in dreams

Who: Seph and Syn
When: nighttime
Where: dreeeeeeeeeams

When Seph opened his eyes, he was somewhere else. It wasn't the tunnels, it wasn't the beaches, it wasn't their cave, it was somewhere he didn't go very often. The house on the hill. He was laying on his back in the position he'd fallen asleep in, on the bare hardwood floor. Out the window on one side of him, he could see too-bright daylight, and on the other side, night. He sat up, frowning faintly. What was he doing here? This was his place, not their place, and he just kind of ... didn't come back here. There were too many doors. Too many doors that he didn't know where they led. Seph got to his feet and felt around for his sister in a questioning manner, wanting her bearings too.

Synnove was in the cave, on her side of the island. She was curled up on the couch in the living room, air cool on her skin, a light breeze drifting through the tunnels instead of the mouth of the cave, that opened up onto the beach. She hadn't been dozing so much as lying there, letting her mind drift. She felt her brother stir, and she pushed herself up a little, sending her own mental touch back towards him.

Just that she was there with him was reassuring. Seph started to walk, heading through the hallways and corridors that were unnecessary and didn't seem to even fit within the confines of the house if one looked at it from the outside. Nothing attacked him, he didn't see any shadow-men, but he knew they were imminent. As soon as he walked across the line that divided the island between his and her's ... it was on. This is getting tiresome, he thought to his sister, turning down another hallway. He needed the front, to head toward his sun.

She smiled, a faint sort of twitch to the corner of her mouth. Yes, it is. she agreed. Because it was. She wasn't happy about it by any stretch of the imagination. And while they didn't show up every single time? It was often. More than often enough to irritate them both, as well as cut into the time that they both held just a little on the sacred side. She drew in a breath, and stretched her arms over her head, cracking her back in the process. Then she sat up properly, and reached for the revolver on the table. It was old, a snub nosed one that had chipped pink and purple paint on it. Their mother's gun. Flicking her wrist to pop the chambers out, she eyed the ammunition, before she clicked them back into place. Then she stood, and headed for the mouth of the cave, hearing the waves outside crashing.

Conveniently, on his way out, there was a table with two pistols on it. It was both of those that Doc had given him one of, and he picked them up as he went and tucked them into his belt. As soon as he stopped looking for it, the front door was there, and Seph walked out, squinting against the light. He started down the grassy slope of the hill, angling back around toward Syn's side of things, though he didn't cross the line. Not yet. This shit really was fucking unacceptable. Dreams were their time, and they didn't get enough of it anywhere else. He was disgruntled. But it had been long enough that the vicious fun of killing the motherfuckers all night had sort of worn off. Now it was just aggravating.

Syn strolled up the beach, eyes out on the water, how it was reflecting her mood better than her calm demeanor. She was Displeased by all of this. And the ocean kicking up a shit fit articulated that even as she seemed impassive, uneffected. She could see where the night on her side turned to day on his, where the water changed colors from near black to red. A clear line through reality, or what passed for reality in their world. It was easiest to deal with them this way, out in the open where they had clear line of sight to fire. In the labyrinth below, it was a lot more difficult, the lines were so fuzzy down there in the first place, and so neither of them could even fully tell when they were trodding on each other's territory. But up here...it was very clear. Clear, and it gave them more than enough room to peg them off.

Seph climbed over some rocks on his side of things, sneakers hitting sand before trudging through it. It was hot over on his side, the radiating warmth from the turned-up sun and the heat that came off of the ocean of blood that ate up his shoreline combined would've made him sweat if he was actually physically in such a place. As it was, it only happened when he thought about it. Like now. He could see how tumultuous his sister's water was, which was rather unusual. More common these days, but still. Usually his side was the wild one. In any case, he knew why, and he walked along the beach and watched her walking as well until he stopped at their invisible border. Fancy meeting you here, he thought to her with a tiny smirk. It was an attempt, at least.

She stopped when he did, just on her side. She thumbed the hammer back on the revolver, it held loosely in her hand. She gave him the hint of a smile in return. Such a fortuitous happenstance. she thought in return, edging slightly closer, but not over the line yet. They'd be ready when they were, and until then she was holding the line. Then they'd move. When they did it would be together, when they were both ready for it, whatever was coming.

He chuckled internally, blew her a kiss with one hand, and drew the pistols out of his belt. They would come in waves, and they would make the most of the time in between, but there were a hell of a lot more of them on this side than there were on the others, even with the seeming constant stream out of the mirrors. They were bound by no such limitations here. On three? he asked, intending to just hop over the line and start picking them off on her side. He preferred to take the ones in the dark and give her those exposed as hell by his sunlight.

On three. She agreed, giving him a soft little smile, an expression that didn't appear in the real world that often, but tended to show up here on a much more regular basis. It didn't necessarily fit their current circumstances, how they were just about to open fire on things that would probably be showing up. As much as they could be hunters in the real world, here they'd definitely become them. That and the hunted. When he stepped to her side, they were after him, when she went to his, they were after her. That was the main saving grace. They tended to only gun for one of them at a time. She held her hand out towards him.

With a little smile back, Seph took her hand and crossed the border between their interconnecting dreams. The temperature drop felt pretty good. They usually had a handful of moments before the fuckers really started showing up, so he took that opportunity to hook an arm around her waist and pull her in to him to kiss her. Come hell or high water, he was going to at least enjoy their private sanctuary a little bit while they could. He flooded her mentally with love and nipped at her bottom lip before pulling back to be alert again, eyes scanning her beach for darker shadows.

She kissed him back, left arm loosely up around his neck before he pulled back, and her own firearm was up, as she shifted enough to look behind him, watching the sunny beach and bloody water. They'd know in a moment. Of course, the longer they were delinquent on each other's side, the more chance they had of getting ambushed. Well, at least here the revolver didn't run out of bullets. Her hand was still up on his shoulder, thumb lightly grazing back and forth as she continued to scan their surroundings, watching his back as he watched hers.

When the first few came around the bend, Seph stiffened up a touch. It was apparently not a night they'd get to rest. They came towards him with that creepy rapid-floaty speed, shadowy 'arms' out and ready to claw his face off for intruding where he quote-unquote didn't belong. They could suck a dick and die, because if he belonged anywhere, it was there with Syn. He lifted both pistols and picked off three with pinpoint accuracy, making them flail and dissipate before they got any kind of close. No luck tonight, big sister.

After firing two shots at the one she saw coming up from the water on his side, she internally sighed. Apparently not. she agreed. She ticked her blue eyes up to their match in his, and tugged him down for one more kiss before she moved, shifting down to one knee as she fired around him again, other hand up to help steady the gun, as well as giving him clear shots for whatever rose up behind her. Another was coming in from the direction of the house, and she pegged a shot, watching the shadows bleed upwards. She'd only winged it though, another shot had to be fired to take it down entirely.

Seph took care of that, their connection running even deeper in this place. He saw that she saw that the bullet just clipped one and moved unerringly to aim and fire. It hit just a couple of seconds after her's and the thing was taken care of. It was even easier to move as one here, directly in their blended minds. He stayed standing, feet spread a bit apart, arms stretched out for the recoil. They were coming a bit faster now, and some in the back of the group coming from her side got a bit farther as he took down the three in front of them. At least they died easy, even here. Or were picked off easy, anyway, there seemed to be a never-ending supply of them.

Syn fired in rapid succession, letting them get slightly closer, so that the bullets were hitting through ones and wounding others on it's way through. As much as target practice was nice, she'd gotten more than enough of it during the attack in the first place. She didn't really need anymore, and all she really wanted to do was spend time with Seph. Rounding, she fired a shot to compliment one of his, taking down a shadow just behind one he'd just dropped, so they both fell at once.

It went on that way for a while, the shadow-men gaining just tiny bits of ground here and there, but not really putting them in any real danger. They'd done this enough times by now. The flow started to slow down and eventually Seph crooked one elbow, pointing the pistol skyward as he squinted into Syn's shadowy side of the island. They came in waves, seeming to give up for a while to regroup. Clear on this side, he informed his twin.

Syn scanned for a few moments longer, before she fired off another three rounds. Clear. she said, giving it a minute longer before she declared it. Then she reached up, snagging Seph's wrist, and she pulled him down to the sand with her. This got old fast. She didn't know how long a reprieve they'd get, either. Sometimes it was a long time. Sometimes it wasn't.

He obeyed her tugging, plopping down next to her and setting his guns aside. He leaned back on one hand and rubbed at his eye with the other, heaving a sigh. He wondered if this was going to be a constant for-the-rest-of-their-lives thing, and didn't really see how it wouldn't be. He didn't think there was anything they could permanently do about this shit, given that they were more or less in the Shroud Eaters' realm. They just happened to get noticed like hell now.

Syn moved in behind him, reaching up to start rubbing his shoulders. She kissed the back of his neck, just a light little contact. One of these nights, we're going to have to work out if we can set traps for them. she mused, picking out his feelings without him articulating them fully. She was just as weary of them as he was, and she really hated the idea of them having to deal with this for the duration. However, she too didn't have much hope that there was a cure. They were here now, that was it. They'd have to deal. Their private place was invaded now and then. And sure, they could sit on their respective sides, but that wasn't how this worked. Or it wasn't how they wanted it to.

We could probably figure something out, he agreed, letting his eyes slip closed and giving an actual physical grunt of 'oo that feels good' over his thoughts. Just sitting at the borders of their dreamland wasn't really an option to him at all. The whole point of this place was to bring them together in ways that they couldn't in the waking world. The whole thing was pure intimacy on so many levels, and he needed it. They both did. They were closer now than they'd ever been in their lives, and a bit part of it was this. It pissed him off that it'd been tainted, but in a dull way because there was nothing to be done to fix it. He'd thought about asking her if Billy could do something, but if what he understood about these things was right ... Billy would be just as much a target here as they were. More, maybe.

We'll...try to think of something here eventually. Syn thought, smiling at the sound he made, and she continued down his back. I don't especially want to continue to be at the mercy of these things, they're irritating. They don't belong here. So, uninvited guests aren't entitled to hospitality. They were entitled to getting shot a lot, though. She just wanted something to hold them off. Even if it gave them a little more time together without interruption and the need for violence, or for them to stay on their own sides of the line.

Part of his mind darted back to the one dreamwalker who'd ever came into their world uninvited, and what had happened to her. Funny how he didn't really think about that much. What he'd done had been extremely natural to do, and it didn't really bother him. He wan't sure if that was part of his own madness or if it had been passed down from their mother. It didn't really matter in the end. In the meantime he just sat there and enjoyed his twin's hands on his back, giving a non-verbal sort of agreement again that they would make a plan eventually. Just not at the moment. They were doing well holding them off as it stood, despite the pain in the ass.

She kept working on untensing him, working slowly up and down his back, then spreading out farther from there. Eventually, he seemed a little less tense to her, enough that she slid in closer and hugged her arms around him from behind. Resting her cheek in against the back of his shoulder and neck, she drew in a deep breath, and let it out slowly. She shut her eyes just for a few moments, knowing she couldn't for long, considering they could be getting ambushed at any time. But he'd keep watch for those moments.

He did just that, his eyes opening as her's closed. He felt her breathing against his back and relaxed even more. Still alert, just less tense. He hooked one hand over her arms at his front and just sat there for a moment, enjoying the closeness. It was just too bad they had to fight for it here. Kind of like outside, only in a different way. After a little while he shifted, kind of reaching around and tugging at her, intending to pull her into his lap so he could hold on to her too. They still had to watch, but he wanted to be close.

She didn't fight him in it, moving around to do just that. It let her watch his back, as he watched hers, if she faced him, which she did, arms going up around his neck again. She tugged her fingers through his hair, and rested her forehead against his for a few heartbeats, before she drew in a deep breath, letting it out in a sigh. Her eyes opened up to scan again, ticking along the sunshine on his part of the island. They were in fact, easy to spot there. They had a little time yet, though, since they didn't appear to be sending in the second wave just now.

Seph curled his arms around her, one hand sliding up and down her back slowly, doing his own intermittent scans. It was bullshit, it really really was. But at least sometimes it didn't happen at all, and there were the in-between times. He got high enough on her back to run his own fingers through her hair and tugged lightly. He closed his eyes for another brief moment before they opened to look again. Paranoia wasn't very relaxing, that was for damn sure. He moved his head slightly to plant a kiss at the corner of her mouth.

Syn nuzzled at his cheek after the kiss, eyes still on their surroundings. On the horizon of sand on his side, where there should have been little heat-wave lines rising up from the surface, but because there wasn't any true heat, there wasn't. She watched the red sink into the sand as waves receded back from the shore, then how it filled back in, an ever flowing and ebbing wash of blood. It was steady, soothing. Not like the water on her side, which still churned, sending the occasional cool spray of water onto the both of them. She could feel it on her back, her shoulder. A little reprieve, but they always had to keep up the paranoia. That was what hurt the most about this. It had been the only place where they could both truly relax. Where they didn't have to worry about anything, which included all the things they knew went bump in the night. But now...it happened more often here than it did there.

He wished that he could lay down with her. Snuggle her properly, rub her all over and play with her hair so she could relax. He subconsciously agreed that now, outside of their brains was the calmer place, which was just heartbreaking. When the Shroud Eaters didn't show up, it was wonderful, but there still wasn't ever any complete relaxing. Something dark moved against the lighter darkness on Syn's side of the island, up near the rocks, and Seph perked, head coming up to watch. He didn't hallucinate here, but sometimes it was hard to get his mindset out of second-guessing the things he saw. It moved again, and there was another behind it, and it was confirmed that he was seeing right. Got company, he said, patting Syn and reaching for his guns.

Syn reached over for her own, watching the horizon on his side, and she brought the revolver up, shifting so she wasn't blocking his view at all, and he wasn't blocking hers, as the second wave hit. She fired slow at first, since they were distant. So she took her time, aimed precisely, took them down in one shot at a time, but there were quite a few there to do it with. The numbers were always different too. Sometimes there were only one or two, sometimes she was winded by the time they pegged off the last of them. There was no pattern to follow, which bothered her deep down.

What would've been a deafening proximity in the real world hardly bothered him here at all. He followed her lead and picked them off while they were still far away. They were a bit harder to see on her side of the island, but he managed. It became a rhythm in his arm, a zen sort of meditation. Spot, aim, fire, spot, aim, fire. Second nature, something he could do in his sleep. Metaphorically speaking, of course. Keeping them at bay wasn't too hard when they didn't swarm like crazy as they sometimes did, and they seemed to have been blessed by a medium-sort of flow at the moment.

Syn did much the same as her brother, in the same sort of frame of mind, though she couldn't tell if it was borrowed from his, or if it was there between the both of them. She was steady, taking them down one at a time. It was machinelike. Precise. Even. And when she'd stopped firing for over a minute, she finally declared it clear again, though it was less a spoken word and more a feeling shared.

Seph put the warm metal back down on the sand and hugged his sister in close and fierce for a moment. It almost didn't do them any damn good to sleep anymore, for fuck's sake. He didn't like this. He really didn't. Stopping it would be just peachy-awesome. He clung to her for a moment, then reached to pick up his guns again, tucking them into the back of his pants. He got a good grip on her and stood with them both, heading down the length of her beach toward the cave. At least they could be comfortable with couches and stuff while they were assaulted. And bottleneck the bastards in the cave entrance.

Syn allowed herself to be carried, not something that ever happened very often, but right this second it was fine with her. The spray from the waves kept hitting, the wind picking up, cooling them both down as he brought them in towards the cave. She knew he was headed for the livingroom. Maybe they could pull one of the couches out into the front room with the mouth of the cave entrance there. That would work, and it would be comfortable, definitely. She nuzzled lightly at his neck as he walked, and she nipped lightly at his throat while she was at it.

Following along with her thoughts -- though the nips were a pleasant distraction -- Seph set her down on her feet again once they were in the front room, and headed toward the living room. There was a loveseat in there that was movable, and would at least not get sand all over them to sit in. He started to drag it easily through the cave-house, knowing that she would keep watch near the entrance, just in case.

She did, standing back in the deep shadows of the cave, even though the moonlight reached her faintly. The living room cave wasn't that far back, and she mentally exercised her will over their surroundings, lighting up the gaslight hurricane lamps lining the walls. Nothing was coming yet, so that was something. She absently spun the chambers on the revolver then snapped it back, over and over, like she had when she was on the porch in the real world, waiting for the fuckers to show up again.

Once he'd gotten the couch situated, Seph flopped into it and drew his pistols again, eyeing the range they'd have from there. It seemed like it was going to work out fine. At least the shadowy asshats couldn't go through walls or anything. He looked over at his sister with a faint smile and patted the other side for her. Almost like when we used to watch the sun go down at home. Only with more evil shit to kill, he thought to her with soft mental chuckle.

Syn smiled faintly at that, and walked back over, curling her feet under and to the side of her as she sat down, and she leaned against him. Yeah, there is that whole more evil shit to kill bit. she agreed. I suppose we can't complain of boredom. she added thoughtfully. Or lack of target practice. What with the major shit storm of it. Yeah they got that just fine.

He draped an arm over her and got comfortable, the hand with the gun resting on the arm of the couch, muzzle pointed out toward the mouth of the cave. He rested his head against her's and thought that they would make an awesome picture right about now. Have we ever complained of boredom? he asked, only half-rhetorically. He didn't think their lives had ever been very dull, even in the quieter moments.

She tilted her head back to look up at him, just taking in the features of his face. She knew them better than her own, but she still liked to take the time to do that. No. We never have to complain about boredom. she agreed. Still. She didn't take her eyes off of him. Instead, she let him watch, let him pay attention, and she shifted closer to him. She nuzzled under his jaw once more. A light, barely there touch.

Seph's eyelids dropped just slightly, but he wasn't paying any less attention to the rough circle of beach and waves in front of them. He didn't mind her eyes or her face on him in the least, and tilted his jaw up a bit so she could have more room if she wanted it. He stayed watchful, dream-body overly aware of her warmth at his side. That was one thing that never changed, no matter where they were. We do indeed keep busy, he agreed idly.

She hummed in agreeance, this one out loud, even if it wasn't a true word. She nuzzled, she kept it up since he tilted his head. She nipped the slightest bit. She breathed along his skin, pulling back the physical touch, just letting her exhale tickle along his neck. She wasn't necessarily trying to drive him to distraction, but she knew it was a possibility.

It felt nice. Really, tingly sort of nice. Seph kept his blue eyes where they belonged, but his attention was sort of drifting toward the skin on his neck where she was doing her thing. His breath hitched ever so slightly at one of the nips, but he did absolutely nothing to stop her. He could do both, really, and she could just ... keep doing that.

She did keep doing that. It was fun in a distant sort of manner. Seeing if she could distract him. She figured with the both of them here, that even if she did manage for a few moments, it wouldn't really cost them. They were both good enough to do this. Even on quickdraw fast notice. So, she kept it up, shifting slightly more against him, and she kept breathing along his skin, hovering here and there, trying to see if she could get him with anticipation of something that wasn't coming just yet.

The anticipation was most decidedly there. It radiated, in fact. He swallowed, and even his throat in dreams was a little dry. She could be the best tease ever, and he ate up every second of it, even though not a lot ever came of it. It didn't matter, it was the particular kind of attention and the fact that she was voluntarily doing it that was just ... yes, please. His gaze ticked sideways for just a second before refocusing.

She smiled slightly, sensing the momentary shift in focus. She tilted her face up a little more, towards his ear. She breathed softly into it, with just enough force to really make it tickle. To really get his attention, because she wanted to see what he might do. How much he might let himself get distracted, if she could waver it for longer than a second, and without even really touching him.

He knew what she wanted, because he could feel it almost as well as she could feel his own emotions, and just to make it challenging, Seph tried not to give in to it. He made his eyes open all the way again and scanned the beach. The skin on his neck broke out into goosebumps and he gave a tiny little twitch, but he kept his eyes forward. The fingers on the hand at her back, however, started to slide in and out of her hair.

She liked the feel of that, and she didn't stop him at all. She merely continued with what she was doing, that light, almost not there at all touch. That, right before she nipped hard at his ear. Even then though it was quick--just enough to distract him, not enough to continue to, if she managed to alter his focus at all.

His breathing stopped at the nip, and his hand clenched in her hair. That? Was most definitely distracting. And righteously unfair. And he let her feel that, even though not a single bit of him wanted her to stop at all. Preferably ever. His eyes closed briefly before opening to slide over to her for a second. He didn't know for sure to say that the possibility of them being ambushed made it better, but it certainly didn't hurt.

She looked back up at him, and there was the faintest turn of a smirk on her lips. "Aren't you supposed to be keeping watch?" she asked aloud, breaking the silence for the first time since they'd entered the dream. She didn't look like she thought it was anything but amusing, but she had to ask the question.

"One would think so," he said, following suit with the speaking out loud. "But someone's being uncooperative." Not that there was anything in his tone or emotions that was really opposed to that. It was just a statement. He looked off toward the cave entrance again, mildly relieved to find that there was nothing there. Yet.

Syn smiled, then nipped at his ear again, and breathed softly into it. Then she sucked lightly on his earlobe, before grazing her teeth against his skin just below it. Not a hard bite at all there, just the suggestion that there could be at some point. "Well, it's your job, so don't you let silly little distractions get in your way." she told him, tone ever so reasonable.

Seph drew in a deep breath that wasn't quite steady and held it, suppressing the shiver that wanted to course through him. I'd hardly call it a silly little distraction, he thought at her, lapsing back into mental communication without even thinking about it. He leaned into her a little bit more, however, eyes staying on the beach, though some of the focus had left them.

So what would you call it? she asked, continuing the attention, and she started leaving more little nips. just random, in the midst of her nuzzling his neck and leaving tiny kisses. They were sharp little bites. She also switched automatically back over to mental communication. They ebbed and flowed like that, switching between the two without thought.

Evil, was the first thought that popped into his head and carried across, though there wasn't a single negative connotation in it. If thoughts could be breathy, that one was. His eyes rolled briefly closed again under the biting. The desire was there to wake them up, so that he could get lost in it, but he knew it likely wouldn't be happening in the waking realm. It just made him ache in the best way. Your turn, Seph thought at her suddenly, and moved, twisting so that he was at her neck. His hand came up to cup the other side of it and he immediately bit down hard. Only fair we share keeping watch, sister dear.

She gasped, but immediately switched over, not hesitating for a moment as she trained her eyes on the mouth of the cave, watching for shadows. That, as she tried not to let her eyes fall shut at the bite.

He followed the bite up with a soft lick and some nuzzling, the part of his brain that could more or less see through her eyes keeping watch with her. That was the unfortunate thing about this place now, it was impossible for him to completely relax and give over to it. But he could do it most of the way with her eyes open, and so he let that happen, breathing in her skin and nipping again as his fingers barely brushed over the back of her neck.

Synnove pulled the trigger as soon as she saw solid movement by the mouth of the cave, and hit one of the shadows, seeing it bleed up like it was deflating. Fucking thing. But she'd hit it! Which was nice, a little triumph considering the distractionary techniques being employed by Seph.

The noise didn't deter him one bit, because he knew it was coming. Seph knew that he would have to perk up in a second and pick up his own gun, but he lingered where he was for the moment. She was keeping her eyes on it, and her skin tasted so good ... His teeth dragged against her earlobe briefly and his hand ran along the side of her thigh before it moved to reach over and grabbed the familiar grip. Using her eyes for his own, he aimed, adjusted for the perspective distance, and shot a shadow coming around the corner.