Feeling gray

Who: Doc, Seph and Syn
Where: the Martens household
When: early evening (post-Doc/Leija)

Sometimes the normality of it all was maddening. Considering his trip halfway around the world earlier that day, the fact that Doc now sat barefoot on the sofa as he fed cold Szechuan to Voltaire and distractedly glanced at the television was a shocking point to dwell on. It was, he supposed, the inverse of a life like his. Normal people in the outside world would be shocked by his daily routine, so why not vice-versa? Why should he expect any sort of solace from the mundane pockets of time he happened on now and then?

He was still stinging on some unspoken level from his encounter with Leija, the angelic girl whose name he hadn't even gotten before she fled in fear. Of me. Doc sighed, flipping a water chestnut off his thumb and watching Voltaire snap it from the air, then crunch away happily as his tail pummeled one of Doc's legs. His companion was some measure of relief, sure, and Doc showed his appreciation with a quick belly-rub as Voltaire flopped on the sofa between Doc's feet, squirming happily. But there was still discontent lurking inside him.

The twins didn't seem to think of him in that light, and Doc knew it was because, to them, he was himself first and War second. But even that thought, meant for reassurance, stung a bit as he remembered how much harm he'd done to both of their opinions of him in recent days. More and more, the label of 'demon' seemed to fit. Maybe it's a slow change... one day I won't feel guilt for any of it. Let's hope that doesn't come. Doc knew that if such a day came, he'd be better off being hunted down by any of his past partners.

But even if it was happening on some subtle level he couldn't see? He was going to try and stop it. Doc had been making a point of staying in as much as he could lately, and aside from 'work' and the more-rare-than-he-liked visits to Eva, he felt like he'd been doing a good job of it. Sure, he still didn't catch much time with either Seph or Syn, but he was here if either of them found themselves in need of his help. True to my word, he thought with a weak smile, toes stretching as Doc reached out for his coffee, then tossed a bit of chicken in the air for Voltaire to lunge at.

Synnove made a face at her brother. "Well I still think it was weird, particularly for us, and we should go for a ride. I just...don't know where to start looking." she said, not particularly happy with that. She wasn't used to not knowing where she was going. She actually usually made a point of knowing that all the bloody time, so the vague nagging feeling that the dream meant something and she had to find stupid fences and all that rot really made her cranky.

"So you just want to wander aimlessly around town when it'll be dark soon?" he asked, half-incredulous and half-amused. Not that the dark really kept them down usually, but the places shown to them in the dream seemed like they weren't really spots one wanted to go star-gazing. He headed down the stairs with her, not particularly feeling good about the whole thing either.

She batted her eyelashes at him. "What, you afraid of the dark now?" she teased, poking him in the shoulder. "Don't worry, I'll protect you. Besides, it's not like we leave the house unarmed. I was thinking we could ask Teddy to sort of narrow things down a little...there were two fences, and signs...I remember one was a danger sign. I don't remember the other one though." she added as she took the last three steps in a hop.

Seph made an unhappy grumbly sort of noise at the poke. He didn't like the idea of following some strange dream that they'd both had into the dark abandoned places in Marquette when he wasn't up to par. His arm was still fucked up and he just wasn't terribly comfortable with it. Like, at all. "I dunno," he muttered, glancing over as they came down into the living room and noting Doc on the couch.

Perking up a bit at the sound of voices, Doc set the carton of food aside and reached out to snag a cigarette, quickly muting the already-low television. His hearing was sharp, a few words discernable from where the twins spoke, but not enough to glean any insight. Not that he was trying to spy, but Doc knew his wards' lives were the sort that always had some interesting events happening. "Hey you two," he greeted, giving Voltaire a pat as the puppy hopped off the couch. "I'm gonna guess there's not a study group somewhere waiting on you both?"

Syn wandered that way, kneeling down to pet the dog. "Not today." she said. Or any day, but then they were both usually smarter than their teachers, so... "We just had a weird dream." she added. It occurred to her then that she wasn't actually sure if Doc knew about the shared dreamscape. She didn't think he did. It was a rather private thing between she and her brother, so she didn't think they'd offered up that information. Not that it mattered in regards to this, which hadn't taken place anywhere near the dreamscape.

Since it looked like gathering in the living room was imminent, Seph followed along in there and flopped down into an armchair. The flopping was carefully executed so as not to hit his still-healing arm. He was almost getting used to having to do that. "The same weird dream," he put in, as yeah, this felt completely different than their island.

"You two shared a dream?" Doc asked, sitting more upright on the couch as he frowned with the words. "What happened?" Syn was right, Doc didn't know the full scope of the twins' connection. But he was a learned man, experienced beyond what he told most people, and he'd always suspected a powerful bond between them. "This the first of it's kind?" he went on, biting back any more questions until they had a chance to answer the first few.

"Yes." Syn answered. "And...I don't know. Images, I suppose. Two fences, danger signs...I've got this stupid itching feeling like if we went looking for it we could find it." she said. "I just haven't the slightest idea where we'd start looking. Not to mention the insane factor, though I'm ignoring that part."

It most definitely wasn't the first time they'd shared a dream, but again ... skirting around all that. That belonged entirely to them. "First of it's kind, yeah," he agreed, propping a foot up on the coffee table. Maybe Doc would talk her out of going tonight to look. "Like we were flying over all that stuff," he added, not commenting on where to start looking.

Doc nodded, drawing off his cigarette heavily and rolling a shoulder as he dropped his tattooed feet to the floor. "Anything else? Feelings of any kind?" He wasn't a man who liked such abstract states and perceptions, but he knew better than to ignore them. More often than not, a dream that was a genuine portent carried layers of meaning to be gleaned from it. "And as much as you might not like me saying so, I'm not sure that it's a good plan to go right out chasing after these clues."

Syn sighed, and looked put out--though more pouty than truly upset. She kept petting Voltaire. "Well, that's both of you then, because he doesn't want to go either." she said, shooting a face at her brother. Maybe she'd just go herself. Hrm. "It's just bugging, that's the feeling that it leaves. Or that's how I'm feeling anyways. Vaguely annoyed like I forgot to do something."

Seph smirked at her a little. That pout was terribly adorable. She knew that he could be convinced if she tried hard enough, and absolutely would not let her go alone, but ... he was a little relieved that she seemed willing to relent this time. Maybe we can go tomorrow, he offered privately, since Doc's answer had been kinda negative. Seph just didn't want to go tonight. He glanced between the two of them, letting his sister do most of the talking, as always.

"Well, all I'm saying is to sit on it for a bit," Doc explained, stubbing out his smoke in an ashtray. "No need to pop into the dark when you can find the same things in the daylight, right?" He grinned faintly at both of them, thankful for the momentary distraction from his own melancholy. "Why not, in the meanwhile, do some safer intel work? Were the signs worn down in your dream? If they were, you could probably pull up some civic records, see where maintenance on that sort of thing hasn't happened in a while... I've turned smaller leads into hot trails."

"I figured I'd ask teddybear to look into it...see what he can come up with. I mean it was fairly specific. Two fences, with razorwire on top, or barbed...whatever it had sharp bits." Syn continued thoughtfully. "Danger signs, there can't be too many places around here that's got that, right? Though the whole woods feature really doesn't help, since that really could be anywhere. They were sagging though. Run down."

"Razorwire," Seph supplied quietly. He remembered that bit clearly enough. He tried to call up details in his own mind to supplement the ones in her's, though he didn't really volunteer them. "I want to say it was a construction site at some point?" he suggested, one eye squinting skeptically. "But maybe not."

Doc's lips pursed thin around a new smoke as he took that in, referencing his own explorations of the town in the off chance he might have some insight. "Plenty of places in the area that it could be," he said finally, "Both in town and on the roads between towns. I'll skip the lectures about playing it safe when you do go out, I think you've both heard them enough."

Doc reached out for the water he'd had with his meal, swallowing a mouthful quickly and taking a moment to study Seph, how he seemed to be handling his arm. "Just make sure not to push too hard, especially with that arm the way it is, Seph. And you both know that if you find something dangerous, you can call me."

Tomorrow if I'm still bugging. She finally sent back to Seph. She was still bugging now, and she didn't really figure she'd stop, but whatever. She could wait like a good little girl. Doc's mention of her brother's arm, however, had her stilling completely, and her mind gave an abrupt quietness as well. It wasn't as if she'd forgotten. She hadn't. Just...shit. Well now he couldn't go. "Let's just forget it." she said aloud. Which yes, she realized was an utter, totally irrational 180, but she couldn't help it.

Seph frowned at his twin, thrown off by the weird reaction. He sent her a questioning sort of feeling. She couldn't have forgotten. "I'll go easy on it," he told Doc, glancing back at Synnove. "We can go," he told her directly. Because disappointing her because he was still mildly injured wasn't something he wanted to do. He felt bugged himself. It's okay, it's not even my right arm, he added just for them.

Nodding in affirmation, Doc glanced between them both and shot a hint of a reassuring grin Synnove's way. "I'm not saying 'don't go'," he said lightly, "Just step light. Dreams and visions are always a mixed bag." He chuckled for a moment, nodding to where his keys hung on a peg near the door. "Take my car, even. I was going to need the van for something, and this'll work out. If that's okay, that is," he amended.

Syn wondered if Doc really thought if he did say no if that would actually stop them. Interesting. Either way, that hadn't really been her problem, and she still didn't look overwhelmingly happy. She looked over and studied her brother for a long moment. "Fine." she said. And yes, a part of that was just getting to be behind the wheel of Doc's car again. She loved that thing. Her eyes drifted back to Doc. "Can you help his arm a bit before we go?"