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hangonsnoopy19 · 1 year

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What do you guys think Frank and Bill are like together on the bad nights?

Frank sees the good in so much, but he also probably watched his family and friends die like everyone else did. He saw Baltimore QZ wiped out. When he started for Boston he was originally in a group of ten. Frank values his home environment and feels that taking care of it is an expression of love. And then he saw his whole world burn down around him multiple times. His home was destroyed multiple times.

When he has nightmares he rarely cries out… that’s a learned response because it’s dangerous to make much noise when you’re on the road. But he still has bad memories, night terrors, and he whimpers in his sleep like a wounded animal, thrown back to a time when he was terrified and alone and starving.

He still wakes up Bill when he does this because Bill is always half-listening for his alarms, so he hears Frank whimpering even when Frank is being quiet. Bill rolls over in bed and sees Frank pale and sweating and panting in his sleep, face an unconscious mask of fear, and he doesn’t know what to do. He’s read somewhere that you shouldn’t wake up sleepwalkers and he’s not sure if trying to shake Frank out of a bad dream will make it worse. He hates seeing Frank in pain, but Bill accidentally causing Frank more pain would be even worse.

Finally, he pushes himself forward in the dark, slowly, towards Frank. Frank stills in his sleep, animal instinct, waiting to see if the movement is a predator. Bill pauses, then moves forward again, snuggles close, rests his arm over Frank’s body. He tries to project comfort: you’re safe, you’re safe, you’re not trapped, never trapped, you’re safe. I’m here, standing between you and whatever you’re afraid of. I’m here.

Bill has never been good at verbal reassurance but he tries to make his body big and soft and strong and comforting. Frank doesn’t wake up all the way, but slowly the stiffness in his body seems to ease and he molds his body to Bill’s. He goes back to sleep, more peaceful now.

Bill doesn’t really have nightmares like Frank does. The world ending wasn’t the same kind of traumatic experience for him. He dreams of his mother sometimes but it’s not the same.

When Bill has bad nights it’s because he’s in an anxiety spiral. As he’s drifting off to sleep, enjoying Frank there, in his bed, in his arms, it occurs to him how fragile this all is. He starts imagining a world without Frank, or a world where Frank is left alone without Bill. Of Frank being hurt… of Frank being hurt by Infected. Of Frank becoming Infected. Of Raiders coming and not being able to stop them. Of raiders or slavers finding Frank alone and…

Before he knows it, he’s vibrating with anxiety, with the need to check the traps, the locks, the guns, the water supply. He’s almost sick with it, nauseous. He makes list after list in his head but it’s not enough.

Frank is here in his arms, right where he should be, but what if someone or something comes in? What if Bill missed some hole in the fence, some weak spot in the armor? What if…?

Frank finds him outside in the dark, gun ready, pacing and snarling, back and forth in front of the house. Hyper-vigilant and unable to wind down. Barely recognizing Frank when he approaches. The first time Frank finds Bill like this it genuinely scares Frank because Bill is almost feral and refuses any attempts to soothe him. He won’t let Frank hold him. He needs to be ready. He needs both arms free and both eyes open.

Frank doesn’t try to touch him. Instead, he goes back inside, puts on his shoes and jacket, grabs a flashlight, and limbers up for a run.

“Go back inside,” Bill growls when he sees him. “Go back to bed.”

“Nope,” Frank says with a cheerfully oblivious tone he knows drives Bill nuts. “I’m going for a run. You wanna come? Or are you gonna make me run in the dark alone?”

However long later, after several circuits of the perimeter - and they can see as they go that nobody is out there, that the fence is fine, the traps are fine, security is fine, everything is fine - Frank drags a sweating, cursing Bill back into the house and upstairs and straight into bed. They’ll have to wash the sheets in the morning, but it doesn’t matter because, exhausted, Bill finally sleeps.

And after the bad nights, Bill and Frank spend most of the day following together in bed.

#tlou #tlou fic #mini fic #bill x frank #tlou frank #tlou bill #strawberry babies #episode 3 lives rent free in my soul #tlou show

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mrslantsov13 · 1 year

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Feels weird to be sharing my own work instead of just reblogging other people but I made these

Find my pottery at instagram.com/ceramicas_lucerito