Nightmare Protection Pouch

Commission from Etsy

Summary: Bren suffers from PTSD, it is disturbing her sleep. Her husband, Silver, has a unique way of helping her through it.

Trigger Warning: Mentions of PTSD

Silver's baby blue eyes slid open. He pushes himself up onto one elbow, one of his four hands rubbing the sleep from his eyes while two others ruffle through his fluffy white mane. His white and silver wings flex as he slowly pushes himself up. He watches his human wife as she once again pulls away from him. Her black hair was in complete disarray from having her fingers run through it too many times. Silver knew better than to reach for Bren. All he could do was watch as she pushed herself from bed and made her way to the door.

Bren had returned home from a mission a few weeks prior and the nightmares had become a nightly occurrence. At first, he had tried to comfort the human he loved with soft caresses and gentle words to calm her. It had not gone well for him. Bruises and tears were all that had happened. So all he could do was watch as she paced their room for an hour or so before she would return to their bed for a few hours of restless sleep.

Bren never wanted to talk about what had happened or what plagued her nightmares. So all Silver could do was wait for her to return to bed and wrap her safely in all his limbs. Let her know that he was there for her. He would always be there for her. He was a simple Mothman he was limited in what he could do.

Watching her exhaustion though was taking its toll on him. Even now, he could feel the tension in her body as they lay sprawled across the couch together. He rested with his head on the arm of the couch, not even pretending to watch the show she had chosen on Netflix they had chosen to watch. His unblinking gaze stared at her. Bren rested in his arms, softly stroking his fur. For her own part, Bren pretended not to know he was watching her. As it was her eyes were barely staying open.

Bren had not managed more than a few hours of sleep for the past few weeks. She wanted nothing more than to sleep. But she knew what awaited her if she did succumb to sleep, nothing good, nothing she wanted to experience again. She could only focus on the feeling of her husband's chest softly rising and falling beneath her head and his arms wrapped around her.

"Do you trust me?" Silver's voice was unexpected over the soft sounds of comfort tv.

Bren tipped her head to meet Silver's gaze, her own eyes wide with surprise. "Of course. More than anyone."

Silver nodded his head. Bren tipped her head when he did not offer anything else. All he did was lightly stroke her back. She felt his claws as they lightly traced her spine. Pushing herself up lightly Bren pressed a gentle kiss to her husband's cheek. She did not want to risk him feeling less than. She hoped that was not where the strange question came from. She loved her husband and never wanted him to doubt that. She loved him unconditionally.

"I make you feel safe?"

"Yes. Of course. You'd never hurt me." Bren stated confidently.

"Give me your hand." Silver held his hand out and waited patiently for his wife to give him her hand. She did with no hesitation. He brought her hand to his chest and slowly slid her hand down toward his stomach. He slowly began rubbing her hand side to side instead of up and down.

"I think... I think I have something that may help you." Silver's breath shook slightly. His own heartbeat quickened as they stared at each other.

"What's that?" Bren whispered when her fingers caught on the edge of something. She was not quite sure what she was feeling beneath her fingers. Some kind of edge she was not quite sure of as his fingers softly encouraged her to push further into his fur.

"My pouch."

"Your what?"

"Pouch."

"Like... a pocket?" Bren tipped her head while Silver nodded softly. "I didn't know."

"It's sensitive." Silver said by way of explanation.

Bren stopped her careful exploration of her fingers worried she was hurting him. She raised an eyebrow questioningly.

"I thought," Silver gulped and looked up at the ceiling. "I'm worried you haven't been sleeping."

"I know. I'm sorry..."

"Don't be sorry." Silver stroked Bren's back and cupped her cheek. "I understand. I just thought... maybe if you were contained more you'd feel better."

"Maybe," Bren said hesitantly. "But what does that have to do with your pouch?"

Silver lightly guided her fingers to curl around the edges of his pouch. "It can stretch. I can hold you closer, in my pouch. You would be safe. As close to me as you can get."

Bren stared at her husband hesitantly. She looked away then looked up at him through her eyelashes. "Will it hurt you?"

"I promise it won't hurt me." Silver assured Bren, pulling her closer to gently kiss her. "I just want you to rest."

Bren chewed on her lower lip for a moment, trying to decide whether or not the idea was something she could do or not. Something she should do. After the next episode came on she gave a small nod of her head, lifting her gaze to Silver's comforting gaze.

It took some shifting around but Silver managed to gently guide his wife into his pouch. His breath caught slightly as she settled inside his pouch. He wrapped his arms around her, holding her close.

"Is this okay?" Bren asked looking up from where she was curled tightly inside the pouch, pressure applying from all sides.

"Yes, Love." Silver brushed his lips against the top of her head as her eyes began to droop. "Rest, please."

Bren gave a small huff butt snuggled herself closer to her husband and let sleep engulf her. For the first time in over a month, she slept peacefully as her husband held her as close as inhumanly possible. His own rest undisturbed by his mate's pleasant dreams.