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tamingthemuseTitle: Observer
Fandom: Original (based on the Arthurian Legends)
Prompt: #278 - Rapid eye movement
Warnings: Reincarnation theme. Barely reread.
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: The Arthurian Legends are in the public domain. I make no reference to any copyrighted work. So all is mine.
Beta: None, so any mistakes you see are mine.
Summary: During one of his lifetime Mordred had studied sleep. .
During one of his lifetime Mordred had studied sleep. He had wanted to undestand why he couldn't sleep, why he was different from others and why no matter what advices he followed sleep wouldn't come to him. He never really got an answer, not a satisfying one anyway and not in that particular life time. But as a result he had learned a lot about sleep from observation. He had been unable to learn much from science because really science wasn't that good in those years but it didn't matter. His sleepless hours had been spent watching over people's and the way they slept. It had mostly been uneventful but there had been one particular moment of each night that Mordred had loved. It had been when the eyes moved under people's lids. It had looked so strange and mysterious as if the body was getting excited, the brain getting active and sending people in strange adventures - adventures for which they had to look out for everything hence the eyes movements.
Mordred had thought that this stage of sleep was probably the one that was the most troublesome for him, the one in which his nightmares happened because in those bad dreams he really had to be on the look-out for anything or he would get killed. And most of the time he did end up dead. Of course they had just been dreams and he had known it but he had only known it when he awoke and could feel his body, sweat drenching the sheets under him and his heart pounding in his chest, very much alive and scared.
Those nightmares had been the reason why he had chosen not to sleep. That was supposed to be a time to rest and refuel yourself but that had never happened for him. So instead he had remained awake as much as he had been able to and most nights he had managed to avoid those phases of sleep that sent him into a dark world of death, punishements and blood. He had learned to master the trick of barely sleeping, of doozing instead of dreaming. And he had managed alright in that life time. He had been very pale and weak looking from sleep exhaustion but he had forced his body to get used to it and he could go through weeks with barely any sleep.
Sleep wasn't that important and the amount of free time he had gotten at night had soon been filled by his observations of people's sleep or endless wanderings in the streets of cities at night. The latter had never appeased him much but it had occupied him and he had learned a lot about human behaviour that way. Night seemed to unleash the true nature of people. But really he had prefered the former and being the only awake person in a room of sleeping people. The slow breathing and the calm of people soothed him, offering him confort and sometimes he had thought that by watching people sleep he was getting his rest. As if people could sleep for him as well as for them.
In spite of the violent nightmares and the seclusion he had forced on himself, Mordred remembered that life time with fondness. He had been happy in a way. He had been alone, not forced to face the world by being an simple passive observer in it. And the night had filled his life with an imagnary company that he had cherished because those people could never hurt him.
Fandom: Original (based on the Arthurian Legends)
Prompt: #278 - Rapid eye movement
Warnings: Reincarnation theme. Barely reread.
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: The Arthurian Legends are in the public domain. I make no reference to any copyrighted work. So all is mine.
Beta: None, so any mistakes you see are mine.
Summary: During one of his lifetime Mordred had studied sleep. .
During one of his lifetime Mordred had studied sleep. He had wanted to undestand why he couldn't sleep, why he was different from others and why no matter what advices he followed sleep wouldn't come to him. He never really got an answer, not a satisfying one anyway and not in that particular life time. But as a result he had learned a lot about sleep from observation. He had been unable to learn much from science because really science wasn't that good in those years but it didn't matter. His sleepless hours had been spent watching over people's and the way they slept. It had mostly been uneventful but there had been one particular moment of each night that Mordred had loved. It had been when the eyes moved under people's lids. It had looked so strange and mysterious as if the body was getting excited, the brain getting active and sending people in strange adventures - adventures for which they had to look out for everything hence the eyes movements.
Mordred had thought that this stage of sleep was probably the one that was the most troublesome for him, the one in which his nightmares happened because in those bad dreams he really had to be on the look-out for anything or he would get killed. And most of the time he did end up dead. Of course they had just been dreams and he had known it but he had only known it when he awoke and could feel his body, sweat drenching the sheets under him and his heart pounding in his chest, very much alive and scared.
Those nightmares had been the reason why he had chosen not to sleep. That was supposed to be a time to rest and refuel yourself but that had never happened for him. So instead he had remained awake as much as he had been able to and most nights he had managed to avoid those phases of sleep that sent him into a dark world of death, punishements and blood. He had learned to master the trick of barely sleeping, of doozing instead of dreaming. And he had managed alright in that life time. He had been very pale and weak looking from sleep exhaustion but he had forced his body to get used to it and he could go through weeks with barely any sleep.
Sleep wasn't that important and the amount of free time he had gotten at night had soon been filled by his observations of people's sleep or endless wanderings in the streets of cities at night. The latter had never appeased him much but it had occupied him and he had learned a lot about human behaviour that way. Night seemed to unleash the true nature of people. But really he had prefered the former and being the only awake person in a room of sleeping people. The slow breathing and the calm of people soothed him, offering him confort and sometimes he had thought that by watching people sleep he was getting his rest. As if people could sleep for him as well as for them.
In spite of the violent nightmares and the seclusion he had forced on himself, Mordred remembered that life time with fondness. He had been happy in a way. He had been alone, not forced to face the world by being an simple passive observer in it. And the night had filled his life with an imagnary company that he had cherished because those people could never hurt him.
