I Will Follow You Into The Dark (Shalt/Shu x Valt)

Sleepwalking

It was no later than 3 am when Valt heard someone knocking at the door again. Stumbling out of his sheets, he fought the urge to lay back down and just let Shu figure it out. This was the fourth time he'd stay at his house in the dead of night, and as his eyes searched for a light switch through his eyelids, he remember deciding this was the last time he'd be so willing to help him.

"At least you can make me waste one more second of my goddamn break after this." 

He muttered beneath his breath. He want to go just one night without thinking about weird nightmare and his creepy self. Failing to find the switch, he gave up on lighting his way and made for the door at a crawl; the blue haze of our living room TV coated his path, pouring in around the end of the stairway.

In nights prior they'd taken more care to be quiet; after the same routine four nights in a row, he threw open the lock, tossed the glass door aside, and cut straight to the chase.

"Where's Shu?" It seemed like Valt wanted to respond, but he noticed Nika's expression and turned silently, walking with her to the backyard.

"He's getting better, I think," Valt noted carefully as they went up the front steps. "He's started laying down sooner. It shouldn't take too long this time, I swear."

"You need to sleep too, Valt," Nika commented. "This better be quick." 

Sitting upright on the backyard in his sleeping clothes, his white hair covered his red eyes as usual, was Shu. He was sleepwalking again; at the very least, Valt managed to keep him propped up in a chair long enough to come get him. "Remind me why you can't take care of him yourself?"

"I mean, I don't need to see something, I just–" Once again her deadpan eye cut him off, and he continued. "Look, it's really weirding me out, okay? I told you, he's never done this before. I don't want to be alone with him like this."

"He really just started that earlier this week?"

"Yeah! It's freaking me out."

"Just take him to a doctor or something."

"Mom doesn't want to go through the hassle of an appointment just for a sleepwalking spell."

The albino male was still upright, seemingly unconscious, and the bluenette male's pink haired sister was waiting anxiously for his decision. "I'll just bring him inside."

Without another word he helped the sleeping handsome prince to his feet and corralled him towards his room. The walk felt less like a friendship gap and more like a favour line these days.

Within a minute or two he'd already gotten the Spryzen blader through his bedroom door; with practice, he was practically expert sleepwalker shepherd. As if the ominous, closed-eye shamble wasn't unsettling enough, the static wash of the local news channel added an eerie glow to his shape. Valt sat him down on a bed with the weather forecast as provided ambience.

"Are you sure we should wake him up?" Toko asked. His eyes were still locked in a concerned gaze. "I don't know if that's healthy. I read something about that online, I think. Something about waking them up being bad."

"Web isn't going to help," Valt pointed out. "it's just going to give you random symptoms to worry about. We might as well try something other than sitting and watching Shu all night. Besides he's in my house, and I try my own solution."

"Okay, we're gonna to try and get Shu up." Nika said.

"I don't think talking to him will work though. See if you can find something of use." Toko said.