very soon, the light will vanish. it will take with it all the hope and joy we've ever known.

[thepull_mods]

Who: Siren's Port
When: The night of Tuesday, October 18th into the morning of Wednesday, October 19th.
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

Comments

reaction//action; HoA early morning, around town during the day

[tiny_schemer]

--LEAVE ME! [Czeslaw screams himself awake, twisted in sheets and tumbling, falling off the bed in his struggle to get away. His eyes are filled with cold tears, and immediately the thinks: Someone might've seen.

Czeslaw had experienced Firo's dream, after all, and brief parts of others. Czes bites his lip and untangles himself from the blankets, shuffling into the kitchen of the condo to make himself tea.

He decides he'll leave the house today, needs the air, once the morning sirens go off. He'll go to the library, he decides.

He wants books on flying. He wants books that promise dreams of a better future.]

[tiny_schemer]

I figure it's only fair, since you were so clear with your terms ahead of time.

Is that all you wanted? To taunt me because you saw my dreams?

[vinovidivici]

You still think of this as just taunting? That's unfortunate. You oughta know better. [ He pointedly scratches a finger over his cheek - the spot Czeslaw had licked in the dream. And grins. ] The drinks are on me.

[tiny_schemer]

[Czeslaw's stomach does a backflip then ties itself in an icy knot. He saw that too. Of course he did. Of all the strangeness of the dream, the gore and violence and memories and deep images of isolation, that single moment of being that close to the Rail Tracer - of acting out such a disgustingly intimate movement - was one of the most disturbing, second only to the moment Erik abandoned him.]

How kind. Don't think that means I owe you anything.

[vinovidivici]

[ He fancies he sees a flicker of that revulsion behind the calm façade, but his only reaction is to widen his grin. ]

Sure. We're even.

[ And as much as Czeslaw may disagree, this is his world, and he won't be moved from that judgement. ]

[tiny_schemer]

Never.

[Even if he thought repentance would win him favor, which he doesn't, Czeslaw would never ask for forgiveness or mercy from the Rail Tracer. Everything that he'd lived prepared him for a relentlessly cruel world and Claire only fulfilled that world-view.

He does regret what he was back then. After all, the immortals he felt so threatened by were some of the sweetest, most harmless people he ever met. But based on the information he had on the time, he could not have known, could not have trusted.

It is in the past. And Czeslaw has no intention to dirty his hands in this place... unless it is the blood of an enemy like the Rail Tracer.

Or someone comes between him and Erik.

Or someone gets in his way.

Or someone threatens him in some other way.

Alright, maybe the Rail Tracer has a point. And maybe the reason Czeslaw so badly wants to do something like taking control is because he knows that

[vinovidivici]

[ A snort of laughter at that, and a short flick of his hand that's only just a wave rather than a dismissal. ] Just remember that blood isn't something you can just - [ Very nearly, and very obviously about to say "lick". ] - clean off.

[ Overstep the line that Claire draws and you're dead. That's how it normally works. It's not so simple with Czeslaw; he's a wrench in the system and he needs to learn to fit into it since he can't be cut out of it, but teaching is too great a task when threats to him end up feeling like cornering a caged animal, and since Claire wouldn't stoop to appeal to his better nature even if he knew how, even if he was sure it existed. At least he's content to assume that his own watchfulness and the world's tendency to fall into place around him will alert him to when the immortal finally lashes out. ] I'll see you around. In one dream or another.

[tiny_schemer]

[Czeslaw doesn't allow himself to pause. He just turns and walks away. It'll be many blocks before he ducks into a bathroom in a store to wipe the sweat from the palms of his hands.

It's not fair.
It's not fair.
Why me?
Of all the rotten people in the world, why is he after only me?!]

Action

[surgicalshot]

[It wasn't that Tenma had a lot of time to read books, lately, what with being so busy with patients. But just because you were a doctor, and just because you were in the business that you wanted to do, did not mean that you shouldn't keep up with your studies. In the time that he'd been in the Port, he'd taken to studying medical books, seeing as there were some new advances in the field of medicine between his timeline and the year now.

So with a little time in his day, he'd gone to the library, checking out the medical section. And as he came out of one of the isles, he balanced the books in his arm, giving a small smile as he saw a friend of his at one of the tables.]

Benjamin?

[tiny_schemer]

[Benjamin is reading a thick book and taking notes in a small moleskine. Or rather, he's doodling angry scribbles in it and looking rather intense. He jumps a little when Tenma says his name.]

Oh, Kenzo! Hello.

[surgicalshot]

I haven't seen you in awhile. How are you? [He shifts the books in his grip, still smiling.]

[tiny_schemer]

Oh, alright. Everyone's pretty on edge this week, so I'm just trying to tread lightly. [It doesn't come off as quite genuine, he can't quite sound casual about the whole this.]

There's a free seat over here...

[surgicalshot]

You mean the dreams everyone keeps having, right? [he takes a seat, putting the books on the table.]

I don't know anyone who is sleeping well right now because of those.

[tiny_schemer]

['Benjamin' scoots his things a little closer to himself to give Tenma room. He does seem a little weary, though there aren't any of the telltale bags under his eyes. Truthfully, he does not require sleep: it's just a habit, a way to give him brain a rest. And now that sanctuary is gone.]

It's gotten pretty bad. [It's impossible not to wonder if Tenma saw his dream or recognized him, but he doesn't want to bring it up should it not be the case.]

Everyone has such scary, bad dreams. Lots of people won't sleep at all, but that's no good either.

[surgicalshot]

You need to sleep. You can't function without sleep. [He shakes his head, looking at his books for a moment before looking at Czeslaw with a smile.]

But people's dreams... everyone has nightmares. But no one should have to share them.

[tiny_schemer]

No. That's kind of private stuff, y'know? The monsters under the bed, or in the closet.

[A pause. In the end, Czeslaw cannot resist the temptation to ask:]

Did you see any of them last night? I saw some pretty bad ones....