kore_logs | ( semi-closed ) sleep now in my arms

Galen proudly watches her get the trap open, impressed by how quickly she catches on. She's out of it in what seems like no time, and Galen puts his arm around her, ready to help her stand. He's proud, and it's clear on his face.

Until the footsteps, that is. His eyes dart towards the source, and he moves to get Kenzi standing, not wanting to see the nightmare version of this crazy-ass fae face-to-face. "Just a dream," he reassures her, eyes still squinting out into the dark. Maybe if he pushes, whatever it is won't actually make it over here until they're gone.

He glances back and forth, gives Kenzi's arm a squeeze before raising his free hand out in front of them, to the side like he's grabbing the edge of a curtain. Then - he can't help it - he grins a little at Kenzi. "Try not to be too impressed."

And with that, just as the heel-clicks start getting even louder, he appears to grip that invisible curtain and pull hard, arm flinging out to the side and an almost blinding amount of light coming with it. The entire dream follows suit, changes from dark to light around them, and Galen pitches forward a little from the effort, catches himself on something -- the arm of a couch.

When the light seems to adjust, their surroundings are much different from the cave: a well-lit, high-up apartment, large windows overlooking a sunny, big city on one end.

Ta-daa?

He's grinning? Seriously? How the hell can he grin when Inari is probably-- oh. What the actual fuck--

Okay, so the curtain trick and the light and the scenery change is a little concerning, but she's more concerned about Galen. Even though he catches himself on the couch, her arms wind around his waist in an effort to keep him upright-- .... wait. Couch?

This is very much not a cave at all.

"What was that? What did you just do? How did you just--" Kenzi sounds a little frantic, head whipping around to take in the new surroundings and try to figure out where the hell they are. It feels different here. It's hard to explain. When she's sure Inari didn't somehow follow them here, she turns back to Galen, "That... was ... awesome!"

Having Kenzi there to catch him makes his stomach flip a bit, and while she's freaking out a little, he straightens up, turns in her arms. It worked, and they're safe, and Galen is both proud of himself and relieved that Kenzi just took his little freak show really well.

Grinning, Galen puts his arms around her shoulders, glances around the room. It looks warm, feels like home, especially with the bright sky gleaming over Manhattan outside the window.

"Thanks," he says, then gives her a quick kiss. "Welcome to my apartment. It's no cave, but, y'know, I try."

It's honestly slightly less freaky than the usual stuff back home. She's used to it. Not this particular brand of freakshow, but weird shit in general. Bo ate a dude's face the first day they met and they've been friends ever since! This? This is nothing.

Kenzi laughs incredulously, holding him a little tighter. "Okay, smartass, cut the sass. You live here?" Well, obviously not HERE here. She's dreaming. Or he's dreaming? She can't even tell anymore. All she knows for sure is that this place is ridiculously nice... and she's just glad he hasn't seen her place. The clubhouse makes the cave look like a freaking palace by comparison. The whole 'hey, you're technically dating a pretty successful rock star' thing hits her and all that fear and abandonment she was feeling earlier is just replaced with hazy anxiety and inadequacy.

"Can... can we sit down? I kind of want to sit." Sitting would be awesome but she isn't so sure about the structural integrity of dream-furniture.

Whoa, hey, he can feel that, too. Galen steps back, around the arm of the couch, and drops down onto the cushions, bringing Kenzi with him. He won't comment on the feelings - it's already enough of a break in privacy that he's pushing her dream around in the first place - but he will kiss her again.

"You feel okay? That was pretty intense."

Oh good, sitting. On the couch. Just let her curl up against you, Galen, everything is a mess and-- Maybe she should be mildly traumatized more often! It gets her extra kisses. No complaints about that.

"Yeah. I'm fine. Just..." Tired? Can you be tired when you're asleep? Probably not. So much for that lie. "If you think that was intense, you should have seen what happens next." She clutches at his shirt in case something tries to take him away or she starts to wake up or whatever! She doesn't want to wake up now. It's nice here. "Guess this is what happens when you eat too much woodland creature before bed."

Galen puts an arm around her shoulders and lets her lean, trying to make this dream vision of his apartment as warm and comforting as possible.

"Hopefully you can remember what I said, if it happens again," he offers quietly. "That was -- in there, it was really like that? For three days?"

He doesn't want to upset her, but that's just fucked up.

Edited 2013-06-29 23:58 (UTC)

"Yeah. I dunno, maybe it was more than that... kinda hard to tell time in inky, dank, darkness. That's just how long she was gone for the second time." Bo doesn't even know for sure. No one could tell the freaking difference right away! It was right after she left that voice mail... because Bo still wasn't picking up. Whatever. It's over now.

"That was the first time I wasn't 100% sure that someone was gonna come get me." Kidnapped by a fury-crazed human? No probs. Bo was there in no time. Sucked into a mirror dimension with a crusty old lady bent on cooking and eating her? Psht, it's fine. Bo fought to get her the entire time. But replaced by a fae that looks just like you when none of your friends were giving you the time of day?

She sniffs, wiping at her eyes, "Just really sick of playing the victim all the time, you know? At least with you getting into trouble all the time, I get to look tough. Squishy." Ha.

Jesus. Galen reaches with his free hand to wipe at her cheeks, presses his forehead to hers. What the hell is wrong with her friends, to leave her like that, to not be able to tell when a fake Kenzi is right in front of their face? They're busy people, he knows that, but so is he, and he always makes time for the people he cares about.

"You're always tough," he corrects, nudging her a little. "Fuck what anyone says about you being human or whatever. Humans are pretty fuckin' awesome." It's true! Because he said so.

"We can... stay here for a while. If you want." There's just something nice about the thought of being alone somewhere familiar with Kenzi.

Guess it takes a human to defend a human. She hasn't heard anyone say humans are awesome in... forever. And she's not always tough, but Galen never makes a big deal out of it when she isn't. Even though he can Jesse can very easily and very blatantly see through her bullshit, they never call her out on it. It's one of the many reasons she loves them so damn much.

"Yeah. Definitely want. It's a really nice place." Another pang of that persistent insecurity, but she pushes it away. Once upon a time, she told Bo to fight for what makes her happy and it would be just plain stupid to not take her own advice. Galen loves her and Jesse loves her and it doesn't matter what happened to her in her past as long as they think she's good enough. And it's actually really nice to just pretend that this isn't a dream and they're out in the real world and everything is normal in a normal apartment with an extraordinary guy.

With their foreheads pressed together it's easy to kiss him again, slowly, softly, almost reverently. After everything they've been through in this shitty little cape town, how is he still around? How hasn't she screwed this up yet?

"Yeah?" It's nice to hear, even though he's feeling a little self-conscious about the fact that the place might look a little too decently-well-off-musician for her, as if that could change her mind about him being too nice to be a rockstar. Whatever, it's the dream version of his apartment. The real one is messier, anyway.

He's more concerned about Kenzi, anyway, and what she's feeling. He knows she's probably the most anxious of all of them, when it comes to their relationship, and Galen just wishes he could make her more comfortable, less afraid that he and Jesse will just leave or decide to go back to the way things were. This helps, though -- being together, pretending everything is normal, getting to show her how much he's come to love her, both through helping her escape her nightmare, and, well, this.

Galen savours the kiss, the hand around her shoulders coming to rest against the back of her head, and he stays steady, soft, nearly forgetting for a moment that he isn't at home, not worlds away from his friends and family --

The door a few feet to the side of the couch swings open, and Galen doesn't react in time for the tall, lanky, black-and-blue-haired dude who strides in to not see what's happening on the couch. Startled, Galen pulls back from Kenzi just as the door shuts again, and his mouth sort of stupidly hangs open as he stars up, past Kenzi, at the intruder. It's not often - read: never - that something unexpected happens in a dream he's made up himself.

The intruder, frowning deeply, pushes his sunglasses up onto his forehead with one hand, gesturing somewhat awkwardly at the two on the couch with the other. "Heeeeeey... dude, bad time? I can totally come back later."

"Uh -- yeah, kinda," Galen says, still looking surprised. He's gently trying to will Brad away, but he's not... going anywhere. "Um, Kenz, this is Brad. This... wasn't planned." He would never sabotage makeouts. "Brad, this is Kenzi. My... girlfriend."

Maybe dream Brad will just gloss over the absence of Jesse.

SERIOUSLY? REALLY? Just when this was about to get GOOD! What the hell could possibly get in the way of-- oh. That... hello, random dreamtruder. Welcome to what is no longer a hot and steamy dream courtesy of you. Thanks.

Kenzi can't help but glare a little until Galen gets to the introductions. Holy shit. "Brad as in the bff guitar player?" And then she scrunches her face up and SMACKS Galen in the arm! Unplanned or not, you dreamt up your bff in the middle of 'alone time'!? Not even calling her your girlfriend in front of someone gets you out of the arm-smacks, Galen! But it is a nice touch. Her stomach is now a bunch of fluttery butterflies. You should do that more often.

"Seriously?! This is what you think about during a post-traumatic makeout session? It was totally a sure thing and you had to go mess it up!" You big dork! But she's not really mad. Not entirely. Because this is kind of hilarious and really amusing and she'd rather have her way with him while he's awake anyway. Also slightly less fun while missing part of the whole set. You know, the absence, which, if it isn't glossed over, will give them a practice run of explaining this to people when they start to inevitably notice.

Ow! See, now he's just embarrassed, and Brad looks confused at the things Kenzi is saying. Once Galen pulls his eyes away from Kenzi and back to Brad, giving him a clear indication that he should go! Why is he here now? What could his subconscious possibly be trying to tell him by dropping Brad in right now -- not that Galen doesn't miss him a hell of a lot, but it's not the same in a dream, anyway.

"No, I -- shit doesn't just pop up on me like in normal dreams, I didn't --" he's only blushing because he's thinking about the fact that he'd probably be blushing right now. Fucking dreams. "Like it's ever not a sure thing!"

He's just gonna... look at Brad. And not Kenzi. "Brad, can you, like -- come back later? Or something?"

Brad looks a little put out, but raises both hands, steps towards the door. "Hey, bro, respecting your space, I dig it. Call me. Does... Jeeeee-yesse know?"

Fuck. Even though he's not guilty of anything, he still feels guilty. "Brad. Yeah. It's fine." Go!

Oh my god that is the most adorable thing. Blushing Galen! Awwwww! Okay, Kenzi can't not giggle at that, it's seriously really cute. She bounces up and down on the couch a few times before pinching his cheeks-- oh right, dreamfriend is still here.

"Oooooooh, he knows, alright. Totally knows. It's cool, calm your highlights." The sass is back! It's safe to say her mood has vastly improved by now. "He doesn't have to go. Dude can chill if he wants. When's the last time you saw him, anyway? Come on. Do the hangouts. Chop chop. I wanna see this." Here, look, she'll even make room on the couch by crawling onto Galen's lap. There. Sit down, guitarfriend. Check out the giant grin on her face.

"Not everyday you get to chill with a famous person." Dream-famous-person. Same diff. She turns to Galen, tapping him on the nose with her index finger, "You don't count." Because you're still too nice to be a rockstar.

Galen snorts, and looks up in time to see Brad back up instead of come to sit down. Even in dreams, apparently, Brad seems to know when to back off -- or, rather, Galen just knows him really well. He feels bad, of course, for pushing his best friend out of his dream, but he doesn't want to get used to the novelty of seeing projections of his friends that are nothing more than reflections of memory, and not the real thing. That's a pretty fucked up way to handle absence.

Brad just looks amused - not offended, or anything - as he moves to leave. "It's true, I'm the good looks and the draw of the band, not gonna lie," he says, fixing his collar. Then he points to the couch. "Which means this? Super special, kids, don't let me ruin your fun." Brad gives a semi-awkward thumbs up and reaches for the door handle.

"See you later, B," Galen sighs as Brad opens the door, but he's gone before he can even finish the sentence. Galen chews at his lip and looks at Kenzi, feeling a little off-kilter now after that little interruption. Good, but off-kilter.

"Not that I don't want you to meet him, but it's just -- kinda creepy, y'know, it's not really him." It'd be different if he could reach Brad's dreams from here, but he's certain he can't, and anyway, he knows that the real Brad is still shaken by what Galen did when he was infected. Having some dream-Brad pretend otherwise just feels wrong.

When the door closes and Brad's gone, Kenzi shifts a little until her head is resting against Galen's shoulder and she's curled up against him, still wearing the hoodie, much like she was in the cave. Only now her leg doesn't hurt and she can reach up to trace her fingers along Galen's jaw before resting her hand against his neck.

"Nah, I get it. It's not the same. Like how this isn't really your place and we aren't really sitting here like this and even touching you isn't actually real." They're in separate bedrooms. Sleeping. In some fucked up town full of cameras. And they'll never get out, but even if they do get out they'll be separated and she won't be able to find him or Jesse and nothing will ever be normal or safe or good.

But here they can pretend. She can imagine what it would be like for Galen to hang out with Bo and Dyson and Trick, they'd all love him. No doubt. She can pretend that out in the real world a girl like her could belong with a guy like him and not bring a bunch of fae bullshit close enough to hurt him or get him killed. It's nice here, she meant it.

"They're up to something with this, aren't they? The scientists. Not even you can control what you dream, that's gotta be kinda big. They're messing with our heads again. Not just drugs but like... maybe it is drugs. I dunno. What kind of drug messes with dreams?"

( semi-closed ) sleep now in my arms

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