taxonomites | 021: You Can't Sleep Forever [Visual]

It was late in evening when DG returned to Taxon after three weeks of something far stranger than sleep. The moon that should have been shining above her was obscured by thick cloud and she stepped out of the deserted work shop into a wall of snow.

Pausing to pull her collar up against the bitter cold, DG wondered exactly how long she'd been gone. The last thing she remembered was the warmth of summer. There had been sunshine and clear skies and a party on the beach and ...

"Oh my god," she breathed, stopping dead in her tracks, "Glitch."

She remembered their last conversation. How could she forget it? The hamsters had given him the rest of his brain back. Not as part of one of their games, but as a gift that would last.

Instead of walking straight to the Northern Island as she'd intended, DG ducked into the relative - but still rather meagre - shelter of the nearest large building, pulling out her tablet with icy fingers. She was frequently impatient and her stasis hadn't changed that. She needed to know how he was now.

"Glitch? Glitch, it's DG. I'm ... I'm back." Back from wherever she'd actually been. "Please tell me you remember me?"

She didn't know how long that she'd been gone, only that it had been a long time. Months at the least. What had she missed? What had changed?

DG closed her eyes, pressing the palm of her free hand over her eyes in a gesture of understandable exasperation.

"You stopped being twisted a long time ago, flea bags," she added a moment later, addressing the hamsters, "This is just ridiculous."

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Although she had presumably been unable to use her magic effectively over the last three weeks, she didn't feel out of practice. The people who had been left in the city had carried on with their lives with a strange gap in their consciousness. DG, on the other hand, had gone straight from then to now. She had no memory of what had happened in the interim. Almost as if it hadn't happened.

"Yes," she said, with confidence. "... home is still where I left it, right?"

"Exactly there," Glitch said. "Exactly the same."

Only it has been so much colder and darker without her, thinking he'd spent all that time alone, convinced he'd missed any chance for...no. Those were thoughts for a time which didn't exist anymore and never should have in the first place. All just a dream, and now he was awake.

He placed his hands firmly on her hips and nodded, completely trusting her ability to get them home. "Ready when you are."

"Good." She paused, the faintest traces of a mischievous smile tugging at her lips. "But I'll have to check the bedrooms."

If she had been uncertain, his unwavering faith in her would have been more than enough to restore her confidence. She closed her eyes, putting her hands on his shoulders to keep him close.

"Here we go."

In response he could only laugh and close his eyes as well...

And then they were in his-- their room, which he'd taken to organizing. His general clutter was neatly stored, and DG's belongings...were where she'd left them, as if Glitch hadn't seen them, or they hadn't been there before.

"There," he said, his hands now moving. "Better?"

Although she did have her own room in the palace, DG spent - had spent? - so much time in Glitch's room that it had started to feel like hers. It had certainly started to fill up with her belongings.

She opened her eyes, looking around and letting out a half sigh of relief when she confirmed that it was just as she remembered.

"Much better."

"Good," Glitch said, nodding vaguely, staring in case they snatched her away again the moment he took his eyes off her, leaving him to just--

His nerves were shot, still, and the silence wasn't helping so he did what he always did and started talking. "Well it's...August, depsite the weather, and there's a thing going on because there's always a thing, you know how those aliens are with their things. I could get you a blanket and some tea, get a fire going, catch you up..."

She longed to promise that she wouldn't disappear again, but, at the same time, she knew that she couldn't. It was yet another decision that had been taken out of her hands. At least she was old enough to be aware of what was happening now. And wise enough to get angry about it.

"Just hold me, ok? That's all I need for now."

Glitch blinked, then nodded as all his frantic plans evaporated in favor of that simple request.

"I can manage that," he promised. It was all he needed too, to dispel the isolation the aliens had woven into his life while they'd taken her away. He kissed her brow and guided her toward the plush sofa, toed off his boots, and settled down, arms spread, with plenty of room for her to curl up with/beside/on him.

"See? Managed."

DG didn't waste time removing her own shoes. She joined Glitch on the sofa before he'd had a chance to settle down properly, pressing up against his chest and looping her arms tightly around him. When she finally stilled, she could feel the beating of his heart.

"Thank you," she mumbled, counting the steady rhythm and savouring how real it was. Although her hair tumbled across her face, she didn't want to let go in order to brush it back. "You're managing it well."

There was a deep breath and a long exhale to go with the heartbeat, and fingers gliding in her unruly hair to smooth it back. That was easy and familiar and comforting and he held onto her as if his life depended on it...which it sort of did, if the last few weeks were anything to go by.

"I am now," Glitch replied, voice breaking just a little. "When...it was so-- DG, I didn't know what to do."

It had been the worst sort of helplessness, like he hadn't felt since he'd been lost in the O.Z. for all those annuals.

She closed her eyes for a moment, simply savouring the contact and the steady rise and fall of his chest. When his voice cracked, however, she sat upright again, meeting his eyes with her own.

"I know," she whispered, soft and sorrowful. What could she say? She couldn't promise that it would be all right or come up with a perfect solution that would make it all work. All she could offer was the truth. "But I'll come back. I'll always come back. I don't care where they take me."

Edited 2011-09-23 21:32 (UTC)

021: You Can't Sleep Forever [Visual]

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