[Andy's basement apartment] Slumber Party

[andy_is_a_lie]

Andy actually cleans up her little basement apartment a bit for Han's visit. Shoes are tossed unceremoniously into a pile in the closet, clothes are thrown in the hamper, and vacuuming is done. She has a few bags of chips set out on her wobbling little coffee table and she folded her blanket and hung it over the back of her couch. She's also placed

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[1stborn2ndbest]

Han pulls up outside around the decided time, but it takes him a while to work up the nerve to get out of the car. Eventually, he gets out, grabbing the bag with his pajamas...well...the bottoms that he got at the Goodwill and a T-shirt. That's the closest thing he could get. He also grabs a pink box of cookies off the passenger seat before closing the car door with his foot and making his way to the door. Sliding the bag handle up his arm to free up his hand, he knocks softly, gnawing his bottom lip.

[andy_is_a_lie]

It's good that she resisted the call of a comfy blanket or she'd be asleep now. Andy perks up at the sound of knocking, but takes a minute of unnecessary adjusting and hair pulling before she can will herself up the stairs. You'd never know it from the smiling, cheerful way she answers the door.
"Yay! You actually came. I was afraid you might come to your senses and realize I have very silly ideas. It happens sometimes." She grins and ushers him in. "Enter freely, and of your own will."

[1stborn2ndbest]

He grins a bit weakly and nods. "Sure I actually came. I don't say I'm gonna do somethin then not do it. Uhm...sorry I'm kinda late." The grin gets a bit wider as he comes in and sees she's actually in pajamas. "Nice PJs. I...uhm...I got some too. So there's no naked to worry about. An' I brought cookies." He holds up the pink box and nods again.

[andy_is_a_lie]

"Hooray for cookies!" She smiles wide and makes her way carefully down the stairs, once the door is locked. "Those can go on the table. I'm glad you managed to get some pajamas. I tried to figure out some to loan you, but there's nothing around here that would work out size wise." Andy looks at the bag in Hannibal's hand and then thinks. "You can change over by my bed..." She points past the couch to a set of two oriental folding screens or, rather, what sits on the other side of them. "or, if you want, the bathroom's just up stairs and to the right." She points up the wooden stairs in the center of the basement that lead up into the house. "Don't worry. I sent my mom away for the night. I convinced her it was finally time to go visit her friends that live in DC."

[1stborn2ndbest]

It's dark, nearly black. Nothing at all can be seen. The stinging smell of chemicals and bile fills the air. There's no way out. The door won't open, it might as well be a wall for all the good it does. And the smell can't be escaped. In the distance, muffled by that horrible door, is the muffled sounds of a child crying. It's a desperate, wrenching sound, miserable and lost. But there's nothing to be done.

[andy_is_a_lie]

At first it all seems vague. Every dream Andy's ever been aware of the 'start' of, has started in blackness and silence. Like an empty, unlit stage waiting for colored gels to illuminate the space and actors and sets to give it meaning. All that changes now though is smell, emotion, and the awful, miserable sound of crying. This is nothing like any dream she's ever had, or any nightmare.
She's aware of Han and what he feels, what he knows, in that vague inexplicable way one is aware of things in dreams. It's a matter of sympathy, affection and, perhaps, a need to be useful that trades them places. It's self sacrifice made by the subconscious. Some small part of her unconscious mind knows what she can do and uses that knowledge to save Han this experience. At least this time. Still, it's dark and awful and she can't help but cry. She's never been this afraid; never had anything like this to fear.

[1stborn2ndbest]

Outside the door there is a dull thud and the crying stops instantly. The fear and misery are greater now. It's coming. He's coming. There is a faint rattle, the sound of locks being undone...and the door opens. There stands a man, impossibly tall in that strange way only found in dreams. He glares down at her, his face twisted with rage and hatred. One of his hands clenches into a fist. "What're you crying for, you waste?"

[andy_is_a_lie]

There's a quick skip of a heartbeat as the cries are silenced. A second to dwell in dark fear: did he kill him? But a far more selfish terror takes over fast. With the imposing figure standing over her, all she's certain of immediately is that there are no right answers. Speaking is nearly impossible anyway. "...n nothing..." It's very important she stop crying and she works hard at doing so, drying what remains on her cheeks with the back of her arm. "...sorry..."