Declan's nightmares are real; he can't shape them, just watch them play out, helpless to turn back the momentum. He runs his thumb along the lip of the mug and nods, if only to let Ronan know he hasn't completely retreated into his head about this. How could he not be worried? How could he not consider all the worst things he's seen during a life with Niall and Ronan?

But Ronan had always been his own, not beholden to other people. He never got caught up the way Niall did in a world that would (and had, in their father's case) eat him alive. Not that dreams were any safer, but--

"It's probably much too late to tell you to be careful." He knows that. He knows Ronan. Everything Declan has tried to protect him from has manifested, not just back in their world but here, too.