i need someone active later in the evenings (Open OxO)

Derik gasps, his body abnormally tense. He stays quiet for a bit, shocked. He then snaps back to his senses and quickly tries to wipe away his tears, but they just kept coming back.

A small whimper escapes Derik’s throat as his sobs get more and more intense. He never thought that he would be the one being hugged. He was always the one hugging his kids when they broke down like this…not the other way around…

Knight stays quiet, just continuing to hold Derik like that as he sobbed.

Huh. Well this wasn't anywhere within my programming. . . he thinks, even as he just comfortingly holds the man, letting him work all of his tears out. But. . . this is actually kinda nice.

Derik takes a moment, then leans into Knight. He hides his face in Knight’s chest, shaking slightly as he sobbed. He felt so weak…so small…he hated it.

He claws at his already reddened arm, letting out a pain filled, heartbreaking cry. It wasn’t physical pain…it was mental pain. He didn’t ask for what had happened to him, it just…happened…the poor mans mind was too clouded with flashbacks to even recognize that he was now holding onto Knight as if he were a frightened child.

Knight gently takes hold of Derik's arms, making sure not to hurt him but also restrict his movement enough that he couldn't hurt himself again.

"It's okay. . . if you need to hit something, hit me. . ." he says quietly. "Or if you need someone to just hold you I can do that too."

Derik whines, trying to pull away. His panic attack only seemed to worsen by the minute, his breathing quickening until he was gasping for air.

Knight leans back and stares at Derik softly.

"Derik M'lark, please. Breathe. Deep breaths. Don't try and struggle, you'll only get hurt more. Just breathe and let the emotions come out." he murmurs.

Derik started choking on air, coughing. He whimpers, still trying to pull away. The flashbacks completely took over his vision. Soon, Knight’s voice sounded distant and muffled.

(Why is this adorable-?)

Knight holds Derik steady, thinking for a moment before sighing. He presses his fingers into the hollow between the collarbone and neck, putting enough pressure down to knock the man out.

He gently bundles his arms up in pandages and makes sure that Derik wouldn't be able to get them off before putting the man on his cot and covering him with a blanket.

Derik gasps softly as he instantly blacks out, slumping into Knight.

He stayed out all night, somehow looking quite peaceful. But that would come to an end at 6 in the morning when he started whimpering in his sleep. Of course, Derik always had nightmares. Every night in fact. Sadly he was used to it by now, but that didn’t mean it never threw him off. He would always wake up in a cold sweat, sometimes jolting awake and screaming. And this was one of those times.

Derik gasps after about 5 minutes of him just shaking and muttering in his seep, jolting upright and screaming; “STOP!”

Knight doesn't jump or startle or look even remotely surprised. One might say he looked concerned.

He reaches over and rests a comforting hand on the man's shoulder.

"Calm down."

Derik looks at him, panting heavily. His body trembled and fear glazed his eyes. He took a long while to compose himself enough to mutter, “Sorry…” and lay back down. Derik decided to hide his face in the covers, trying to hide his tears.

In all honesty, Derik couldn’t remember anything from the night before. All he remembered was a burning sensation in his chest. That was it. He looks down at his arms and furrows his eyebrows, confused.

Knight shakes his head slightly, rubbing Derik's back.

"For what?" he asks.

Derik sighs, “For bothering you…just- I don’t know, go back to whatever you were doing…don’t mind me…”

"I wasn't doing anything." Knight counters.

Derik thinks for a moment, then just gives up, picking at the bandages.

Knight takes the hand that's picking and holds it, his eyes narrowed.

Derik flinches slightly, looking at Knight. “What’s up with you? What happened?”

"Well, I pu those bandages there since you were scratching your arms like you wanted to crawl out of your skin. You were also crying. I had to knock you out so you could start to breathe and actually calm down." Knight explains, conveniently leaving out the part where he'd held Derik while he'd sobbed.

Derik blinks, “Oh-“ His face goes red, “Shit- sorry…”

Knight shrugs.

"It's fine. Trust me, I've seen worse." he consoles.

Derik shudders, falling silent. Guilt and embarrassment flooded his mind, his cheeks growing redder.

Knight sighs.

"Stop that." he says bluntly.

Derik looks away, reaching for a bandage.

Knight grabs that hand as well, holding them gently but firmly.

"Quit feeling shitty. You didn't hurt me, you didn't upset me, nobody died or exploded. It's okay." he says.

Derik bites his lip, dead silent. This almost seemed unnatural for himself.

"Oi. You alive?" Knight asks.

Derik sighs, fighting any and all urges to say anything.

"I'll continue asking until you tell me, you know. Or I could pull out the defibrillators. That would bake you pretty quick if you were alive." Knight says casually.

Derik grumbles, “Go ahead…” he mutters.