[D3 EM] Nightmares and Dreamscapes (Feyther Pavilions)

[Alicent Feyther]

A scream rang out from the Feyther Pavilions, not as piercing as the one later that night, and cut off earlier. Only one person was awakened by this one, unlike the cry that would echo it later that night. Caim Feyther jerked awake and grabbed his sword on automatic, rushing across to his sister's tent still in his bedclothes, ready to take on whatever threatened her. Rather than an enemy, however, he discovered the petite, silver-haired girl sitting up in her bed, still with her legs under the covers, hands pressed to her face. Her breaths came in heavy, ragged gasps as she tried to get ahold of herself and pull herself out of the images that she'd just witnessed.

Caim let out a breath and set his sword, still in scabbard, on one of the wooden chairs before coming over and sitting down on the bed next to her. It was something he'd done many times when she was younger, before things had become... strained between them. "Hey..." He said quietly in a voice that was deep and low, one he'd used to soothe her when she was six and having nightmares when she traveled away from home for the first time. He ran his hand through her hair, brushing it away from her face. Her hands came down and she looked up at him, eyes bloodshot and wet, pale brows knit with fear and worry. He gave her one of his rare kind smiles. "Nightmare?"

He nearly jumped when she suddenly threw her arms around him, clinging to his shirt for dear life. He could feel his heart beating in his throat as she held onto him, but he pushed down the feeling of slight panic to rest his hands on her back, just setting her hold on as long as she needed to until she calmed down. In some ways, it reminded him of comforting his daughter, Khelsie, a thought that her latched onto like a piece of wood after a ship was already sunk. Everything had gone to hell, but he could at least keep his head above water.

Finally, Alicent pulled her head back, sitting up again, breathing slowing down to normal, finally. After a moment, she admittedly in a voice still slightly shaky, "Yeah... it was a nightmare..."

He took her hand and nodded, face returned to his normal stoicness, but with an air of concern only family would likely know him well enough to notice. He held her smaller hand still. "What happened?"

"It's stupid... it wasn't even that complicated."

"It's not stupid," he insisted. "Come on... it might help to talk about it."

Alicent looked up at him for a moment, then swallowed and nodded. She had to remind herself for a moment: he wanted to help, so she should let him. "I... I dreamt I was falling."

His brows furrowed a little. "Falling... Was it the tower dream again?"

"No... The tower dream... I'm always falling onto the rocks or into the ocean, and even though I can't see who pushed me, just know..." She explained quietly, her voice becoming more even. "No... In the dream... As I fell, there was a dark shape hovering above me. It was a person, but I couldn't tell who it was... I reached out to try to grab onto something, but there was just... air. I fell faster and faster and then... I landed on something solid. I think. It felt like there was a thump, but I woke up at the same time..."

He rubbed the back of her hand with his thumb slowly. "Maybe it's just... maybe you would have had the tower dream at home, but you were thinking of here?"

She was silent for a few long moments, mulling it over, then nodded. "Yeah... maybe. You're probably right. I just... I just adapted the tower dream to my current location." Caim nodded. The thought seemed to be comforting to her, so far be it him to argue.

She smiled a little at him, meeting her violet eyes to his blue. "Thanks, Caim." He sucked in a breath through his nose and nodded brusquely, letting go of her hand and getting up to retrieve his sword. "It's no problem."

There was a pause as he stopped by the door, not looking back toward her. "You should probably get some extra sleep."

She nodded. "Okay, Caim." When he left, she sighed to herself. It had been like having her older brother back for a few moments, but then he went right back to being Ser Dour. She lay back, staring up at the top of the pavilion, wondering what had happened between the two of them.