001 - A Passing Storm

[agroovyblue]

A dream without Charles is a rare thing, but she has his essence with him. She's stretched out on the lawn, his cat curled up next to her stomach and purring loudly. As she looks up in the sky, the clouds form the distinct shape of people she's known. The dark clouds are Charles' mother and step-father. Her own parents. Everyone she's always been afraid has ever wanted to hurt her or Erik. But then the skies lighten and she can see the good people, too. She can see the professors who all thought Charles was a little odd, but who recognized his brilliance, she can see the young man who always asks her for a cup of coffee when she picks up the newspaper. They're all there for her to see.

Soon, the clouds are changing into other people and things. She watches as a purple dragon chases a blue butterfly through the clouds. They slide in and out of the other clouds and she's sure she even hears the dragon roar, though she could be mistaken by that. She must be mistaken by that. She must also be mistaken when the dragon begins to look a lot more like Cain than any animal. She curls her hand a little in the kitten's fur when the dragon starts flying lower and lower and closer to her. Does he mean to eat her? Is that to be her punishment for abandoning him in favor of Charles? The clouds start to darken again and the wind begins to howl. Lightning cracks against the sky and her hand tightens even more.

And then, just like that, the dragon/Cain catches the butterfly and swishes away again. Her hand eases as the skies turn back to normal. When she finally lets go, she's shocked out of her reverie by the kitten pouncing on her stomach. Before she can do anything about it, the kitten runs off.

She gets up after a minute and follows in the direction of the kitten, calling after her. "Blueberry. Blueberry!" She's not sure what she'll do if the kitten's run off somewhere, especially since it's her fault for hurting the poor thing. Relief floods her when she sees the kitten sitting by the door as if she was just waiting for someone to let her in. She's licking down the spots of fur she can reach that are still sticking up from Raven's tight grip. It takes her a moment to realize that Blueberry is not alone.

"Oh, hello."

Comments

[agroovyblue]

Raven relaxes a little when she sees Blueberry curling up next to Charles. The last thing that she wants to do is lose the cat. Charles doesn't have a lot of friends and the little kitten is one of the few. "I'm fine," she says, not wanting to admit to the things that she's been seeing. She can't have been seeing what she thinks she has. It's just her imagination. "But I think there's a storm coming. We should probably get inside."

The hairs on the back of her neck are standing up and she shivers a little.

[abrokenking]

"Oh," It doesn't seem as if Charles is entirely convinced, however he doesn't question her. A small smile as he props the door open for Raven to lead the way inside, followed by the aptly named cat and then Charles himself. In an unconscious sort of nudge he leads the group of them toward the living room; the perspective far more normal than his own skewed memories. He flickers a small smile in her direction, grasping an afghan from the back of the couch and drawing into her personal space. He doesn't think to ask if she's cold, just recognizes the sensations-- or perhaps it was fear, he couldn't quite tell, but either way he presumes a blanket might help. Often in the radio shows if one was cold they could curl up in a blanket, and if in fear they often did the same.

"Your dream, it looks real."

[agroovyblue]

When she sees Charles grab the afghan, Raven takes her place on the couch and tugs Charles along with her. She takes the blanket from him and wraps it across both of them. Only then does she let herself try to decipher his statement. Your dream, he'd called it. Had he slipped into her dreams before? Maybe. But this feels so terribly real, it's hard to believe that it is a dream.

"What do you mean?" she asks, hoping he'll clarify.