COMM: shifted_prompts - nightmare
VERSE: realityshifted
WORD COUNT: 555


He's never quite been a stranger to nightmares. Fuck, for as long as he could remember, those were the staple of his sleep. It was just something he adjusted to as a kid and never thought about - as simple as that. They never made too much sense but who gave a shit, it was nightmares, dreams, a bunch of crap your mind came up with because it had nothing else to do while you were just laying in bed. Nothing of note.

Even when things shifted to shared dreams when Dethklok formed, Nathan took it in stride. Okay, it was pretty fucking weird, but hey, it wasn't doing any harm. Sure, it meant sometimes he was stuck in some bizarre, surreal bullshit from Skwisgaar or something that seemed like Lisa Frank on acid, but eh. No big deal.

But ever since he could get to space-

The sound of clockwork. Gears. That's new to him, that's something a bit weird, a little off. It's a fucking constant and even when he's not having a nightmare (even if it is as simple as buying hats - he never questioned dream logic) it's there. It's a thready pulse; something lurking in the back of his head, clawing its to the forefront. It's angry, it's powerful, it's fucking brutal, that much Nathan can figure out, and he sure as hell doesn't talk about it. It's nobody's business if he's hearing shit in dreams, besides, the rest of the band probably hears it too.

Fuck if that wasn't enough though, wasn't it?

He hasn't been sleeping as well lately. Ever since they got those books - one of them completely useless - he's been lucid dreaming. He even looked up the term on the internet just to make sure, but no way is it as nice or enlightening as all the jackoffs on the internet seem to think it is.

All at once, he realises he's asleep. Right now. Everything smacks him in the face in a split second. This is one of his dreams, the lighting is darker red, blue highlights. The rest of the band isn't here right now, but they're nearby. He knows that because he knows this is fake, he knows this isn't real.

"Ugh, fuck..."

The dream seizes without warning. The sound of gears amplifies, and then warps; it's the sound of gears being twist the wrong way against each other, the painful grind of metal, springs, wheels, everything at once. For a moment it feels like his heart stops beating as a sense of being watched or monitored strikes him.

It knows he's awake. Oh jesus christ, it knows he's awake, doesn't it? He doesn't even know what the fuck it is, but he's pretty sure it knows he's awake- no, dipshit, not awake, aware, that's the right word. It's aware that he knows this thing is a dream.

And of course, he does the most brilliant thing he can think of. He flips off his surroundings.

The gears stop.
The grinding stops.




The dream lurches violently and he's thrown off balance and-






He's awake. On the floor. Nathan lays there for a few seconds before pushing himself up so he's at least sitting. Christ, he feels sick, ugh. A simple bit of effort and he's to his feet, and he stumbles to his bathroom to vomit.

He's getting tired of waking up this way.

Really fucking tired.