by Christy Shorey and you

ARCHIVE: NOV. 25 edited for spelling and grammar

1683 words

"Teach, Lane and Meg are at it again," Candice protested, interrupting the scene being acted out. Dresden gave a sigh, and made his way between the students, and rapped on Lane's desk. When that didn't work, he gently pulled Meg's head away from his, ending the passionate lip-lock.

"Save it for between classes, or it'll affect your grade," he warned, and made Meg return to her own seat. She shot Dresden a dirty look, but obeyed.   As the students at the front of class resumed reading the next scene in Othello, Dresden went back to his desk. Spread out before him, tucked under his grade book, were his thoughts, scrawled and jumbled, trying to work through whether or not he should go back to work for Margot again. He knew what she was, and it bothered him that she seemed to carelessly use her power to advance in this world; to influence his own actions.

But she had come clean, and seemed to genuinely need his help. Unless that was a trick of her will again. But why would she ask for his help in the first place if it was something she could do herself. Unless she was just lazy, or used to bending others to her will, to have servants.

His thoughts went round and round as the classes went by, with him on autopilot, taking attendance and assigning roles, letting his kids spend the class reading scenes from Shakespeare. At the end of the day he gathered up his papers, and stood looking at his classroom. He enjoyed teaching, but when he had been researching he found excitement he thought he had lost. And it didn't hurt that Margot was beautiful.

He sighed, and headed to his car. He sat in the driver's seat, unsure of where to go. He wasn't ready to face Margot again so soon, if ever. He didn't want to go home - even though things were a bit better there, he felt confined to his room, if he wanted to feel safe. Then he remembered Guido's offer for him to come visit the shoe store which was, apparently, doing so well that Guido had had to hire four employees; three to work the floor with him, and one to manage the books and the HR concerns which Guido despised doing. Thought Dresden was certain his housemate double and triple checked the books each night, to make sure everything was on the up-and-up.

Dresden made his way across town to the strip-mall where Guido's store was, his mind still working away on his concerns as he drove. When he got to the shoe store, he was surprised to see a good number of shoppers in the store. The selection of shoes was wide, though it appeared that in many cases, with the more decorative shoes, Guido only had one pair. He used these primarily for window dressing, but women were asking after them, and trying them on. Occasionally one would find a pair that fit, and beaming make their way to the counter to buy them.

Dresden watched the shoppers for a while before Guido noticed him. His smaller housemate looked out of place in the store, a stocky man in the midst of primarily middle to upper class women. But when one of the customers approached him timidly, he was courteous, and managed to cinch the sale.

Guido made his way over to Dresden, and pointed to the main display of fancy shoes from real shows. Many women had stopped at the display, or were talking to each other about the shoes there. "Women love to look at them."

Dresden looked over at his housemate. "I'm glad?"

Guido nodded, then turned to look up at Dresden. "Customers come in to see them, then buy other shoes. Thanks."

The smaller man wandered off to help a customer, and Dresden shook his head, looking at his inheritance on display. "He seems a bit out of place, doesn't he?"

Dresden turned and found himself face to face with one of the customers. She was just a bit shorter than him, with laughter lighting her brown eyes. Her blond hair was highlighted with green streaks that she had braided back to clip behind her ears.

"Um, I guess," Dresden replied.

"I mean, the other salespeople are more like the ones you'd expect in a store like this. But him, he looks almost frightening here."

Dresden shrugged.

"You don't think so?"

"He's the owner, he founded the store."

"Really? Guido founded this place?" The girl turned to watch the subject of their conversation engaging another customer in a sales pitch.

Dresden blinked down at her. "You, uh, you know Guido then?"

"Humm? Oh, I saw his nametag. Even his name is sort of scary, don't you think?"

Dresden shifted from one foot to another. He cleared his throat, and ran a hand through his hair. "Well, I'm not...um, he's my roommate."

The girl with green in her hair turned blinked up at him. "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to offend you."

Dresden shook his head. "No, I, uh, just thought I'd mention it. Do, um, do you shop here often?" Dresden wished he could take the words back as soon as he said them. He realized they sounded stupid, like a desperate pick up line, and he could feel them hanging between them like an awkward weight.

The girl cocked her head to the side, then gave a small grin. "No. I only came in because there seemed to be so many people here. I figured I'd see what the fuss was about."

"Oh."

"I'm Lacey," she said extending her hand. "Nice to meet you."

Dresden shook her hand, and managed, "I'm Dresden." Her hand was so warm, it reminded him of the time he met Margot. He pulled his hand away, and quickly stamped down that memory.

"Are you okay?"

"Um, sorry. I - well. Long day at school, sorry."

"Oh, are you a student at the university? What major are you?"

Dresden blinked, and shook his head. "No, I'm a teacher. At the high school. English."

"Ah, okay." Lacey looked around the store. "He sure has a lot of customers."

"Yeah, I guess," Dresden said. "It's my first time coming here, so I didn't know what to expect."

Lacey nodded. Dresden looked at her, and wondered why she was still there, standing next to him. He didn't mind, she provided a welcome distraction, but he didn't know what to say next. Finally he ventured, "So, what do you do?"

Lacey turned back to him, and gave a smile. "Oh, I'm a pilot. I'm in town today, but will be flying to Denver tomorrow."

"Really? That's - that's amazing. Do you like it? How often do you get to fly?"

"It's okay, I guess. I'm on rotation for four days a week, but they are long days."

Dresden spent the next several minutes talking to Lacey about life as a pilot until she finally excused herself. As he watched her walk away, he realized he had sounded like an excited school kid at a career day expo. Before he could make any more the fool of himself, he decided to go home.

***

Logan lay curled up on the couch, George at his feet. When the door opened, he sat and watched Lacey walk in, humming to herself. She headed towards the kitchen, but when she saw him backtracked into the living room.

"You okay?" she asked.

Logan shrugged. "I called in sick today. I didn't know where you were, and I was afraid if I went in I'd just have more memories and freak out my co-workers. Or do something that would hurt one of them."

"Oh. Sorry. So, did you have any?"

Logan narrowed his eyes and looked at her. She met his eyes unwaveringly. He turned away from her, and finally relented to answer. "No."

"No?"

"No."

"Why? I didn't touch you this morning in your sleep or anything. Have you had days where you just didn't have them?"

Logan gave a sigh. "Not for a long time. And before I met you they were getting worse, more and more likely to have them."

"I wonder if after the last one, the big one, that your past yous have told you all that they could, so they aren't going to interfere anymore."

Logan turned and looked at Lacey, who was settling into the recliner. He watched her watching him, and said, "I was thinking the same thing. But I don't like it."

"Because you still don't know who the threat is?"

"Exactly."

"Well, maybe I can help."

How, by leaving me for the day, stranded and unsure if I'd have more memories? Logan thought bitterly. By leaving me to sort this out myself, and unable to get any more dreams because you walked off with the necklace without warning? What he said was, "How?"

Lacey held the necklace out to him with a smile. "I was collecting more subjects for you. I figure if your past selves were more worried now than ever, that the person you fear might be somewhere nearby. So I got as many local dreamers as I could today, probably well over a hundred. And I called work and told them I needed to take leave for a while, so I can help you analyze dreams once you collect them."

"Do I want to know what you told them at work to get you the time off?"

"Probably not. So, what do you say? Shall we get to work looking for this threat of yours?"

The knot in Logan's stomach, formed from a day of uncertainty, clenched as he realized he had to tell Lacey more about the memories that had been haunting him throughout life, throughout lives. That he would have to tell her about how it all began, if she was truly going to be able to help him. He took a deep breath, and managed a smile, though it didn't match Lacey's for enthusiasm. "Sure. Let's get started.