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For most people, a good dream isn’t one that forces you awake in the middle of the night, or makes you notice every little detail from the soft snores of your roommate or the tiny footsteps from the other room, or even the subtle hints of conversation from floors below. A good dream is something you enjoy waking up from, maybe a little sad but not ever scared, not ever with ice cold sweat streaming down your back or watering eyes, however this was not the case for Pin, who was sat up straight in her bed, hand tangled in her shirt as it pressed against her chest. Everything was too much, too tight, too hot, too fast, too quiet, toomuchtoomuchtoomuch. She screwed her eyes shut, tears poking through her lashes as she gripped her shoulder with her other arm, digging her nails deep into the seams of her scars, once bound by rows of staples down each of her joints. It felt like they were still there, still poking into her, yet worse oh so worse. The pain seared through her arms and legs, like electricity flowed through her limbs, shocking her every time she even dared to move. She swung her legs off the bed, letting out a sharp breath as she tried to balance herself on the floor, it creaking slightly as she gripped tightly onto the nightstand, almost like it was a life preserver and she was drowning in all this pain, electric, piercing pain. Turning back to Coiny, she looked at him as he peacefully dozed, his curly hair peeking out of the duvet. He told her if she was ever in pain, to wake him but she couldn’t do that, he had done so much for her and she couldn’t bare to see his pitying face, his warm embrace, the care that she didn’t deserve. She had hurt so many people, she had hurt him! It was too much, she couldn’t keep mooching off all his love (even if she had to admit, she was kinda hooked). Hurting him during BFDIA, everyone being scared of her in IDFB and even a little bit in BFB, she just couldn’t keep receiving his care, she was a monster, a monster without even a good reason. She felt vengeful at the time, sure, but she couldn’t help but feel sick when she thought back to those days, even though Coiny insisted how much fun the both of them had. She dragged herself to the bathroom, not even bothering to switch on the light as she turned on the sink. Cold water flowed out into the basin, she cupped it into her hands as she splashed her face with it, her nerves stumbling into life as the ice cold water hit her face. Her bleary eyes looked to the mirror, her hair was sticking up in all sorts of places with a bad knot forming on the side of her head, additionally she had dark circles under her eye which seemed to contrast her lightly bloodshot eyes, when did she last actually sleep? Mumbling something, she turned off the water and started to dry her face with their-her towel, they did not share towels even if this one smelled awfully of copper and the minty cologne Coiny loved to spray a lot. She took in a sniff of it, keeping her face on the towel for a couple more seconds before prying herself away from it and hanging it back up on the hook. Going to leave, she suddenly felt a sharp back down her back, more painful than the ones in her limbs as she doubled over onto the bathroom tile, all of her movements a blur. Her head hit the floor, letting out a small yelp as she immediately covered her mouth, biting the inside of her cheek as she tried to avoid the sounds of pain that threatened to come out. Curling her knees in, she waited for a couple moments to check if she accidentally awoke Coiny, and seeing she didn’t, rotated to her knees and crawled over to the Toliet as she latched onto it for dear life. Everything was a giant fuzzy blur, the darkness not accommodating for her shaky movements as her hands twitched nervously. A wake of nausea washed over her, she tried to swallow the burning pain but she wasn’t strong enough and ended up puking into the Toliet, choking back tears as she violently trembled on the floor, the cold of the tile freezing her feet as the rest of her body felt like it was boiling in a kettle, sweat beading on the back of her neck as she tried to keep her tears from falling. Before she could even try and stand up, the overhead light suddenly came on, bright white and fluorescent. Pin couldn’t hold back the helpless sound that came out when the lights came on, grimacing at the light as her vision focused to reveal Coiny, standing with wide eyes at the trembling mess of Pin on the floor. Her oversized shirt was soaked with sweat and her shorts had droplets of sickly green vomit as well.
“…Pin.” He knelt down beside her, before looking at her squinted eyes as flicked off the overhead light quickly. “Shoot, sorry Pin!” Pin relaxed a little bit as the light turned off, her eyes closing as she felt the darkness enveloping the both of them. She immediately opened her eyes as she felt Coiny’s hand press onto hers, snatching it back quickly as she slid herself backwards towards the bathtub. Her eyes were wide, like those of an animal that knows it’s about to be killed, her breaths were ragged as she looked at him, his confused face and slightly raised eyebrows. She woke him up with her stupid nightmares and stupid phantom pain, and stupid stupid complaints!
“I’m sorry…” She spoke, it felt painful to even hear her own voice, dry and raw from crying. “For waking you up, you should go back to sleep.” She avoided his eyes, deep and golden like caves of ore, caves that held so much care within them. Coiny shook his head, resting his hand on his sweatpants’ pocket as he watched Pin’s expression, her face darkened and her eyes slightly unfocused as she held herself together tightly. He bit his lip, slightly unsure of what to say in this situation but he took a deep breath and tried.
“Don’t apologize, I kinda knew you were up anyways.” Pin’s eyes looked directly at Coiny’s now, her jaw dropped wide open.
“What?!” She raised her voice slightly, looking away again as she pressed her back against the bathtub, the cool plastic felt nice on her back. “I’m so sorry, I-I should have been quieter, I-“ Coiny rested a hand on her hand, this time she didn’t immediately jerk away, she just looked down at it, surprised.
“You weren’t too loud, in fact you were eeriely quiet…” He trailed off, focusing on drawing circles on Pin’s hand with his thumb, focusing on the size of the circles and the dry skin of her palm (and definitely not how her hand felt in his, totally not haha what are you talking about). “This is the sixth time this week you’ve had these nightmares.” His voice was soft, barely above a whisper, he looked up at Pin who was staring at him with wide eyes, not of fear but of surprise. “Are you sure you’re okay?” Pin reluctantly nodded her head before shaking it again, trying to avoid the tears that would come out but she couldn’t stop them soon enough and ended up putting her head in her hands and sobbing, hunched over beside the tub. Her whimpers were soft as she sobbed into her hands, Coiny with his hand still hovering in the air, unsure what to do with themselves. Beats of silence passed, Pin dried her eyes with the sleeve her shirt as she tried to stand up, her knees buckling as she gripped onto the sink for dear life. Coiny almost immediately jumped to his feet, his hands stationed around her waist in an attempt to steady her as he whispered softly. “Hey, hey Pinster,” Gazing behind her, he noticed the bathtub. Neither one had used the tub portion of it yet (though Coiny was hoping for a little more romantic scenario for using it), he figured a hot bath could help soothe her pain. “How does a bath sound?” Pin nodded in reply, looking behind her at the tub. Maneuvering her carefully, Coiny set her down on the Toliet before dashing over to turn on the water, the gentle hum pleasing to the ears. Water accumulated slowly, soon enough the tub was full enough and Coiny turned the knob to stop the flow. “Now y-“ Before he could say anything, he turned around to see Pin standing in her bathing suit, lifting herself up slowly as she held onto the nearby towel rack for support. This was not the time for him to start being romantic, held told himself, Pin is in pain, you have to be caring! He came over to her, helping her up and pulling her arm behind him with his free hand around her hip. Stumbling over, Pin set herself on the side of the tub, dipping her foot in before slowly pulling in her other foot. Already the warmth of the water was making her muscles relax, soon enough her entire body was in the bath. Letting out a relieved breath, she pretended not to catch the blush that creeped up the coin’s face subtly. Sitting in silence with only the sound of water, it felt comforting to say the least. Even sitting on the cold tile floor, Coiny had to admit that he loved this, Pin’s smiling face as she gazed down at the bubbles (shaped like 2….okay weird). He enjoyed the quiet, sure in early seasons he was loud and brash, but that was because he mind was always needing it, his brain was addicted to the high of the challenge and he never really got used to the quiet, until he met Pin. Pin was quiet, she didn’t scream a ton or go out partying every night like Snowball and he did but he came to the realization that maybe he didn’t actually truly like that. Sure he liked the people and the lights, but that was all stimulation, he never really got used to his own mind before. Learning this was a surprise, even Firey was shocked when he decided to stay home one night but every subsequent night, caring for Pin, he learned that maybe he wasn’t the raving party animal he thought he was. Sure, he still went to parties (he was still a very social coin), but he toned down, taking breaks occasionally.
“Coiny,” Her words broke him out of his thoughts, her eyes reflecting the single dim light in the bathroom. “Can you uhm-“ Paused, she fidgeted with the strap of her swimsuit, a simple black two piece she had gotten years ago.
“What’s up?” Coiny rose to his knees, scootching towards the tub slowly. “You can tell me anything.”
“Well, it’s kind of a weird request,” she scratched the back of her neck, Coiny raising an eyebrow as she stammered to explain again. “I-I was wondering if you could help me wash my hair.” It took a moment but the corners of his mouth turned up.
“It’s not a weird request, not at all.” Sighing, Coiny shook his head good-naturedly and stood up, opening the medicine cabinet and grabbing two large bottles, shampoo and conditioner. He trotted over to the side of the tub and knelt back down, setting the bottle beside him. Cracking his knuckles, he opened up the shampoo bottle and poured a generous amount into his hand.
“Coiny!” Pin looked aghast, her arms crossed over her chest. “Do you seriously use that much?”
“Well of course!” He sighed as he began to work into her scalp, using his stubby nails to make sure every part had been covered. Pin’s muscles relaxed against his touch, leaning into it as he gently played with her hair. He trailed the shampoo down to the ends, making sure it bubbled up before leaning over to rinse his hands in the water. Standing up again, he pulled the shower head out of its holder and turned on the water again, using his hand to check if the water was warm enough. After some time of adjusting, he moved over and began to rake his fingers through her hair, gentle detangling the knots built up from nights and nights pulling her hair. Once all the big ones were out, he grabbed a small comb and began to glide it through her hair, tugging slightly at a couple stubborn knots but soon enough, the hair was silky smooth and the comb went through without a hitch (even if Coiny kept combing it because he liked the feeling of Pin’s hair against his fingers). Pulling off the cap, he squirted some conditioner into his hand and massaged it down the shaft of her hair, making sure the liquid worked itself into each strand of her hair. He held one strand in his hand, twirling it around his finger back in forth, so daintily that Pin wouldn’t notice that he was enamored with her hair, the deep red of her hair. If Coiny could be surrounded by that color, he’d would. Every wall, every object would be that red if he could complete engulf his senses in that red (okay maybe a little dramatic but you get my point lol). Grabbing the shower head again, he ran his fingers through the hair to rinse out the condition. Pin, taking notice of how nice her hair felt again her bare back, let out a satisfied hum. “Good?” He whispered, running his fingers up and down her hair.
“Great,” She leaned back into him, closing her eyes as the finger caressed the nape of her neck. “Thank you, Coiny” A wave of heat washed over him, his heart pounding like it wanted to escape its cage. Hands drifted down to her shoulders, gently massaging them with the heel of his palm. His eyes moved over to a long pale stripe down her shoulder blade, the place where her arms had been removed. He figured that she had similar scars on her thighs where they’d also been removed, a dreadful thought that caused his breath to hitch slightly. Pin’s eyes followed his, looking at the scar on her shoulder and her smile dropped into a guilty frown as she turned away from it. “I know, it’s disgusting.” She sighed, shivering as Coiny removed his hands from her shoulder, was he always so warm?
“No Pin, you got me all wrong-“ He stood up and opened the medicine cabinet again, digging through containers of tiny product bottles before he found a small purple bottle and slammed the door shut. Resuming his spot prior, he pumped a small amount of the lotion onto his palm and began to smooth the lavender-scented lotion on her back, and especially onto the scars. “This might sound weird, but,” He paused, using his knuckle to weed out a difficult knot near her shoulder blade. “I actually love your scars, I think they show that you’re alive,” Gauging her reaction, he waited a moment before continuing. “You lived through so much, Pinster, these are just proof of your life! Plus,” Using his finger to draw a heart around the scar of her left shoulder, overly tempted to place a kiss there. “I think they make you look really badass.”
“Coiny!” Pin blushed, her face almost the same color as her hair as she pushed a chuckling Coiny away. As they both settled back down, Pin turned around to face him, a smile dancing on her lips. “I suppose I agree, thanks.” She rubbed a strand of hair between her fingers, running her fingers through her bangs as she shook off some stray water. “Let’s go back to bed, I’m getting tired,” yawning, she pulled out the plug and stood up. Coiny handed her a spare towel from underneath the sink, she wrapped it around herself but as she did so, his eyes looked down to her arms which were littered with small cuts and burns, some old and faint while some new and still red. Before he could even process his thoughts, he lifted Pin’s hand up and placed a chaste kiss onto her hand, looking up to see blush creeping its way onto her face.
“Uhm, platonic!” He awkwardly grinned, his face feeling unusually hot as well. Pin just smiled in response, pulling him in close from the small of his back.
“Well, I think we’re both very tired and sleep-deprived at this moment,” She chuckled, opening the door and leading them both into bed. Pin quickly grabbing an oversized shirt and some boxer shorts before going into the bathroom to change. Seconds felt like arduous hours as Coiny sat on the bed, rubbing his fingers together with the excess lotion as he kicked his feet half-mindedly, but soon the door open and Pin stepped out. “It looks like the sun’s rising now,” Looking at the window, Coiny groaned. He really did not want to deal with breakfast on barely any sleep, rolling onto his feet, he was about to walk before Pin grabbed him and they both fell backwards into the comfy trap that was the bed.
“Pin!” Coiny stammered, trying to wriggle his way out of Pin’s grasp. “The sun’s up, therefore we’re up!” Pin giggled slightly, letting him go but instead of getting on, he rolled onto his side facing Pin.
“Let’s just go back to bed, the others can live without us for one day,” She pulled him closer, his head resting on her collar while she lazily draped her arm around his midsection. They were tangled up, but neither cared as their eyes dipped closed and comfort took over. Hours later they would groan about not waking up in time but for now, they simply basked in each others presence.