[Fully lucid or not, there is one thing that strikes Aubrey as off:
[“I find myself drawn to you.” “I’m enjoying it here most of all.”
[Is he kissing her ass?]
Yeah… I guess it’s nice. Despite how it started. [“Nice.” Melancholy, too, for her. But it doesn’t show in the world; only in how she says the word, “nice,” a sorry consolation. She really doesn’t have the mind to linger. Strangely, it’s not a wholly unfamiliar feeling. Was that split really only two months ago?
[Time doesn’t matter here, maybe. There’s only forward.]
[Not far off the shore is a red-checked blanket, though the basket is missing. Flowers are strewn across like a family picnic. Only two people are left.
[Aubrey seats herself, and motions for Akechi to join her. For the moment, the rest of the landscape is still.]
I’m tired of fighting. [She picks idly at a few stems, playing with the idea of weaving them. Doesn’t commit just yet.] You must be— I mean, we’re both from normal worlds, right? Even as a detective, you probably didn’t have to fight.
[The run-in with Danger implies as much. But that doesn’t sound right, either. He kept them safe....]
[Slicing down that manic dog is a part of the pleasantries of this place. He isn't upset to put a feral creature in its place.
The blanket is new - a feature that blinks into existence in a manner so picturesque, he thinks it's something from a book instead of her memories. He joins all the same - sitting politely by the edge as he watches her pick at the flowers.]
Suffice to say while you may be tired of it, please remember you still have to. Your dream is a reprieve, but reality requires it.
[But-
"you probably didn't have to fight" is true. He didn't have to.
He chose to walk into Mementos with blade and gun, turn people's souls into muck and ash, press a gun to the head of his 'friend' and watch the drip, drip, drip of blood pepper the ground.
No, he didn't have to. Wasn't forced to. But he did, he does, and he will continue until Shido's head is laying at his feet.]
A rowdy perpetrator wasn't uncommon - however, I'm unaccustomed to this degree of battle. It's quite tiring at times.
[“Please remember you still have to.” She might take some offense to that, if she was awake, more agitated. The unreality of it all would, should irritate her; “quite tiring,” an understatement. Aubrey’s been sleep-deprived for a while.
[Maybe it’s only okay with her because it’s coming from her. Because Aubrey doesn’t have nightmares, not bad enough to recall. Because maybe everyone likes to escape in their dreams, whether they remember or not.
[Akechi envisions a head. A breeze, and leaves and paper drift by in an autumn chill. Wrong season for that; Aubrey’s frown tenses. She must have forgotten to close the window again, or the patch blew off from where the birds swarmed in; Sunny’s got an awful lot of papers crammed under his couch, and she’s tried not to look, but they go astray at times.
[Aubrey doesn’t have a second to look at the image; it’s only leftover intuition that told her it was Sunny’s drawing, but that’s not right at all. Akechi crushes it with prejudice. Subconscious upset. She trusts him.]
I don’t remember collapsing.
[Again—disruption prompting wakefulness, or at least awareness. Aubrey’s on her feet in an instant, and the overgrowth closes in. It never fully went away. It’s the wrong season; summer at home, cold here, and just like that first month, there’s no defense. What’s next, a swarm of snow angels—?
[Thoughts are dangerous. Forget the flowers. Aubrey grabs Akechi’s wrist and bolts, grabbing her weapon along the way—a stick, gnarled and pathetic. It’s nothing. It won’t save him.]
You’re the one with dream experience! [It’s his fault.] How do you wake up?
Edited (had to change one (1) word) 2024-05-06 01:11 (UTC)
[This is preferable to the Shido looking drawing that scattered by him - he can only hope the overgrowth consumes that shitty image.
They're running now - her grasping his wrist like he wouldn't keep up otherwise. A stick for protection. He doesn't need saving, she does, but the old adage of dying in real life if you die in a dream-
It's not true. He's dreamed enough to know it.
He isn't bothered by their current situation - a shitty sequel to the events of a few weeks ago. It must be a raw wound for her. Dragged, but he lacks the fear she's exuding. If they die, they die. If they live, they live. Waking up is the priority now.]
You're generously overestimating how much I know about this. I've been dragged into them - I can't recall how to leave, though if it's like a normal dream...
[Being jolted awake. A sudden fear. Maybe death is the answer now.]
[Akechi talks, and he’s not panicked; Aubrey slows, but she’s not calmed. He has a request. She shakes her head.]
No. No, I can’t let y—
[A raw wound. Death is the answer. She drops, and the arm falls to the—no, the stick, it was—an arm—a bone—a writhing, maggot-infested thing chunk of torn meat it—crawled in years ago it must have died there under piles of garbage and rotted away like an abandoned toy it’s a rabbit it’s a pet a dog an animal human dead gone gone—
[He can tell. Just from that little nondescript message, he can tell.
[“No.” Ughhhhh. See, no sane person would have a dream about someone and think, ‘hey, they must have stopped by for a head-space visit.’ Who does that?!
[Aubrey has been here too long.]
Sorry to bother you. You were in mine, so I thought it might’ve been this place being stupid again.
I got pricked by one of those thorns overnight, so that might be it.
[Is it even still night? Akechi’s been awake; probably not. She can’t tell back here.]
Perhaps there's some poison remaining in it that causes side effects of that nature. Please get yourself checked out at the clinic when you can, just to ensure no harm was done.
[She’s projecting, but in that pause Aubrey feels like an ant under a magnifying glass. It’s objectively ridiculous, even she can recognize that; just a text. Her own damn fault for letting her house stay this overgrown. Yeah, yeah, she’s awake now; pile of raw nerves schleps itself out of bed, swatting at dead tangles.
[Sunny seemed like he wanted to be alone for the night. Or was that last night? Fuck, she has work to do.]
I don’t really have time for that right now, but I guess if it lasts I’ll ask about it.
Please do. I would hate to see them turn into nightmares, when the fix could be a simple antidote.
[Gleaning what she remembers in full almost doesn't matter. Dreams don't last. She seemed confused even inside of it. It stands to reason that it will fade into nothing now that she's back in the world, if anything's there outside of a vague sense of Akechi's existence.]
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
[Fully lucid or not, there is one thing that strikes Aubrey as off:
[“I find myself drawn to you.” “I’m enjoying it here most of all.”
[Is he kissing her ass?]
Yeah… I guess it’s nice. Despite how it started. [“Nice.” Melancholy, too, for her. But it doesn’t show in the world; only in how she says the word, “nice,” a sorry consolation. She really doesn’t have the mind to linger. Strangely, it’s not a wholly unfamiliar feeling. Was that split really only two months ago?
[Time doesn’t matter here, maybe. There’s only forward.]
[Not far off the shore is a red-checked blanket, though the basket is missing. Flowers are strewn across like a family picnic. Only two people are left.
[Aubrey seats herself, and motions for Akechi to join her. For the moment, the rest of the landscape is still.]
I’m tired of fighting. [She picks idly at a few stems, playing with the idea of weaving them. Doesn’t commit just yet.] You must be— I mean, we’re both from normal worlds, right? Even as a detective, you probably didn’t have to fight.
[The run-in with Danger implies as much. But that doesn’t sound right, either. He kept them safe....]
cw: violent thoughts yeehaw
The blanket is new - a feature that blinks into existence in a manner so picturesque, he thinks it's something from a book instead of her memories. He joins all the same - sitting politely by the edge as he watches her pick at the flowers.]
Suffice to say while you may be tired of it, please remember you still have to. Your dream is a reprieve, but reality requires it.
[But-
"you probably didn't have to fight" is true. He didn't have to.
He chose to walk into Mementos with blade and gun, turn people's souls into muck and ash, press a gun to the head of his 'friend' and watch the drip, drip, drip of blood pepper the ground.
No, he didn't have to. Wasn't forced to. But he did, he does, and he will continue until Shido's head is laying at his feet.]
A rowdy perpetrator wasn't uncommon - however, I'm unaccustomed to this degree of battle. It's quite tiring at times.
:)
[“Please remember you still have to.” She might take some offense to that, if she was awake, more agitated. The unreality of it all would, should irritate her; “quite tiring,” an understatement. Aubrey’s been sleep-deprived for a while.
[Maybe it’s only okay with her because it’s coming from her. Because Aubrey doesn’t have nightmares, not bad enough to recall. Because maybe everyone likes to escape in their dreams, whether they remember or not.
[Akechi envisions a head. A breeze, and leaves and paper drift by in an autumn chill. Wrong season for that; Aubrey’s frown tenses. She must have forgotten to close the window again, or the patch blew off from where the birds swarmed in; Sunny’s got an awful lot of papers crammed under his couch, and she’s tried not to look, but they go astray at times.
[A sketch lands at Akechi’s feet.]
no subject
No hesitation, plastered smile glued in place, the sole of his shoe covering the bloody head of a man. The childish drawing is too simple, but he-
Shifts. Ignores it. Presses all his weight into the bloody neck, bleeding eyes, the image of Shido that's meant for him and him alone.
It might not be Shido. It's definitely Shido. He can't handle the fact that it's Shido.
A calm dream tainted by him, a part of him recognizing that it's his presence causing it.
Isn't that typical.]
We're waking up.
[Sudden and tense.]
My apologies, but I worry if you stay asleep too long, something might happen. You may have collapsed in a dangerous place.
[They're leaving.]
Please find a way to do so.
no subject
[Aubrey doesn’t have a second to look at the image; it’s only leftover intuition that told her it was Sunny’s drawing, but that’s not right at all. Akechi crushes it with prejudice. Subconscious upset. She trusts him.]
I don’t remember collapsing.
[Again—disruption prompting wakefulness, or at least awareness. Aubrey’s on her feet in an instant, and the overgrowth closes in. It never fully went away. It’s the wrong season; summer at home, cold here, and just like that first month, there’s no defense. What’s next, a swarm of snow angels—?
[Thoughts are dangerous. Forget the flowers. Aubrey grabs Akechi’s wrist and bolts, grabbing her weapon along the way—a stick, gnarled and pathetic. It’s nothing. It won’t save him.]
You’re the one with dream experience! [It’s his fault.] How do you wake up?
no subject
They're running now - her grasping his wrist like he wouldn't keep up otherwise. A stick for protection. He doesn't need saving, she does, but the old adage of dying in real life if you die in a dream-
It's not true. He's dreamed enough to know it.
He isn't bothered by their current situation - a shitty sequel to the events of a few weeks ago. It must be a raw wound for her. Dragged, but he lacks the fear she's exuding. If they die, they die. If they live, they live. Waking up is the priority now.]
You're generously overestimating how much I know about this. I've been dragged into them - I can't recall how to leave, though if it's like a normal dream...
[Being jolted awake. A sudden fear. Maybe death is the answer now.]
Please release my arm.
1/2
[Akechi talks, and he’s not panicked; Aubrey slows, but she’s not calmed. He has a request. She shakes her head.]
No. No, I can’t let y—
[A raw wound. Death is the answer. She drops, and the arm falls to the—no, the stick, it was—an arm—a bone—a writhing, maggot-infested thing chunk of torn meat it—crawled in years ago it must have died there under piles of garbage and rotted away like an abandoned toy it’s a rabbit it’s a pet a dog an animal human dead gone gone—
2/2
[Aubrey wakes up to a wilting tendril wrapped around her arm. Its thorns have long shriveled, but they prick like soft teeth anyway. Figures....
[A few mintues later, a text for Akechi:]
Hey. Did you have a weird dream?
no subject
A disgusting arm consumed by rot being gripped by a girl who did everything to protect the origin of it, only to pay for it in nightmares.
That's what she gets for playing the hero. For having friends. For saving someone pathetic and worthless.]
No, I've been awake for some time.
[The wriggling maggots are phantoms across his own flesh.]
Sometimes stress can play a part in weird dreams. Please do your best to take care of yourself.
no subject
[He can tell. Just from that little nondescript message, he can tell.
[“No.” Ughhhhh. See, no sane person would have a dream about someone and think, ‘hey, they must have stopped by for a head-space visit.’ Who does that?!
[Aubrey has been here too long.]
Sorry to bother you. You were in mine, so I thought it might’ve been this place being stupid again.
I got pricked by one of those thorns overnight, so that might be it.
[Is it even still night? Akechi’s been awake; probably not. She can’t tell back here.]
no subject
[A few seconds - almost a minute, and-]
Perhaps there's some poison remaining in it that causes side effects of that nature. Please get yourself checked out at the clinic when you can, just to ensure no harm was done.
no subject
[She’s projecting, but in that pause Aubrey feels like an ant under a magnifying glass. It’s objectively ridiculous, even she can recognize that; just a text. Her own damn fault for letting her house stay this overgrown. Yeah, yeah, she’s awake now; pile of raw nerves schleps itself out of bed, swatting at dead tangles.
[Sunny seemed like he wanted to be alone for the night. Or was that last night? Fuck, she has work to do.]
I don’t really have time for that right now, but I guess if it lasts I’ll ask about it.
[Does she have training today…]
Thanks. Watch out for those vines yourself.
no subject
[Gleaning what she remembers in full almost doesn't matter. Dreams don't last. She seemed confused even inside of it. It stands to reason that it will fade into nothing now that she's back in the world, if anything's there outside of a vague sense of Akechi's existence.]
I will, thank you. Oh, before I forget-
Watch out for sticks too.
no subject
[The funny thing is, her dreams reallly usually do fade as soon as she gets up.
[This one hasn’t.]
Ha ha. See you around, Pleasant Boy.
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Same to you, Aubrey.