ᴛᴡᴏ ✄ sweet things

[distorting]

[He's sitting cross-legged on a bed in a room that isn't very well lit. The only light that's coming in is from a nearby window, but even then, the dark seems to be crowding the room. Tate seems to stand out from the dark, his blond, messy hair being the only thing that really makes him stand out in the first place.

There is a long quiet that feels awkward and almost wrong as he slowly gets up from the bed to look around the room. He looks familiar enough with it, like he's been there for his whole life, but there's something in his eyes that suggests a longing for something more. It's like nostalgia had taken over him completely. He looks perplexed for a moment, staring down at the bed sheets before looking up abruptly, straight at a memory, or perhaps someone who's not supposed to be in his dream at all. ]

I'm sick of being here.

Comments

[distorting]

Well, that was then. This is now. I have no idea what the rules of life and death are here.

[He gives her a sympathetic smile.]

C'mon, Violet. It's okay.

[Even though he knew she deserved a 'normal' life and a 'normal' family, he couldn't give it to her. And it bothered him.]

[hasevolved]

[She's already familiar with some skewed "rules" from back home. Dead people walking around, some bloody and conniving, some just sad. Confused. Violet remembers all too well how overwhelmed she had felt when they all appeared to her at once. But, like he said... this was now.]

We'll find out. You and me.

[The hint of a smile is back, and her grip tightens around his hand.]

[distorting]

[He gives her hand a small squeeze, motioning towards the bed with his other hand.]

Wanna hang out and listen to music?

[Nothing like old times.]

[hasevolved]

[The corner of her mouth curls into a satisfied smirk, and she nods.]

Yeah.

[Though, instead of moving over and plopping down on the bed, she releases his hand and moves to her iPod.]

What do you want?

[distorting]

Kurt Cobain?

[It's an offer -- he'd be pleased to listen to anything she wanted.]

[hasevolved]

Should have known. [She bobs her head in a nod, and scrolls through her iPod until she finds "Come as You Are." After clicking "play," she goes to her bed, sitting on the edge and hugging her knee.]

"Come, as you are, as you were, as I want you to be..."

[She tilts her head, watching the iPod from where she sits, as if mesmerized.]

[distorting]

[He looks over at her, really looking at her. Her eyes, her lips, her nose, her neck. The way she held herself. Every bit of her fascinated him, but sometimes he knew that she was sad, and he didn't want her to be sad anymore. Sometimes he knew he could do something about it, and sometimes he knew he couldn't.]

Violet?

[hasevolved]

[Violet looks up, hair framing her face. The music continues in the background as shr looks back at him, eyebrow raised in question.]

Mm?

[distorting]

You're okay, right?

[hasevolved]

[Blink.]

Yeah, 'course. You're here.

[She pats the spot on the bed next to her. Poor, unknowing Violet. One day she'll have a different answer for you, Tate. But not yet. Right now, she's just happy to be away from everything, and to be with the guy who changed it all.]

You?

[distorting]

[He nods, sitting himself beside her comfortably. He hopes she never has to find out what happened to her.]

Just fine. Especially since I found out you're here with me.

[hasevolved]

[Time will have to pass, unfortunately. One day, she'll know. And then everything will change.]

We have to celebrate, then.

[She grins.] Game of cards?

[distorting]

Sure.

[He seems relaxed, happy, and all he had to do was dream up the pack of cards that they had used many times before. Sometimes this place came in handy.]

What did you have in mind?

[hasevolved]

[Violet sits cross-legged now, still grinning.]

You pick. It's your dream.

[distorting]

Yeah, but you come first.

[She always did.]

[hasevolved]

[Her lip curls in a smile.]

Oh, c'mon, I picked last time.

[distorting]

Not the last time we were here. And we were never here. So go ahead.

[He's making you come first no matter what, Violet. Take this advantage and run like the wind with it.]

[hasevolved]

[She raises an eyebrow, but concedes with a sigh.]

Okay, okay. Poker.

[distorting]

Poker it is.

[He starts to shuffle the deck rather lazily, but the cards don't scatter each time he does the bridge, so it just looks like he's been shuffling cards for a long time. And he has.]

[hasevolved]

[She crosses her ankles, eyes on the shuffling cards. It's so bizarre to think that they're here... really here... stuck in a dream, sitting and playing cards. When she wakes up, they'll probably do the same thing. It's a headache to think about.]

... I think I made a mistake.

[distorting]

[His head darts up from the cards, eyes locked on her as if she'd said something much stranger. The cards are left alone.]

What do you mean?

[hasevolved]

[Violet, in turn, doesn't look up.]

My mom.

["You were really brave," she had told Viviene, once. When they had kicked ass in that house. But, when her mom had been taken out by the police officers, shipped off to wherever... and that had just been the other day, right? Violet swallowed.]

The way she looked at me, I just-- I should have said something.

[Because her mom had been brave again. Not screaming at her daughter, the one whose lie had turned the tide.]

I should have told them what I really saw.

[distorting]

[He freezes for a moment, his breath catching, before he swallows and nods. He looks at her sympathetically, reaching a hand over to touch her arm with affection.]

Your mom's not here, Violet. It's okay.

[Even if he didn't believe a word he said.]

[hasevolved]

But it's not okay. [She doesn't draw away, but her tone is sharp, biting, angry with herself.] She's out there, back out in the real world, Tate. And it's not just gonna go away by going to sleep.

[Now, she lays her cards now, concentrating hard.]

[distorting]

What if the home time stops while we're here? Ever think of that?

[He's distracted, not having touched his cards -- he has to pay attention to her.]