pishirogane: Art by: Sya (You wanted to see me?)
{白鐘 直斗} // Shirogane Naoto ([personal profile] pishirogane) wrote in [community profile] melodiesofeternity2018-06-11 04:09 pm

[Closed] Memories Border Nightmares

Who: Naoto Shirogane and Kanji Tatsumi
When: Evening after Dream Width Event
Where: B-02
What: Night falls; Kanji and Naoto discuss the Dream Width, Memory Nebulae, and... other things.
Warnings/Notes: Nothing really

Just saying 'it had been a long day' was the understatement of the week. From memories and new arrivals, it was exhausting, and for Naoto, she was looking at her iMog slate with some concern. There was an Asterisk here that she didn't remember receiving, but... that voice in the Dream Width said something concerning.

Sighing, and standing up from her bed, she quietly crept out of her own room and across the way. There, even in her pajamas, she knocked on the door and waited for an answer. Even if she wasn't sure about her situation, that could be put aside to check on how he was doing.
topgun_textiles: (pic#4596180)

[personal profile] topgun_textiles 2018-06-12 12:52 am (UTC)(link)
He'd had his restless nights, and this was just another of them. He'd seen so many memories, people's worst nightmares, and so many had seen one of his worst memories to boot. He wasn't sure how to feel short of rather numb and weary, but he had to wonder if it was a product of being out in the Dream Width. The TV world liked to suck out your energy, so maybe it was the same thing...

But his mind was wandering again. He shut off the iMog after staring at it for the umpteenth time today, having given up on apologizing for those who saw his memory and thanking the ones that pulled him out whenever he found himself trapped in elementary school with bloodied knuckles. Maybe he should talk to them in person? He'd feel more comfortable that way.

He'll do it tomorrow. He was tired. Kanji stood and stowed the iMog next to a sleeping Suzette, who was curled up in a hanging hand-woven basket filled with mog-sized pillows and a blanket. At the very least, she was a very sound sleeper. It meant he could have quiet evenings doing some cross-stitch or knitting, or when the mood took him even some drawing.

Kanji was just flipping to a blank page and reaching for his pencils when there was a knock on the door. Briefly he furrowed a brow, as he wagered he wasn't being loud enough to disturb anybody that'd ask him to keep it down, but... what was up?

"I'm still up. C'mon in." He rolled his shoulders to straighten up one of the sleeveless shirts he liked to sleep in. He had a guest, so why look sloppy?
topgun_textiles: (urk--)

[personal profile] topgun_textiles 2018-06-12 11:40 am (UTC)(link)
He figured it was Ren. Dude was weird in a good way, kept late hours sometimes and they had a few things to discuss. His stomach quickly twisted itself into a knot when that wasn't the case, and he turned back to his sketchbook to briefly hide his face.

I-it wasn't the first time Naoto'd come in here. Far from it. But those times he'd been prepared for them. Now he knew he wasn't getting any sleep what with the butterflies in the stomach.

"I-inter-? No, I'm- I'm just workin' on tiring my brain out," he managed to slap together. It was the truth. As he gathered up the sketchbook and twirled a pencil between his fingers, he stood and pushed out the desk chair he'd been occupying.

"Uh- please. M-make yourself at home." He offered the chair. Everything was with purpose when it came to her. He knew she kept late hours on account of her lifestyle, and quite frankly he wondered if she got enough sleep some nights, but nothing about the body language looked good.

...The pajamas were cute.

He bit the inside of his cheek to quiet the thought. "...You okay?"
Edited 2018-06-12 11:40 (UTC)
topgun_textiles: (To Ponder)

[personal profile] topgun_textiles 2018-06-12 11:39 pm (UTC)(link)
He casually tipped his chin up and away, fighting to play it cool. He could never, ever play it cool. But when she stared like that it was like something prodding at his soul, and if he wasn't careful, she would learn everything. That was not something he was ready for yet.

"Uhh, what? What? No, I'm- I'm okay. Just not sleepy." The easy answer. He gathered up the book and pencil and moved to take a seat on the bed.

But he'd only gotten that far before he visibly deflated, and to help put his thoughts in order, he put pencil to paper and just let his hand move basically on its own.

"And... thanks. Y'know, for pullin' me outta that memory. I've been workin' on thanking everybody that helped me out, but I dunno about just makin' a video about it on the network. I feel like it's too important NOT to do it in person. So... thank you." He supposed if she had questions about that day, well, he couldn't avoid any of it. He'd had enough time to process going through that horrible day again to be ready for that sort of thing.

"I told ya I was a really little kid."
topgun_textiles: ([Shades] Wary)

[personal profile] topgun_textiles 2018-06-13 01:04 am (UTC)(link)
He frowned, and his hand stopped as he shrugged and tried to play things off.

"Moving me to another classroom was the first thing they considered. Y'know. When I believed they wanted to help me. But then the whole 'building bonds with your classmates' thing, on top of the fact that the school was pretty small and could only hold so many kids at a time worked against me. I was stuck with those assholes for a whole year.

Some of 'em, like that kid I punched, I got to have class with for another year or two after. It sucked. But he was kinda scared'a me after that. Well... everybody was. I just started fighting and yellin' at people instead of following my parents' advice. I'd been at it for a few years right up until you showed up."

But that was the past. He needed to stop thinking of that awful time, especially now that he'd grown up a little.

"Anyways... That whole space-nobble thing was a real mess. I'm pretty pumped we got out of it okay. But from what I've overheard, like half the population of the Curti Center's gone off to get shitfaced."

He paused. Then he continued drawing, but peeked over the edge of his sketchbook at her.

"...Sometimes you can be hard to read, but I've grown to work out when something's really bothering ya, Naoto. Ya didn't just come in here ta check up on me." Either she experienced a horrible memory from her own past, of which he was sorry he couldn't pull her out, or... god knows what else.
topgun_textiles: ([Shades] What's up?)

[personal profile] topgun_textiles 2018-06-13 01:50 am (UTC)(link)
He shrugged, but couldn't help the small smirk. Always the copper... but at least they were doing it legally. What did they have to drive afterward, other than chocobos? He had to wonder if there was a penalty for Warking Under the Influence.

"...The iMog?" Because god knows they're always janky somehow with random usernames, codes, title blips and then that whole privacy filter removal. But that would be annoying, rather than concerning.

"Another glitch?"
topgun_textiles: (Wait.. y'sure?)

[personal profile] topgun_textiles 2018-06-13 02:18 am (UTC)(link)
He couldn't help squinting a bit in the low light to really let everything on the tablet come to focus. It was her Asterisk menu. Gunslinger, Magitek Knight, Summoner (ooh, he had to ask about that sometime)...

"Huh. Four jobs. I thought we could only hold three Asterisks, but..." There it was. He furrowed a brow as he noticed how strangely the Warlock Asterisk was placed.

"Ain't heard of that Job. Where'd you pick that one up?"
topgun_textiles: (urk--)

[personal profile] topgun_textiles 2018-06-13 03:59 am (UTC)(link)
That definitely didn't happen for him at all. The way it was placed with the other classes really didn't seem natural, as she'd put it. That only left why it's there in the first place. Was it something she could use? What was a Warlock in this world?

"I've heard from some people that they all went in like some sort've big group. Then you n' Futaba pulled me outta my memory... but how did it just give ya one'a those Asterisks?"

He scratched his head. "Didja try it out? Like, it's legit?"
topgun_textiles: (Feeling moody)

[personal profile] topgun_textiles 2018-06-13 03:00 pm (UTC)(link)
Someone who wasn't part of the memory spoke to them, and gave them an Asterisk. Something squirmed in his stomach as he thought of the woman who worked at the gas station, the one who wound up not being human. She'd caused everything with a simple trio of handshakes.

"S'fair. I wouldn't wanna touch it, neither. I mean, in all the books I read growin' up, it's always wizards n' sorcerers who could be good people. Warlocks were always bad news." So whoever she went into this nightmare with got an Asterisk too. He had to keep an ear open for any rumors about dark magic, about warlocks...

But he had to also look out for whoever was responsible for the nightmare and punch them in their stupid fucking face for doing this. He tossed the sketchbook aside, where a completed sketch lay, and he planted his hands against his knees. Always the slouchy one, this one.

"Is... 'that' happening here, then? Y'think someone's lookin' to screw with us and see what we do next?"
topgun_textiles: (pic#6451290)

[personal profile] topgun_textiles 2018-06-13 10:46 pm (UTC)(link)
His gaze hardened. 'End everything'... god damn it, that was happening again. Suzette had mentioned old heroes, and the network had been abuzz about strange occurrences about god knows what that he couldn't wrap his head around. He could only speak from experience, from facing off against an otherworldly thing that wanted to decide if humanity was worth preserving.

Whoever this was, was the same. Kanji was content in comparing the two of them. They'd infected the iMog with something and urged them to use it.

"Yeah, it... that stuff over the network from Futaba, sayin' stuff about drawings or whatever. I couldn't keep up, and..." He rubbed his eyes, his head hurting already from it.

"Nightmares. Just nightmares... and I can't sleep, and..." Damn it, he couldn't stifle it any more.
topgun_textiles: (Averted Gaze)

[personal profile] topgun_textiles 2018-06-14 05:11 am (UTC)(link)
Even if he couldn't hold it in, he felt so guilty. He was supposed to be the pillar or something, right? He couldn't trip up and talk about some dumb stuff that was going on in his head after everything happened, and... yyyyyet she'd be more angry than anything if he didn't talk about it.

Maybe he'll feel better.

"I... augh... I get nightmares about Izanami, about gettin' pulled in. But whatever, it's fine, it was scary shit and it sticks in the brain. I guess goin' back to a bad memory of mine and seein' others just rattled my head a bit." He ruffled his hair and looked away.

"B-but it ain't a big deal, y'know, just some sleepless nights! They didn't shove a shady-ass Job into my iMog."
topgun_textiles: (Denial)

[personal profile] topgun_textiles 2018-06-14 07:14 pm (UTC)(link)
He set his jaw and refused to lower his head. Yes, he always had the nightmares, but they had gotten worse lately. He wondered if he needed to brave going to the clinic and see if the Dream Width had left some sort of mark on his mind, but he always got cold feet standing outside the building. Can't always ask Okuyasu to punch him through the door...

"Maybe it's just me and my experience with cops and such, but I dunno how the Curti Center people might look at somethin' like a nightmare forcing an Asterisk on ya might go. Sounds wary, I guess, but there's too much we don't know about our hosts just yet. If it gets bad somehow, maybe Futaba can take a look at it and figure somethin' out. I think she's itching to pick at these tablets and learn more about it." Which meant she'd be without her iMog if something went wrong.

He was about to suggest that maybe he invite Futaba over so it's safest with all of them here in one spot, but his face flushed with the suggestion of her own.

"S-stay? H-here?" He cast a look over the bed. It was plenty big enough for her. He could always camp out on the floor. As off-guard as the suggestion caught him, it... it wasn't a half-bad idea to maybe have some company. He'd probably sleep better.

"Wh-why would I be opposed? Th-there's nothin' wrong with crashin' at a friend's place!"
topgun_textiles: (How should I put it...)

[personal profile] topgun_textiles 2018-06-15 10:56 pm (UTC)(link)
That... huh. What happens when you delete an Asterisk? He couldn't help but think of that Ninja job he had sitting in his iMog, neglected after so many failures to click. He'll just have to figure that out on his own and report back! Maybe it'd be super simple. That, and he strangely desired trying something really different. A guy like him as a Black Mage...

He was redder with the observation. True, maybe it was weird for people to share space without being a c-couple or whatever, but why should it be different from if two girls or two guys shared living quarters?

Kanji laughed. Just a bit, and it wasn't out of anything funny. If anything, he was laughing a bit at himself.

"I-I just didn't wanna come off like I was a coward, just 'cause I was havin' nightmares. Besides, it's- I mean, we could'a talked about the iMogs in the morning, but... h-here you are, bein' cool, but..."

He shrugged. "I-I can be here just the same, if all the shit you saw and went through freaked you out, too!"
topgun_textiles: (pic#3203249)

[personal profile] topgun_textiles 2018-06-16 12:00 am (UTC)(link)
That was pretty big of her. They'd had the same damn stick up their ass about taking everything on themselves. Sometimes it was just easier to fall back into it, as it was second nature. He guessed tonight was a night of just laying it all on the table and blowing off the steam of all the weird shit that happened.

This was the least he could do after pulling him out of that memory. And saving his life. And every other thing she'd done, when she didn't really need to, but wished to. Hell, that was one of the most fascinating things about her: Naoto doesn't do shit if she doesn't wish to. She'll set her foot down and get the ol' laser eyes about it.

That was why, as alarming as the Warlock Asterisk being forced into her iMog may be, he knew the figure in the nightmare had to try a hell of a lot harder to get the best of someone like her.

He nodded. He ought to set up a spot to sleep on the floor about now anyway.

"A'right. I'll be here."
topgun_textiles: (Denial)

[personal profile] topgun_textiles 2018-06-16 05:17 am (UTC)(link)
He was just stowing things away when she returned, the bed made and the extra spot on the floor set up and ready to roll. Rather than water for himself, he quickly finished the bottled tea he'd left half-finished on his work desk. Still cool from when he'd sneaked out and grabbed it an hour or so earlier, he realized with all the work he'd been doing that he needed to hydrate better.

Of course, he didn't stop his mouth from going dry when she came back. She was impossibly adorable in the pajamas, but he was touched to notice she'd brought a certain friend.

He nodded firm, jaw set as he fought to be professional, but there was a ghost of a smile right at the corners. "I'm- I'm glad ya really like it! He or she got a name yet?"
topgun_textiles: (Uh oh.)

[personal profile] topgun_textiles 2018-06-17 06:05 pm (UTC)(link)
He nodded, understanding. Swan made all sorts of sense, though now he wondered if he should have embroidered the Feather logo on a paw... nah. Nah, he needed squishy paw pads on it, and he was proud of the pads on that one.

Kanji exchanged a look between the makeshift spot and her, and immediately stood. "Whoa, whoa, no! I'm takin' the floor so y-you can have the bed."

What kind of host made a guest sleep on the floor!? It wasn't uncomfortable at all with the spare futon and quilting that he'd busied himself with in his first weeks, but that was beside the point!
topgun_textiles: (pic#4596522)

[personal profile] topgun_textiles 2018-06-17 09:29 pm (UTC)(link)
"Well, I ain't puttin' you on the floor! Ya won't change my mind on that."

Was this what was really happening? Because by her logic, either she takes the floor (which is totally not happening) and he stubbornly sticks to the floor, which leaves them both as dummies on the ground with a perfectly good bed unoccupied, or...

...Or something he wasn't super sure about.

He folded his arms and cast a glance over the bed. There was plenty room, but... but...
topgun_textiles: (pic#4245662)

[personal profile] topgun_textiles 2018-06-18 04:34 am (UTC)(link)
He'd guessed right. But as his stomach twisted into a knot, he was realizing that this was meeting both of their preferences: Comfort for her and keeping him off the floor. He just had to not be... him about it.

He agreed before that people opposed crap like men and women living together. Maybe that stretched to s-sleeping in the same bed, too.

With a small crack of his voice as he cleared his throat, he stooped and fetched the pillow off the floor, adding a second to the lone upon the bed.

"Pick... pick a side, then."
topgun_textiles: (Worried)

[personal profile] topgun_textiles 2018-06-18 05:10 am (UTC)(link)
"Left's all yours. I'll hit the lights if you're ready to crash."

He had a feeling, once the nerves passed, that having sought companionship would help. The nightmares typically had him sit upright with a start, thoughts slashing through the dark and grasping at anything that would prove that his mind was playing tricks on him again. But it'd happened... it really happened, and Izanagi-no-Okami thought he'd erased the memory of what had happened by granting them all life again.

Too bad he fucked up.

"Uh, hey... did you have nightmares about back then?"
topgun_textiles: (How should I put it...)

[personal profile] topgun_textiles 2018-06-19 03:36 am (UTC)(link)
The lights went out, and Kanji held his breath. This wasn't so bad. He'll be fine. He was fine. This was no big deal. This is just something he'd always wanted to... do? Maybe it was just him, but everything about the Secret Lab and how much she'd really been hurting really made him want to wrap her up in a burrito blanket. The fact that she'd been having nightmares hadn't helped the desire.

Kanji climbed in on the right, slipping under the covers and settling on his side.

"Sorry... I hope Swan helps a little."
topgun_textiles: (pic#4596180)

[personal profile] topgun_textiles 2018-06-19 11:07 pm (UTC)(link)
"And you need sleep more than anybody, right? A new case ain't hittin' the hay early."

Not to mention going to the ends of the earth, which had to be pretty quiet sometimes. Too quiet. But he wouldn't ask anything about that. Classified or whatever. But he had a feeling her Shadow talking of loneliness didn't just stretch to her colleagues at the local police station.

Hopefully, she could rest easy tonight. But something didn't feel right. Why'd he have so much room all of a sudden...?

What the-? He glanced over. "Oi. Scoot in, ya dork- I don't care if ya kick in your sleep or whatever."

Because clearly, that was why.
topgun_textiles: (Heh all right)

[personal profile] topgun_textiles 2018-06-20 04:49 am (UTC)(link)
"Me too. We'll kick this thing's ass, yeah?" It wouldn't be too much longer now. By current estimates, the next Friday would come in just a few weeks. He had to keep training up in his Asterisks... the campers that lost their lives would get their payback.

But with that set in stone and the ease on his mind from coming clean about, well, everything lately, Naoto had a funny way of catching him off guard.

Or maybe he needed the chuckle that softened the hard lines of his face. He had to imagine Naoto making like a starfish and claiming the entirety of the mattress in the name of all Shirogane and couldn't handle it. It had even left him feeling a little less nervous about being so damn close by.

"Damn, maybe-... ah, f-forget it. Jus' don't roll off the bed."
topgun_textiles: (*Keysmash*!!)

[personal profile] topgun_textiles 2018-06-20 03:01 pm (UTC)(link)
This was kinda nice actually. He'd never really done sleepovers before, and the whole tent situation back home just made him angry that everyone would just assume that it was gross and weird that he'd be there with 'em. Thinking on that sobered him up enough to stare at the wall, thinking briefly back at the memory he'd been forced to experience again in the Dream Width.

...It was really cool of Naoto to be okay with this. He always thought she was really cool, but-

He squeaked. God help him, that was definitely a squeak, and he was completely still. She said she didn't want to crowd him, right!? S-s-s-so, wh-wh-what was...!?

He was not gonna sleep with all the adrenaline in his system, and not when he felt like his heart was going to explode. But he shut his eyes and doubled down. Be a man. BE A FUCKING MAN, YOU STUPID PIECE OF SHIT!

"Wh-whadda you mean? Y-you're fine! Just- just get comfy, but lemme know if somethin' about the bed sucks and I'll-I'll fix it!"
topgun_textiles: (pic#4245662)

[personal profile] topgun_textiles 2018-06-21 01:28 pm (UTC)(link)
He spent every ounce of resolve to keep himself loose, rather than curling into a tight ball and making things stranger for her than they already were. He had zero problem with this, but he wished he wasn't so shy...!

But when he took a breath and turned his eyes to the sheets, fiddling with them between two fingers, he felt his heartrate slowing and the adrenaline not quite buzzing around so much in him. He needed to sleep and the adrenaline was doing the exact goddamn opposite.

"G-... g'night, Naoto." Was it weird that he wanted to do this again? If things got bad again, he realized what people meant when they talked about needing somebody, and... and if she needed somebody, y'know...?

He turned his head to bury his face in his pillow. He'll think about this another time. Until then, he needed to get his rattled ass to sleep.