The Nexus

Cael awoke with a shriek, sitting bolt upright in bed. He had been sleeping restlessly all night even after taking something to help him relax. He tried to untangle himself from the blankets and he seemed disoriented and woozy. He didn't know where he was at first, and he groped around blindly trying to head for the door. His heart was racing and he felt like he couldn't breathe, he just needed to get out.

The door down to the shop was flung open and he half stumbled half walked down the steps. The window front of the store made everything seem more open and he huddled down next to the cashwrap with his head on his knees, while he rocked himself and tried to breathe.

Mels had watched Cael go to sleep and stayed a while after. It was a creepy habit and she eventually drifted off into the living room to read some books. She was engrossed in a romance novel when Cael left his room and he head bobbed up. "Cael?" She noted the way he was moving and breathing and dropped the book to zoom after him down the stairs.

"Cael are you okay? Do you need something??"

Cael didn't even seem to recognize Mels at first, and he coward away from her, "No don't!" He curled more on himself, "Where's Brae? He's supposed to be home by now...I need Brae..." He was still gasping for air and he couldn't see because he'd left his glasses on his nightstand.

Mels recoiled and shifted away from him. "I'm sorry!" She shimmered and frowned. "He's not home yet, Cael... It's just me here..." She looked to the door though and poofed her head out to see if maybe he was close! No sign of him just then. Mels floundered and ghosted back through the cashwrap. "...is there anything I can do....?"

Cael huddled miserably and it was obvious that he'd started crying. "N--no..." He was still trying to breathe and he was shaking pretty bad, but when he relaxed enough he'd probably want his glasses, or at least a blanket.

Mels frowned and sunk into the ground before him. She ached to be able to comfort him in some way, but she lacked a body and was not his twin. She felt annoyed that Brae wasn't there to help and shimmered again before ghosting through the ceiling. She figured she could try to comfort Cael with other things and came back in shifts, carrying one item at a time. She brought him Mothra first, then a blanket and a pillow and eventually remembered he'd need glasses. She would shoot for making him tea if she thought she had enough energy to bring it down here without dropping it all over the stairs and making it worse. She even brought down his pill bottle just in case.

Once she was done showering him in things, she settled next to him. "Are you... going to be okay?" She looked through the cashwrap once more hoping Brae would be there.

Cael latched onto Mothra when she brought it down, and then buried himself under his blanket with his face smashed against the pillow. The pills were taking dry and he stayed huddled in his nest, still crying quietly. "I...I don't know..." He was still shaking and he pulled the blanket tighter around himself. "T--thanks..."

Mels had done her best and the continued absence of Braeden was irritating the normally mellow ghost. She watched Cael make his nest and again sunk into the cashwrap to be near him. She reached out to brush away his tears, but let her hand fall with a sigh. "You're welcome. Maybe I could read to you a while?"

Cael tried to wipe his own tears away, embarrassed that Mels had seen them. "Would you? Please?" His voice was small and he sounded scared...how could she not want to read to him!?

Mels smiled softly and nodded. She whooshed through the shop until she found something they had been reading before and came back. She'd settle next to him and start reading with whatever light was available for as long as Cael needed or as long as he was awake.

Cael would be awake for a little while, and then the medicine would eventually force him to sleep sometime around dawn. His face was a tear streaked mess, but he seemed to be sleeping peacefully.

Mels didn't sleep but she felt tired by the time Cael drifted off. She book marked their page and put the book down, content to just float around for a while and chill out. She was somewhere near the ceiling, facing up when she heard keys in the door and spun around to look. Braeden was finally home! She felt a little relief that Cael would have the one thing he'd been wanting and drifted up into the ceiling while Brae stumbled into the shop. She was watching still, waiting for the twins to see each other and everything was alright and then she could poof... Brae was shuffling to the stairs though... Right past the cashwrap and up the first flight, relying heavily on the banister to keep going.

Brae paused on the landing and Mels thought he might go back down yet he kept climbing! She felt that irritation rising again the longer she watched him. All the years she had to be mad at him, all the time she spent thinking he might get back in touch, all the time she'd spent in this shop watching him be a horrible brother... She zoomed to the top of the steps before she could think about what she was doing. She was just so done with Brae and the way he treated people!! She appeared before him, more an angry flash of light than in her normal ethereal person form and yelled at him. Brae froze in place, trying to focus on her, but it was hard the way she was shimmering and screaming. It all happened so fast; Mels lashed out and shoved him in her anger and Brae overbalanced. He tumbled back down the stairs, rolling head over heels to the landing where the momentum flung him down the first flight and he rolled and bounced until he slammed right into the cashwrap, his back hitting first and then his head.

After Brae thudded against the counter, Mels snapped to. She saw what she had done and completely panicked. her anxiety caused her form to shred away and there wouldn't be a trace of her around when either of the boys looked.

Cael had been sleeping soundly, at least until Brae came tumbling down the stairs noisily. He jerked awake, still half blind because he'd never put his glasses on. "Brae?" He patted around, looking for the lump that was his twin.

Brae was reeling. He was doubled over his lap and groaning, holding the back of his head. The side of his face hurt rather a lot as did most all of him from taking a flying leap down the stairs. "I'm here, Cael. Fuck." He gingerly touched his eye socket which was liking sprouting a nice bruise. He hadn't yet opened his eyes or moved too much, afraid something was going to be terribly wrong.

"What happened? Did you slip?" He continued to pat around until he found Brae and he latched onto what ever bit of his brother he could hold, "Are you okay?"

Brae dropped his hand from his face and let out a long breath, trying to relax from the tensed position he'd taken. "Yeah, I think so." Now was not the time to get into 'I'm seeing shit' conversation again and when Cael touched he winced. "Careful, I feel bruised..." Halfway through saying so he had turned to look at his twin and blinked a few times. One eye was a little slower than the other and they both seemed to be having an issue dilating correctly. "Cael...."

Cael let go of Brae and hugged himself, "I..." He looked around, "Do you see my glasses? They're around here somewhere..." He started feeling for lumps that he thought might be them. If he found them before Brae did he'd jam them on his face so that he could see something besides blurry shapes.

Brae sat there a moment longer, not moving and blinking. "N-no... Why are your glasses down here?" It seemed odd since his brother abhorred wearing them. Especially around other people, so why were they in the store? "Did you find them?" He was looking around without focusing on much of anything and looking concerned, which Cael would see once he got his glasses.

"I was...I was sleeping down here..." He couldn't say Mels brought them, because Brae didn't know about her. He blinked a couple of times and focused on Brae, "What's wrong?" He felt his stomach drop and he reached out for something to hold onto, and came up with his blanket--which he clutched pathetically to his chest like a child.

Brae started to make a face but relaxed because it hurt. "Why were you sleeping down here?" As for what was wrong, he looked around vaguely in the direction Cael was sitting in. "Don't freak out." Which was always the best way to calm someone down, especially someone with anxiety issues. "I can't... really see..."