[closed] and with the blue of sky, I hear singing crickets cry

[kagepuro]

WHO: Ayano Tateyama & Malik Ishtar
WHERE: Their nightmares! High School + Shadow Realm
WHEN: The night of October 10th.
WHAT: He assaulted her. She went to the police. They don't see each other. They don't speak to each other. Their relationship no longer exists, but the two are intrinsically tied. When they see each other in their nightmares, who's to say whether or not they're really even there?
WARNINGS: Creepy stuff?



[The dream repeats itself--the nightmare. Ayano gently rapts her knuckles against the walls of the hallway as she walks through, hundreds of faceless students lining the other wall, staring at her. At her eye. The bruise. It still stings. It never stopped stinging. The pain. The shame. The embarrassment that she buried so deeply under a sheepish smile. She let him wound her much more deeply than his fist could ever reach. He had made her victim--made her sideshow. Everyone stares at her. They whisper. They laugh. The point. Rude comments, pitiful comments, disgusting comments--every range are spoken in hushed venom.

She reaches the door. Detention hall. It cracks open like a broken safe. The room is empty. She takes careful steps forward, hanging her head in soft sadness as her eyes scan around the familiar sights. Where she hit the ground. The chair she tripped on. The desk she sat at and cried until the teacher returned to relieve her--not even bothering to ask what was wrong. Where Malik stood...Where Malik stood marks the end of the world--the room end like the edge of a cliff--continuing on into a foreboding void of darkness and emptiness. In the middle of it all, is a lone boy.

Ah. It's him. Malik. Naturally, she's dreaming about Malik. A symbol of fear, of her own stupidity and foolishness. What is he doing? Taunting her. Lurking. Gutting a pit into her stomach.]

Oh. [Her voice echoes out into the nothingness.]

I can't get away, huh...[Her voice carries on with such sadness.]

Comments

[godcards]

[ Malik's dreams are empty. Nightmares aren't unusual for him, but something like this is. It presents itself like a boundary between the two: dark like his nightmares, empty like his dreams, but edging somewhere into something else.

Ayano is here. He feels nothing. The tone of her voice is lost on him, and he's left staring blankly at her. She represents nothing, she pulls no guilt or even anger out of him. He's just there. She's just there.

Nothing. ]

Go away. [ His voice is dull and even, fitting the general theme of emptiness. ]

[kagepuro]

[She can't tell how long they're staring at each other for--it feels like forever.]

...You always tell me that. [Lowering herself, she takes a seat on the boundary between her world and his.]

I should've listened at some point, huh?

[godcards]

Nobody does. You're still not special.

[ This is the most in control he's felt, mostly because this whole situation feels unreal. He still stands there in the dark, and even if it can't be seen in the void, there's that sense that there's something else, something palpable. Lurking. Watching. Waiting. ]

You got what you deserved.

[kagepuro]

I did, didn't I?

I was...asking for it, I suppose. Literally. Ahah. [There's no laughter. She swings her feet. The space of this place seems unstable. Nothing really makes sense. She shouldn't be able to hang and swing her feet when she sits, but she does.]

Why do you think I deserved it, Malik?

What did I really do that was so bad?

[godcards]

I told you to leave me alone!

[ This comes suddenly, his emotions cresting at once. He's practically growling at her across this impossible space. No buildup like before, no attempts at control. He simply let go without any restraint. ]

Why is that so hard for you to understand?! I don't want to be your friend, I don't want your pity, I don't want you looking down at me because you think I need help!

[ He needs help. ]

I hate people like you! I don't want you near me, you got that?

[kagepuro]

[Ayano just smiles sadly, kicking her feet mindlessly. It's like she's seen this before.]

Yeah.

That's what you always say.

Nothing ever changes your mind, huh? Never thinking about things differently...

[godcards]

Because it's always the same thing - The same argument with the same people, over, and over.

[ His languid stance gets more rigid, and he starts to tremble. ]

Nothing ever changes, I don't have to do anything differently. I gave you a choice to leave me alone and you didn't take it, and now it's my fault. Tell me, why does the burden of changing fall onto me when I didn't do anything wrong? This never would have happened if not for you. Everything would have been fine without you, so no, I don't see why I have to do things any differently!

[kagepuro]

[There he is. The person from her nightmares. The one she's afraid of. Her hands ball into fists at her sides.]

I...am sorry, Malik.

I just wish...you wouldn't have hit me. [Closes her eyes.]

You're right, though. I shouldn't have gotten involved and provoked you. We could've just kept bickering like we were, I liked those parts...I was excited to see you that day, did you know that?

[godcards]

Fuck you, no you weren't. [ His words are dripping venom. The shadows give off the impression that they're contorting, even though nothing can be seen aside from inky blackness. Though some dark wisps snake across his ankles, making it look like his body briefly disappears - or becomes one with the darkness. ]

...Oh, it's that rival thing, isn't it? [ He's pacing, though he seems to get nowhere. ] So, what, you want to one-up me too, is that it? Is that why you were so excited? To be the hero in your own insipid little story?

[kagepuro]

[She keeps her eyes closed, frowning, it's as if she can see the way the shadows and space in this place shifts without even having to open her eyes. Maybe that's the nature of the dream.]

It was never about that. It was just about connecting to you. I wanted to ask you questions, and learn about you, and talk to you. I wanted to be able to be a person who could come to your defense.

[Lolls her head back as she starts to smile sadly.]

But that's all in the past now, isn't it? We could do this forever, argue forever...In this nothing world...

[godcards]

We're arguing because you just don't get it, you stupid girl!

[ The shadows keep shifting, consuming. ]

Anyone else with half a brain would take a hint and leave me alone. I keep telling you - I don't want connections, I don't want your questions or your stupid rivalry or to talk about whatever stupid thing you like! Why is that so hard for you to understand?!

[ Why is this so hard for him to let go ]