"No, don't send me back," Dan gasps, only picking up on bits here and there, the shine reeling with dreaming and darkness and the warmth and light he's found in this very room even just for now, temporary.

Even if this is a temporary reprieve from darkness and loneliness, Dan will take it. Marcus feels solid and real, maybe the only solid and real thing Dan knows for certain exists in this moment. He doesn't want to have to let go.

But no one has ever really held him like this, and never for as long as he needs, so Dan carefully pulls away when he thinks it's been too long. He's sure he looks like shit, and like a crazy emotional wreck when he makes himself meet Marcus's eyes. "Jesus," he sighs. "I'm sorry." His voice rasps. "I should have expected-- the nightmares can get really bad. Really real. I'm not even-- I think I'm awake now. I used to have, uh, false awakenings."