[With the dogs appeased, he can now focus on her. Try as she might, he knows better—how knows how terrified she had been, he could feel it in the dream. So with his arm around her, he rests his head against hers as he holds out his still afflicted arm. It...seems to be recovering, the ice no longer there, but there are those scales again...]
[He can only look at her with some helplessness before he leans in and kisses her gently on the lips.]
I meant what I said. You've already been helping me...you help ground me, remind me that my past is the past and that I have something new and beautiful here. So long as I have you, no matter what happens to me I'll always have a reason to fight back through it.
And a reminder that I don't have to deal with any of this alone. Even... [A small sigh.] Even if I wish you didn't have to, either.
[He gently strokes her arm, but as he thinks back...]
[The kiss is surprising, and she can hear a couple of the dogs whine, though not out of grumpiness but out of worry. She leans into it anyway, happy to accept and give back what she can before she's pulling back so that she can gaze up into his eyes. It helps to hear him say that, and while it soothes some worries, it only brings about others. That these things that she is doing are not enough if he has to keep suffering like this.
She keeps those thoughts to herself for now and instead brings her hand away from his arm and to his face, her thumb trailing along his cheek.]
[He wishes he knew, but he can only shake his head.]
I don't know, but we've already seen the number of different nightmare related creatures in this world. It could be any number of them and for any number of reasons.
If anything...it reminded me a little of that figure Alastor and I encountered in the Ice Queen's dream...
No...but it that was because it was targeting the Queen. I don't know if they're related or not, but we've had other creatures that try to instill nightmares into us.
Before waking... I heard voices. But I thought it was just remnants of the nightmare.
[But then he frowns.]
It's also possible if there was something else, it was disguising itself. I believe that's what happened with the Ice Queen, believing she was hearing and seeing people she knew but it wasn't.
[There's a violent spike of heat in the room at that—one that she doesn't intend, and she tries to keep her expression even, but even the dogs whine. She has other things to say, but this one makes her stomach twist around itself.]
You don't think what happened to her is happening to you, do you?
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[With the dogs appeased, he can now focus on her. Try as she might, he knows better—how knows how terrified she had been, he could feel it in the dream. So with his arm around her, he rests his head against hers as he holds out his still afflicted arm. It...seems to be recovering, the ice no longer there, but there are those scales again...]
This was the first time since.
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I wish... I wish there was more I could do to help...
[Her voice cracks a little at that, a held back sob of worry bubbling up in her chest that she swallows down.]
I hate seeing you like this.
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You've already done more than you should have needed... Without you who knows how long I would have stayed trapped in that nightmare...or worse.
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[She chews on her lip, her brows furrowing together.]
I want to stop it from happening at all. I thought they treated the nostilium, so why's it coming back?
[And so badly, too?]
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I don't think it can go away completely. Nostilium is just another form of dreamotion... There will always be some there.
It could just be a late side effect.
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[She doesn't mean for her voice to rise slightly, but she's so tired of having to watch him suffer through this over and over.]
This happened last time, too... in that dream...
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I could try and get myself checked again, just in case something was missed.
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Why does it always have to be him? Why is it that every time something bad happens, it's always him? Why them? Why anyone, for that matter?]
I... I hate seeing you like this. I don't want you to have to go back, Eustace. Is there nothing we can do? That I can do?
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I meant what I said. You've already been helping me...you help ground me, remind me that my past is the past and that I have something new and beautiful here. So long as I have you, no matter what happens to me I'll always have a reason to fight back through it.
And a reminder that I don't have to deal with any of this alone. Even... [A small sigh.] Even if I wish you didn't have to, either.
[He gently strokes her arm, but as he thinks back...]
...It does seem strange, though.
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She keeps those thoughts to herself for now and instead brings her hand away from his arm and to his face, her thumb trailing along his cheek.]
How do you think?
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[He looks at her with more seriousness than before.]
It seemed...different from past nightmares. As if there was something else in that dream.
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Yeah, I did.
[A cold shiver runs through her, and he presses further up against him, seeking a warmth that could fend it off.]
Those eyes... It's like they were watching us.
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[He frowns, thinking back to all the various incidents that have happened in dreams in the past...]
...I wonder if that wasn't something from my nightmare...but something else entirely.
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You mean like something else that dreamwalked into it, too?
[That would explain some things, but it raises questions about some others.]
It felt like it was trying to keep you there. Or take you away from me... so if it was from the outside, then why? Where?
[She asks as if he might have answers to any of this...]
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I don't know, but we've already seen the number of different nightmare related creatures in this world. It could be any number of them and for any number of reasons.
If anything...it reminded me a little of that figure Alastor and I encountered in the Ice Queen's dream...
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But when he brings up that dream, she lifts her gaze to his again.]
You think?
[While she doesn't know what either of them are, it's not such a far off assumption?]
Except that one wasn't as aggressive in trying to pull you in as this one, was it?
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[She presses her lips together, her eyes searching his face, more of her unsaid thoughts swirling in them.]
There was something... weirdly familiar about it, though. I couldn't put my finger on it, but... it felt like I'd seen it before.
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[Come to think of it...]
Before waking... I heard voices. But I thought it was just remnants of the nightmare.
[But then he frowns.]
It's also possible if there was something else, it was disguising itself. I believe that's what happened with the Ice Queen, believing she was hearing and seeing people she knew but it wasn't.
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You don't think what happened to her is happening to you, do you?
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I don't know. But I can't rule out anything at this point.
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[She moves back just far enough from where she'd been resting her head so that she can look at him, her stare intense as she looks him over again.]
If you ever start feeling... strange or anything...
[Her hand slides down to his arm, running over the scales.]
You'll tell me, right?
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[His answer is immediate as he meets her gaze with his own.]
If there's one thing I've learned...
[His hand meets hers, squeezing it.]
...I need you.
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[She gives his hand a squeeze in return.]
And I don't wanna almost lose you to all that again... One time was more than enough.
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[He brings his arms around her to pull her into a much needed hug—both for her and for himself.]
That's why, I'll always tell you. So that doesn't happen again.
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❤️💙 fin.