Drabble+: Nightmare
Oct. 15th, 2008 10:45 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
strangetomatoThere's nothing quite like breaking your own rules, is there? I'm contrary like that, so actually coming out and saying I'm not going to post much will obviously make me want to write something. So here it is... a drabble+.
Prompt: A character wakes from a nightmare in the middle of the night to the person they least want to see at that moment.
Characters: Tank Grunt (and others, but you'll have to read it to see)
Wordcount: 400
Warnings: language, violence
Then Johnny stopped moving. Tank held his neck in his hands, and Johnny looked back at him with lifeless eyes.
He was dead, and Tank had killed him.
Finally.
Goddamned alien piece of shit.
But why did he feel so empty?
Oh, god. He had killed him.
"Johnny... Johnny?!" Tank shook him. "Shit... I didn't mean it. Wake up, you asshole!"
Frantically, he tried to revive him, but it was too late.
Then Ripp was there, wailing. He fell onto the corpse in despair. "Johnny! You've killed him. You've killed my Johnny!"
"Stop it!" Tank yelled, "Stop crying!"
"You killed him. My brother... you killed my brother."
"I'M your brother."
Why, Ripp? Why him? Why not me?
"I hate you."
Had he said the words, or had Ripp?
Then he was choking him, pressing Ripp to the floor, and feeling the life go out of him too.
Why not me?
He was killing him.
He wanted to stop, but couldn't.
He tried to break out of it, but couldn't.
He tried to scream, but nothing came out.
"Tank?" Frances was on him, shaking him. "TANK!"
Tank still couldn't move or say anything. He couldn't even catch his breath. He could see the room around him, and Frances reaching down at him, but he couldn't move. Frances had his hands reaching out towards his neck, and he thought he must be trying to kill him too. He tried to yell, "Get the fuck off of me!" but nothing came out.
"Tank?! What's wrong with you? Stop it! Wake up! You're scaring me." Frances felt his panic rising, and the next thing he knew, he had slapped Tank squarely across the face. "WAKE UP!"
Tank woke up.
For a moment, they just stared at each other. Tank wanted to escape, to shove Frances aside and get out of there, but he felt a strange comfort in having him there too.
He didn't want to be comforted.
He didn't need it.
How much of that had Frances been able to witness? Had he cried out in his sleep? Dreams were blurring into reality, and he didn't want Frances to see that... to see what he had done. He didn't want Frances on his bed either.
"You... hit me."
"I'm sorry." Frances bit his quivering lip, and tried not to cry, but the panic and relief were too much for him.
"God... don't cry."
Prompt: A character wakes from a nightmare in the middle of the night to the person they least want to see at that moment.
Characters: Tank Grunt (and others, but you'll have to read it to see)
Wordcount: 400
Warnings: language, violence
Then Johnny stopped moving. Tank held his neck in his hands, and Johnny looked back at him with lifeless eyes.
He was dead, and Tank had killed him.
Finally.
Goddamned alien piece of shit.
But why did he feel so empty?
Oh, god. He had killed him.
"Johnny... Johnny?!" Tank shook him. "Shit... I didn't mean it. Wake up, you asshole!"
Frantically, he tried to revive him, but it was too late.
Then Ripp was there, wailing. He fell onto the corpse in despair. "Johnny! You've killed him. You've killed my Johnny!"
"Stop it!" Tank yelled, "Stop crying!"
"You killed him. My brother... you killed my brother."
"I'M your brother."
Why, Ripp? Why him? Why not me?
"I hate you."
Had he said the words, or had Ripp?
Then he was choking him, pressing Ripp to the floor, and feeling the life go out of him too.
Why not me?
He was killing him.
He wanted to stop, but couldn't.
He tried to break out of it, but couldn't.
He tried to scream, but nothing came out.
"Tank?" Frances was on him, shaking him. "TANK!"
Tank still couldn't move or say anything. He couldn't even catch his breath. He could see the room around him, and Frances reaching down at him, but he couldn't move. Frances had his hands reaching out towards his neck, and he thought he must be trying to kill him too. He tried to yell, "Get the fuck off of me!" but nothing came out.
"Tank?! What's wrong with you? Stop it! Wake up! You're scaring me." Frances felt his panic rising, and the next thing he knew, he had slapped Tank squarely across the face. "WAKE UP!"
Tank woke up.
For a moment, they just stared at each other. Tank wanted to escape, to shove Frances aside and get out of there, but he felt a strange comfort in having him there too.
He didn't want to be comforted.
He didn't need it.
How much of that had Frances been able to witness? Had he cried out in his sleep? Dreams were blurring into reality, and he didn't want Frances to see that... to see what he had done. He didn't want Frances on his bed either.
"You... hit me."
"I'm sorry." Frances bit his quivering lip, and tried not to cry, but the panic and relief were too much for him.
"God... don't cry."
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no subject
Date: 2008-10-15 06:22 pm (UTC)And actually, I've always looked at Tank's painting as probably being something that belonged to his mother, since it seems odd for a teenage boy to hang something like that in his bedroom, and I can't imagine Buzz being cool with it otherwise.
Nah, I always saw the posters as just Ripp's interest in music (and, for me, that all started with his LTW - to become a rock god, which I think suits him perfectly), and a way to rebel against his father, who probably wouldn't like posters tacked all over the walls. The rest of the house is pretty standard-issue and austere.
Yeah, Ripp gets portrayed that way quite frequently, doesn't he? Or just as being very sad and very "sweet". I can see that, on one hand, but I couldn't imagine him not being a bold, carefree, dirty minded wiseass at the same time. For me, Ripp is many things. :P
Oh, and my other theory on the flower painting is just lack of paintings that come with the basegame. :P
no subject
Date: 2008-10-15 11:32 pm (UTC)Good point about the painting. I'd always thought though; it's Ripp who takes after Lyla more - including the outgoing. I've done a lot of digging while planning ahead, and have come to the conclusion that Tank actually takes most after Chip, his granddad. Not only does he have his eyes, he also has his quiet streak as well as nice points. And Buck is the spitting image of him (Chip), save for the hair and jaw - creepy o_o
This is why I love that family so much - all this hidden depth and complicated mentality just waiting to be explored... and that's just the living members ;)