Apparently there was some kind of unspoken rule against eating large amounts of candy, and then going to sleep. Actually, regrettably, the sleep part wasn't the issue with her hopes. It was the dreamless part. If sugar wasn't the sanity of nations… she'd have given it up ages ago. At this point, she was pretty sure her brain was entirely broken. If not all of it, at least the section involving will power. Her thoughts were going in the exact opposite direction of where she wanted them to go.

They fluttered back to the ballroom in the crystal. Of course, now she was older, but it was still the same fantasy gown. Not the first time she'd felt physical attraction to a male, even then. But this was definitely…different…an entirely different level of...She found herself searching for him. She hadn't let herself relive this memory in so long. She was wanting to find him.

There were jeers around her. She shifted, trying not to be too disconcerted by it. She never liked crowds after this… The thought was like a dream in the back of her head that was ignored. A few bumps around, and finally she found him. Right in front of her, as if he'd been there the whole time. The dance came with no hesitation. She actually let herself enjoy the surreal experience.

There was a thought niggling at the back of her mind. She was waiting. There was supposed to be something here… Something to remind her…of something… What was it?

Her mind brought forward the image of an off beat clock…too cramped… like there was one too many numbers on it's face. There was none around however… Frightened by the lack of knowledge, she turned back to look at her dance partner. Into the mystical eyes that seemed to have a color all their own. Not green, not blue, not brown… One did seem darker than the other. But… were they laughing at her?

As she tried to listen, she realized the laugh echoing in her ears was her own. She was the one laughing. Laughing! And while she was laughing, she draped her arms over the Goblin King's shoulders, and laughing she was as he pulled her closer. She focused on him, not what she was trying to remember, and felt the focus returned. Intense, the air seemed to crackle.

Something was about to happen. Something that hadn't happened before. Events were taking a turn for the… what side? Worse? Better? The distance between them was shrinking. Not just between their bodies, but their faces as well were becoming ever so closer. For the most part, he was the one doing the moving, for she…her movements were tentative. All this time had passed, and still, she was too enchanted with her situation for any level of intensity.

It was almost like moving through a fog. Her thoughts took so much longer to finally reach her limbs. Was this what would have happened without that...blasted…clock… She couldn't believe what she was seeing, nor what she was thinking. Was the clock blasted because it was missing now? Or… because it wasn't messing then? Part of her was quietly desiring that now. Desiring that the clock hadn't been there, that she might have been, perhaps, that this might… have happened…

There were only a few millimeters left before she could have her other wanton desire. She wanted this, this… she was eagerly awaiting the Goblin King's kiss… Despite how much she was beating herself up internally, over this. She shouldn't want this at all. This was the opposite of what she wanted! Nevertheless, it appeared she was helpless to stop it. Her thoughts were counting down the seconds… 4…

…2…

1…

beep

There was an entirely annoying set of sounds that shattered the dream nearly as neatly as she had. Alright, so she hadn't shattered it as neatly as this shrill sound did. Her shattering was actually rather noisy and messy. This was just noisy. The effect, however, was just as efficient.

Her hand moved through the sleepy fog and slammed down several times, in an attempt to find the correct button to silence the beeping. Finally she managed to slam down the proper slab of rubber and the oppressive noise ceased. Sarah sighed loudly, growling immediately afterwards. But what was she growling at? Her alarm? Herself? Him?

It had to be him. IT was all his fault. That dream was sent from him the jerk… She just knew it. Twisted man that he was. With a stretch, she started out for her day. If only she could shake the memory of the dream from her thoughts, it would be a perfectly normal, perfectly acceptable day. In fact, she'd be rather content. She'd gotten enough sleep she'd be awake through the day without wasting most of it. A rare occurrence, to be sure.

That was why she sought the refuge of a nice hot shower. Between the warmth, and the pounding water, she would very easily be able to get him off her mind. Yes, she had efficiently, hopefully, reduced him to but a pronoun. Then again, she had thought that before, hadn't she?

More importantly, she couldn't shake the feeling. Her skin seemed cold, and it seemed like her entire body was longing to be back there, his arms around her waist, hers around his shoulders. The burning anticipation that had filled her in the dream hadn't been dispelled when she'd woken up. That was definitely annoying. The only thing worse than having a dream like that was not being able to forget a dream like that.

Her mind got caught away in the memory again. Her heart rate began to increase, and when she glanced up in the mirror, she was starting to look a little flushed. Hands trembling slightly she quickly flipped the water's temperature.

Cold shower it was then.

--

By the time Annelise crawled down the stairs, lacking her normal energy, Sarah was almost done with the pancakes. Actually, there was a fairly impressive pile already waiting for the two. Sarah hardly looked up.

"Good morning." Her voice resonated with cheer, as odd as that might be. Of course, it was already two hours later, anyone would have had enough time to wake up. But on your average day, after your average night, Sarah would have been pleasant, not cheery. That was Annelise's job. The apartment was only big enough for one cheery person. Or maybe it was big enough for more than one… Perhaps they'd find out later today at this rate.

As the blonde stumbled to the fridge, Sarah had already flipped three pancakes onto a plate for her, sliding it across the counter. "Topping is in the fridge. Strawberry is in the third bowl to the right." Lise merely nodded blurrily and pulled out the proper bowl. She wasn't allowed maple syrup, and having it in the house posed too much of a temptation, so Sarah sacrificed the syrup for sanity's sake. Instead, they kept fruit sauce in the fridge. It was a bit of an invented recipe. Some fruit, some juice, a little bit of honey, some cornstarch and a bit of pixie dust. Voila, instant sweet minus the crazy afterwards.

Annelise was looking a little guilty today. She wouldn't look up at Sarah, and almost picked at her food. Almost, because eventually the food did make it up to her mouth. Sarah was about to ask what was the matter, when the doorbell rang. Annoyed almost, Sarah sat her blackberry laden plate on the table and headed to the door.

The doorbell seemed to be a kind of bomb. All of a sudden, Lise's guilt and silence was gone and she couldn't keep her words spaced clearly. It all came rushing out at once. "Iinvitedginkoverforbreakfastbeforewegoovertothetheaterforcastinginanhour."

Sarah head spun trying to figure out exactly what had just spilled out of her friends mouth. As she was trying to look at Lise's penitent expression, she only caught a glimpse of blonde hair and a knowing smirk. Her treacherous brain flipped back to her earlier dream, but quickly squelched the thoughts.

"Ah. Gink. I was just informed you were coming." Her features were slightly annoyed. Lise should have said something earlier, not while she was on her way to the door. The girl was now settled down into her food again. Sarah wouldn't even look at her for the moment. Lise was keeping too many secrets to herself lately.

"Fruit is in the fridge. We don't keep maple syrup in the house, you probably know why." From the chuckle behind her, she figured he did know that. It was the depth of that chuckle that surprised her. Low, it nearly made her shudder. But, through a miracle of self control, she didn't. Isntead she settled down at her plate. No one used their voice for a while- the only sounds were plates and forks clinking together, and chewing. Finally, Gink spoke again, sounding highly amused, if a little bit confused.

"What, no peaches?"

Indeed, there was a full array of fruits. Blackberries, blueberries, strawberries, cherries, and even apples. But there were no peaches, despite the fact that it was an normal breakfast fruit. Sarah tensed, her fork stopping halfway to her mouth. It was something in that tone, that voice, which simply cried out, 'hey, identify me'! And then, of course, there was the part of her that did and then immediately started shouting 'Run away!!'.

Luckily, Lise had perked up enough that although she answered a little nervously, she still answered. "Sarah…is allergic to peaches…" Which, was the story the two had agreed upon, because it was difficult to explain, early on, why there were to be no peaches in the house. Of course, now it probably made since to Annelise, but, it was simply easier to say that, albeit, dishonestly, that she was allergic. Gink cocked an eyebrow at the two, but silently spooned blackberries over his pancakes before he sat down.

Nevertheless, silence basically ruled the air. There was the occasional pass the butter, but that was rare. Then, finally Gink decided to break the silence. "So, Sarah." She wasn't sure she liked the tone in his voice. "What are you looking for in a man?"

The question simply shocked her to say the least. Her fork slipped from her fingers and she stared openly, a bit of indignation flashing in her eyes. Okay, so, it was more than a bit. Hardly any of it showed in her voice though. "Excuse me?!"

He met her eyes calmly, and was that…amusement? Why was he so…carefree. He acted like he had everything under control, all the time. He simply chuckled. "I mean, in our Garrod."Immeidately her body untensed, but he got no apology. Only a sigh.

"Ah. Well, I'll just have to see which one works best I suppose." Which one seemed the most arrogant, which one was the most regal, which one was the most… alluring…that was the word she was going to use, and which one made her want to dream… Whoa! Where did that thought come from?? She shook that thought in a hurry. Seriously, the last thing she wanted to do was find someone ELSE who reminded her of him that much, that she started to dream of him again.

Gink was doing that just fine… She made a resolve to avoid him as much as possible. Though she logicked it all out in her mind, he couldn't possibly be him. After all, he would have no mortal relatives. Everything she found on him declared him to be immortal, through and through. But he could have been lying… But, Annelise… She'd ask Annelise..the girl couldn't tell a lie if her life depended on it.

"So, Lise, Gink said he's your cousin… on which side? He doesn't seem like he came from your father's…Ethaerj is just too odd of a last name for a pureblood American."

Annelise giggled, casting Gink a glance. "He's from my mother's side. My Uncle Jacques is his father."

Sarah tipped her head. "That's funny, I was pretty sure your mother's maiden name wasn't Ethaerj." Annelise waved the comment off.

"C'lest vie.It is…not important. Anyway, so, today, we're just going to doing the casting for Garrod. The other roles have already been decided. Unfortunately, we have er… about 89 applicants we all have to preview. We're having them sing, dance, a little bit, mostly act, and play with the crystals."

Sarah was already dreading it. She really wanted to question the sanity of the venture at this point, but Annelise glanced over at the clock and gave a large gasp that wasn't at all helped by the fact that she was drinking from her glass at the exact moment. Inhaling milk down the wrong windpipe never is pleasant. By the time she finished clearing her throat, they'd finally gathered that it was time for them to be hopping off to the auditions.

She didn't even have time to try to get out of it.

Please, give me a little bit of credit. xD I didn't simply write any name backwards. I'm not that obvious. No, dear, he's not based off of Erik. Too blonde for that. Guess you'll have to wait to make the connection….(chuckles) I think one of you has almost got it…darn you Darck. However, I'm not making any promises regarding any secrets that Gink may or may not be holding. As for Annelise, yes, she does tend to be a little annoying sometimes.