by Christy Shorey and you

ARCHIVE: NOV. 4 edited for spelling and grammar

2879 words

Dresden couldn't believe his luck. Even though his day had started out terrible, it seemed to dramatically improve once he met Margot. He didn't dare return to school after the incident third period, especially after leaving the principal at the medical center without so much as a by your leave. But Margot seemed to really cheer him up.

He was skeptical of her offers at first, he admitted to himself. After all, why would an attractive woman like Margot, who was just worrying about her own first day on the job, go out of her way to help him? He new what kind of answer his little sister would give him, and he had to suppress the derisive comments that kept popping up in his mind on her behalf.   He knew his mother would take a different tone completely, and ask why he wasn't proposing to her already, since she surely must be a dream woman for putting up with his eccentricities, even if she had only known him for a few hours.

By the time he got home, he had two new pairs of shoes, bought at a discount shoe store at his insistence, he had submitted a resume for the position at the university English department, and he had exchanged phone numbers with Margot and had a promise that she would call the next day to see what had happened with his job. She was encouraging of him, saying she doubted he would be fired over the events of the morning, since really nothing could be blamed on him except for not returning to school, and he HAD taken a blow to the head, so going home early to recoup couldn't really be punished that severely.

"If things are worse than that, though, and you do lose your job, don't panic. I'll help in whatever way I can."

At first he was afraid to open up to her, but as the afternoon passed he found that she was genuinely interested in what he had to say. She was such a comforting presence; he had a hard time placing it. And her suggestions were always so wise; he could tell she was special, and that he was lucky to have met her.

Kyle, her roommate, proved to be a quiet boy who seemed content to follow along on their errands. When Dresden suggested they should take him back by the school, Margot pointed out that one day wouldn't make a difference for starting as a transfer student.

By the time their errands were done, Dresden was feeling better, and offered to drive them to their place, and then drive himself home. Margot had looked at him then, checking his eyes and pulse, and looking at the bump that had formed on the back of his head and declared that she just wouldn't have it.

When they got to the house, Dresden saw that at least two of his housemates were home. Trying to think of some excuse to not invite her in, he found Margot returning his car keys. "I trust you won't use these again today?"

"No, I promise."

She nodded, and gave one of her illuminating smiles. "Good. Well, I'll call you tomorrow then, and see how it goes with work. You will go in, right?"

"Yes."

"Good. I'll call from my break, they said the orientation should run until mid morning, then again after lunch. Talk to you then, Dresden."

Then she and Kyle had turned and walked away, chatting about what to have for dinner.

Dresden went in the house, closed the door behind him, and sank against it. He suddenly needed to catch his breath. Clutching his fingers around the bag from the shoe store with one of his pairs of shoes in it (he left the other pair in the trunk of his car to prevent both new pairs from being potentially discovered at once), he pushed himself away from the door and headed to his room. He didn't realize he was whistling until Guido poked his head out from the kitchen.

"Got new shoes?"

"Yeah, a friend bought them for me, to help me get a new job." Dresden said, moving past Guido.

"Loose your job?" He asked, arching an eyebrow.

"Not sure yet, but probably."

"You going to be able to pay rent?" Guido asked, leaning against the doorframe to the kitchen, then quickly moving away as the bandages on his back pressed against them.

"Should be, I put in a resume for a new job today. Hey, did you get another tattoo?" Dresden said, indicating the bandages.

Both Guido's eyebrows arched up in surprise. "A touch up. Feathers on my beautiful lady were fading."

"Oh, well good for you." Dresden said, and turned back and headed towards his room. He saw Raul stick his head out of the next room, a questioning look on his face. Dresden gave him a smile, "I met a girl," he explained, stepped into his room, and closed the door.

****

Margot didn't speak with Kyle until they got home. Given her current state she didn't trust herself to keep it together if he gave her an unreasonable answer. She knew that if she got mad, she would have to explain why to him, and it would take a while It was better to handle something like that in the privacy of their place. Kyle didn't mind the lack of conversation on the way home, and was content to hum to himself tunes he'd picked up from TV shows and commercials.

When they finally got to their place, Margot asked him to go to the kitchen. Kyle obeyed, and dutifully sat down at the kitchen table. Margot followed him into the room, and found him reading the note she had left earlier, his lips moving along silently as he made out the words.

He looked confused, and started to stand, "Should I still eat without you?" he said, looking at her.

"No, go ahead and sit down. We can go shopping in a little and eat together," Margot said with a sigh.

Kyle nodded, and sat down. He picked up the note, and put it down again, several times, finally settling for turning it over, so the contrary instructions were no longer facing him.

"Kyle, where did you go today?"

"I went to school. I told you that's where I met Dresden."

"Why did you go to school Kyle? You graduated high school last year."

Kyle looked at her, and blinked. He looked to the back of the sheet of paper, squinting his eyes, as if trying to find the answer on the blank page. Finally he looked back up at Margot meeting her eye, a habit that had taken a long time to ingrain in him, but had finally stuck. "I forgot."

"You forgot that you graduated?"   Kyle nodded. "So you went to school because you thought you were still in high school?" Kyle smiled, glad that Margot seemed to understand.

"Yes."

"Right. Fine." Margot said. "Well, you've graduated high school, you don't have to go back again, okay?"

"Okay."

"You'll remember that? You'll remember that you work with me?"

Kyle looked away, then back at her. "I'll try," he said, finally.

Margot gave another sigh. At least he was too stupid to lie to her. It exasperated her sometimes, but she knew that she could always trust the words out of his mouth.

A pain shot through Margot's stomach, and she realized just how tired she felt. She could feel it from her core down to her fingertips.

"Are you all right?" Kyle asked, coming around the table to her.

Margot thought, tried to remember, but the pain of a sudden headache stopped her. "Kyle, when was the last time we took a walk?"

For a split second Margot was afraid he was going to say "Just now." She felt terrible, her body was rebelling, and she knew she didn't have the effort to rephrase the question. But Kyle understood what she was asking.

"Two weeks ago? On the seventh, I think, around noon, because it was a late lunch that day."

Margot moaned. She had lost track of the days, had let too much time pass. "Get me to my room, please." She said, and felt his strong grasp around her waist quickly and gently.

"Do you want to go for a walk today, or should we go tomorrow?" Kyle said, his tone conversational, grating on Margot's nerves even as it soothed her.

"Tonight, but later. I don't want to ruin the furniture. And you'll need the blue leash, not the red one."

"Okay," Kyle said, laying Margot down on her bed, and unbuttoning her blouse and loosening her pants. He then turned and headed out of the room. "I'll come back later," he said and closed the doors behind him. As Margot slipped the clothes off she heard him walking away and saying to himself "I guess I am eating by my self after all." Then the pain of unprepared transformation washed over her, and all was black.

****

Lacey woke up from a familiar dream, and she kept her eyes closed to the day, trying to savor the feel of it. The mysterious man had returned to her dreams as she had hoped, though the sense of danger and romance that she always associated with him were a bit muted. Instead of wishing she hadn't woken up, because she knew the strength of the feelings from her dream would only fade in the light of day, and be mocked by the things that reality instead were emotions, she was left with a sense of hope. The mysterious man in her dream did not seem so impossible today, and she felt that perhaps he really did exist. And if her dreams were any indication of his counterpart in reality, than he was hoping desperately to meet her.

She picked out her clothes with the utmost care. She had learned from her dreams, from the intensity of feeling from the mystery man, that black was not a negative or cold color. It didn't indicate evil or distance, but rather had the capacity to hide and hold such gentle warmth that she couldn't put to words. It could coddle confusion and yearning, and provide comfort. Pushing aside the hangers full of brightly colored shirts, she settled for a rich gray turtleneck top, black pants, and her favorite black flats, with a bit of threadwork on the toe that provided a subtle hint of color in the flowers there.

Pulling her hair into a half-pony tail, she used the clip her mother had given her for her senior year homecoming dance; the last give she had been able to give her daughter. Lacey ignored the memories and emotions that usually welled up every time she looked at the clip by keeping her minds-eye focused on the prize. She was certain the man from her dreams was real. It was not merely hope that January's victim in the coffee incident was this man; her dreams had shown her that it was true.

She put on professional make-up, and had a hot chocolate and muffin for breakfast. Brushing her teeth, she ran through her morning. If she left soon, she could catch the bus with Lionel, and not the old woman, and while Lionel was chatty, he was less likely to comment on her outfit as out of place. Rocky accepted her whatever she wore, and she had a tee shirt she could throw on she had tucked away in a drawer in room two at the tattoo parlor. She had programmed the coffee-shop phone number into her cell phone with a new ring, so she would be able to answer as January's attorney when the manager called her. She would just tell Rocky that Jason called when the phone rang, and she would be able to leave, and pretty much free from the rest of the day.

She didn't know what would happen once she met the man who always wore black in her dreams, and that made her a little nervous. But she was excited at the same time. She knew, deep down, that once she met him things would change. He would need her, he did need her. He had told her so in her dreams, and if his real self didn't remember, she would find some way to remind him.

Taking a final look at herself, she gave a reassuring smile. This was what she had been waiting for. This WAS the sign. Grabbing her purse, she rushed out the door and down to catch the early bus.

****

Logan woke up late in the morning to his stomach growling. He blinked his eyes open, trying to remember what dream he had been viewing, then realized that the images dancing across his brain weren't a dream, rather the memory of the day before. He reached and touched the back of his head, found it was tender to the touch where he had hit the floor at the dry cleaners.

Rolling onto his side, he saw the pendant set in the nightstand, and remembered there was a dream that he had collected the day before that had been worthy of saving, but before he could think about reviewing it his stomach growled again. Realizing he hadn't eaten since a hasty breakfast the day before, he gave in.

Scooping the pendant off the nightstand, he put it on, and threw together a hasty outfit. The jeans were pre-torn in a fashion reminiscent of decades past, but if anyone had inspected them closely would notice that they were well cared for, and that no tear was a millimeter wider than it had been since it was purchased. The choice made Logan smile a little; he loved the irony of the pre-worn look. He found tee shirt and corduroy jacket to finish the look, and pulled out his pristine converse.

His wallet felt weird in his back pocket, but he knew it went with the look. Running water through his hair he managed to give it a semi-style before he simply could not deny his hunger any longer. Grabbing his keys from the hook by the door, he headed out.

He passed right by the newsstand where he normally stopped, with a promise to stop by later, after he had eaten. He could also go to the library while he was out. He would have to buy a note pad, he realized, since he forgot to bring one with him, but he could hardly be bothered with that now. As he entered the coffee shop, the clerk gave him a smile. "Premium blend?"

Logan shook his head, and gave a small smile. "I thought I'd try for something iced today - might be safer. You choose.   And two croissants, one plain one of the spinach filled ones."

The girl gave him a smile, and relayed his order to her co-workers. She promised with a smile to bring it out to him, and disappeared into an office in the back.

Logan sat down at a chair at the far end of the window bar from the door. Perhaps with less traffic he would stay clear of another accident. Plus, the corner seat gave afforded him the opportunity to reflect on the dream he had collected the day before. His food arrived, and he ate it absently as he tried to remember the details of the dream from the girl who had spilt coffee on him the day before.

The house was interesting, and jumped readily to his memory, but he knew there was something else. He had finished his food when he finally managed to recall the part with the papers, with the drawing of himself. The dreamer had felt a strong emotion about the picture, and about the person who had come to collect it. Logan closed his eyes, wishing he had better control over his own visual memories, that he could recall the details of the dream sessions as clearly as images from past lives appeared to him.

He just couldn't remember what the person looked like. He gave a sigh. He'd have to access it through the device in the nightstand, but he was still drained from yesterday's excursion. He cursed a little under his breath. He had a feeling that the dream had some urgency to it, and that if he waited until it was safe, he might loose the information he sought. He rubbed a hand over his closed eyes, and gave another sigh. There really was nothing he could do about it, and he gave one last effort to remember on his own.

Opening his eyes, he found that he could suddenly see the face of the person in his borrowed dream. A woman with blonde hair and green highlights with a determined look on her face. He blinked and was surprised to realize that the woman wasn't in the house from the dream, but rather walking up the street towards the coffee shop. She opened the door, and Logan saw the clerk pointing his way. The dream-woman gave a thank you. Then she was crossing the room towards him.