"That's good. I was hoping having you stay over would help you be a little less stressed…" Irene leans into her beanbag more almost falling asleep, then jerking awake. She yawns and stretches a little to keep her awake. "Do you play board or card games? I have a lot downstairs that we can bring in here."
"Uh, we don't have any at my house, but I'm not opposed to it. I'll help you find one." Lloyd stood up and helped Irene to her feet, following her downstairs. "Is this a Spanish game?" He picked up Uno, confused. He'd legitimately never played Uno in his life. I probably sound stupid now…
"No, it isn't. Have you never played Uno?" Irene looked over to Lloyd with a smile, almost holding in a laugh, not wanting to make him feel bad. "I'll just grab a whole bunch and we can play any or all of them. She standed on her toes to get some more games. "Can you hold a few?" She handed him some before he had the chance to respond. "Okay, let's go." They went back up to the studio room. Irene set down the games she was holding. She turned the beanbags to face each other, then sat down in one.
Lloyd set down his games as well, scanning them with a confused expression. "I'm sure these are quite popular games, but I've never heard of any of them…" He picked up Sorry in one hand and Clue in the other. "Strange… Is there any game you like in particular? I'm afraid my input may not be helpful as I lack knowledge on any of these games."
"Hmm, we could start with Battleship? It is a classic and I bet you would like it." Irene looked for it in the pile of board and card games. "We could also play Uno… it's a good one." She scanned the pile again looking for any others that sound fun.
"What's Battleship? How do you play?" Lloyd picked up the box and turned it around in his hands, looking for some instructions. He found them on the back and quickly read them. "It doesn't seem to be too difficult to learn…"
Irene smiles. "Okay let's play Battleship then!" Irene took the box and gave Lloyd one of the parts and kept the other. "So did the instructions make sense? I haven't played this in a while, so my skills are a little rusty."
"I… I think I understand." Lloyd put down his ships and looked at the box again for instructions. (Tfw you forget how to play battleship). "Um… Bravo eight?" (He's using grid terms bless his heart)
Irene smiles and tries not to laugh again but fails this time. "Lloyd, you know, you can just say the letter. - Also, miss… hmm… (Ik that feeling lol, I have forgotten a bit too). G-4"
"Um…" Lloyd looked down at his board. "Miss. Alph- uh, I mean… A-9?" It was going to be a bit hard to not say the actual terms, but he was trying.
"Ahh hit! C-7…" Irene crosses her fingers behind her back, hoping that she got a hit this time. She was happy that they were finally spending time like this together, she can't remember the last time she did that with anyone.
"Hit, I think… Alpha eight? Gah! I-I mean just A, not alpha…" Lloyd fumbled with his little red pins, putting one where his ship had been hit.
Irene's eyes widen. "Hit and sunk!… If you're more comfortable with using grid terms you can use them… Hmm B-7!" Irene heard sirens from outside. She quickly stood up and ran to the window. She opened a window more so she could stick her head out and sniff. She let out a big breath that she had been holding. "Sorry… I'm just a little paranoid when it comes to sirens. I have a fear of fire and I was making sure nothing was on fire, I didn't smell any smoke, so we are good." She walked back to her beanbag and sat down. Her hands were shaking, she tried to calm herself.
Lloyd nodded. "You okay? We don't have to continue if you're stressed out or anything… you know I know how that feels." He set down his little red pegs, watching Irene's face to make sure she was okay.
"No no, I'm ok, that just gave me a good scare…" Irene smiles a little at Lloyd and takes a few deep breaths. "Ok, I think I said B… B-7."
"Miss. Hotel six?" Lloyd continued playing the game, but kept a close eye on Irene to make sure she didn't start having a panic or anxiety attack. He could help if she did, but he honestly hoped that she'd be able to just relax.
"Ooo miss… C-6." Irene was still shaking a little, but not too much for where it was easily noticeable. She was trying not to freak out or worry about it too much so that Lloyd wouldn't have to worry about her, he already had enough on his hands. The studio door squeaked a little as Irene's father opened it. Irene jumped a bit more than she should have. "Rea, Lloyd, work called me in for a special meeting. I'll be back in a few hours." Irene looked over to her father. "Ok, father, see you later." He left closing the door making it squeak again, Irene jumped again.
"Are you sure you're okay? I know the symptoms of anxiety better than anyone, Irene. You're jumpy and trembling." Lloyd paused the game for a moment to watch Rea. "And don't try to tell me you're fine. You know as well as I do that's a lie."
Irene sighed in defeat. She looked down at her still-trembling hands then up at Lloyd. "I guess there is no denying it, especially around you… fire is terrifying… it can take everything away from anyone in seconds. A small campfire can become a raging forest fire in just minutes. Every single time I hear a siren or smell something a little off, I go to the closest window or outside to survey the area… and every time that happens I am like this for 30 minutes at least…" She looked down at her hands as they twiddled.
Lloyd nodded. "I understand that… for me it isn't always one thing, though. It's a lot of smaller things building up." He closed their boards so he wouldn't see Irene's stuff in the event that they continued playing before moving over beside Irene, hugging her gently. "Just try to think of something that makes you happy… if you want to talk about it out loud, you can do that. If it escalates, I can help a little more with that too, but remember I'm not a professional."
Irene welcomed Lloyd's hug and she hugged him back. "For me, sitting with someone else in silence as we hold each other usually calms me down. If it's really bad for some reason I usually go to my father." Irene tried to relax a bit and leaned her head down. "I'm glad you are here. Since my father left, I would probably be in a lot worse shape. Thank you." Irene stopped talking and sits with Lloyd in silence, breathing. The silence was more of a comfortable silence than an awkward silence.
"Mhmm…" Lloyd held Irene quietly as she gradually calmed down. He closed his eyes from the exhaustion of the day, as attacks like the one he'd had earlier always drained his energy a lot. Eventually, despite his best efforts, he drifted off to sleep with Irene still held gently in his arms.
Irene noticed that Lloyd fell asleep, she was very close to falling asleep as well. What a long day… I'm so glad he's feeling better, this was exactly what he needed. Irene slowly started having trouble keeping her eyes open, she soon fell asleep as well.
Lloyd woke up in the middle of the night as he was prone to doing. He noticed that Irene was still asleep, and his hands itched to tear into his skin, so he took off his jacket and tied it tightly around his wrists. I have to try to keep myself from doing anything… He was breathing heavily and stared down at his bare skin, trembling. Eventually, he ended up biting into his forearm subconsciously. He realized what he had done and spit out blood, trying to shift his jacket so he couldn't see his skin and get tempted. "Nngh…" I don't want to bother her… He looked over at Irene nervously.
Irene was kind of a light sleeper, she slowly woke up, keeping her eyes closed."Hmm… how did y-" She opened her eyes and they immediately widened. She got up and saw the spit out blood and the jacket. "Lloyd!! Come with me to the bathroom!" She helped Lloyd up and they went to the bathroom. She got a few band-aids and helped his bite."Are you okay? I was afraid something like this would happen, but I didn't really try to prevent it…" Irene hugged Lloyd and she lied her head on his shoulder, both to comfort him maybe and she was still pretty tired.