hypnagothic | [The City] IC Contact

Morpheus. Please abandon any suspicion, as this is Vanessa writing to you now. My telephone has gone missing, and a dear friend has allowed me to momentarily borrow his. Are you otherwise occupied at the moment?

[ this is probably the fastest reply that Dream has accomplished with this device. ]

Where are you?

I am with Heine Rammsteiner. He allowed me to rest at his apartment.

[ pause here, while heine teaches vanessa how to drop a map pin... ]

May I see you?

I shall try to arrive momentarily.

[ it's always a crap shoot whether his abilities will work correctly when transporting ... ]

[ Vanessa has done her best to brush her hair and clean herself up, but her dress is smeared with dried blood and will have to be dubbed a loss. Her eyes are still red-rimmed and somewhat bloodshot, but at least her coloring isn't as off as it was earlier. It could be worse.

So as not to disturb Badou's recovery any more than she already has, she'll wait outside the door alongside Heine. ]

[ ~~and the coin toss was good so~~ Morpheus arrives shortly after they step outside, stepping out of a shadow to appear next to them. ]

Vanessa?

[ the living room, where badou is asleep, is visible from the doorway where they're standing, but heine is careful not to step too far outside—nor to let vanessa step too far outside, not until he lays eyes on someone else he can trust with her. heine had assumed that vanessa wouldn't want to try wearing his clothes, but he's given her a sweatshirt, at least, something to both keep her warm and to at least partly keep her from walking (or... whatever) through the city wearing a blood-soaked dress.

he's looking down the hallway for someone approaching, so the the sudden appearance of a man from the shadows is—well, alarming, and maybe not exactly the right call considering how tightly trauma-wound heine is right now. faster than any human could possibly move, heine has himself in between vanessa and the newcomer, his knife in his hand and gaze flashing briefly red—but it also only takes another second for him to recognize that vanessa recognizes this guy, and that this must therefore be the morpheus she'd been texting from his phone, earlier.

so away the knife goes. as is so often the case between them heine doesn't press for more information: not where she was, nor what happened to her, nor exactly who this man is that's coming to retrieve her. as he steps back into the doorway, though, he does angle himself so that vanessa can see his hand coming as he reaches out to touch her shoulder briefly. ]

Text me when you get home.

[ Perhaps she should have warned Heine about that, but she isn't anywhere close to her right mind at the moment. When Morpheus appears, it even seems to startle her with a flinch and a blink. Heine reacts so swiftly that for a moment she wonders if there will be a repeat from a few nights prior, but lucky for all, he stops just as quickly.

Catching his movement, she'll look back at him just as he touches her shoulder. His request draws a soft smile. Heine's caution is touching but undeserved when she still feels partially responsible for Badou's state. ]

I will. Thank you.

[ It's meant sincerely after how much Heine has already helped her, and her smile lingers on him before turning away. She doesn't reach for Morpheus, but she does step closer. Her exhaustion isn't as fierce as it was earlier, but she still isn't as graceful as she might normally be. ]

[ Morpheus stops when Heine moves protectively in front of her and brandishes a weapon, but it's not like he can stop being creepy so oops? after a quick glance at Heine's knife and eyes though, he only looks at Vanessa, taking in her state as he waits patiently for both of them to settle after his sudden appearance.

he too steps in closer when she does, but he also does not reach for her as she does not reach for him. he does hold out his hand though, palm turned up in an almost Victorian politeness. ]

Are you well, my lady?

[ The careful movements from Heine and Dream are enough to keep Vanessa grounded for the moment. She's still hesitant before settling her hand over his, but the longer sleeves on Heine's sweatshirt do well enough to hide her wrists.

She isn't well. She still smiles a touch, however strained, just for the sake of seeing him again. ]

Will you take me home? I can't remember where my belongings are.

[ She hadn't even spent a night in her last choice of bed before chaos was unleashed that night. Her mind is still fitting certain thoughts back together like a worn out jigsaw, some memories are a little shaken as is so often the case with Vanessa, but she is grateful to even have them again, or any sentient thought. There had been no silence or space available to allow anything of her, after a certain number of hours. ]

[ he frowns lightly at that admission, his fingers holding hers a little more tightly. ]

Would you object to another safe location for this night?

[ Safe? Safety is such a jest that her smile trembles for just a second, half caught between a sob and a laugh, before shaking her head and stepping closer to lean into him and nuzzle into his shoulder. ]

I just want to be inside.

[ Even the hallway feels too exposed. She could fall asleep at any moment in this state, and they could snatch her the moment Morpheus turned his head. It's an illusion, a joke, but she needs to see the walls around her, with an uneasiness toward the outside that doesn't belong to a woman who likes to dance in the rain. ]

[ with the barrier of a more intimate touch broken by her stepping closer, Dream's arm now wraps around her waist, stepping in that little bit closer so that she can lean more easily. ]

Then hold courage for another moment, my love.

[ he has to let go of her hand for it, but he reaches into his pocket for his tool, feeling for the soft leather pouch there. it's a familiar item and he has no need of his other hand to tug the fastening open, fingers dipping into the grains to scoop a small handful out. when he brings out his hand, now cupping the sand, he turns his head to the side to watch how his hand tips the sand out, watching how it starts to swirl around them. ]

[ While she has seen him use his sand before, one could argue how much of it she actually 'saw', and this is something certainly more reminiscent of a dream she can't quite recall. Vanessa watches now and even in her fractured upset, there's a glimmer of wonder at the sight of magic this old.

Instinctively, she wraps her arms around his middle to cling, as though worried he may somehow disappear without her. ]

[ once all of the grains have left his palm, that arm also wraps around her, holding her close and secure. the sand seems to swell and swirl upward and all around them, engulfing them to bring them elsewhere ...

swirling sand rises up from the floor in an empty spot within Dream's chosen room, soon becoming a large pillar that swells—and then fades, the sand seeming to evaporate, leaving two figures standing where it was, arms wrapped around each other. Vanessa will not recognize the place that Dream has brought her, but it is, most importantly, inside as she had requested.

but she will recognize the stuff raven plushie sitting on one of the pieces of furniture. the room is pretty spartan and bare except for that. ]

Edited 2023-12-03 06:32 (UTC)

[ At a certain point she has to turn her face away and shut her eyes, and it isn't until she's certain that the sand has settled that she carefully opens her eyes back up to glance around.

Her gaze lingers on the stuffed raven before she looks back up at him, blinking a few more times to steady him in his vision. Things do still blur on occasion, but his face is clear enough to give her comfort. She can still see his eyes.

Vanessa has already seen a mirror and knows hers look a fright, but that gritty feeling that had been nagging since her return has mostly faded now that they don't feel as dry. ]

I wanted to find you on return, only I needed to know if my friends were alive.

[ And there are more yet that she needs to check on. She still doesn't know about Dorian, but that will come a bit later. Ethan knows she's here. As much as she wants to go to him, what she has here now is something that she wants too much to have put off seeing Morpheus for longer than she had to. ]

[ when she looks up, she'll find his gaze already on her, as it has been so many times now. his arms are still around her, embracing her close. ]

As far as I am aware, they are. Some may have been injured, of course, through their own actions or others. But they are alive, Vanessa, and were more concerned of your well-being than of their own.

[ She now wonders exactly what has happened here in her absence. Just how many people will she be expected to explain her absence to? The thought is tiring, but so everything is at the moment.

Swallowing dryly, she'll blink her gaze away to again peer toward the raven. So much blinking now for the woman who never blinks. ]

I am here now, there is no more need for concern.

[ This will be a phrase to be repeated several times over the next few days, and so she had best perfect it. And it isn't a lie. She is here now, and their concern will do nothing but cause them unnecessary stress. Nothing can be done, after all. Nobody here can do anything.

Still, she clings to him even more tightly, momentarily deluding herself into thinking that she can keep comfort close long enough to change something. ]

Yes. You are here, now.

[ one of his hands settles at the nape of her neck while his arms tighten around her again, the touch cool and hopefully grounding. ]

Perhaps, do you wish to wash?

[ Her sigh is one of content at his touch. ]

I washed up at Heine's, though I suppose it did little when I dressed once more in this. I must still look a fright.

[ She had enough trouble accepting this sweatshirt. As guilty as she felt with Badou still recovering, she couldn't borrow anything more from Heine. He'd already fed her and kept her 'safe' while she rested, and it was more than she deserved.

Once she can recall where her luggage is, she can change. She thinks perhaps it was near the bakery, wasn't it? But she doesn't want to think about that, it is a prick to the inside of her skull. ]

But I don't want to leave you.

I could accompany you within the washroom. Even assist, if you wished it.

[ She does wish it, but she can't stand him to see her as any more useless. Vanessa has managed this far, she can continue to do so.

She doesn't have anything to wear, though. Unless... She pulls back to glance down at the sweatshirt, gauging the length. Too short for public, of course. ]

I will be fine. I only need to be shown where it is.

[ But she is a bit unsure of leaving his room. What if someone is out there? She cannot see people, not now. ]

Then I will show you.

[ he tips his head forward briefly as she looks down, his words whispered into her hair like a blessing before a light kiss is pressed against her. only after does he pull back just slightly, only just enough so that he can direct them through the bedroom door to the bathroom. ]

[ Any time he initiates touch, she struggles not to lean and cling and stay.

Walking, he will find, is not her strongest ability at the moment. She can walk, of course, but the poise that carried it is gone, the silent creeping is replaced with uneven tapping, and there are moments now where she would wobble if not for his presence. ]

[ his arm remains around her then to help her balance. and thankfully, while Hob is technically home in the flat, he's currently asleep in his own room with the door mostly closed. so they are uninterrupted in their journey to the bathroom, and Dream makes a point to close the door behind them. he brings her over to sit at the edge of the tub too, sitting with her so that he can reach for the tap without having to pull away too much from her. ]

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just gna slide this in here and leave them to their devices

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