hypnagothic | [The City] IC Contact

[ That draws her over, shuffling to the door to pull it open with a peek up toward his face. The sight of him tightens her throat again.

Opening the door the rest of the way, she suddenly steps forward to wrap her arms around his middle, face hidden against his shoulder. As some sort of comfort or gratitude, she doesn't know.

She doesn't force it to linger for long, but she does struggle to let go once it feels she should. She wouldn't mind wearing his clothes until she can recall where other dresses are. ]

[ she doesn't have to pull away if she doesn't want to, Dream welcoming her in an easy embrace as she leans into him. one arm wraps around her back while the other gently cradles the back of her head as she hides her face. ]

[ It's only another minute, when her breathing has actually steadied from her recent cry, before Vanessa pulls away with a grateful gkance. Just back in the washroom long enough to gather up the sweatshirt and squint at the pile of what used to be a dress. She doesn't even want the earrings anymore.

With one hand reaching to keep her towel from slipping, she looks quizzical with her whisper. ]

Is there somewhere to dispose of them?

[ The bathroom trash probably wouldn't work well, and she doesn't want to leave them a mess. ]

You need not concern yourself with it.

[ he'll handle it while she dresses in his room, taking her hand again to lead her there. ]

[ It does feel much better now that she's clean. Once she has rebandaged herself and dressed–

What is she to dress in? A robe of his again? She could ask, but she stays silent until they return to his room, holding tightly to his hand. ]

[ they reenter his bedroom, and she'll see some clothes folded on the edge of the bed. a simple black t-shirt and a pair of those sleep pants he wore in her apartment before. ]

[ At first her glance about is a slow and dulled curiosity, and the folded clothes draw out some of a smile, but spotting the stuffed raven nearly brings a hiccup of emotion that she tries to restrain with a tremble before going over to pick it up for a hug. He had said that he kept it, but it's another thing to see it.

He seems to decorate about as much as she does. ]

I am overwhelmed with the joy of seeing you again. [ —to Morpheus, of course, as she turns to face him again. ] There were moments which felt like years and I did not think I would look upon you or anyone else again.

[ he had been about to step back out, ready to provide her privacy for dressing or for another surge of emotion as he watches her hug the stuffed object. but her words draw him fully back into the room, stepping by her side, his hand gently cupping her cheek. ]

As to that ... are you aware of how long you were hidden from us?

Edited 2023-12-29 19:19 (UTC)

[ At the question, she kneads anxiously at the stuffed animal. It felt like so much longer. ]

Just over two days.

[ It took her a bit longer than it should have to reorient herself enough to even find Heine's, or it would have been slightly sooner. ]

I could not even find you in my dreams. I was not permitted to sleep.

Nor could I find you. It was as if you had vanished from this place as completely as you arrived.

[ It isn't surprising, but it's disturbing to think of how powerless she is, how powerless he is in this place.

Slowly, she turns to set the raven back down, her fingertips petting away any wrinkles that her grip forced. ]

This won't pass. Hope isn't hidden in our story. They can do anything to us, whenever they wish. We can only protest because they allow us even that much.

Allow. Permitted.

[ he frowns at her wording. ]

Will you share with me what was done?

[ She wasn't very good at explaining to Heine, and she had gone to him knowing he understood what it meant. What it was like.

Frowning, she stops moving, her hand resting against the raven's side. ]

I thought...I had left that worry behind. Yet there it was— scratching. In the walls, I thought, but no, no...it was me, it's me, they took me away and brought me back and held me down, and then it was scratching to get out.

Because we always get what we deserve.

Edited 2023-12-30 05:13 (UTC)

[ he steps closer to her, standing just behind. he doesn't touch her yet, not when she goes so still. ]

You believe it was ... punishment?

[ The word summons a light cringe, with her immediately covering her ears and looking down and away from the raven as if it has become something else entirely. As though she only just remembers she's allowed to, her eyes squeeze shut with a delay of a few seconds and she huffs. ]

No. But yes.

[ It was more than that, and she's trying her best to remember the other part, to picture something other than the punishment. Where everyone is at peace, laughing and helping one another, and then she can hear the ocean in place of their laughter. Nothing can scratch the water. ]

It was better when they smiled. For...my betterment.

[ he still remains near, but he's more hesitant in touching her now. ]

They? Your captors?

What?

[ That gets her to turn in confusion, dropping her hand when the noise doesn't come. ]

They— No, they were us. [ She shakes her head and clutches at the towel, realizing how she sounds. ] But not us. All over the wall. The moving pictures.

[ Her steps are sluggish when she wanders over to where he left the clothes for her, picking up the shirt with a nuzzle and sigh. ]

I knew, I told her. I told you. It will just keep repeating, and occasionally everything will be so very perfect, and they—we will be perfect, and we will be together where I can smell the ocean. But then, it will sometimes be horrible. All of us will be.

[ ah. he is familiar with that of repeating nightmares, the variations in them only serving to hammer some point home in the dreamer's mind. he had inflicted some on to those deserving of them himself in the past for one reason or another.

he steps in close to her again, this time reaching out to lightly touch her arm. ]

That has ended. You are here, now.

[ She shakes her head again, but stays silent until she's positive that nothing will scratch through. She is speaking of more than just the experience, but her words and her mind are not lining up whenever she gets upset. They trip over one another. The huff is one of frustration at herself. ]

It will happen again. Everything will happen again. We will never be safe.

[ The ouroboros. It makes her nauseous, and her eyes shut to steady herself before attempting to pull the shirt over her head without rubbing it against her wrists. ]

Edited (missing very important words bc what is sleep) 2024-01-01 06:21 (UTC)

[ his had slides up her arm, lightly, making it's way up so that he can cup her face. he doesn't insist that she look at him with the gesture, but his thumb brushes delicately over her cheek, only gently requesting her attention, trying to pull her from the spiral she's about to take again. ]

Vanessa Ives.

[ Blinking her eyes slowly back open to look up, her rambling ceases, but her wide-eyed stare is still terrified even with his gaze on her. There's too much still blocking her vision.

It takes everything for her voice not to crack. ]

I know what I sound like.

[ there's no change in the way he touches her, full of nothing but tenderness. ]

It is to be expected, given what I believe you experienced.

[ 'Experienced'. The word doesn't sound right. It's too clean.

Still blinking, this time with more lethargy and melancholy than panic, she leans slightly into the touch. ]

It wasn't the same, but... It felt like before.

[ he pulls her closer as she leans in, his hand sliding back and into her hair. ]

Before?

[ Sighing, she closes her eyes again, this time with more lethargy. ]

In the white room... When they made me eat...

[ It is a horrible memory, even so fractured, but she's eased with him here, as if she could pretend he was also there in those memories to comfort her. ]

When they took my hair. Before the drill.

[ The scar is small, but it's there. ]

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