{003}. † :: golden sails across the skies ::

[iwascomplete]

Buffy sat up abruptly, gasping. Panting, as she often did. But she didn't scream. Not this time. She woke up quietly, despite the heavy breathing. She thought about waking Daniel, just to tell him that she thought something was wrong... But she didn't want to bother him. She'd woken up screaming enough times, disrupted his sleep too much already.

Comments

[location: lobby]

[thecheerleader]

Claire hadn't been having a lot of luck when it came to getting rest. Every time she managed to nod off, she had nightmares so vivid that she was woken up by the sound of her own scream. Being awake was easily giving her more peace than trying to sleep, so she had decided to look for things to do to calm herself down

{location: lobby}

[iwascomplete]

Buffy was so relaxed and so zoned out in this half-meditative state that she almost, almost, didn't hear a word that came out of Claire's mouth. Her eyes opened slowly, and she looked up at the girl. She mouthed a voiceless "Huh?" at first, until what the other blonde had said finally filtered past her fuzzy-spaced-out filters and seeped into her mind.

"Jealous of what?" Her nose wrinkled a little. Jealous of the fact that... she was out here in her pajamas and a hoodie? Jealous of almost sleeping on a lobby couch? She had no idea; but whatever this girl was jealous of, Buffy really wanted to know. She didn't really see what there could possibly be.

{location: lobby}

[thecheerleader]

"Sorry," Claire said quickly, feeling a twinge of guilt after she had pulled the woman out of whatever good thoughts she had going and back into the real world. Well, real for El Dorado, which she still wasn't convinced was as legitimate as the world she called home. "I didn't mean to both you, you just seem really...relaxed." Which was a weird thing to be mentioning to someone if they didn't know that you'd been spending the past few days wondering if the Sandman was a real person with a grudge against you.

"I can't sleep. - Won't sleep, really. I keep having nightmares and waking myself up." She shrugged, hoping that her explanation was enough to make Buffy understand why she'd be jealous of her lounging around. It wasn't like she wandered the halls looking for people who were happier than she was. "It's getting annoying."

{location: lobby}

[iwascomplete]

"Oh," she smiled a little, "You're not bothering me. Promise. I totally spaced out for a minute there." Buffy scooted to one side, leaving room for the girl to sit if she wanted to. Really, she didn't have anything against company. It was nice to meet a fellow night-owl. But the more she spoke, the less glad she felt. The excitement over a potential friend drained quickly and was replaced by pity. She knew, better than most, what nightmares were like.

"Weird," she said, "Maybe we had a brain-swap. This is the first night since I've gotten here that I haven't had some kind of nightmare." And with the Gods working the way they did? She wouldn't be surprised. She just hoped that Claire's nightmares weren't exactly like her own. Her nose wrinkled, and she heaved a sigh. "Have a seat. I'll be up awhile."

She paused, thinking for a moment. Whether or not it was appropriate to ask. Eventually she decided that, appropriate or not, this question didn't need to just sit there festering. "What sorta nightmares?"