Sleeping With Sleep

V

"You scare easily, y/n?" Before I could respond, III violently twisted his neck and was gone, a thick, black cloud of smoke in his place. I stared, confused, at the cloud as it dissipated, then heard a whisper, only inches from my left.

"Whatcha think?" I spooked and jumped out of my seat, spinning around. III was posed behind the chair, his arms folded behind his back, a smug look in his eyes.

"Ok, that's fuckin' sick." I laughed walking over to where he once stood and waved my hand through the last of the cloud. III plopped into the makeup chair and lounged back, hanging his right leg over the armrest.

"Damn right. Fun too." I snorted and turned expectantly to IV, who dropped his phone to the couch and heaved himself up. He stretched his arms over his head.

"Duck." I tilted my head.

"What?" I got no explanation, just watched IV's hands melt from the creme of his skin patched with black paint to the inky black like Vessel's were. This was nothing new, but IV then flicked his hands toward me, slinging what looked like black thorns from his fingertips. I screamed then ducked. When I popped back up and looked over my shoulder at the wall I saw the thorns had missed me. They lined up perfectly with the sides of where my head used to be. IV silently sat back down and grabbed his phone, the black receding from his hands.

"You're good, don't worry. Been at it for years..." I bounced on my toes, excited.

"Dude, holy shit! That's so cool!" I looked over at Vessel and he just watched me, his toothy grin in place.

"Ok, ok, now II!" I turned to him and he stood, but closed his eyes and folded his hands in front of him, unmoving. I was about to ask if he was ok, but I noticed the lights started to dim and flicker, and the floor started to vibrate. Nervous, I stepped over to Vessel, and grabbed onto his cloak, and glanced up at him. He just smiled and held a finger to his lips.

The lights went out and after what felt like eternity, a little red dot of light grew from where II was. Then another. Then they started to move and get brighter. Bright enough for me to make out the shape of what looked like a deer head. Except it was near the ceiling. The lights flickered back on and II had turned into a Wendigo, his legs massive, crouched deer legs. His hands were the usual long, sharp, black and his head was a giant deer skull, the eyes glowing red. He stomped towards me and the lights went out once again. I had a death grip on Vessel, terrified. The silence was loud. I heard soft shuffling from II's side of the room and the lights clicked back on as normal. II was reclined back in his seat once again, as if he had never moved.

I stared in fearful silence, my hands still wound up in Vessel's cloak. He wrapped his arm around my shoulders and rubbed my arm reassuringly. II looked between Vessel's calm expression and my worried one.

"What?" I blinked, incredulous.

"That... That wasn't just a cool trick... You became something..." II shrugged.

"Looks worse than it is. Just a thing I can do." I slowly nodded, processing. I released my grip on Vessel.

"Cool, cool, cool... Just gotta get my heart started again and I'll be good!" II snickered and rubbed his fingers together, creating an electrical current between them that made a quiet crackling sound.

"You need the paddles?" I threw my hands up in the air, exasperated.

"You could have just done that and it would've been chill, not terrifying!" I laughed and ran a hand through my hair. I spun around to Vessel.

"So wait, your vines are your... thing?" He nodded and rolled his shoulders, the black cloud building up behind him like a shadow. The thick vines began slithering out from his back and towards me, just as they had earlier. I worriedly took a half step back, but Vessel chuckled and the vines flew forward catching my ankles. I lost my balance and one of the vines wound up my thigh under my dress and out through the cut-out in my dress. It wriggled its way up my torso and onto my left arm, lifting it over my head. The vines were oddly warm and felt less like vines or tentacles, but more like snakes.

I was so entranced by the ticklish texture that I hadn't noticed my other arm get trapped over my head along with the other one. Both of my legs were wrapped shoulders width apart and my arms were stuck solidly above me. A few vines were wrapped snugly around my waist. The position alone made me blush and flick my gaze to Vessel, who only returned a dark grin. I felt myself get lifted into the air about 3 feet off the floor. I squeaked at the height and the way the vines gripped onto me.

The vines never stopped writhing and it almost felt like they had a pulse. I watched Vessel's breathing gradually get heavier and his hands shook, the fingertips starting to grey. His canines had already gotten longer. I couldn't tell if I needed to worry yet, so I looked between the other members and they looked shocked, IV's eyes wide under his mask. He spoke up first.

"Hey man, uh... You good? I think she gets it you can put her dow-" Vessel shot a vine to him and covered his mouth, making III snicker. I tried my luck.

"V-Ves? He's ri-" I could barely get my thought out before a vine shoved between my teeth, filling my mouth. It was oddly sweet and bitter, similar to the way Vessel's tongue tasted.

IV jumped to his feet, ready to stop Vessel, but he ignored him and held up a hand. IV glanced at III for confirmation and III just shrugged, nodding to Ves.

Vessel lifted his hand towards me and paused before twisting his wrist, his fingers curled. The vines flipped me upside down, one of them courteously holding my dress over my legs. The vine in my mouth slid out, a string of saliva trailing between my lip and the vine. Vessel slowly pulled his hand back towards himself and me and the vines followed. He stopped when I was only inches from his face and his menacing smirk dropped into a gentle one.

"Ves wh-" He cut my question short and he planted a short kiss on my lips, still covered in my saliva. My eyes fluttered closed and I relaxed a little, only to be flung upright and brought back to the floor. My feet settled on the carpet and the vines withdrew to the shadow. I was shaky and a little dizzy from being upside down. Vessel rolled his neck and his hands returned to normal, the cloud behind him dissipating. None of the rest of us knew how to react.

I straightened my dress, my face burning red. Vessel took a few short strides towards me, stopping only inches away and rested his left hand on my hip, the other under my chin. He tilted my head up to meet his gaze. The rest of the world melted away and all I could focus on was the affectionate look in his eyes. I did notice something a little more fiery behind it, though. The eye contact was broken by Vessel pressing another gentle kiss to my lips. He rested his forehead against mine. Before I could say anything I felt his tongue lick my cheek and he backed away, laughing with the full length of his tongue out. III laughed, pointing at Vessel.

"Looks like her black lipstick got on you, man! I'm so used to a full face of black paint that I never imagined you in lipstick- oooooh..." He stopped laughing and covered his mouth, his eyes wide. IV started cracking up, curling up in his seat.

"That's Ves's paint from earlier, isn't it?!" I pulled my lips into my mouth, a smile pulling at the corners. I snorted and nodded, looking up at Vessel, who had turned a lovely shade of pink. He folded his arms and leaned against III's chair.

"Fuck you guys." I wheezed and crouched to the floor, laughing.

"Oh my fucking god! Big Vessel getting embarrassed!" He shot me a warning look, then flicked his eyebrows up. I had a feeling I would regret teasing him later. II let out a small laugh from his nose and stood, cracking his knuckles.

"Alright, I'm heading to my room, I gotta wash this shit off. Feels terrible after a while. Night guys." He pulled open the door and let it softly close behind him. The boys called after him, saying their goodbyes. III hopped up and went to sort out the rest of the concert-goer's gifts.

"I'm just gonna mess with this for a while, you guys can hang if you want or head out. Up to you." Vessel turned to me, flicking his head up.

"What do you wanna do?" I paused, unsure. Depends.

What exactly were  Vessel and I? Like, yeah, we agreed 'I'm his', but what did that entail exactly? And if dating's the case, what happens when they go back to the U.K.? I live in California. Granted, I work a remote job, so moving wouldn't affect my job. But does Vessel even want me to come with him? Is it too soon? I can't handle long distance, it makes me nervous. What if something happens with Sleep? I know he said he broke the connection, but there's always a chance for disaster. My mind kept spinning with a million questions and I eventually shook my head, sighing.