First prompt [OPEN]; second prompt [CLOSED TO WILLIAM]

[ersatzeverything]

Who: Deacon and William; Deacon and OPEN
When: A few days after the battle with the Caducans
Where: Around Moira and Nomo 001 (William's room)
What: An evil demon mask is causing problems. Also, Deacon lies too much.
Warnings:References to prior violence



[A: OPEN]

[He's been having nightmares every fucking time he tries to sleep. He blames it on what happened with the Caducans. Sure, that wasn't the first time he's seen an op go sour, people get killed, but this wasn't an op, it was a massacre. There should have been a way to avoid it. Shoulda coulda woulda.

As a general rule, Deacon tries not to dwell on the past. Thinking too much about shit that went wrong is a one-way trip to crazy town and losing yourself in booze or chems of the barrel of a gun, desperately trying to escape bitterness and regret in the face of a harsh and unfair universe. It’s fucking hard, though, when it feels like the memories are actively chasing him. Sometimes when it’s quiet he swears he can hear his wife’s voice, even though she’s been dead for over twenty years now.

For the third time this week he wakes up in a cold sweat. He gives up on sleep and throws on a Moira uniform to wander the hallways restlessly and as anonymously as he can in the small community of the ship, hoping to find some booze and a quiet corner amidst the wreckage of glass.]

[B: CLOSED TO WILLIAM]

[During one of his sleepless excursions, Deacon knocks on the door of William’s room. Shades hide the dark circles under his eyes and his wig covers the red stubble on his head. He usually sleeps during the day, so he’s not worried about waking William’s roommates.]

Room service!

[He calls out in a bright and chipper voice.]

Comments

[bloodbinds]

[ She doesn't go poking in his head. She doesn't need to. Ava wants to trust Deacon and him taking off his sunglasses to look her in the eye-- That means a lot to her. She wants to give him a chance.

Her shoulders slump, relief obvious. She's stopped trying to hide all of that from him months ago. After a moment, Ava sort of smiles at his joke. ]

I really, really don't know how vegans stand it. If you want to talk about freaks, there you go. They willingly want to restrict themselves. It's crazy. [ She gives him a grateful look. ] Thanks. I mean it. You're... I'm pissed at you, but you're still my friend, Deacon.

[ And that means he's not getting away with the initial point of contact tonight, a subject she brings back around. ]

What are you doing up, by the way? You look exhausted.

[ Without the shades, it's more obvious. ]

[ersatzeverything]

Nightmares. It turns out reading Lovecraft before bed is not a great idea. [Well, he managed to halfway tell the truth. But the nightmares have nothing to do with Lovecraft. He puts his shades back on.]

I'm tempted to ask you to hypnotize me to go the fuck to sleep. That's a thing vampires can do, right?

[bloodbinds]

I could've told you that. Read the Necronomicon a few years back. Scared the shit out of me. It's not something you want to read around here - especially with what's happened.

[ Ava lifts a single eyebrow and then, hesitantly, shakes her head. ]

I can command people to do things. I can't...command you to sleep. I don't think it works that way.

[ With a frown, she sighs. ]

I can...try to make you forget what's causing your nightmares.

[ersatzeverything]

That's tempting. Really tempting.

[He can change his face, change his voice, but he still can't escape himself. But change his memories...forget...and he really would be a different person.

If it weren't for the risk that he'd end up reverting back to an asshole again, he'd consider going for it, forget all the regrets that haunt him.]

But I'd better not.

Knowing me, I'd see that book there and read it again thinking that it's the first time--and let me just say that that would be awesome for books that don't cause horrible nightmares--and end up back where I started.

[bloodbinds]

Yeah, that's kind of the downside. I try to focus on little things to remove but, yeah, you might just make a repeat mistake because of it. It's easier when it's a chunk of time taken out -- but I hate doing it.

[ It's hard still to talk about what she can do, the things she could do to really mess with someone. It's geared towards survival, sure, but that excuse only runs for so long. She fusses with her hands a little bit, a nervous habit even now. She tries to keep her fingers still. ]

So, what, you thought wandering the halls in the dark wouldn't make you think some creepy tentacle monster was after you?