INTERMISSION: THE BONDS THAT BIND US
Third Person
Reve sighs deeply, rubbing her temples – she hates that she finds herself doing this more and more often as of late. She hates that it's the cat that is usually the source of her migraines. There are times that maybe, maybe if she closed her eyes long enough, wished hard enough, that it'd all go away. It doesn't. But it does make her wish even more that she had the heart to use her abilities on the cat to make her more…. Calm. Peace and quiet, Reve silently pleads, that's all I want.
"If you keep your fingers on your temples like that, they'll stick," Moriko whispers, bringing Reve back to the situation at hand.
Reve simply stares at Moriko, as if it would take too much energy to physically, or mentally, even give a reply. The vibrant violet of her eyes does nothing to hide how tired she is. Even her normally straight and fairly perfect posture is slowly slipping and slumping. She glances toward Kato – the bane of my existence-, who is still pacing back and forth of the living room in her true form despite Reve's constant 'orders' not to. She can see the many strands of Kato's fur already ruining both the carpet and what little furniture they have and she only barely managed to close all their curtains before anyone saw a giant beast in the living room. How the cat can even move that much in a fitted space is a wonder to her.
Kato stops pacing. The glow of her yellow irises shine in the shadows of the room as she glances toward Reve and Moriko. She lets out a snort before the transformation between her forms begins. The fur sheds away, coating the carpet in a layer of black fur. The sharp canines retreat into a forming human jaw as the claws retract into black nails. Kato stands before them as a human, breathing and panting heavily, before she plops down on the couch. Reve wonders where she got the stuffed teddy bear from, but she can see Kato reach for it and tuck it close to her. Reve doesn't think it's the only thing that Kato snagged either and hopes Kyoya won't add it to their debt.
Kyoya, Reve thinks bitterly. He, that club, and Moriko's own foolishness in being led into such an environment, is what led to this head-aching situation in the first place. Sure, the club will be a great hiding place – their own quirky habits and mannerisms as well as any potential slip ups are less likely to be acknowledged or even noticed in a place as strange as the Ouran High School Host Club – and it does lead to them earning some extra money on the side. She'd hate to put all the financial burden on Ian.
But the cat just doesn't see it that way. She, in Reve's eyes, is refusing to see reason, thus the stressful pacing began almost as soon as they arrived home.
"I think you should handle this one," Moriko whispers softly, her eyes hooded as she stares a bit longer at Kato before glancing toward Reve.
For a brief moment, there's a flicker of panic in Reve's eyes – a moment where she doesn't know what to do or how to respond. She doesn't hide it as well as she thinks – Moriko spots it easily, offering a small reassuring smile as she stands up, placing her hand on Reve's shoulder.
"She's your sister too," Moriko whispers into Reve's ear, giving her shoulder a small squeeze.
With that said, Moriko disappears into her bedroom, hoping she made the right decision to leave the two to sort out some of their problems. Reve watches her leave, faltering a bit as a plea for her to come back dies in her throat – she's not my sister. She swallows thickly and stands from her place at the dining table to wander into the living room. She hesitates behind the couch where Kato still lays, eying the fur lining their furniture and carpet.
"You've never left that much fur before."
Kato simply glares at her, still panting though it's not as strong as it was before, "Pardon me for being so rude – I'll vacuum my mess up later."
Reve winces, daring to move closer, a hand lingering in the air as she briefly thinks about offering the Katojns a comforting hand on the shoulder. Her hand falls to her side, her face dropping with it as her eyes look down at Kato with something akin to worry shining behind them.
"I meant to ask," Reve's voice was much softer, "If it was normal for you to loose so much fur and if it was something we should be concerned about…"
There's a moment of silence between the two as Kato breaks her gaze, looking away from Reve as she bites her lower lip. Her body curls into a small ball as she hugs the teddy bear closer to her. Stiffly yet slowly, Reve makes her way to sit on the couch by Kato's feet. Her ankles cross neatly at the floor, her hands resting in her lap as she merely gazes at Kato, waiting for her to speak up. She doesn't. The longer the silence drags on, the more Reve finds herself shifting in her seat before she finally stands back up. She grabs a nearby blanket, one she remembers being in the mountain of blankets that were in the host club, and gently places it on Kato. The cat-like being responds eagerly, tucking the blanket closer to her as she curls into herself a bit tighter.
"….Reve..."
Reve is half way to the hall when Kato speaks. She turns back to see Kato peeking out from the blanket with big, wide, teary eyes. If she squints, she can see Kato's lips trembling and something about the image before her causes a deep pain within her.
"...The mental link, Reve," Kato's voice wavers, "…. Am I really the bane of your existence?"
Reve's expression softens considerably as a tightness forms in her throat. Regret and shame claw at her chest and her hands tighten at her sides. She closes her eyes and she can feel the control over this physical form falter slightly, causing the edges of her form to flicker briefly like a TV with a weak signal and can only give you a poor, static-filled, blurry image. Her form completely vanishes after a moment, leaving a misty, violet smoke with a hard glow in its center that only vaguely resembles a human form. The mist surrounds Kato, offering a comforting and warming energy.
'Honestly, Kato,' Reve's voice coming in through the mental link, no longer having a physical voice… 'No. You're not, nor do I think you ever will be, the bane of my existence. I spoke out of irritation and annoyance and anger. Not from my heart. I apologize if that hurt you.'
Kato lets out a deep mewl of distress as she shifts on the couch. Despite the comforting energy Reve gives and the light, almost dew-like texture from her misty form, her skin itches for more physical contact. A hug. A pet. Something. Anything. Her eyes close and she curls a bit tighter, opting to stay silent as she muses over Reve's words. She feels the mist retreat and peaks an eye open to see Reve's physical form is once again present, if a bit blurred around the edges. Reve lets out a soft, awkward cough, clearing her throat as she holds her arms out and open. Kato's eyes open farther than they ever have been.
"….Reve?"
"….The offer isn't going to be up forever."
For a brief moment, Kato simply stares in bewilderment. She doesn't have a single memory of Reve ever offering a hug. But it doesn't take long before a small smile works its way onto her face as she accepts the gesture, wrapping her arms tightly around the taller girl, burying her face into Reve's chest. Kato breathes in the scent of clean linen and fabric softener, no doubt from the clothes. But there's underlying scent of fresh mildew and mint and Kato knows that that is the scent of Reve. She tries her hardest to ignore how her shoulders and chest tremble in Reve's grasp. Her eyes are closed tight to help prevent the tears from falling as she thinks back to Reve's earlier thoughts that came through the mental link.
"….Do you really not consider me a sister," Kato whispers, her fingers tightly grasping the back of Reve's shirt, almost afraid to let go.
Reve pulls back to add a bit of distance between them, not a lot but enough that they can look at each other more properly. A neatly filed nail and finger press against Kato's lips to keep her from speaking farther. Violet eyes gaze intensely into vibrant golden amber. Neither of them dare breathe. The finger pressed against Kato's lips move to the side of her face as Reve gently grasps Kato's head and leans forward until her forehead brushes against Kato's. A deep, low purr vibrates in Kato's throat as she returns the gesture, gently butting her head against Reve's before sliding out of her grasp in favor of rolling over onto her lap.
Cats, Reve thinks in amusement, careful to keep her thoughts to herself and out of the mental link, bunting* always works. She gazes down at the person in her lap with fondness, gently rubbing her fingers through Kato's hair as the cat quickly falls asleep, softly snoring. Her eyes briefly flickering over the exposed scars on Kato's bare skin before she lets out a pained sigh.
"...Not a sister," it's almost painful for her to say, even if it's just a soft whisper, but she can't risk Moriko hearing this over the mental link, "… I don't know what you are to me, Kato."
Even in her dreams, Reve does nothing. Normally, this time at night, she's already caught up in a dream involving freedom without fear or roaming the streets of Paris with money to burn and a smile – on her good nights, that is. Other nights, it's nightmares. Sometimes her own. Sometimes it's Moriko's nightmares that are so horrible that Reve can't help but get sucked into them. Other times it is Kato's. She doesn't know which nightmares – hers, Moriko's, Kato's, or some combination – are the most brokenheartedly terrifying.
This time, Kato and Moriko seem to be dreaming peacefully and she doesn't want to intrude on one of the first good night's sleep they've had. Instead, her dream-scape is a perfect replica of the empty night streets of Paris, France. It's exactly like she remembers it. From the cobblestone to each brick and crack. She can smell the distant bakery from here. She can see the Eiffel tower lit up brighter than any star. It'd be so easy to believe that this is real. That it's not simply an escape in her mind. It'd be so easy to wander through the streets and lose herself to the pleasant memories of her home.
But she doesn't move to go explore. She merely lays on a comfortable bench on the street. Wisps of her true form slip through the gaps in the bench's wood. She doesn't feel like moving. She doesn't feel like anything. It's just deep numbness that sinks so far into her core. For being a strange combination of fog and light, she feels oddly heavy.
"Mon cheri," a familiar and comforting voice reaches her ears and hearing her native tongue of French melts a small portion of her heart, "Are you going to lay there and do nothing all night? Is my visit for naught?"
She doesn't even have to physically move to look at him. She can see him perfectly. Just standing by the bench, watching her with amusement dancing in his yellow-violet eyes (the colors have a striking, vivid split down the middle of his irises) and his hands shoved into the pockets of a blazer. His skin the color of moonlight, a stark contrast to her own. His hair is darker than night and there are times she swears that it appears more blue than black.
He just smirks at her as if he knows something she doesn't – something she knows is impossible. It's her mind. Not his. She doubts he even has a dream-scape of his own. Dreams, as every Dream Weaver knows, is a gateway. A gateway to enter other's minds, to see their thoughts, memories, feelings, everything. It also serves as a great long-distance communicator and due to their unique ability, they can pass solid objects to each other through their dreams. Hence why she was able to get the credit cards from Ian in the first place.
But a dream-scape of their own is their own mental palace. Something that takes a lot of energy and power to build for themselves, but is worth it in the end when they can't face their own real dreams, or nightmares, or dare to venture into others. A halfbreed such as the one before her – someone whose only half Dream Weaver – isn't able to do so. Their own mental ability cannot handle such strain, which consequently is also why their use of the gateway itself is limited and why they only possess one solid form.
"Go away," her voice echoes all around them, coming from the city itself rather than her actual form, "I'm not in the mood for any games, Ian."
He clicks his tongue in distaste, sitting down on the bench beside her. His fingertips graze against some of the wisps of her misty form – they disperse like thin fog at the touch.
"I'm your brother, Reve, I can't just leave you to wallow in self-pity."
"Half-brother," she corrects, but despite the slight sharpness of her tone, they both know there's no real menace in her words.
Ian merely hums at the correction, waving it off with ease, "Half-brother, brother – whichever, whatever. Family is family. I know that and I know you know that. Even if we don't have much of a real family anymore."
She doesn't offer any comment. If anything, her form seems to seep through the bench even more at the mention of her family. She can still see them all so clearly. The mother that abandoned her. Her father trying his hardest to take care of her himself until he had met another Supernatural being – not a Dream Weaver, but a cat with envious, enticing grace and beauty whom later became Ian's mother. Then she had a new family. She can still remember her stepmother, Sofia, treating her as if she was her own daughter. When Reve was seven, she firmly believed that if she looked close enough she could see the stars themselves in Sofia's dark hair. She once overheard her father say that God himself had melted down the finest gold jewelry of the world and poured them into Sofia's eyes. But when she was eight, she simply remembered Sofia carrying her and Ian off to safety as their father fought off the men that threatened to capture them.
Sofia had dumped Ian into a ditch a few miles before she had tried to drop Reve into a safe spot with the hope that if they were spread out and she ran off that the men would follow her. It almost worked. She had just tucked Reve into a separate ditch before the men had shot Sofia through the head with no mercy. Reve was soon discovered. Ian was lucky enough to get away.
A soft sniffle escapes from her as she shifts into a solid form to be hugged tightly by her younger brother. Her emotions and memories are strong enough that he can't help but feel and see them for himself. For a moment, they merely sit on the bench with trembling shoulders and sniffling noses.
"...Mom would be proud of you," Ian admits softly, "Of both of us. We both found new families… You know Rosie and I are starting a little pack of our own? Life's too short to wait, you know… Which is why you should sort out whatever feelings you have now rather than later. No matter who those feelings may be towards – oh don't give me that look, you don't think that I, your brother who actively comes into your own mind, wouldn't know?"
Reve manages to crack a small smile, the corners of her lips twitching as she rests on the bench against her brother. His words, however, cause her to swallow thickly as a sinking feeling settles in her gut. Her brother may be right, she knows, but it's better for her to keep quiet and shove her feelings down. Like she always does.
A/N: *bunting (e.i. 'headbutting') – a gesture done by cats that's reserved for social bonding, comforting, and friendly purposes. Typically due to the scent glands that cover a cat's cheeks to mark territory, but in Kato's case 'bunting' is comforting, loving gesture that's used to improve social bonds. With it being initiated by Reve shows an open willingness to improve the bond between them, thus having a comforting effect on Kato.
But what exactly is the bond between Kato and Reve? Reve, as she has said, doesn't consider Kato to be a sister, but if that's the case, what exactly does Reve believe her to be? Or believe her to have the potential to become? I think it's hinted heavily enough that I'm sure many of you can guess.
But no worries, if you ever saw the pairings that were listed in the beginning (but later taken off), I still have plans for those ships. This is gonna be a really long fic with some fairly complicated relationships. Sometimes those relationships are happy. Other times not so much.
Still, I enjoyed writing a bit more into Reve's way of thinking as well as giving more of a glimpse into what it is to be a Dream Weaver and showing the interactions and relationship between her and Ian.
And in case it wasn't clear, Reve's stepmother (Sofia - Ian's birth mother) is a Katojns. Ian himself is part Dream-Weaver, part Katojns.
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