Wry and Watchful (wryandwatchful) wrote in solsticerp, @ 2011-03-30 09:57:00 |
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Entry tags: | july 1 2009, mikael, neta |
Wednesday: Dreams Come True
Who: Neta and Mikael
When: Mid-morning
Where: Near the church
The sun was going to come out again any minute, Neta was sure of it. But she was sick and tired of being shut in at that horrible, falling-apart house with all those damn ghosts, and even after being out all night-- which she had been, when she wasn't distracted by a nearby dream that sucked her in-- the thought of going back just made her want to hit something. So here she was, standing in the middle of an empty street as the last of the fog began to lift, hands on her hips, shadow-dragon coiled up small and meek beside her, glaring up at the sky. Daring it to burn her, or drain her energy, or whatever the fuck it was the sun did to her.
It could take her desire to do anything but grumble and hide under an overhang, but it couldn't take her anger. Nothing did that, especially not after her latest "adventure", when the light-bearer had up and vanished on her. Only the dragon and the occasional ghost even brought her a little reprieve. So there was the sun, and it was a convenient thing to glare at, at the moment, so she did.
The ride on the ferry had been without incident, albeit a bit foggy. He leaned on the railing, black leather gloves clenching the bars, and watched shapes drift above the water. It was like watching clouds and looking for animals, only he was seeing ships that existed in the world of the toy soldier he'd found on the beach with Jessalyn and giant serpents slipping just under the surface.
Mikael's imagination could be quite extensive. It didn't help that objects could show him things, frequently things he wished he didn't see.
He walked along the dock, gloved hands in the front pockets of his jeans, long-sleeved shirt on, even in the growing heat. He hadn't worn his cowboy hat, but he hadn't shaved in about a week and looked a bit like he'd been on the range. His family didn't have a range, so that was kind of amusing. He was going to see Tayne again today, only with Jessalyn this time. Anticipating a nice visit, he hummed a song he was working on as he walked along the road to the church, the last of the fog curling around him.
The dragon spotted the young man approaching before Neta did, since Neta was looking up, not around. The dragon hissed and reared up threateningly, though it was still smaller-looking than usual-- Neta speculated it was the coming of the sun that shrank it, just as the stupid sun wore her out. Neta half-turned and scowled, not recognizing the intruder immediately, as he was still too far away and half-shrouded in fog. The dragon would probably scare him off, for her, but she supposed she could be ready to scare him off, herself, if she needed to.
Mikael thought his imagination was, in fact, playing tricks on him as he approach the turn for the church. Something was hissing in the road ahead and it looked like a serpent, which he'd pictured under the water earlier. That wasn't possible, of course. There were stranger things on Heaven and Earth, but sea serpents weren't part of that - were they? Besides, this was smaller and on the land and next to a woman who was-- He slowed and stopped and stared. "You," he said, amazed, recognizing her from his dream. It figured his vocabulary would disappear and he'd fall back on a cliche.
About when he recognized her, she recognized him, though she was less surprised than he was-- after all, she had a precedent. She knew what she was doing, now, when she was pulled into a dream, and she had already seen someone who she had met in one. She scowled darkly at him and echoed him, though with a disgusted tone rather than an amazed one: "You."
The dragon settled a little, but kept its long muzzle pointed in Mikael's direction.
He looked from her to the dragon and back again. "You're... the woman from that dream..." He was stating the obvious, but he couldn't help himself. The last person he expected to meet on the road was her. Well, actually, the last person he expected to meet on the road was the Buddha, but that was another story. "Jessalyn said, but... You're... real?"
Her hand falling to the dragon's head, half in reassurance for it and half in comfort for her, Neta snorted, "Yes, I'm real. What, you doubted? Do you usually dream about bitchy black women who shout at you about being stuck in your fucking dream?" Yeah, she remembered him, in particular. His was the first one where she'd actually had the thought that someone was dreaming, and it wasn't her.
Mikael paused. "But... it was a dream, right? How could you be in my dream?" He knew it had been his dream because he'd been able to control the environment - sort of. At the very least, elements from his memories kept popping up in and around his parent's house and then there'd been the moon and the Spanish galleon... "No. I don't usually dream about..." He took a breath. "Bitchy black women who shout at me and get stuck in my fucking dream." It wasn't the sort of language he usually used, but he decided he should go with it and let her set the tone. He didn't sound angry when he spoke.
His repetition of her comment, and in such a flat tone, made her laugh. It wasn't exactly a pleasant sound, but there was at least discernible amusement in it, even if it was a little mocking. "Don't ask me, baby, I just live here. I don't got any more answers than you do, I just bounce from dream to dream with no rhyme or reason I can figure. But it was me. You aren't even the first one I ran into from a dream-walk, if you can believe it."
Well, laughter was better than yelling. He tried to imagine what it would be like to be stick in someone else's dream. Probably as strange as dreaming usually is itself, only you wouldn't recognize things and references would be missed. It probably felt the way a telepath did, being in another headspace. Mikael was glad he didn't have that psychic ability. "You've met others you've dreamed with? Really? How long have you been here?" His eyes went to the dragon, who didn't seem like it was about to attack.
The dragon bared inky-black teeth at Mikael when it was glanced at, coils shifting restlessly, but it didn't stir from Neta's side, like a loyal dog. Neta was busy thinking, trying to remember time and when it had meaning to her, and then giving up on it. How long? Did it matter? "Days?" she guessed, not seriously. "Years? This is hell, why should it matter how long I've been here? I don't even know what fucking day of the week it is." All she knew, or cared about, was when that terrible sun would come out and make her feel wretched all over again.
The teeth were a bit disturbing, primarily because Mikael was geared to the North American standard that black teeth meant you needed a serious trip to the dentist. He didn't doubt the dragon was real. He'd seen enough strange things in his life and was aware of unique experiences with other members of his family that wigging out about a - currently - tame dragon wasn't necessary. Or helpful. "Uh. it's Wednesday. I think. And this isn't Hell... for me, anyway. I'm Mikael." Might as well be courteous.
"Maybe not for you, but it's hell for me," Neta shrugged at him. "Where else do you go when you're dead, that's shitty and miserable, after all?" Nothing was remotely heaven-like about her return to life, now, so hell was the only other option. "And I'm Neta. Not that I'm sure it matters to you." He probably would be annoying and intruding and condescending, just like the rest of them. She certainly didn't remember much liking him, in his dream-- but then, she didn't much like anybody anymore.
Mikael shook his head, "I'd rather you had a name than thinking of you as 'that black bitch'," he said. "So, you're dead and you came... here?" He sighed. "That doesn't make sense, though some pretty strange things have been happening lately." Maybe he should have been alarmed by her presence, but he really didn't want to be.
"I died, was really dead for a while--" She didn't want to talk about that. This was hell, but that was a worse hell, not feeling or even being except to hear your mistakes over and over again.... "--and then came back here, yeah." She shrugged at him. "And since this is a pretty miserable place, it obviously ain't heaven." Not that she'd expected to go there, anyway, not after the life she'd lived.
"And you don't know why you're here?" He shook his head in puzzlement. That was stranger than usual - well, usual for most of the world. His family was unusual, as far as he knew, but there seemed to be some magical folks in Darkwater and if Jessalyn was any indication, people like shifters around. Why not someone who was dead? "You're not a ghost, though, are you? I mean, you look solid." So did the dragon.
Smirking, her expression both amused and a little nasty, Neta suggested, "I could hit you and prove how solid I am." She didn't mind proving things with violence-- she'd love the excuse! "I'm no ghost. I have a fucking ton of them following me around, half the time, I should be able to tell the difference." And they were annoying as hell. Neta would take solid, living company like Mikael, here, over them any day, no matter how obnoxious she found the living company.
Mikael didn't hold up his hand, as if to ward off a blow, but he did say, "No, that's not necessary. Thanks, just the same." So what was she? She was dead, but she wasn't a ghost. Did that make her... what? 'Undead'? No, that was vampires, wasn't it? A demon? He didn't know. "You're being haunted?"
"Uh, yeah. If you call it 'haunted' when it's more like being mobbed," Neta snorted. "There's, like, fifteen back at the house, and a dozen more wandering around outside. No privacy. It fucking sucks. But then, you know, hell. And it ain't like I got much to hide, these days." She didn't even piss anymore, which was crazy, but not like she was going to complain.
He blinked. He didn't discount that ghosts existed, but why so many and in the same house? And why would Neta be there? "Fifteen? In one place? Do you know why they're there? Still here... whatever..." Mikael nodded. "I can see how that'd be like Hell. Weird..." He was having a conversation with a dead woman, who had a dragon as a... friend, on a foggy road and he wasn't freaking out. That was something.
"First other person who seems like they understood, even a little," Neta snorted, eying him as if expecting him to change his mind or suddenly do something to make an ass of himself. "I don't know why they're there, any more than I know why I'm here. Ghosts are unfinished-business-types, usually, and it's not like I talk to them, so--" She spread her free hand-- the one not on her shadowy friend's head-- wide, to indicate her helplessness. "Not like I could do anything for the little fuckers, even if I knew."
There was no guarantee that Mikael wouldn't make an ass of himself, but it wouldn't be intentional if he did. "So they don't talk to you? They just... hang around? I don't have direct experience with ghosts though I have some... familiarity with the paranormal." he sighed. "As for what they'd want? Even if someone knew, it might not be possible. I'm... sorry you're stuck like that."
"They talk, sure. Mostly five of them at once, and not usually about anything I should do, or would want to do. As if I wanna sit and listen to a ghost whine at me." Yeah, right. Neta didn't like listening to anyone whine, much less a ghost. She looked up again, at the sun that was finally making its appearance, and scowled again. "I'm sorry I'm stuck like this, too. Believe me. Really fucking sorry."
"Wow," he said, shaking his head. He wasn't completely relaxed, but he wasn't alarmed, either. Mikael was one of those people who tended to take things as they came. "If five of them talk at once, there's little chance you'd be able to understand them, anyway. Maybe you need someone to come over and... help them move on." Did he know anyone who did that? Neta was looking up at the sky, so he looked, too. "Something wrong?" Aside from her being 'stuck' here, of course.
"I don't need help," Neta snapped at him, irritated. She didn't like people, or want to deal with them, much less when they wanted to help her. Ugh. "And I'm fine. I just don't like the sun." She liked it better when it'd been raining, the day before. The dragon shied into her shadow with a hiss, which she wished she could do, but then where would it hide?
"Okay," Mikael said, letting it roll off him. He glanced at her, then back to the sky. "It'll be coming through soon, I guess." Looking down at the creature beside her, he asked, "Have you always had a dragon?" He'd always liked the idea of dragons being real when he was a kid, and hey, one was right over there. It was... pretty amazing, really. As long as it didn't try to eat him, of course.
Glancing down, Neta's expression softened a hair as she gazed at her unusual companion. "Ever since I showed up here. Never knew they existed before now-- hell, I'm not even sure he is a dragon, exactly. His shape kind of-- changes, sometimes. Like it's not totally solid." Well, it was made of shadow, so of course it wasn't solid. But he could figure out what she meant, she was sure.
"He does?" A shape-changing dragon. Well, heck. "Wow..." As for the creature not being solid? What was he made of? He was dark... Shadow? Mikael decided not to ask. If that was the case, he hoped the dragon - or whatever - didn't disappear when the sun came out. Then the woman would really be alone, and she seemed to have an affection for the little guy. Given her apparent circumstances, it'd be a shame if her companion wasn't around most of the time.
"Well, he's smaller now than he was this morning," Neta told Mikael with a snort. "He's usually kinda dragon-shaped, or snake-with-legs shaped I guess, but he's different sizes, and sometimes he's got more horns or legs than others...." She stroked the shadow-beast's pliable, not-quite-there hide and shot the sun, which was coming through now with a vengeance, another little glare. "I should probably get inside." Before said sun made her even more cranky than usual.
Mikael was trying to remember if a person's shadow was long in the morning or long in the evening and decided it was long at both times. It was shortest at noon. Oh, the things you remember from primary school... She seemed wary of the sun, but not in the traditional 'I'll burst into ashes if I stay out' kind of way. He knew it didn't work like that, anyway. Any daylight was a problem for vampires. So what was she? He decided not to ask. "Yeah, I should probably get goin' myself."
Neta looked up at the sun for a moment longer, then shook herself, scowled, and turned away, back towards the distant shelter of the forest and the dubious comforts of her house. Maybe she ought to find another, one with walls that didn't have holes and maybe some less moldy furniture, but she couldn't ever quite get around to it. It was like she was tethered to that damn, rotting pile. She sighed. "Off to whatever the hell you living people do with yourselves, I guess," she grumbled, and started walking, stuffing her hands in her pockets and looking around warily, as the did so.
The dragon uncoiled and slithered after her, snapping at Mikael's feet as they passed, but not actually connecting with anything-- like it had missed on purpose. Neta either didn't notice or didn't care, for she made no reaction.
Mikael might have been dealing with the encounter well enough, considering, but when the dragon-shadow-creature went for his feet, he moved, stepping back. Maybe it had just been trying to scare him - and succeeding, to some degree. Neta - the dead woman with a dislike for the sun - didn't say anything as she headed off. Toward the house with a gazillion ghosts, he guessed. That was no way to live, even if you were dead. He shook his head, swallowed, checked his running shoes for punctures, then continued in the direction of the church. He wouldn't say it had been a pleasant meeting, but it hadn't been near;y as antagonistic as it had been when they'd met in his dream. Now, if only he could figure out what she was and why she was trapped in an old house with ghosts.