cold frown, as he pulled out a cigarette for himself.

"What's that?"

Enoh Love

 

[Enoh Love]

Comfort? Ripley paused. He hadn't thought about seeking comfort in someone else. Especially not Finn. He regarded the other man curiously, wondering why he hadn't considered it. He recalled doing it before, but…why not now? Why did he then? It was a confusing thought.

"I'll be alright. I just need to clear my head." He repeated, putting the thought aside for now. He froze again as Finn nodded to the chair, and asked about the item on it. Damnit, he thought, no longer certain his coat hid it at all.

"Ah. That." He started, trying to sound as disinterested as ever. "It's nothing important. Must have fallen out of my pocket." One noncommittal shrug later, and Ripley had his back to Finn, moving towards the chair to collect his coat, scarf and the item, which was safely tucked into one of his coat pockets. With all of his things in his grasp, he moved towards the door, pausing before he opened it.

"I'll see you later?"

seussi

 

[Seussi]

The item in question was indistinguishable from the distance between it and Finn's bed. He couldn't even really get a sense of it's size, just knowing that he had seen Ripley set something down there. As curious as he was about it, he trusted the other man enough not to press the issue when he declared it as nothing important.

He pulled the lighter out of his pack of cigarettes, and lit up, taking a long inhale, and exhaling. Ripley wasn't the only one that needed to clear his head. The other man's sudden wake up and need to leave as soon as he possibly could had filled Finn's head with confused and even somewhat ill feelings. He didn't really understand why Ripley felt the need to leave as soon as he possibly could, didn't understand how one little nightmare could send him into what practically amounted as a Ripley version of panic mode (however tame). It was irritating in a way that Finn didn't really understand, but at the same time, he didn't want to be that guy. Didn't want to ask him to stay instead, didn't want to try and guilt him, and certainly was not in the mood for seduction, as he was sure Ripley was not as well.

He rubbed at his face and nodded, taking another deep lungful of nicotine smoke and exhaling once more. A bland smile barely touched his lips, his gaze it's usual cold emptiness that Ripley was likely quite used to by this point.

And then he gave his head a small shake, "Wait." He slid off the edge of the bed, setting his cigarette on the ash tray before moving towards the door and where Ripley stood, stopping in front of him, a hand moving to the door, finger tips pressing against it to keep it closed for just a moment longer.

He didn't say anything right away. He wasn't even really sure what he wanted to say. I love you, again? He wasn't that sappy, and a goodbye kiss certainly wasn't needed (though it likely would have been appreciated). He opened his mouth, hesitated, and then finally said. "Ya. Sure. If you decide you need me well, you know where I am."

His hand slid off of the door, arms crossing over his bare chest. "See you."

enoh love

 

[Enoh Love]

…That actually worked? Interesting. Granted, he hadn't really imagined that Finn wouldn't trust him. By all accounts, there was no reason to. Still, it was a surprise to not be pushed on the matter, and he wasn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth by bringing it up again, either.

Hidden under his coat, Ripley's bare hand clenched. He watched Finn cross the room. His gaze remained pinned to the other man as he stood in front of him, barring his exit with only his fingers. He wasn't sure what to expect anymore, or what he should even want to expect, but what he got certainly wasn't it.

"Yeah. I will. You too." With Finn's hand off the door, Ripley was free to open the door and make his escape. "Later." He said, before he disappeared into the sudden brightness of the hallway, turning to head towards his own room.

In his haste to escape and in their combined confusion, there was something they had both overlooked. Something rather important: Ripley's gloves, now abandoned on Finn's bedside table.

xseussi

 

[Seussi]

And with that he was gone, the whirlwind of activity suddenly over. The smell of his cigarette burning on the bedside table had him turning back, fingers running through his hair as he made his way back to the bed, reaching down to grab his cigarette with barely a glance.

But something caught his attention, and his gaze dropped back down, landing on the pair of gloves that he hadn't noticed before, because it hadn't really been odd that they were there when Ripley was still in the room.

But now he was gone, and the gloves were still there. He looked back towards the door, expecting the other man to hurry back in, all apologetically, just to grab them.

But he didn't, and Finn wasn't really sure what to make of that either, except that something twisted in his gut, an unnerving feeling shivering down his spine as he took another puff from his cigarette and sat down on the edge of his bed.

And suddenly, something else was remembered as well. That clattering sound, the one that had awoken him along with Ripley's gasp. He found himself looking at the floor, where he was sure the sound had been, even going so far as to lean down and look underneath the bed as well, reaching around with his hand to feel for anything.

Nothing. There was nothing there. Had it all been his imagination, then? His thoughts wandered back towards whatever Ripley had put on the chair, the object he claimed had fallen out of his pocket.

He stood up from his bed again. He was not going to be able to get back to sleep at this point, anyways, and his mind was racing, trying to fit pieces of a puzzle together even though many were still missing. He finished off his cigarette, butted it out, and with one last lingering look down at the gloves, he tore his gaze away and headed towards the bathroom, and a nice hot shower.