It's a long, sad lonely time [O, OOC PROMPT]

[wormwood.]

☆ HUNG PICTURES OF PATRON SAINTS UP ON MY WALL TO REMIND ME THAT I AM A FOOL. TELL ME WHERE I CAME FROM, WHAT I WILL ALWAYS BE: JUST A SPOILED LITTLE KID WHO WENT TO CATHOLIC SCHOOL —

Aurum had become well acquainted with nightmares in the past. Far more acquainted than he ever wanted to be, really. It had all started when he had begun to figure out his own angelic nature, heading to bed every night and being plagued by horrific visions of the past over and over again – a past that had been lost to him for painfully long. It had started out small, with little flashes of him in the white room, struggling against bindings and sobbing until his tears became the salty sea that eventually ended up drowning him. However, it had only grown larger and worse from there, with the nightmares escalating to contain vision after vision of horrible events happening to innocent people, agony being poured into a twisted body in an effort to keep the throne angel ready for his position as the archangel of sorrow. Every night that had passed in that period had been hellish, with Aurum struggling against his own exhaustion because he didn't want to face the world within his dreams. The one that felt far too familiar and real for comfort, yet also so distant and confusing and suffocating. It had been quite a literal godsend when he had finally remembered his angelic position, and had finally been freed from the crushing grips of nightmare after nightmare. He would never truly be able to wash the atrocities he had been forced to witness from his mind, but at least he wouldn't have to replay them ever time he went to slumber.

Needless to say, the angel knew what it was like to spend many a night awake and outside, just staring at the sky in a pointless effort to get your breath to calm – to get your mind to perhaps, just give you a break. While the angelic nightmares had long since passed, he had begun to have nightmares about giving birth lately, terrified that something would end up happening to him or the children that would only add to the suffering he knew so well. Ultimately, he knew them to just be anxious images conjured up by his mind for no reason other than to unsettle him. However, this didn't stop them from succeeding, his skin crawling whenever he thought of the possibility of things not going well. Usually when this happened, he would carefully slip from his large bed within his room, pushing open the door and walking down the steps carefully, being especially cautious and slow so that he didn't disturb Kaito or Roy in the process of leaving the house. He didn't want to pull either of the boys into his issues, knowing he wouldn't be able to fully communicate why it was that he continued to let the frantic possibilities plague him. Roy would probably understand better than most, but the tigon also knew that Kaito would make an effort to help, even with his own issues of putting up walls.

The night air was cool when the proxy stepped outside of his home, pulling the front door closed behind him and trudging along through town, a sigh leaving him. He wasn't sure where he was going, but he just desperately needed the breeze to calm his mind, and perhaps he could find a distraction somewhere while he was out. Worst case scenario, he could always go to the tavern, considering there were people there well into the night, even if it was usually just the drunkards. However, that didn't seem to be needed tonight, since Aurum's attention was caught by the sound of Alaric's soft voice, coming from in front of Caustic's house. The tigon hesitated for a moment, unsure if he really wanted to deal with the scientist at this time of night, before he finally just threw caution to the wind, turning and padding up beside Alaric. Seeing the tired and antsy look that lingered in the canine's eyes when Aurum looked him over, the male hesitated before saying softly to Caustic, "Are you alright? You look as if you've seen a ghost... or an experiment done incorrectly." He threw the faint bit of humor into the conversation in an effort to soothe Caustic, seeing that the other also wasn't doing well.

[div style="text-align: right; text-transform: uppercase; text-shadow: 0px 0px 2px #722227; font-size: 24px;"][color=#c16f78]— AURUM

#psychosocial.