now is the hour, the time when lost souls wander restlessly in the night

[thepull_mods]

Who: Siren's Port
When: The night of Sunday, October 16th into the morning of Monday, October 17th.
Where: In the mind, in the dreams, in the unconscious of the sleepers.
Summary: --
Warnings: These dreams may be considered not safe for work, with violence, gore, death, underlying sexual themes and other mentions of graphic nature. Having them is

Comments

action; closed to Demyx

[got_it_memorizd]

[Axel never screams. The dreams have been strange these past few days, but this time it's personal. He's had his share of nightmares before, this one is no exception, but no matter what they dredge up or where they hurl him, he has never once awoken with a scream on his lips. Tonight he jerks awake with a gasp, his fingers tangled in the sheet on his bed, and he snaps a hand up to slap the eyemask away from his face, like he needs to see the ceiling to make sure it's still there and it's not that starless black-grape sky.

[He lays there a moment, telling himself the pounding in his throat and head can't be his heart--he hasn't got one, right?--and then he swallows hard and blows out a sigh, sitting up and encircling one knee with his arm.

[He hasn't had that dream in a while. Maybe it was past due. Well, going back to sleep isn't going to happen now, so he just swings his legs over the edge of the bed and gets to his feet, padding to the door and stepping out into the hall. Maybe an ice cream bar will take his mind off the whole thing. Yeah, that's never a bad idea.

[Axel tugs the freezer open and grabs an ice cream, unwrapping it and tossing the plastic onto the counter before heading to the couch. He sits in the corner with his legs folded up indian style, his free hand pressed over his ankles. He supposes it was too much to hope that death would provide a reprieve from the nightmares he'd lived in life.]

Re: action; closed to Demyx

[ninthserenade]

[It's not even ten minutes after Axel situates himself on the couch that Demyx shuffles out of his own room with his blanket bunched up around his shoulders. This is the third night in a row where he's been waking up in the middle of the night from all of the bizarre nightmares and it was starting to take its toll on the Nobody.

He doesn't even notice Axel on the couch as he moves into the kitchen to grab a glass from the cabinets--almost reaching to turn the faucets on. The only thing keeping him from twisting the handle is the memory of seeing the rusty water from the few times he ran the faucets during the Darkness hours in the past.

He didn't need the faucet, though. He simply waves his hand over the rim of the glass to fill it himself and leans up against the counter. One of the dreams was bothering him--it was scary, yes. But it was also... Almost familiar in a way. Something about the area felt so nostalgic, although he was sure it looked different. If Demyx were fully coherent, he could've sworn on his sitar that the castle looked like the ruined one in that world.

It was just a dream. It was just a dream

It was just a dream.

Never mind the gaping hole he had seen in his own chest before he woke up.]

[got_it_memorizd]

[He doesn't tense at the sound of the door or the shuffling anymore. The first few nights he'd spent in Demyx's apartment had kept him on-edge--he wasn't really used to sharing a roof--but he had grown accustomed to the familiar weight of Demyx's presence in the next room over, the squeak of his door, the way he shuffled down the hall when he was only half-awake. Axel notices small things like that, little dots to help connect the lines as he memorizes the people worth remembering. Lifting his head, he watches Demyx in the kitchen a moment, eyes narrow. Then he clears his throat softly.]

Are you awake or do I need to start monitoring your sleepwalking habits?

[ninthserenade]

[He flinches with a sharp gasp, nearly dropping the glass of water. It's only Axel, he has to tell himself. There are no monsters inside, only outside. It doesn't stop him from pulling the blanket around himself a little tighter, though.]

M'not sleepwalking.

[His voice is groggy, but his eyes are alert. Demyx knew Axel was usually still asleep at this hour, so why was he...?]

I just... had a bad dream. A couple of 'em.

[got_it_memorizd]

[Axel's interest piques at that. Demyx had a couple of bad dreams? How interesting.]

Is that so~? [He nods his head to the couch, a silent invitation to join him if he wants--he could grab an ice cream too, if he wants.] Seems that's kind of the theme of the week.

[ninthserenade]

[He takes up the offered spot on the couch, staring down at his knees. He'd probably snatch himself a bar later when he's not so absorbed in his thoughts.]

They're getting worse, Axel. I haven't been able to sleep right in three days and I dunno if I can fall asleep again now. [Pausing, Demyx leans over to set the glass on the floor.] I was stabbed in one of 'em and the other one--I-I don't know, man.

[got_it_memorizd]

[Axel hasn't been able to sleep right in ten years, but this isn't a contest. He takes a bite of his ice cream and nods slowly. Stabbed? He had one like that too. But... that's not an uncommon sort of nightmare, is it?]

Mm, they're definitely... not quite like any dreams I've ever had before. [A pause and he purses his lips.] Well, most of 'em, anyway. I mean... I know dreams are just kind of random concoctions of stuff that's in your head, subconscious or otherwise, but... [He frowns at his ice cream.] Well, I dunno where most of this stuff's coming from. I'm pretty sure I've never seen anybody's head in a drawer, and... I don't even wanna think about the other stuff I saw.

[ninthserenade]

And I don't remember pounding my fists against a door 'til they were bloody and having the ground splitting into pieces.

[But he remembers the yellow eyes. He remembers how dark the world was when it first 'fell'.]

M'actually kinda scared, Axel. I haven't had dreams like that in ages.

[got_it_memorizd]

[Axel goes to take another bite of his ice cream as Demyx speaks again, and then he does something he has possibly never done: he inhales so sharply he half-chokes on his treat and jerks forward, coughing. What had Demyx just said? What had Demyx just said?

[Recovering his poise with a bit of effort, Axel wipes a stray smear of melted ice cream from the corner of his mouth and gives Demyx a rare startled look.]

Wh-what'd you just say? [It had to be a trick of the silence. Right? He doesn't even realize he stammered. Axel never stammers. But... Demyx can't have seen what he thinks he just heard him say he saw.] N-not the scared part, the part before that.

[ninthserenade]

[When Axel starts coughing, Demyx flashes him a concerned look and offers him the glass of water.]

Don't go choking on me, man. I don't wanna give you CPR.

[Then he notices the look on his face. Why was Axel staring at him like that? This was beyond weird.] Uhm... Pounding my fists against a door until they were bloody and the ground splitting open? ...Axel, are you feeling okay?

[He had never heard Axel stammer like that. Usually that's his job.]

[got_it_memorizd]

[He waves off the water, clearing his throat and giving Demyx a brief look of incredulity.]

Demyx, no offense--I say this as a friend--but if it comes down to letting me die or kissing me? I humbly ask you to let me die.

[And then it's back to seriousness. His eyes lock on Demyx's as the younger Nobody speaks, and then he slowly shakes his head.]

Feeling okay...? [A half-forced sound somewhere between a scoff and a laugh escapes his throat and his expression twists with disbelief.] So I guess now you're going to tell me that after the ground split open you found a big hole in your chest.

[And he waits for Demyx to tell him that's not right. ... He has a feeling that isn't going to be the answer he gets, though.]

[ninthserenade]

That's gonna be null and void if you almost drown on somethin'. No smooch of life involved with that, at least.

[A hand finds its way under the blankets to splay across his chest--just where that hole was in the dream. For some reason, he can't help the strained grin.]

With blood all over my clothes 'n seeping out of the hole. I think I was paralyzed after that cuz I couldn't do anything. [His eyebrows scrunch up and for a split second, he looks like he's in pain.] I think I was trying to find someone.

[got_it_memorizd]

[There's a long pause, Axel just sort of staring at Demyx like he's waiting for him to yell 'psych!' Or maybe he's still dreaming and he'll wake up to find that he never left his room or had a conversation with Demyx at all. The silence stretches out for ten seconds... fifteen... twenty... and then Axel lifts a hand and pinches his own cheek, giving it a sharp tug.]

Ow! [Okay so he's not still dreaming.] Demyx, you're not pulling my leg, are you? [Of course he isn't--how could he be? He wouldn't be able to tell Axel about the dream if he hadn't seen it, after all--he had never even been to Radiant Garden, not before it had fallen, anyway! So how...?

[He glances down at his own hands for a moment. He can still almost feel those splinters beneath his skin, those scratches along his arms. Lifting his eyes to Demyx again, he shakes his head.]

Demyx that's impossible. How the hell could you and I have been having the same nightmare?

1/2

[ninthserenade]

[Both his eyes and his tone of voice darkens, the hand not holding the glass of water twisting the fabric of his blanket until his knuckles turn white from the vice-grip.] I wouldn't joke about something like that.

[Not about something that terrified him like that.]

[ninthserenade]

[Then he takes a deep breath, running a hand through his hair as he counts back from ten.

Nine.]

...Sorry.

[Eight.]

A-And I don't know, Axel. I don't know. Normally I'd say something along the lines of us being twins or something like that, but this isn't--I-It's just not...

[Fiv--wait, no, seven.]

I don't know. I don't know, Axel. I'm tired, I'm scared, and I just don't freakin' know.

[It's almost too surreal to even consider. If he and Axel really did have the same nightmare, what about others in the port? Did they have the same ones too? This has been going on for three days--how come he hasn't seen anything on the network about it?

Four.]

Light, Ax', I don't know. This... I know the damn place and I've never really been there. I saw my own blood on the doors, it felt like I was getting splinters and everything hurt! [Demyx has to stop himself to breathe, running his hand through his hair again. He almost felt sick to his stomach.]

[got_it_memorizd]

[Axel is not a tactile person, but Demyx's frantic frazzled fidgeting is making him a little nervous, so he reaches over and closes his free hand around Demyx's wrist and just tugs his hand away from his head.]

Demyx, stop--come on, stop. I didn't think you'd joke about it, exactly. [He releases his wrist and sits back again, polishing off his ice cream bar and tossing the stick down on the coffee table before meeting Demyx's eyes again. There's something strange in Axel's gaze--it's not the usual sly glint or even that occasional haunted shadow. He looks uncomfortable, unsettled, and he rubs one hand absently, distractedly. He can still feel those splinters, that warm blood running down his arms. Shaking his head, he lowers his eyes, staring at his hands then.]

I don't know either. I don't know how you could have seen that. I... [He takes a deep breath and exhales audibly. Well, the damage is done: the dream has been seen, after all. If Demyx saw it, did anyone else? Did everyone else?

[... Did Saïx?

[His voice is quiet, but steady as he glances up again, looking Demyx in the eye.]

I've been having that dream for ten years and never told a soul about it.