"Nightmare: The Dreaming"

Warnings: AU, Modern Day. Rated for Language,

Active Imagination and hints of Adult Situations.

X+X+X

X+X+X - Eirika's entries.

'Thinking' or 'Emphasis'

"Talking" - Obviously

Dream Sequences in Italics

X+X+X

I don't remember when I fell asleep, but I do know that I'm dreaming now. It's a reality of nonsense, a realm where the highly improbable happens. For instance, I'm living inside of a glorified sneaker. Tana calls from me from Washington, D.C. and tells me that she lost the election for class president and she wants me to bring chocolate cupcakes to celebrate.

Random people walk through my dream, faceless and unremarkable. Some of them talk to each other, presenting whatever weird script that has them cast into this improvised play. I rewind the scene once or twice just to see what changes; sometimes it's a person, and sometimes dialogue or lack thereof. I soon grow bored with that however, and the people vanish from my house.

Since it is my house... I decide that I don't want to live in a sneaker. Instead, I want a cute little cottage. BAM. The dream complies. And while I've got this wonderful new house... I might as well go exploring.

I take turns peeking into the different rooms and decorating them to my whim. Sometimes things go how I dictate, and sometimes there are rooms that won't change no matter how much I press with my will. Despite this, I enjoy the reprieve - even if the house is bigger on the inside than it is on the outside.

It's as things are beginning to grow hazy that I finally see him.

I've come to that final room - my bedroom. I push open the door and find him standing in front of my bedroom window. His back is to me and the way that the light streams into the room throws a shadow behind him. I must have made some sort of noise, because he turns around and looks surprised to see me. Or is it just that he's surprised that I'm seeing him? I can't tell.

'He's gorgeous.'

That's my first thought as I stand there slack jawed in his presence. Everything else is fading, but he's still standing there as sharply defined as though this were real life; even the silver flames that occasionally flicker around his body remain crisp. He looks at me and all of the sudden I feel warmth flood my cheeks.

"You shouldn't be able to see me." He murmurs, looking perplexed. "You're waking up."

I fight to hold on, to stay in this dream for just a few moments more. I know that it's a foolish hope at best, but with this specimen of godhood before me, I want to ensure that I imprint him on my memory. "I don't want to wake up. I want to stay here with you."

He smiles sadly and shakes his head. His bangs fall into his eyes as he looks down at me. "You can't stay here, Eirika. You have the real world calling you." His eyes are gentle and his gaze holds me. "Go on now."

I'm falling now, helpless to prevent it. I'm going to wake up soon.

"What's your name?" I shout.

And then I wake up.

X+X+X

I have homework to finish. I should be working on it, since it's slower going with my wrist all wrapped up. But I can't concentrate on such abstract things while trying to hold his face in my mind's eye. By the time I figure out a solution to the problem, I've already let an hour go by.

I lay aside my notebook and dig out my sketchpad. I'll have to work quickly; maybe I can tease Ephraim into helping with all the writing I have to do. I'm not satisfied until I have the basics down solidly. Though only sketched lightly, his face is staring back at me from the sheet of paper. I close the book and set it aside again for my school assignments.

Maybe I'll try coloring it tomorrow.

X+X+X

Tana corners me at the most inopportune of moments. I'm busy trying to decide how to color his hair when she peeks over my shoulder. I look up as her shadow falls across the page.

"O-oh, ni-ce!" She grins at me and takes a seat beside me. "So who is he and should I get ready to console my brother on the impending break-up?"

I shake my head, still caught up in my decision making. A scrap of paper darkens under the combination of two colors. Still too light.

"So?" She prompts me, persistent. When I don't speak, she tries again. "Does Ephraim know him? Your mom and dad?"

I finally stop to favor her with a frown. "Tana."

"Yes?" Her voice is oh-so-innocently sweet. "Eirika?"

I point a capped marker in her direction. "I'm working here. You aredisturbing artistic genius. You do know that's considered to be a crime, right?"

Tana sighs melodramatically. "So he's no one."

"No one that I know, at least." I decide to humor her a little. "I saw someone like this once."

"And you didn't pounce on him and ask for his name?" She thinks for a moment and I don't even get the chance to say anything before she's scrapped that line of thought. "Right... Like you'd have the chance. Forgot about your parents and everything."

She pauses to consider the half finished picture again. "But he is one handsome fellow. At least you'll have this to remember him by."

I nearly laugh at the sympathetic look I receive, but manage to repress the urge - barely. "Yeah, I guess so."

If only you knew, Tana... If only you knew.

Not that I'm willing to share, of course. She doesn't need to know that I've become infatuated with a dream.

X+X+X

I dreamt again last night. I know I did. I think that he was there. But the only glimpse that I caught was fleeting.

I can't remember anything else.

X+X+X

AN: And there you have Seth making his first appearance. Happy? You know you are.

Comments, criticism, and reviews welcome. :P