Carson Durand (dontlaugh) wrote in shadows_rpg, @ 2018-05-11 14:04:00 |
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Entry tags: | #october 2017, carson, carson x neil, neil |
Who: Neil and Carson
When: Monday, Oct 23, late night
Where: the street outside Castle View apartments
Status: Complete
The dream was the same, disorienting, foggy, frustrating. Carson saw them, the same people, people he should know but didn’t, but they were so far, and no matter how he tried, he couldn’t make a noise. Moving was like trying to walk through molasses, but he couldn’t stop trying, couldn’t stop thinking if he could only get closer-- and then the thing was after him, screaming and terrifying and Carson tried his best to run --
He woke up with a gasp and a full-body jerk. At least Carson thought he’d woken up, because he was still outside, though the street lights had beaten back the darkness some. The air was cool and he realized as his body swayed that he was standing up. Confused and feeling completely lost, Carson looked around himself. He was outside in just his boxers, but he’d somehow managed to put his prosthetic on in his sleep. Fuck, it was freezing, and for a long moment he couldn’t tell where the fuck he was. Turning in a slow circle, his sense of panic growing, Carson realized he was standing on asphalt, and he’d completely left the apartment parking lot ... and there was another dude standing out on the road. “Hey!” he called out of instinct, and his voice rang out clear and loud this time, thank fuck.
Standing out in the middle of the road in the cold dark night Neil had no idea what the hell he was doing there. He was sure he was still dreaming for a few seconds, like it was one of those awful naked in public dreams only he was wearing boxers and a t-shirt and he wasn't exactly in public, just outside. He was already feeling jittery and confused, curling his toes uncomfortably against the cold pavement when someone shouted, startling him even worse. He turned with a rabbit in the headlights look on his face and the last thing he expected to see was the guy he and Nic had been meaning to talk to. He got himself moving, stiffly at first as his body was cold and shell-shocked but he needed to get off the road. "Hello?" he said cautiously as he got closer to Carson, his teeth chattering and his shoulders tense.
As soon as the other guy turned toward him, Carson recognized him. He was from the dream, one of the people he could see but not talk to in all the shadows and mist. There was no mistaking it, even though he had fewer clothes on now than he did in Carson’s dreams. Carson started toward him as well, crossing his heavily inked arms over his chest as he started to shiver. All of this felt so bizarre and surreal, like it was another bad dream, only he couldn’t remember ever being so fucking cold in a dream. He had the wry thought that if this was going to become a recurring thing, he was going to start sleeping in more clothing. “Hey,” he greeted at a more reasonable volume. “Hey uh ... what the fuck, right? You don’t look like you meant to be out here either.”
Carson was, to Neil, a pretty intimidating looking guy. Tall, muscular, tattoos. The prosthetic did nothing to help or hurt that image but it was hard to remember his prejudices when he was as confused as he was at the moment. "I just... woke up," he said warily, slowly getting awake enough to actually feel self conscious about how little he was wearing even if his priority should be the fact that he was freezing. He stopped when he was up on the sidewalk and Carson was Close Enough. "Did you dream it too?" He had meant for Nic to talk to Carson and even if he himself had meant to do it he would have done it less abruptly but right there in the middle of the shock of everything, subtle didn't seem like a thing that really existed.
Being on the sidewalk was a much better idea than being in the middle of the street, so he joined Neil there. Carson was still moving pretty slow and limping, since he didn’t have his crutch and his calf was still healing, so it took an extra minute, but he got there. He gave a slow nod, looking hard at Neil’s face. It just looked so bizarrely familiar in a way that had nothing to do with them both living in the same small town. “Yeah, I did,” he murmured, the weirdness of the moment blocking out the cold temporarily. Because Carson knew exactly what Neil was talking about, because he’d been there too. Because that was no ordinary fucking dream. A chill ran down his spine that had nothing to do with the temperature. “I knew you were real,” he added quietly.
Neil nodded because at this point he hadn't expected Carson not to know. He almost apologized, still unsure if this was his doing or not, but apologizing would take explaining and he wasn't sure anyway. When Carson spoke it was softer than Neil was expecting and he nodded slowly, hugging himself tightly as he shivered. "There's more of us," he said quietly. "Did you see them too?" His body was screaming at him to get inside but he couldn't seem to bring himself to leave just yet, like something might really catch him if he went somewhere by himself now.
“Yeah, I saw ‘em,” Carson said. “Another guy, a blonde girl.” Their faces had had that same vague familiarity, but Carson didn’t know that he knew them. He saw a lot of people in and out of the gym, it was possible he’d seen them before. It was also possible that he’d seen this guy before ... or that his brain was making all of this up. Carson’s hand got so far as uncrossing and nearly reaching out to touch Neil to see if he was real, but he stopped himself. He had just been in the psych ward, right? Was this just another part of him losing his fucking mind? “Fuck,” he whispered, running that hand through his hair before he rubbed at his own arms. His expression was pained and fretful. “This is ... you’re ... this is for real, right?”
That question was so vulnerable it made this otherwise large man seem almost small and Neil couldn't find it in him to be petulant with him. The whole situation had softened his demeanor already and there was a weird sense of 'we're in this together' feeling in him that made no sense whatsoever. Except for the fact that he and this man had just sleepwalked after sharing a dream and were currently cold and scared outside in the middle of the night.
"I wish it wasn't," he mumbled. "But it is. The other man, that's Nic Castell. We haven't found the girl yet... We were gonna try to find you." He shuddered and glanced around. "I live over there," he said then. "I'd much rather talk inside."
If he had an apartment, he had to be real, right? Unless all of this was some elaborate hallucination. Carson had made it all the way outside in his sleep, prosthetic and all, hadn’t he? What if he broke into somebody’s place now, thinking he was following some dude home? But he couldn’t take the guy back to his apartment either, Rylee would freak the fuck out to find some good looking dude in their living room in just his boxers and a t-shirt. Carson looked around, back toward his own place for a moment, then met Neil’s eyes again and nodded. “Okay, yeah,” he said. “Lead the way.”
If someone had told Neil he was going to invite a stranger into his apartment in the middle of the night he wouldn't have believed it for a second but here they were, cautiously making their way back to his place. He had no intention of keeping Carson for long but he was reluctant to be alone just yet and he felt like they needed to talk. Maybe Carson had seen something that Neil and Nic had missed. They somehow made it back without stepping on glass or sharp rocks and Neil breathed a little easier when he felt the clean linoleum under his feet. His feet were sore, not at all used to going bare against rough pavement but that was the least of his problems right now. "Do you want a blanket?" he asked since he was reluctant to lend one of his t-shirts out, even if it was one of the shittier ones he just used to sleep in.
Carson couldn’t walk as fast as he wanted to, and his frustration grew as they made their way to Neil’s apartment, feeding on the stress and anxiety that was thrumming through him. He barely looked around at the place as they stepped inside. “Yes please,” he said, shivering hard by now. He was already planning to ask this guy if he would mind giving Carson a ride back to his own apartment so he wouldn’t have to walk it.
Neil padded shakily to the couch to find his comfy blanket. It was one of those few creature comforts he really indulged in, a heavy and warm blanket, tea and a good book on a winter's night? That was paradise to him. That blanket didn't see too much use in the summer but for the first time since Neil had bought it it had a different purpose and a different person to warm up. Neil handed it over, smothering that feeling of regret as he did so. If this was his fault then he was affecting his neighbors now and he might as well be nice about it. "Have a seat," he mumbled. "Do you want tea?"
Carson mumbled a ‘thanks’ as he reached for the blanket. He ducked under it, draping it over his head and shoulders and pulling it closed in front of him, half-hugging it. It was warmer than his skin just from being inside, and it felt pretty heavenly. “No, I can’t -- I really shouldn’t stay that long,” he said as he made his way to the couch. If Rylee woke up and found him gone, she would freak out, and he was really trying not to do that to her anymore. Carson sat down with some care, stretching his prosthetic out in front of him. “Thanks though,” he added. “... I’m Carson. Carson Durand.” He glanced around the living room finally, a little soothed to see that it seemed completely normal and not like it belonged to a family of five or anything that didn’t match.
Neil was both relieved and disappointed to hear Carson wasn't staying because of course he didn't want him to stay but at the same time he was feeling jittery and a little at a loss for what to do with himself. He realized they hadn't exactly introduced themselves out there as soon as Carson said his name so he did the same, a stiff, "Neil Wainscott." He pressed his lips together then hurried to the small kitchen to put the kettle on. Carson might not want tea but he needed it, his nerves all frayed. It only took a few seconds and then he returned, sitting down on the chair opposite of Carson. "You've had... a lot of these dreams?"
Neil Wainscott. It wasn’t a name that Carson knew, but he had a feeling he wouldn’t be forgetting it anytime soon. Whatever the fuck was happening, assuming all of this was really Real, they were tied to it together somehow. Carson watched him move around his kitchen, not minding the short delay. He was still trying to get his bearings, after all. “Uh ... I think this is the second one,” he said after a moment’s thought, gazing at Neil’s face from under his blanket hood. “I could see people -- you and the others, I guess -- but couldn’t ... talk. I was trying, but ...” he trailed off and shook his head. “And then there was this godawful noise ... last time I woke up in bed, but this time ... yeah. Is that-- has it been the same for you?” Carson thought about the mirror, the reflection that looked like him but wasn’t, but part of him was afraid to ask about that. That was probably all in his head.
"I had the same dream," Neil mumbled unhappily. "Like there was something about to... Something was screaming." Not someone but something, nothing human could make that sound. "I've never sleep walked before." He too was thinking of the mirror thing, how he'd seen himself get pulled away by something, how erratic and crazy he'd been feeling lately. It was like everything had started falling apart right after Jane came back to town but he didn't think she was causing this. Maybe she had woken something up in him though, something dark. "Have you... has anything strange happened to you when you're awake?" he asked and pulled the other blanket over to cover himself. It wasn't as nice as the one he'd handed Carson but it'd do to fight off the chill and hide his bony legs.
Carson might have questioned Neil’s honesty more if he hadn’t mentioned the screaming. Because that was exactly what it had sounded like, some inhuman screeching that felt like it could split his head open if he listened to it long enough. Then something rushing at him, and then ... awake. “Neither have I. Sleep walked, I mean. It’s uh, not exactly easy for me,” he said, nodding down at his prosthetic with a pained little smile. “I don’t sleep with this on.” He swallowed thickly as he thought about the question. If he wasn’t questioning his own grip on reality so much, the answer might have come quicker, but everything had been so damn disorienting lately. “Yeah,” Carson answered warily, watching Neil’s expression. “In mirrors, a few times. ... but you say what, first. I’ve been ... man, I’ve been feeling so fucking crazy lately. I need ... some confirmation, I dunno.”
Neil gave him the smallest of nods, hunching his shoulders as he listened, a cold chill traveling up his back. It made sense to sleep walk as he had, to just get up and walk but to get up and put on a prosthetic? That didn't look simple at all. Carson sounded distraught so it was easier to tell him things in a way and Neil was willing to take a chance this once. they were well past the awkward stage of this conversation since sharing a nightmare was hardly normal. "Your reflection, it- did it act like it wasn't you? Like it was in danger?" The words still came out hesitant because it sounded so crazy regardless of what he thought Carson's reaction would be.
Carson could just stare at him for a heartbeat or two as the weirdest feeling washed over him. It was real, it had really happened, he’d been right. “Holy shit,” he whispered, bracing his forearms against his knees and bowing his head. Carson took a couple of deep breaths and rubbed his hands over his face as that sank in. Something really fucked up was going on, and it was real. It wasn’t just in his busted brain. Did that mean what had attacked him hadn’t been a rogue wolf after all, just like he’d also thought? Fuck. “Yeah,” he told Neil, nodding with the blanket still over his head. “Like it was screaming for help, banging on the glass ... and then a different time, it didn’t do anything different than I did, it just ... wasn’t me. There was something wrong with it, the eyes or-- or the expression or ... something.” He looked up again, his expression grim. “You been having random fucked up mood swings too?”
Did crying over shitty romance novels and wanting to kill people count? Neil went wide eyed too and nodded. "Really fucked up," he whispered and now he just wanted to roll a joint and try to calm down with the help of narcotics because this was all too much. While Carson might be relieved to have found out he wasn't the one going crazy, Neil wasn't all too happy about it. He still worried he was the one causing it all and if it was spreading out to other people then it wasn't well contained. "Everything's just been really weird for the last month or two. I feel like something's... coming for me." Something other than AIR, something possibly worse.
The connection between what he’d seen in the mirror and the way he’d acted toward Rylee finally clicked into place in Carson’s brain, and it was like a surge of electricity. That hadn’t been him. That had been whatever the fuck this was, fucking up his emotions. Not just his, but other people’s too. “Everything’s been weird with me too,” he murmured, now questioning every bit of strife he’d been going through. Carson gave a bitter sounding laugh and rolled his eyes to the ceiling. “I was in the fucking psych ward for a night, man. They upped my medication because of this shit. Do you know anything else? Any ... I dunno, clues?”
Something squeezed uncomfortably in Neil's chest at Carson's admission. Things had been crazy, yes, but he had to have acted out if he ended up in a psych ward - unless he'd gone there on his own volition, scared by what he was seeing. Neil pressed his lips together, distracted momentarily by the thought that he'd just let a potentially dangerous man into his apartment in the middle of the night and nobody knew he was there. "Uhm," he hummed, all the little things he knew and suspected flashing through his mind with warning signs all over them: Do Not Tell. "Have you had any other strange dreams? Dream occurrences?" he asked. He'd flat out asked Nic if he knew Jane but it didn't seem like a great idea now.
Everything was stiff and strange, so Carson didn’t really notice anything change in Neil’s demeanor. He could be dangerous, if he was being honest, especially when he was as out of control as he’d felt the past few weeks, off and on. So his stay at the VA had probably been the best thing. Now he knew that it wasn’t all in his head, at least not in a way that was purely him, so he was second-guessing the medication, but he could think about all of that later. Carson’s brow furrowed as he tried to think back to his dreams for a moment, then shook his head. “Not that I’ve noticed,” he said. “Have you? Anything I should watch for?” He wasn’t sure if one could really watch for something in a dream, but Carson could try.
Neil rarely remembered his dreams so the ones that were abnormal really stood out to him and he could imagine it wouldn't be as easy to notice the difference if he remembered all his dreams. He also thought that had to be exhausting. "No, I'm just... trying to find- to understand." He was beginning to feel tired now that the adrenaline rush was fading and he just barely managed to stifle a yawn. "Did you see anyone else? There was us, Nic and that girl but... Anyone, anything else?" As soon as he asked he was sure he didn't want to know if Carson had seen something horrible behind him.
“No,” Carson answered, his brow furrowing momentarily. He got the sense that Neil was holding something back. All of those questions sounded kind of leading, like Neil had an answer already in mind. “Why? Did you?” He might as well ask direct questions, he guessed. It was funny how a shared bizarre experience that seemed to be just one piece of something that felt huge and weird could break down all kinds of social walls. Right then, all Carson wanted was a straight answer about something. Knowing he’d been right could only get him so far.
Neil shook his head and muttered a wavery no before looking at Carson, his brows drawn together fretfully. "I'm not sure I want to see whatever made that noise." Trying to think of a rational reason for why this was happening was bound to break his brain and he felt heavy and lacking control. He had to wonder what would happen if all four of them met while awake. Was that the driving force behind those dreams? To force them to meet? And then what? He was willing to bet something horrible would happen. "Those dreams feel like a warning," he mumbled, hugging the blanket to his stomach. "I just cannot imagine what it's warning us about."
Carson wasn’t sure why it hadn’t occurred to him to say so when Neil asked him if anything else weird had happened to him, but the mention of ‘whatever made that noise’ and it all being a warning reminded him that he’d been attacked by something. Something huge and vicious and Not A Dog. Was that connected somehow? The animal-thing hadn’t made a noise like the one he’d heard in his dream ... if this dream had been a warning, it had come too late. What if he’d been sleepwalked by something out into the middle of the night to put him in the path of danger again? Fuck. Fuck fuck fuck, all of this was nuts and he hated it and he was suddenly so exhausted. Carson rubbed at his face again and let out a pained little groan. “I got ... something attacked me,” he said, looking up again. “A couple weeks ago. Everyone keeps saying it was a lone wolf, but ...” He shook his head. “I dunno, it doesn’t feel connected, but what the fuck do I know anymore? Jesus.” Carson let out a soft laugh that wasn’t at all amused.
Neil went a little wide eyed at that because it was one thing to be in danger in a dream and entirely a different thing to be physically attacked when awake. "A lone wolf?" he mumbled, his fretful expression only deepening. He'd heard of the animal attacks, of course, but how much of it was truth and how much was gossip since he'd never actually talked to anyone who had been attacked. Until now. "Where did it happen?" he asked because he could see it happening out in the woods but not inside town like people kept insisting it did.
Carson nodded at the quiet question, though he still wasn’t convinced that was what the animal had been. Everytime the word ‘werewolf’ crossed his mind he felt stupid and crazy, but it kept popping up. That was goddamn ridiculous though, wasn’t it? But wasn’t seeing weird shit in mirrors and sharing dreams with random people in town and then sleepwalking into the middle of the road also goddamn ridiculous? When everything got weird, what was even weird anymore? “Out behind the gym,” he told Neil. “Last full moon.” Carson shifted on the couch and turned his good leg around to show where the wound was still healing. It still looked a little gross, but he had to air it out at night, so there was no bandage on it. It was getting better though.
Neil cringed at the sight of it and he couldn't help but linger on that bit of information about the full moon. He was trying so hard not to believe in all the strange stories he heard but life wasn't making it easy at all. The thing that bothered him more was the location of the attack. They could have been attacked by a wolf out there in the street earlier because apparently wolves were okay with waltzing into town to attack people now. It was yet another thing to be terrified of and Neil felt the mental exhaustion flood him at the thought. "I really wish they'd kill this thing already," he said with a little shiver in his breath.
“Same here,” Carson muttered, turning his leg back into a natural position. It could’ve killed him, he knew that. He’d seen the monster up close and personal and it hadn’t been a wolf, but he felt too tired to try and explain that to another person. Their minds had been blown enough tonight, hadn’t they? Carson let the silence settle for a moment, glancing toward Neil’s kitchen to try and find a digital clock. He worried suddenly that Rylee was awake and looking for him, and he wasn’t there. He fidgeted with the edge of the blanket around him and gave Neil an apologetic look. “Could you ... would you mind giving me a lift back to my building? It’s kind of a walk ...” And walking obviously wasn’t easy for him here lately.
Neil wasn't sure exactly how he thought this encounter would end. He'd just imagined Carson leaving and he wouldn't have to think about it more so the request brought up a whole lot of issues he hadn't thought about at all. Like the fact Carson wasn't wearing shoes so if Neil went and got dressed that could get weird, somehow. He was not good with people and right now he was remembering it rather harshly. "Oh, uhm," he mumbled, panicking a little - not at the prospect of driving Carson home but on how he was utterly failing the social aspects of it. "I should... put on pants," he said awkwardly. It would be weird to leave the house again in just a t-shirt and boxers, but then Carson was wearing even less.
That seemed to make him anxious, and Carson felt a flash of annoyance that he immediately felt guilty for. It wasn’t a big request, but it was still a request, and he intimately understood how irrational anxiety could be. “It’s not a big deal, if not,” he muttered back. He could just ... limp barefoot down the sidewalk in his boxer briefs for a few buildings until he got back to his own. It wouldn’t be the most uncomfortable he’d ever been. He sure as hell didn’t want to call Rylee or anything. Carson hadn’t decided yet if he would tell her about this, but he definitely didn’t want it to be tonight. He was so ready to be back in his own bed, hopefully with no more dreams.
"No I just... I'll just be a minute," Neil mumbled and got up, keeping the blanket around himself as he shuffled off to the bedroom to find some clothes and his phone. As much as he did not want to go back out there, even he wasn't enough of an asshole to send a half naked amputee limping down the street in the middle of the night with the threat of wolves. Even one of those obstacles was bad enough on its own. As he hurried to get dressed he tried to suss out if it was really acceptable to not offer up a shirt and which was worse, being rude and not offering or possibly being creepy by offering. People were difficult, there was definitely a reason why he avoided them for the most part. He was pretty sure he was nearing a heart attack when he finally pulled out an old faded t-shirt from the closet and clutched it to his chest while walking to the living room again. "If you want... I don't know if it would fit." It would, he knew and he regretted speaking as soon as he did.
Neil’s awkwardness made Carson feel a little awkward in turn, like he was asking for a lot. But damn did he not want to make that walk, so he would suffer through it. He kept the blanket wrapped around him while Neil went to change, glancing around his living room a bit more. There were a lot of books. That wasn’t something you saw a lot of anymore, so maybe this guy was just a socially awkward nerd. A cute one, but still. He stood up when Neil came back in, and his relief at seeing the t-shirt was all over his face. “Oh man, that’d be great, thank you so much,” Carson said, taking the blanket off to set it down on the couch again. He completely understood a guy not wanting to lend out his pants or shoes, but a t-shirt was better than bare chested, especially in this weather. When Neil gave it to him, Carson pulled it on and felt a little more human. “I’ll wash it and get it back to you.”
Neil almost told him not to bother. He might use some laundry detergent that smelled strongly and it would take a million washes to get the artificial scent out. He fretted for a whole three seconds about it before nodding and swallowing dryly. "Let's get you home." Glancing down he realized Carson was still barefoot but god, what the hell was he supposed to do about that? He headed for the door and held it open for Carson. "Do you remember your phone number? Perhaps... I have Castell's number. We were going to try to find you actually."
Having his back and shoulders and chest covered helped quite a bit, and since he wasn’t walking, Carson wasn’t really worried about his foot. He walked out the door as Neil held it open for him. “Yeah, I know it, I can give it to you in the car,” he said, assuming Neil would want to put it into his phone. That might not have been something he remembered very well, but he gave it out to clients so often, Carson had it memorized. He chuckled as Neil locked up his apartment. “Well, guess you did, in a way,” he murmured. It had not gone the way they’d expected, obviously, and Carson got that strange feeling that all of this was happening for a reason again. He wondered if the others had ended up sleepwalking somewhere too.
Neil was wondering again if all of them meeting at the same time could be disastrous but there was no way to know that without going through it and that was the worst feeling. He hated uncertainty, had tailored his life around routine and avoided surprises pretty well but after Jane Randolph came back to town everything was chaos. It was hard not to imagine these things might be related. The timing of it, the nature of it. If Neil was causing it he had a hard time imagining why these other people were involved. He didn't know them, though he'd known of them. It just felt entirely too random. He unlocked the car once they made it to the parking lot and got in, waiting until Carson was settled in too. "Which way?"
Carson climbed carefully into Neil’s car and shut the door, not bothering with a seatbelt since they were staying in the parking lots and it was the middle of the night. He pointed the direction out for Neil. “It’s the third building that way,” he said. Really, it probably said something significant that they’d ended up on the same stretch of road in their sleep, like it was meant to be. “Thanks again,” Carson added in a murmur. He felt like he should be talking about it more, trying to figure it all out, but fuck, his brain was so exhausted. There was a part of him that was just relieved that he knew now that it really was happening. It wasn’t all in his head.
Neil just nodded as he started the engine and left his parking spot. It was strange leaving his place at this hour, like the world wasn't the same and he still couldn't shake that uneasy feeling that had loomed over him ever since he woke up. A part of him wished the other people involved were people he was already somewhat comfortable around because the whole thing was bad enough without dragging him out of his comfort zone socially as well, but then he wouldn't wish this on anyone, least of all Makayla. He pulled over by the house Carson had pointed to and pulled out his phone. "Tell me your number and I will send you a text message tomorrow."
That was possibly the stiffest way someone had ever asked for his number, but Carson was getting the impression that was just Neil. He seemed stiff. At least under these circumstances, so Carson couldn’t hold it against him. Nothing was normal at the moment. He recited his number to the guy and watched him enter it into his phone. “Nic Castell, you said the other guy’s name was?” he asked once that was done, his hand on the door handle. It sounded familiar in that way that everyone’s name from around town kind of sounded familiar, but Carson didn’t know him. Not yet anyway. “Maybe we all need to get together soon. Find the blond girl. See if ... that makes anything more clear.”
There was that feeling of dread again, like getting all four of them in the same spot just spelled disaster but Neil didn't know what else they could do. Ignore it until it happened again? It seemed to get worse each time so that was clearly not a solution. "We should," he said quietly. "I was going to go through the yearbooks and see if I could find her but work got a little too busy. Tomorrow, maybe. I'll let you know." Trying to put the pieces together on his own was impossible since he didn't have all of them. He knew Carson had been violently attacked and even before that he'd been badly injured. Nic had gone to prison, or juvie and Neil had been kidnapped. Maybe that was the link between them, but it was far too early to tell, especially since they knew nothing about the young blonde.
Carson felt like that was what they were being pushed to do, for good or ill. They couldn’t talk in the dream, so maybe they had to talk in real life. The two of them had sleepwalked out where they could see each other, there had to be a reason for that. “Okay,” he said with a nod. Carson would think about it more in the morning, when his mind was more clear. He paused, wet his lips, then gave Neil a wan little smile. “I would say it was nice meeting you, but ... yeah. I’ll leave it at ‘thanks.’” He pushed the passenger side door open and moved to climb carefully out of it. Hopefully Rylee hadn’t woken up and locked the door or something and he could just slip back into the apartment and go straight back to bed.
Neil wasn't sure what to say so he just said, "Okay," and gave Carson some sad excuse for a smile. He thought to tell him that he was actually relieved he'd been out there too because he couldn't imagine just how afraid - and embarrassed - he'd have been if he'd woken up all alone. Having to go back to his apartment by himself where the door was open and anyone could have been waiting inside. Yes, he was glad Carson had been out there on that road too but he didn't even know how to begin telling him that. "Good night," he said instead, glancing out at the parking lot to see if anyone else was around. He couldn't see a soul so he just watched Carson as he left, feeling a little regretful that he'd have to go back alone again. He hated this because solitude was really something he cherished and all the recent events were taking that away from him.