Something's not right [log]

[fallingdream]

It was late one midsummer night, less than an hour before midnight, when Song came skulking through the hallways of Rainbow's End, wearing nothing more than a nightgown so sheer that one could make out the purple panties underneath.

It wasn't far to the room shared by Amy and Jalen, which was where she stopped, tapping insistently on the door.

"Psst. Amy. Ammmmyyyy... You awake? Amy, I figured it out...."

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[shadowchaser]

Hearing a voice whispering her name in the dark was never a good sign, and it took Amy a few moments to realize she was hearing it outside of the dream she'd been having. Muttering under her breath, she fumbled for her glasses on the nightstand, trying not to turn on the light. Eli had fallen asleep on Jalen during his bedtime story, and they'd decided to let him stay for the night. Waking either of them wasn't an option. Amy slipped out of bed and headed through the next room, passing the crib where Lanie slept. The nightlight was just bright enough to get her to the door, and she tugged it open before making a face at Song.

"Whatsa matter? I was dreaming about Maleficent in a tutu. Sparkles and everything." Because how often did that happen?

[fallingdream]

Song was shifting restlessly from foot to foot, and did not stop when the door finally opened.

"Oh, so you can dream? That's interesting. Very interesting. See, I figured it out. I haven't been dreaming. It feels like I do, but I don't remember a single dream. Don't know why I didn't notice 'til now. Perception filter? Except that's Doctor Who..." This was all said quite rapidly, though she was careful at least to keep her voice down.

[shadowchaser]

"Of course I can- wait, what? You have to be dreaming, you'd go insane otherwise." Not that Song was sounding particularly sane at the moment, however. "Just 'cause you don't remember-"

Amy cast a glance back over her shoulder in the dimness; while she appreciated Song trying to stay quiet, this wasn't a conversation to be having here. She gave a tug at the hem of the long t-shirt she'd worn to bed that night (another of Jalen's she'd 'borrowed') and gestured for Song to back up before easing out of the room. The door shut with a soft click and she paused, as if waiting for either her husband or her son to wake and call for her. After a moment Amy sighed.

"Figure it out over tea?"

[fallingdream]

"Good idea."

With no more than that brisk agreement, Song swept off down the hall and assaulted the set of stairs with quiet vengeance, leaving it Amy's responsibility to catch up.

[shadowchaser]

Amy let out a snort and followed her downstairs, doing her best to be quick about it while not tripping and killing herself. Her ability to be a complete klutz still liked to surface at random moments. She reached the kitchen and went straight for the mugs, digging around for the pink one she'd just bought herself. Why pink, she couldn't say. It wasn't like she was that fond of it.

"...So not a single dream, huh? Not even the faintest speck of the most random thing ever? Like unicorns in overalls mopping the floor?" Where did she get these things?

[fallingdream]

As if it were planned, Song put the kettle on at the same time Amy fetched the mugs. Claiming her favorite spot at the island, she shook her head. "None! and I haven't gotten around to using magic. I said I would, but I've been working on other spells. I didn't even think about it." She traced sharp patterns on the countertop with her fingers.

[shadowchaser]

Amy set the mugs down in front of Song and went to grab the tea bags. Well, that was weird. "Maybe the dream thing's just stress?" Yeah, she had no clue.

"You want Raspberry too, or something else?" She tossed a couple onto the island anyway and began to hunt down her chocolate stash before Song could answer. "Like I said, everything's okay on my end, dreamwise. And the kids, obviously. I'm forever hovering, you know. Eli dreams a lot about Larkin these days. Mostly her tossing his bug toys out a window. Revenge for him stealing her toys, probably."

Coconut-covered chocolate fish in hand, she went back to the tea bags. "Which spells? And everybody gets caught up sometimes. Now if you go to use the magic and it doesn't work, then we've got a problem."

[fallingdream]

Song's answer to the question of tea was to pick up one of the wrapped raspberry teabags and balance it between her fintertips, studying it intently while she spoke.

"It doesn't feel natural, though. Like there's a big blank area asking 'where were you?' and 'why didn't you do this here?' if that makes any sense." But her tone had dropped in volume and clarity as it did when she became less sure about an argument.

[shadowchaser]

Raspberry it was, then. Amy went to lean against the counter by the stove, waiting for the kettle to finish. "No, it makes sense. All that fun stuff with our Shadows, remember? But we took care of that...doesn't mean it couldn't be something new, though. When do we actually get breaks?"

Not that they hadn't gotten a few before, but either they didn't last that long, or everyone got antsy waiting for the other shoe to drop.

[fallingdream]

"So this one time, Mabry said that maybe we're already in the Dreaming." It felt like a rather harsh subject change, but she had a point she was working too. "What if we are? I mean, we were. Not like that, but something sort of like that? Dreams within dreams, you know? I don't know."

[shadowchaser]

What.

It really was too late for a conversation like this. Amy rubbed at the bridge of her nose, frowning. Either she was missing something (likely) or Song just threw the subject change of the year at her.

"If I'm dreaming, when I wake up I'm gonna kill someone." She glanced over at the kettle, still frowning. Hurry up, damn it. "You should try your magic, see what happens. If anything."

[fallingdream]

"Yeah, I should probably have done that before I came to bother you, huh?" The smile that tugged on her lips was sheepish, and faded when her own gaze found it's way to the kettle. Water never heated fast enough.

[shadowchaser]

"It's okay." Amy grinned, tossing the candy on the island before darting over to muss Song's hair. She pulled away to clap as the kettle whistled. "Finally! Is it just me or does that take forever?"

She brought the kettle over and began filling the mugs, chewing on her lip for a second. "Y'know, I freaked Jale out the other day, just for fun. Asked him what he wanted to name our next kid." She snickered. "He spent all day following me around, just staring. Took me forever to convince him I was kidding. Well, sort of kidding. But." She put the kettle back on the stove and took a seat next to Song, unwrapping her tea bag.

[fallingdream]

Song mutilated the cute little packaging around the teabag while Amy poured, and just about pounced on her mug the moment it was full, leaning over it to watch the swirls of diluted color extend as she lowered in the teabag.

"Of course. You'd never let someone else name one. Even Jalen. You're like me with a stray cat." She intentionally took the wrong implication, raising her eyes at Amy above the cup she was hunching over.
"How many did you say you wanted? Six?"

[shadowchaser]

Amy snorted, dropping her tea bag into the mug, followed by a chocolate fish. Sugar cubes, what're those?

"You know what I mean. Though I guess that meaning could apply just as much." She smirked a bit, wiggling the bag by it's string.

"Four. Elijah, Elena, Isaiah, and...well, that'd be the one Jalen could name. Another girl, maybe. Twins could be nice." She'd told Jalen that last bit once, and had received a blank stare in return.

[fallingdream]

Song kept her eyes intently on her tea, tugging the string to bob the teabag up and down.

"You're crazy."

Whether that was a response to Amy's excessive use of candy or her desired number of children wasn't clear. Probably a little of both.

[shadowchaser]

"But you love me anyway." Amy took a hesitant sip of tea with the bag still in the cup before making a face. It wasn't the chocolate; the tea just needed to steep more. She set the mug back down and sighed a little. Peace and quiet, her second favorite thing in the world. Or third. Or maybe fifth, depending on what she was putting ahead of it.

"You know what's creepy? I kind of miss Lilith. God only knows why. Then again, I've been getting nostalgic over the weirdest things lately."