OOM: Dreams Darker than Wine

[withamagicword]

Billy tossed and turned in his bed. He was asleep, deep in dreaming, deep in nightmares.

Swirling skies revolved around darkness,

edges of blood and faces screaming,

moment of lucidity as he watched them die,

faces he knew

faces he loved

moments of darkness and pain...


...vision fresh from darkness:

grunting, pain, sharp burning, twisting hard and deep,

a knife to his throat,

darkness filling him like a tidal wave but not breaking over him and he just wanted to scream...

but even as he felt like he was about to...

he sank once more into nightmare and darkness...

Comments

[alwaysroomforhope]

In Milliways, Steph's left the bedroom window open, and it's cold in her room.

darkness and pain

She shifts in her sleep, mumbling.

[withamagicword]

Billy's sleep roils with the images, his mind submerged in nightmares and darkness.

blood and pain and nothing left...

[alwaysroomforhope]

"no," Steph whispers, twisting her face away. Images follow her, even into her own dreams; shapeless nightmare stuff twining around her brain. On the edge of waking, she shivers.

This isn't normal. Normal - her own dreams are ... unpleasant, always. But this is ... wrong.

[withamagicword]

Somewhere, elsewhere, a cry goes out, shuddering,

Billy tosses more, images flashing.

bent, victimized, beaten, a knife coming and blood and pain everywhere and...darkness. nothing but darkness.

Billy slumps into unconciousness.

[alwaysroomforhope]

And Steph sits bolt upright in bed, hand going to her temple. Then she's moving, and the blankets she flings off haven't even hit the ground when her suite's front door slams behind her.

The bar's mostly empty, and the Door opens to the Rock just like it should. The stony walls flicker past as she runs, bare-foot, down what seems like forever.

She doesn't know her way around the Rock, yet. But he needs her; she doesn't even think about which way to run, she just runs, and soon enough she's by his side.

"Billy? Wake up!"

[withamagicword]

An her voice is like a siren bell to him, and he surfaces suddenly awake, gasping air into a chest that had gone startlingly still, his eyes snapping open.

He sits there or a moment and looks at her, eyes slwoly coming alert.

"Steph? What-?"

He sees her fright and pulls her close.

"What's wrong?"

[alwaysroomforhope]

She clings for a second, and then cups his face with her hands and scans him for injuries. "You. You needed me. Are you okay?"

[withamagicword]

"What? I dont understand..."

He shivers a little.

"I'm okay. I was... I think I was dreaming... but, I cant remember it now. And nothing is going on here."

He blinks at her.

"You said I needed you... how did you know?"

[alwaysroomforhope]

Steph shakes her head, the tension going out of her frame. "I just knew. I think - I think I dreamed your dream." She closes her eyes briefly, and pulls him close again, wrapping her arms around him.

[withamagicword]

He shivers and holds her close.

"Damn... I am sorry, Steph... I thought... I thought I could keep you from seeing or feeling those."

He mutters it into ehr neck as he holds her tight.

"I didnt... I didnt want you to have to feel those too... I dont mind you knowing, but... experiencing them is bad enough when you know it is past..."

He breathes a little ragged and holds her tighter still.

"I'm sorry... sorry."

[alwaysroomforhope]

Steph shakes her head against his chest. "Don't apologise. It's not your fault. And if I hadn't seen them, I wouldn't be here. Is that bad?" She pulls back enough that he'll see her smile, and then leans in to kiss him gently. "I'm glad you're awake now, though."

[withamagicword]

He smiles shyly and kisses her back softly.

"You being here is never a bad thing."

He raises a hand tro gently stroke her face.

"I am sorry I scared you. But it is very good to see you... very good."

He leans in to kiss her again.

[alwaysroomforhope]

She melts, as she always does, at his touch. "Good to see you, too," she murmurs, between kisses, and then gives up on words. They take away too much kiss time.

::I can't stay. I have a Security shift in the morning. Come back with me?::

[withamagicword]

He smiles and increases his kisses for a moment.

::Always.::

He grins and unfolds from her... and for a moment he hesitates, then he shrugs and nods, seeming to reach a decision.

He slips out of the blankets, kissing her once more as he goes to grabs clothes, completely nude.

[alwaysroomforhope]

Well. She'd be lying if she said she expected that, but then, she'd be lying if she said she didn't appreciate it. She curls up on the bed, watching shamelessly, and wolf-whistles.

Definitely a good way to drive remnants of nightmare out of anyone's mind. Steph approves.

[withamagicword]

He grins at her, does a pirouette for her and vanishes into the bathroom. Moments later he is back and grinning. He is wearing shorts and a t-shirt now and he leans in for a kiss, before backing up.

"Got to transform before leaving the room."

he whispers the word.

"Shazam."

And the lightning rolls in and this time, as he transforms, for just a moment the Captain is just as nude as Billy was=, then he is clad in his uniform again.

he grins at her.

"You ready to go back?"

[alwaysroomforhope]

Steph looks rather appreciative.

"...whuh? Oh, right. Bar. Yes. Sure. We can go back. You shameless, shameless exhibitionist." She has to lean up to kiss him when he's Captain Marvel, but he still tastes like Billy.

[withamagicword]

He laughs, and kisses her back, billy laughter in a Captain's form.

"Me? Well... I love you, Steph... you have already been in my bed and my head. Even sex isnt that intimate, so what is a little skin?"

he shrugs and kisses her again.

"Come on... you have a much nicer bed back there..."

[alwaysroomforhope]

"Or a lot of skin," Steph says, with a slightly wicked grin of her own. "So ... does that mean we can go skinny-dipping now?"

She hops up and follows him towards the door.

[withamagicword]

He grins.

"If you want?"

He kisses her again as they walk towards the door.

[alwaysroomforhope]

She wraps her arms around him, standing on tip-toes to kiss him thoroughly. "Mmmmmm."

[withamagicword]

He grins and kisses her back, enfolding her in his arms and holding her tight.

::Hey you, cute babe of babes::

[alwaysroomforhope]

Steph clings to him, savouring his warmth and strength. And she can't help wondering how hard it is to get that costume off him, too.

::We should go back. We really should. Otherwise I'm going to have to use all my feminine wiles to get you back into whatever bed's closest.::

[withamagicword]

he blushes, very red.

Then he laughs.

"Hang on. Now that I know what room you are in..."

There is a blur then as he l;ifts her into his arms and moves

In a second they are at the door, then through it, and then at her door and he is slowly lowering her to the ground. He kisses her again.

"Door to Door servive..."

[alwaysroomforhope]

"That?" Steph says, slightly breathless, "was cool." She fumbles for the doorknob with one hand, hoping she's left it unlocked - yup, she has. And then they almost fall through the door, because Steph's not willing to break the kiss to walk, and there are some narrative traditions that must be observed.