Who: Candy and Judy. What: Chatting. Not drinking. When: After Judy's dream. Where: Candy and Remy's apartment. Rating: PG-13 for talking about alcoholism and cussing. Status: Complete!
Judy was lying on her couch, still trying to make sense of things after the dreams. These few had scared her. Plain and simple. She could still see the girl lying in the middle of the road, even when her eyes were open. Fuck, she wanted a bloody Mary.
No, no. Maybe she could call her sponsor. But that would mean movement. Lying on the couch felt safe.
Candy had been in the shower. She saw her phone’s display lit up, and the missed call icon. Looking at the phone, she saw it was Judy who had called. Fuck. Any alcoholic trying to reach out was worrisome, but Judy was her friend. Towelling her hair, Candy dialed her friend, hoping she’d pick up.
She jumped as the phone rang in her hand. Peering at it, she relaxed when she saw it was Candy. “Hi. Bad time?” She didn’t necessarily want to talk about it all, but talking about nothing might help, even. Being distracted.
“Oh, no, I was in the shower. Are you okay?” Candy sounded worried.
It didn’t occur to her to lie, though she didn’t tell the entire truth. “Just had kind of a shock, and figured I should call somebody, cause a Bloody Mary sounds damn good.” Judy sighed.
“It was a little too real to just be a dream, right?” Candy smiled sadly. She’d hoped that Judy would have escaped them.
“Dream?” Judy echoed, sitting up. “You know about them, too?” Shit. She’d hoped someone so young wouldn’t have them. She sighed. “It was stupidly real, and scary as shit. Just wanted to hear someone else’s voice.”
“Remy and I both have them.” Candy looked over at her boyfriend, grinning when she saw he was playing WoW again. “Want to come over? I’ve got V8 and Tobasco, we can have virgins.”
“Yeah. Thanks. That’d be good.” Judy cracked her neck, wincing. “I just got home from Oliver’s place a few hours ago, and took a nap, and bam.”
“Don’t tell me about it now, wait until you get here. I’ll text you the address.” Candy couldn’t help but laugh. “You bitch.”
“What?” Judy laughed. She hadn’t even said it to be mean, just to explain her day.
“Remy and I are jealous is all.” Candy giggled.
“Maybe you should be.” Judy smirked, hanging up the phone. She did already feel a little better.
It didn’t take her long before she was standing at the door of the address Candy had texted her. She felt cold, so she’d wrapped herself in a sweater before heading out. She knocked at the door, hoping she didn’t look like hell despite all that happened.
The door was opened by a guy Judy vaguely recognized, and he smiled when he saw her. “You must be Judy. Name’s Remy.” Before she could react, he took her hand and kissed it, inviting her in. “Candy?” He called. “Your friend’s here.”
Candy came out in jeans and a t-shirt, long dark hair still damp. “Hey. Cajun, stop tryin’ to seduce my friends.” She hip bumped the guy before moving to hug Judy.
“Oh, I ain’t doin’ nothing of that kind,” Remy retorted, swatting Candy on the ass before going to make himself something to drink. “Just bein’ polite to a pretty woman.”
Judy laughed. “Wow, you’re a bigger bullshitter than Oliver.” But she got the feeling it was teasing, and he was damn cute. “It’s nice to meet you, Remy.”
“Seriously, Bright Eyes.” Candy tugged him down by the shirt to snog him quickly before motioning Judy into the kitchen so she could make them virgin Bloody Marys.
Remy smiled, kissing his girlfriend. “I got somewhere to be, so I ain’t gonna stay for girl talk.” He laughed. “I been called a bullshitter, but it works for me.”
“I bet it does.” He was cute as hell, just not her type. And frankly, his eyes were wild, but she was too well bred to mention that. She turned to Candy as Remy headed toward the bedroom. “I was right when I saw his picture, honey, you did real good.”
Candy smiled, looking down at her hands. Her cheeks went pink. “I”m going to marry him someday. Then we’ll have awesome kids who get into shitloads of trouble.” She handed Judy a glass of juice and Tobasco, taking a swig of her own. “You know, this doesn’t suck.”
“No, it doesn’t. These and virgin bellinis are usually my go-to. Had a good one when I was out with Oliver last night.” Judy sipped hers, trying to focus on the good stuff. “That man’s clearly pretty stupid over you, honey.”
“Oooh, virgin bellinis sound amazing.” Candy hopped up onto the counter, chuckling to herself. “You think so? It’s a good thing that goes both ways.”
“I really think so.” It didn’t take an idiot. Judy chuckled. “And it was good. Piccolo’s the name of the place, down toward the city. The food was good, though I got the shit embarrassed out of me.” She sighed, though she did grin. “Oliver helped fix it, though.”
“What happened?” Candy cocked her head to the side.
“When the waiter asked for our orders, he asked what my son wanted.” Even saying it again was embarrassing. “Oliver had the bright idea to flirt really obviously and freak ‘em out.” It helped.
“I hope you gave him a handjob under the table,” Candy glowered. It was the right thing to do.
“Thought about it.” Judy laughed. “But figured I’d save that for another time. We settled for looks and holding hands and all that. I might have gotten a feel.” She chuckled. “There was a photographer there. Oliver kissed me at one point and I saw a flashbulb.”
That made Candy grin. “Oliver’s a good man. He likes you, and he doesn’t care who knows.” It was no less than what Judy deserved.
Judy smiled. “You might be right.” She wasn’t going to lay some kind of claim on him, God knew, but he did seem to like her company. “But yeah, went back to his place, et cetera, et cetera.” Some details could stay private. “Thea came home in the morning, which was fun.” She wasn’t lying; it had been funny as hell, actually. “Then I went home and hung around. Took a nap and there were the dreams.”
“I think that you two most assuredly deserve each other.” Candy grinned and shook her head. “Trust me, Remy and I would normally be sulking that he was with someone, but we’re both glad it’s you.”
Judy smiled a little, looking down into her glass. “You two like to spice things up that way?” She teased a little. “Nah, I know you young people are more adventurous. I should probably try a few tricks, or Oliver will get bored.”
“I have no idea if I do or not. We never have. We talk a lot about it, but I doubt either of us would be totally okay with it.” She wrinkled her nose. “I’d be grumpy the whole time, I’m sure. But we like to pretend and harass Oliver.”
That was oddly cute. “He loves you.” Judy said, hearing Remy moving around in the other bedroom. “I think he’d pout.”
Remy appeared, dressed in a nicer shirt and wearing jeans and a hat. “I gotta run, so you feel free to girl talk all you want.” He winked at Judy, then gently pulled Candy over for a kiss. “Won’t be too late; promised I’d go see Logan about some stuff. I’ll keep my pants on.”
“Remember the rules, Bright Eyes, you shag Logan, I gotta be there.” She wrapped her arms around his neck, tiptoeing up for a kiss and sighing contentedly when she stole it. “Love you.”
When she returned to sit by Judy, she smiled broadly. “He’s adorable.”
Remy sighed. “You’re no fun.” But he smiled at Candy and waved before heading out.
Judy chuckled. “Who’s Logan? Another harassment target?” It was kind of sweet to see how well they fit together.
“Nah, guy from his dreams. They’re friends, and they’ve got crazy sexual chemistry.” Candy rolled her eyes indulgently.
“Oh, dear.” Judy laughed, polishing off her tomato juice. She did get serious, though. “You said earlier … you told me that both you and your man have the dreams. Do you dream the same things?”
She shook her head. “Nope, not by a long shot. But he dreams about people who’re here, people who’ve dreamed him.” It gave the whole thing a terrifying amount of truth.
Judy raised an eyebrow. “He dreams about people who are here? Really?” Jesus, that was scary all on its own, but what the hell did it mean for her dreams? She closed her eyes. “Could I maybe have another one, please?” Anything to distract her.
“Of course. Want a root beer?” Candy liked the kind that came in bottles. She didn’t want to even start with Judy on the light tricks she’d learned, the way she’d woken up just knowing how to use a sword. Remy’s sudden muscle mass. His eyes. It’d scare her.
“Yeah, actually. Thanks, honey.” Judy sighed. “I just … I dreamed that I was a drunk. I had a fight with somebody, and went wobbling out of the place. And then I hit a little girl.” Her tone was almost silent. “With the car. Just hit her, and then went on my merry way.”
“It’s not you. Not really. I’ve never killed anyone in my life, even though I dream it all the time.” Candy’s voice was quiet.
“But if your man’s have come true …” Judy left it unfinished.
“He’s met people from his dreams, but he’s yet to save the world or stab a guy.” Candy unscrewed a root beer, swigging it. “It’s like... they’re parallel universes. Close, but never touching. But mirrors.”
“What about you?” Judy still looked sobered. “Will you tell me what you dream about? And what the hell do you mean, save the world?” What did her boyfriend dream about?
“Oh, Remy dreams he’s a superhero.” Candy hopped up and went to her bedroom, returning with a worn book that looked distinctly waterlogged. “This is what I dream about.” The title of the book was Klepp’s Almanack, and it outlined a series of islands.
“What the hell is it with men and superhero dreams?” Judy blurted, but immediately changed the subject, hoping Candy wouldn’t have noticed. “What’s this? It’s nice.” An almanac of some kind, but none like she’d ever seen.
Candy blinked. “What do you mean?” She’d answer Judy’s question when hers was answered.
Shit. Judy sighed. “A guy I know apparently dreams of similar stuff.” She was aware that Candy would probably guess who she meant, but still. “Please don’t talk about it. Normally I’m not such a fuckin’ blabbermouth.” She didn’t want Oliver mad at her. It wasn’t something silly; it was important to him.
“I won’t tell Ollie, promise.” Candy hopped back up onto the counter and took another swig of her root beer. “That’s an almanac of the place I dream about. It showed up on my nightstand one night. There’s a picture of me in there, between the pages. From there.”
“Please don’t, he’d seriously be mad.” Judy flipped through the book until she found the picture. It was Candy, but a slightly younger looking Candy, with a … man? “That’s an interesting, uh, guy?”
“His name is Malingo, he’s a geshrat. They’re fish-like, but they don’t like to talk about it.” Candy’s hair was also shorter in the photo, she’d been running from assassins.
“They don’t like to talk about being like fish?” Judy chuckled. It seemed pretty self evident to her. She took the root beer Candy had offered her, popping it with her ring.
“They’d like to think they’re a little more evolved,” Candy grinned. “At least he did. He was also the first geshrat to do magic, so he’s pretty proud of himself. With good reason.” He’d taught her how to do a lot of it herself.
“Magic?” That stopped Judy, not quite sure what to think, between the crazy shit she’d seen and experienced in the last few days. “What do you mean, magic? Illusion type stuff?”
Candy shook her head. “Real magic. In my dreams, Malingo taught me.” She didn’t want to say that she could do it while she was awake, she was scared of Judy leaving.
“That is … insane.” Judy shook her head, sighing. “You know that, right? Completely insane.” And yet it was still happening.
“Except that when I woke up one day, I could do this.” Candy held up her hand, forming some of the light into the room into an orb that hovered over her hand. “I know. It’s ... trippy.”
Judy wasn’t going to freak out at her, but she did look for a long time at the ball of light. She was honestly more scared for herself, and said as much. “I don’t think you’re going to hurt me or whatever. Just … if your dreams come true. If your man’s come true.” Was she going to spiral off the wagon? Wind up committing murder? That scared her more than anything.
“That’s the thing. They came true in little ways. I’m not in a fantasy world. Remy isn’t fighting super villains. You’re still you, Judy.” She reached out to hug her friend, ball of light forgotten.
“I hope so.” Judy let Candy hug her, sighing. Honestly, the Oliver thing worried her most of all. She had a job and a nice thing going with a good man; she couldn’t guarantee the dreams wouldn’t fuck all of that up.