BACKDATED & COMPLETE: his arms are all around me and his tongue in my eyes

[extantlaw]

Characters: Justice (extantlaw) and Fenrir (asmodial)
Date/Time: Backdated to November 28, 3.25am
Location: Calais Suite, Paris Las Vegas Hotel/The Dreaming World
Rating: PG13 for themes
Summary: Justice is frequently plagued by nightmares, particularly when living in unfamiliar places. Tonight is no exception - save for the fact that he unwittingly pulls in a second

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[asmodial]

There was a stumble where there should have been a graceful step. His consciousness was first, and manifestation followed in the form of a man. His face was nondescript for the moment, his hair, his clothes all secondary details to be filled in.

The cause for the oddness, of course, was simply explained by the child groping at the walls of the elevator, looking for purchase. Of course. A pause and he regarded him as an observer for a moment before his feet hit the shaking floor. Something deep inside of him searched him out, as if by scent. An innocent and yet...

He paused. A dream. The suit was black as he stood in the corner of the elevator. There was no fear as, of course, it was simply a dream, and he was still as the shaking continued.

[extantlaw]

The heavy clanking of metal against metal as the elevator collided with the shaft that contained it. In his mind's eye he could see the steel ropes that held it up stretching and twisting before they finally snapped, sending them plunging down into the basement.

Tears burned his eyes but he swallowed them down. Father was here. Father would make sure he was safe, just like he always did. He had to be brave, for Father.

Pressing himself into the corner of the elevator, hands reaching up to grip the guardrail tightly, he stared blindly around. The emergency light blinked and he tried to make something out, to hear anything over the hellish din. When he spoke, he could barely hear his own voice.

Father? Where are you? I- I can't see you.

There.

A flash of something white, EMERGENCY reflected briefly on polished glass, the faint scent of roses and coffee and he almost sobbed with relief.

Father!And in his room, Justice echoes the word. It's barely above a whisper - hands fisting in the comforter, and a single tear escaping from

[asmodial]

The voice was like a whispering through him, and he pushed the glasses up his face as it took form. This boy was...conflicted. He could feel the body as a part of him, and at the same time, he would only holding on by threads. The associations where there to hold onto- smells and faint impressions of things that should have been much stronger. This boy...he could almost feel the ants crawling across his skin as the plunging elevator roared, the metal on metal sounds a keening that coursed through him.

He steadied himself for a moment, looking at the new form with passing interest. Father, was it? Interesting. A smile crept across his lips. There was something of simply being here, something exhilarating about the boy's terror.

You will protect me. That's why you're the wolf.It pulled at him, as the entries by the children had. There was something there, something awful of the stripped innocence. He went to one knee, the smell of pink roses and a girl's smile echoing through him for a moment

[extantlaw]

He didn't respond immediately, confused and torn, the noises of the elevator and his own terror pulling his attention away from the half-glimpsed figure. Instead, he stared up at the ceiling, breathing too fast, his weight almost entirely supported by the safety-rails that he had hooked his elbows over and now gripped tightly with his hands.

Above him was polished steel, reflecting the darkness, the dim red light, and his own terrified face. And for a moment he could see someone else, someone foreign, someone that was not his father...

But when his gaze dropped to check it was gone, and he caught the glimmer of spectacles once more; the scent of roses - stronger now, and then his voice, deep and warm.

Father.

He almost cried with the effort of loosening his hold on the rails; stumbling as his knees gave way once he did. He half crawled across the elevator floor, only succeeding in getting to his feet when he was close enough to the figure to use it for support.

I knew you'd come, Father.And he threw his left arm around the man's

[asmodial]

Hands on him. The contact was like a rush of adrenaline, and he took a breath.

"Father?"

There was a look to the boy clinging to him before one arm folded across the child, holding him. His other hand rested over the boy's head. There was an uncharacteristic smirk on his lips, a certain arch of his brow that his father never would have used.

"Yes, I'm here."

If he had a heart, it would have been racing from the contact. All the same, it was a heady thrill that coursed through him. Still, the wolf in him smiled, circling the child in his mind. Something was off, but...the words came to him like a reflex against the boy's fear.

"You're safe now."