Who: Dan Smith and Liv Moore What: Liv decides they need to see Once instead of playing pool. A vision happens and there's some dream talk When: Wednesday, September 6th Where: ALL OVER - AKA Liv's apartment to Dan's car to the South Coast Repertory Theater Rating/Warnings: Low! Some talk of exploding people Status: Complete!
Liv was a bit over dressed for pool. Okay more than a bit. She was in red dress that hugged her curves. Even though the plan had been to play pool Liv was no longer in the mood for it. No, she was in the mood to go see a musical. Which was precisely why she had already bought tickets to go see Once at the South Coast Repertory. it would be the third musical she had seen in about a week but she didn’t care. She was enjoying it while it lasted. She had been on much worse brains in the past. Hopefully Dan wouldn’t mind the change of plans. And if he did? Oh well, she would go by herself.
She was just putting on her heels when she heard the knock on the door. “Coming!” Liv called out continuing to slip on her shoe before heading to the door. “Hey,” she greeted Dan with a smile on her face. “Come on in,” she added stepping back to let him inside while she gathered her coat and purse.
Dan was in his usual slacks and button shirt, sleeves rolled up to the elbows, a tie loosely done around his neck. Perfect attire for billiards in a pool hall. He was a little startled when Liv answered her door in a very flattering dress. Not at all perfect for pool, though Dan wouldn’t have minded the slightest the view whenever she bent over the table to take a shot. That being said, he was starting to get the idea that pool was not in their future tonight.
“My, ye look good t’night, darlin’,” he said with a smile. “I take it we’re not goin’ t’ the pool hall?”
“Thanks,” Liv beamed. “You don’t look so bad yourself, handsome,” she said with a wink. Well this brain was certainly full of confidence. She supposed you had to be to be an actress. But even without that, it wasn’t like this was the first time she had called Dan handsome anyway.
Ha was observant, she had to give him that. And smart. Although it probably wasn’t all that difficult to conclude from her outfit that she wasn’t planning on playing pool tonight. “Nope. I actually got us tickets to see Once,” the excitement was evident in her tone, and her eyes, they were shining. “If that’s okay with you,” she added hoping he would agree. Even if she would still go without him, she did want to spend the evening with Dan.
Dan would argue that compared to what Liv had on, he may as well have been wearing a burlap sack. As he stepped into the house, he reached up to fix his tie, at least. “Once?” He repeated. He’d never heard of it, but Dan wasn’t a theater-goer and had no idea what was new on stage, both on Broadway or not. He wasn’t all that into movies, either. The bar owner preferred reading. He had a rather large collection of books from all kinds that took up a great deal of his floor space in his apartment.
That being said, Liv looked beautiful. Too beautiful to be spending her time at a smokey, alcohol soaked pool hall. Even if pool had been her idea. Clearly Liv was a woman with very varied tastes.
Dan smiled and shrugged his shoulders. “Sounds like fun,” he said, then gave her a teasing look, “if you donnea mind being seen out with a schlub like me.”
“It’s a musical,” Liv explained, beaming that Dan had actually agreed. Once was about a musician who almost gave up on his dreams for a woman. It could be considered a love story, but in truth it was about pursuing your dreams. Maybe she should be doing something more casual with Dan, like playing pool, but her heart was just no longer in it.
“You’re no schlub,” Liv assured. Besides even though she was comfortable with how she looked she knew it was off putting to some, the whole pale skin, white hair, and large circles under eyes thing. She didn’t do the whole fake tan and hair dye like most zombies in her dreams did. This was who she was, take it or leave it. “Besides,” she continued. “It’s not like you’re in jeans and a t-shirt.” Which is what most guys she knew back home would wear to play pool anyway.
Purse and jacket in hand she turned her attention back to Dan. “Shall we?”
When he had first met Liv in the morgue, her overall look had given him the impression of a girl who favored the Goth aesthetic. Sure, that may have been off-putting to some, but Dan had found it more amusing than anything else. Yes, he had thought her make-up was a little too much and under the fluorescent lights of the morgue had made her look a little like a corpse herself. Now, though, he had gotten used to what he believed to be her make-up. He had considered her cute when she’d walked into his bar. Tonight, she was downright beautiful.
The one thing Dan couldn’t quite figure out was how Liv could change at what seemed like the drop of a hat. One day she was completely disinterested in him, the next she was giving him the third degree and the next she was sipping margaritas and flirting with him. Tonight a plan for pool had been scrapped for a musical on what appeared to be a whim. Just when Dan thought he had her figured out, she seemed to completely change.
Now, Dan could understand at least a little bit. He hated being bored. Any free time he had that wasn’t spent reading was spent looking for some kind of excitement. He rarely kept to any kind of routine outside of opening and closing his bar every night. But Liv. The girl took changing things up to an entirely different level. She was going to keep him on his toes, that was for sure.
“We shall,” He agreed with a nod and offered her his arm. He gestured out towards his car. “Yer chariot awaits.”
Liv linked her arm through his walking out to the car with him. “Such a gentleman,” she teased as they headed over to his car. Liv was pleased that he didn’t seem all that phased in the change of plans. That he was just rolling with it. If they continued to spend time together he was going to be in for a lot more changes. Hopefully he continued to have a good attitude about it. She didn’t know him well and their encounters hadn’t always been the best but she had to admit she was enjoying spending time with him.
“Do you like musicals?” Liv asked as the climbed into his car. Part of her would feel a little guilty if he hated them and was just doing this for her.
Dan wasn’t an utter gentleman, but he could play the part well enough. He opened the passenger door for Liv before circling around and getting into the driver’s seat. His car was nothing fancy. An average black four-door sedan. He’d like something fancier, sure, but he also didn’t want to attract the attention a luxury car would garner.
He glanced at her once he was in the driver’s seat. “I’ve never been t’ a musical before,” he said. Well, unless you counted the time the entire county seemed to be a part of one huge musical. Everyone busting out into song at any given moment. He’d even gotten sucked in, singing a duet, of all things, with Carolina. Poor lass couldn’t carry a tune to save her life.
“I’m open t’ new experiences, though,” he winked at Liv next to him as he started the car. When one lived in Orange County and Dreamed, one kind of had to be open to new experiences. Not all of them were bullshit. He’d actually kind of had a bit of fun shooting the undead and demons that he’d caught lurking around his bar in the most recent event. He wondered what Liv had thought of the invasion, or if she had been among the masses who had been told the whole thing was some kind of publicity stunt for a movie. He was tempted to ask, but at the same time didn’t want to come off as an utter lunatic.
“Ye like musicals, though?” He asked instead. The answer seemed obvious. She wouldn’t have gotten tickets if she didn’t. “That what prompted the change o’ plans? I not be complainin’,” he added with a smirk. “Ye really do look amazin’ in that dress, Darlin’.”
Liv had been in London for the whole musical thing. She didn’t even know about it. It was probably for the best. The brains she ate caused her to do enough out of the ordinary things as it was.
Another relief. At least he didn’t hate them. And who knew, maybe he would discover a love for musical theater. “Looks like I’m popping that cherry for you,” Liv quipped beaming at Dan. Open to new experiences was definitely a plus in her book. Especially since every few weeks she was interested in something new.
As for the invasion? Liv had definitely been fighting. Even got shot with an arrow in the process. Luckily she healed quickly. And she couldn’t really blame Kate for shooting her, she had been in ‘full on zombie mode’ at the time. She looked like the creatures that were attacking the county. It had also been a bit upsetting to her that zombies had attacked. They were nothing like the kind she was, or the rest for her dreams. But still it gave zombies a bad name. Plus she wasn’t sure if people could really differentiate that there were different types of zombies.
She didn’t want to think about all of that though. It would just bring down her mood, and thanks to Dan she was in a pretty damn good one at the moment. So on to answering his next question it was. “I do,” she replied honestly. Which it was true, it just might not be true for long. “At least this week.” It at least gave him a hint that her interests changed often, if he hadn’t been able to tell that already.
Part of Liv was tempted to respond with the classic ‘it looks even better off’ but she wasn’t that type of girl. Especially now that she couldn’t really sleep with humans. Unless they wanted to risk becoming a zombie. And thankfully while this brain seemed to be confident, it wasn’t in a completely sexual way like when she had been consumed the brain of a stripper. “I’ve been upgraded from ‘good’ to ‘amazing’? All within five minutes?” she teased instead. “It must be the lighting.”
Zombies, like many creatures that had been introduced to the great collective conscience by way of horror movies, hadn’t exactly started out with the greatest of reputations. Thank you very much, George Romero. How people viewed vampires and werewolves was changing somewhat maybe, thanks to recent TV shows and movies, but Zombies? Not so much. They’d seen a surge in popularity in the last decade, but unlike their undead bloodsucking brethren, no one seemed willing to romanticize them. There had been a few attempts, maybe, but zombies overall remained vilified. While Dan could understand the reasons why, it still seemed to be an untapped market.
Before the Orange County had gone dark and was overwhelmed with the walking dead, Dan had known very little about them. The event had prompted him to pick up a few books on the subject. Nearly every culture around the world had zombies or zombie-like creature in its mythos. Each and every one of them differed on how a zombie was created, how they could be controlled (if they could be controlled), what they looked like, how they moved, even what they ate. It was all very fascinating.
None of what he read would have ever made him even start to suspect that the woman sitting next to him was, in fact, a zombie. Nope. As far as Dan was concerned Liv was as normal as he was (that is to say human). Perhaps a little eccentric, but it was those eccentricities that made Dan want to get to know her better.
“Aye, lass,” he said with a laugh. “The more I see o’ ye, the better ye look. It would be remiss o’ me t’ not say so.” He gave her a wink. Then turned his attention to the road in front of him. Traffic was a bitch no matter the time of day. “This should be fun, aye? ‘Ave ye seen this one before? I’m assumin’ it’s good. I trust ye’d pick a good one fer me t’ lose my musical virginity with.”
If Dan continued to spend time with Liv he would eventually learn what she was. She wasn’t in the habit of keeping secrets from the people in her life, especially those from Orange County who knew just how strange shit could be. But becoming a zombie was different than other dream occurrences. She had to be sure she could trust the person, and given how everything had began with Dan? Yeah it would take awhile. Not to mention she wasn’t even sure he was a dreamer.
“Careful,” Liv warned. “A girl could get used to this treatment.” She couldn’t remember the last time someone had complimented her this much. That was a lie, it had been her ex, towards the beginning of the relationship. But it felt like forever ago.
“I haven’t!” Liv replied but the excitement of seeing it for the first time was evident in her voice. “It’s gotten good reviews though and is in the area so I figured why not? We can play pool anytime.”
“Would that be such a bad thing?” Dan asked. He glanced at her before turning his eyes to the road. “An’ it be the truth. Besides, I may still feel a li’l badly fer lyin’ t’ ye when we first met. Truth be told, though, I didnnea expect t’ meetcha again.” It was funny how things worked out. Dan sometimes wondered if it wasn’t the County at work. Things just seemed to work differently here than anywhere else in the nation, maybe even the world. Karma, maybe. Or something completely different.
He laughed again at her excitement. “Aye, then. A new experience fer the both o’ us.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Liv replied honestly. She was totally over that whole incident. “Besides it was for a good cause.” Well as good of a cause as one could had for tampering with a body. However, it wasn’t a murder and the widower deserved not to have his cheating ways be known to the public.
“Can’t think of anyone I’d rather experience it with,” Liv replied honestly just as they pulled into the parking lot. The pair walked to the theater together, Liv showing her tickets at the door. However once they were led inside she froze. To Dan it would have looked like she was staring blankly into space. But to Liv, she was having a vision.
”Next!” A director clearly yelled at ‘Liv’.
“Can I restart? Please? I know I can do better.” The voice came from Liv but it wasn’t her at all. It was the woman whose brain she ate.
“No,” the director’s voice was calm. “Now stop wasting my time and leave.”
At least he wasn’t yelling but still ‘Liv’ ran off the stage with tears in her eyes.
When Liv stopped, Dan came to a stop next to her. At first he thought maybe she was dazzled by the inside of the theater. It was pretty nice in here and crowded full of people talking and mingling with glasses of wine and little snacks before the show started, but a look at her face made him re-think that. “Ye awright, Darlin’?” He asked. He became concerned when she didn’t answer. “Liv?” He waved a hand in front of her face and when that didn’t get a response he was getting really concerned. Gently, he pulled her out of the way of others entering the theater and somewhere a little private. He had no idea if this was some kind of episode, either mental or physical and he had equally no idea what to do about it other than get her somewhere safe.
“Liv!” He took her by the shoulders. “Kin ya ‘ear me?”
Liv blinked coming back into reality. Shit. She hadn’t meant to frighten Dan, or make a fool of herself. That was just embarrassing. The night had been going so well for her before that too.
“Yeah,” Liv replied forcing a smile on her face. “Totally fine. I just,” how was she supposed to explain this. She still didn’t even know if Dan was a dreamer. But then, as far as she knew Leon wasn’t a dreamer either and he sort of bought that she had visions - was a psychic. “You’re probably going to think I’m insane. But I get these visions sometimes. I’m sort of psychic.” As long as she had already made a fool of herself she might as well keep going for it.
Dan let out a breath of relief. Ah, there she was, back with him again. His shoulders relaxed and he let go of her arms and sat back in his seat. “Gave me a bit o’ a scare there, darlin’,” he tried to smile at her. See? He was fine. She was fine. We’re all fine here. The smile turned to a quizzical look when she said she was a psychic. That...was not something he expected, even from her.
“Well that’s not the weirdest thing I’ve ‘eard lately,” he muttered thoughtfully, then quickly added, “nah, darlin’, that donnea sound insane at all. Donnea forget, I’m Irish, we got an entire library full o’ weird legends an’ shite.”
But it did get him wondering though. Most of the people he met -- the ones that seemed to have become permanent fixtures in his life and not clients or one nighter’s -- all had one thing in common. “Liv,” he started carefully, “I’ma gonna ask you somethin’. Somethin’ that may sound really crazy, but d’ye know of a network -- a community, really - o’ people ‘oo ‘ave weird dreams?”
Now it was Liv’s turn to look relieved. The fact that she could possibly be a psychic didn’t seem to phase Dan much. In fact he had seemed more upset when she came back from her vision. Worried about her perhaps. And then he brought up the network. She wasn’t sure if that was a relief or not. It meant he might be more open to what she was, but it also probably meant that he had dreams himself. Liv wouldn’t wish that on anyone.
“Actually, I have heard of that network. I’m sort of on it.” She gave him a sheepish smile. “And by that question I’m assuming you are too?” Ahh, now that explained quite a lot. Kind of. Well, actually it didn’t explain anything. But it did seem to make sense that Liv’s personality changed at the drop of the hat if she was somehow associated with that damn network that could turn anyone’s life upside down at a moment’s notice. The psychic powers? Zoning in and out of visions? Yeah, the network kind of explained that too. Without, you know, actually explaining anything.
“Aye, darlin’,” Dan nodded. “I be on it too. Found the web address pinned t’ the cork board jus’ inside me bar. Y’know the one people usually stick their business cards and ads to? Found it there as I was cleanin’ it up one afternoon. Thought it curious enough t’ check out. Next thing I know I’m dreamin’ about shootin’ grinning monstrosities called Smiles and workin’ clandestine government contracts.”
He could use a cigarette about now.
“Ye sure yer alright?” He asked again, just to be sure she wasn’t trying to put on a brave face now that she knew he was in The Know. “What was yer vision about?”
Smiles? Why did that sound familiar? Oh, that crime scene tech had mentioned dreaming about the same thing. Garcian. Yeah, she wouldn’t forget that name. Or the guy really. Although Liv hadn’t run into him since. It did make sense though, that Dan shared dreams with someone else. Liv knew that was common. Hell, even she had shared dreams with her ex. She kept the fact that she knew of someone else who dreamed of Smiles to herself though. It wasn’t her place to go around sharing other’s dreams.
“Smiles seems like an odd name for monstrosities,” she commented instead. “What exactly do they do?” Garcian had mentioned they were terrorists or something, but Liv would rather hear about Dan’s dreams from Dan.
“Oh yeah I’m fine,” she assured him. “This kind of thing happens all the time. I’m surprised it’s the first time it’s happened in front of you.” Okay she wasn’t all that surprised. Something usually needed to trigger a vision, like the crime scene, a photography, or being in the same theater as the victim. Like just now. “It was of this girl getting shooed off stage during an audition. Here. I guess she wasn’t that good.” Liv shrugged it off trying to be as casual about the situation as possible. Although part of her was sad for what the woman experienced, not to mention she had basically just experienced it herself.
All the time? That sounded exhausting. Just walking into a place and Bam! vision time. The Dreams were enough. At least those happened while he was already sleeping. Granted he didn’t wake up feeling as though he’d slept, but at least he had them in the privacy of his own home and not out in public.
“Poor girl,” Dan frowned. Dan had never auditioned for anything, but he could sympathize with the humiliation of being up on a stage and being told you were not good enough right then and there. Traumatizing.
Dan glanced up towards the lobby doors. People were starting to make their way to their seats, all chatting and laughing and having themselves a pretty good time. He wouldn’t blame Liv if she decided she didn’t want to sit through the show after having a vision of being humiliated, but he also didn’t want to give her the idea that he was looking for an excuse to get out of there. After listening to her excitement in the car, he was kind of excited to see the show himself.
He didn’t mind sitting here with Liv, though. There wasn’t any kind of mad dash from the lobby to the theater proper, so he figured they had time to hang out where they were. He leaned back in his seat a little. “The Smiles…” he scrunched up his face a little trying to think of the best way to describe them. “They’re kinda human lookin’,” he started. “Walk aroun’ on two legs…most of’em anyway. They got a head, shoulders, arms an’ all that. No faces though, ‘cept for this one huge grinnin’ mouth,” he made a motion from ear to ear across his own face to indicate the sheer size of the Smiles’…smile. “They make this noise that sounds like a laugh. Maniacal crazy kind o’ laugh. An’ then they walk or run up t’ ye, hug ye an’ explode. It’s ‘appened t’ me a couple o’ time in the Dreams. Hurts. A lot. I’ve been pretty luck, though. I’ve seen them literally blow the bottom halves o’ people clean off.” Maybe the fact that Dan was already dead in the Dreams made him tougher than your average human.
Liv didn’t want to leave. She had been looking forward to tonight. Not only for the musical, but also for spending time with Dan. She wasn’t the type to let visions get in her way, or stop her from living her life. However, if she happened to have a vision that contained a clue to the murder than Liv would definitely rush off.
But that was enough about Liv and her dreams and visions. She was much more interested to hear about Dan. Liv wrinkled her nose as he spoke. No eyes or nose? Just a huge grin? That was some creepy shit. And they exploded? What kind of messed up killer was that? “Death by hugging,” Liv commented. “That’s new,” a pause. “But wait. Did you not blow up with them?” Because he said it happened multiple times. But then Garcian had also told her he resurrected the dead, so maybe that had happened to Dan? Either way she wanted to hear from him. As excited as she was for the performance, she was more interested in hearing more about Dan and his dreams.
Dan shook his head. ”I didnnea, no. I’m kind o’...special.” He’d talked about his Dreams with others before, but explaining just how weird they were never seemed to get any easier. “I’m kinda already dead,” he said and hope that didn’t bother her. Liv worked with the dead for a living, but it was one thing to examine a dead body. It was another thing to actually talk with someone who was technically dead. “I’m not a vampire or a ghost or anythin’ like that,” he went on. Everyone he talked to on the network automatically assumed he was vampire. It stood to reason considering the number of vampires on there, but Dan knew he wasn’t one. He harvested blood, yes. He even used it as a healing item, but he didn’t actually consume it. He still existed beyond death due to the will of another. “I’m more o’a…” he hesitated a moment, “persona.”
At first Liv wasn’t sure if he meant he was dead in the dreams only or also real life. But the way he talked about it, the look on his face like she was worried about what she would think, it all lead her to believe that he was in fact talking about both. Ironic, considering she was also dead. Or undead, if you wanted to be technical.
And then he went on to explain he wasn’t a ghost or vampire. Zombie? Was he a zombie? Just a different kind? It was almost too good to be true. Which of course meant it was. “Persona?” That was certainly new. Something she had never heard of before.
“Aye,” Dan nodded. “A persona. See, in these fucked up things, I was murdered by my boss and mentor. At sometime afterwards, I dunnea know ‘ow long, a man named Harmen Smith ressurrected me an’ I became a part o’ his organization known as the Smith Syndicate. I donnea know why or ‘ow he ressurected me. My Dreams ‘ave a lot o’ this supernatural stuff goin’ on in’em, but never really explains any o’ it. I mean, not yet. An’ I donnea know if they ever will. Like, fer example, there is a ‘ead o’ a girl that appears at evra location we go to an’ she tells these really fucked up stories. I think she’s a ghost, but I donnea actually know fer sure.
“But, back t’ the persona bit. It’s kinda ‘ard t’ explain, but if one o’ us goes to our target’s location, ‘e kin switch out wit’ any o’ the others at almost any point. It’s like we’re all a part o’ that ol’ man. Like we’re all jus’ ‘angin’ out in ‘is ‘ead or sommethin’.”
Liv’s eyes widened at his explanation. And she thought her dreams were complicated. At least she was her own person, well versions of herself really since she constantly had other personalities inside her. But still, she wasn’t a persona just hanging out of some guys head. She wasn’t even sure what to make of all that. “I’m sorry you’re dreams are so complicated.” Was all she could think of to say. “But I’m glad you’re not like dead dead. Even if that does make you a persona.”
It had been a terrible blow to Dan’s ego to learn that in the Dreams not only was he dead, but that he’d been murdered. Even more so was the fact that he was no longer autonomous. Oh, sure, he still had his attitude and would shoot off his mouth just as quickly as he always did, but being tied to that old man and to the others, not having his own life anymore, that had come as quite the shock and one Dan had not shaken easily.
He looked at Liv, a brow cocked. “Aye, lass, I am too. But I’m more glad that yer glad. Considerin’ ‘ow we met...well, I’m glad ye decided t’ give me another chance t’ ‘ang out with ye.”
Funny how Dan wasn’t entirely himself anymore just as Liv wasn’t entirely herself. Though she was a bit unclear on if that was only a dream thing or if it was both dreams and real life. For her it was both. Dan just didn’t know that yet. She would tell him, one day. Now just wasn’t the time to drop the zombie bomb. Especially with the doors about to close.
“Me too,” Liv agreed giving him a small smile. And she was glad. “Just no more lying,” she teased although she did mean it. “We should probably head in,” she added nodding at the house doors and the practically empty lobby now.