flamekthunder | { songerein: inbox }

[She can hear her heart racing in the silence, her breathing just as quick as she tries to discern which door to go through, but—]

Ah—!

[Tifa whirls around at the sound of his voice and means to grab hold of him—his wrists, his arms, his shoulders, whatever she can reach—to give him a shake.]

Eustace, that's enough. Wake up!

[But she freezes when she sees his eyes, the sight of them paralyzing her.]

[There's another soft, eerie chuckle as his eyes don't look at Tifa...but at the black mist forming around her. Seeing it makes him slowly run his tongue over his lips, the potential taste of it drawing him in.]

...It's all right, Tifa.

[Such a sweet, quiet voice as he reaches out to lightly grab her chin with his fingertips as he's suddenly right up in front of her.]

I just need...a little more...

A little more what...?

[Her voice is small and scared, her eyes hesitating before she meets his, the red glow in them reminding her of another time... another version of him that she thought she'd never see again in him.]

You're scaring me, Eustace...

[Another twisted smirk as his face nears hers.]

Yeah... That's exactly it...

[Her fears. Her nightmares. He can see that energy swirling around her, ripe for the taking. If it's from her... Surely it would taste the best?

And once more the scenery around them distorts and changes until they are in a dark dungeon-like cell with Tifa up against the cold, stone wall, bloody chains hanging next to her.]

What do you...?

[Whatever it is—if it's Eustace or something else—that has been trying to wrestle control over the dream, it's managed, because this was not supposed to be part of it at all. It was supposed to just be this little thing, some fun with the costume after winding down from a long day on their feet. A little fantastical indulgence...

But instead, it's bloodied chains that rattle when the room shifts, her back already up to the wall, her body stuck between it and Eustace's as he continues to loom over her.

In her head, she screams at herself to wake up, but it's as if these black wisps have somehow locked her in place, keeping the dream alive with her fear.]

What—!?

[The cuffs shackle around her wrists, as if the thought of them alone was enough to manifest it.]

Eustace, I don't know what's going on, but please wake up...

[She really, really doesn't want to hurt him.]

[There's just a soft, quiet "sssh" sound as his lips brush against hers, as if to soothe her.]

It won't take long...

[And then his lips takes hers in a slow kiss, one that has his teeth and tongue running over it as if hunting for a little of that taste.]

[It isn't normal for her to feel so afraid when he moves in on her like this, but there is a spike in that nightmare energy when she feels his teeth graze over her lips, and rather than return the sentiment or part them to invite him in...

She gives him a powerful nudge away with her leg. Not a kick, but close to one. As strong as she can make it without hurting him.]

This is my dream.

[There's a harsh frown when she kicks him back, with an actual click of his tongue.]

If you'd just stay still...

[He'll once more approach her, thorny vines now appearing to try and grab at her.]

[An apologetic look in spite of her growing panic, and among the vines, the black wisps grow thicker, darker. She tries to control them, to push them back before the thorns can scrape over her bare skin, but unlike the ones they usually share, they only seem to feed off of whatever this is, becoming stronger and more resilient as they snake around her legs.

She can feel fearful tears erupting in her eyes, and she slams them shut, refusing to look at him and to let them fall because she knows as soon as she does...

As soon as they tumble down her cheeks the way that they do, unbidden, and her breathing is running ragged gasps as the air feels like it's being pulled out of her lungs...]

Whatever you are, get back.

[Because it sure as hell isn't Eustace.

She'll try to ignite her flames to burn it all away, maybe even put up a wall between them until she can find a way out, or to at least threaten this thing that has taken over her dream and her husband, but even those are weak, barely moving past her fingertips and becoming more than just a warm, flickering spark.

And in one last ditch effort, she'll try to break her arms free, and when they only pull tighter, she'll cry out, biting back an uncharacteristic curse.]

Stop—!

[For a moment Eustace seems to waver, the sight of her tears and her voice seeming to break through whatever has this strange hold on him.

...

But then it changes back, those same tears and voice making his lips twist into a more sadistic smile as he's back on her again.]

...Lovely.

[A dark whisper as he licks up those tears, savoring the taste of that fear contained within them before he travels down her jaw to her neck...]

I'll make it quick.

[She stiffens and trembles, an unusual feeling when it's with Eustace, but she has to remind herself that this isn't him. This is either an illusion of the dream's making, or something had wormed its way in him, like one of those bleeding hearts... only worse. Worse because she can see it all happen right before her eyes, and she can't seem to do anything about it.

As he descends on her tears and then to her neck, she'll fight back, trying to move her head in a way that doesn't allow him access, despite how his breath may feel on her skin. She instead tries to focus on waking up, on trying to take the dream back, on anything but the heat of his mouth on her neck...

Or how her pulse races under his lips, beckoning him to taste, and for once, she doesn't want it to.]

Stop it...

[Bring him back... and get them the hell out of this fantasy turned nightmare...]

[Her words fall on deaf ears, the sound of her pulse, of the energy that flows in those veins drowning out everything else.

And without any further warning, there's the sharp sting of his fangs digging into her skin, breaking through as they sink further and further in, her blood, tinted black, trickling into his mouth...]

Edited 2023-10-23 19:49 (UTC)

[It's such a strange, conflicting feeling. Sobbing and afraid under Eustace when something like this should exhilarate her, thrill her, and it had before. Even when his teeth had grazed just a little bit coarser than usual, it had left her wanting more... and for a single, intoxicating second, her mind confuses one sensation with another. For that single second before his fangs pierce her skin, she feels something else...

Which makes that fear when they finally do so much more palpable when he drinks it up. He will no doubt taste it there, as she tries to keep her breathing from growing too tattered and uneven, tries to keep herself from shaking.

Tries to keep the fear down and her head on straight...

There's a very sudden and very loud CRACK as the wall breaks open and a vine strikes forward like a snake, whipping at Eustace where his mouth is on her neck to swat him away... much to Tifa's surprise.]

[The taste is exquisite, a taste that makes him want to suck harder and drink in more. Drive that fear further and further so he can have more of it... And best of all, it's her fears, her nightmares... He's always indulged in her sweetness, but this? Now he could claim he truly had all of her.

But just as he's about to drink in more, to lose himself in this strange pleasure, there's that loud CRACK and he's struck hard in the face. The force of it tears his teeth out from her skin and send him reeling, swearing as he the blackened blood smears his lips as he glares angrily at the vine.]

What the fuck!?

[Took the words right out of her mouth as she stares at him in disbelief and horror when she sees the blackened blood on his lips. Is that... hers...?

A question that she'll have to ask herself again later because whatever just happened, it's bought her another opening. An opening that burns away the vines that have wrapped around her, and while the chains don't break, something in the nightmare does. A small crack in the landscape, but a crack is all a single flame needs to be able to spread.

And spread it does, because as soon as he reels back, a wall of fire goes up between them. Unlike her usual dreamotion, this is hot, meant to burn as it creeps closer to Eustace, meaning to push him back, though never quite touching him.

From the other side, he'll see her staring wide-eyed in a panic at him.]

Eustace, please. I need you to wake up. For us to go back.

[Out of the ground at his feet, vines will start to coil around his ankles to hold him in place.

Meanwhile, she's letting the fires creep closer to herself... close enough to singe her just a little... Maybe that will be enough to start her awake and knock him out of here in turn.]

[He instinctively withdraws from the flames, hissing through grit teeth as growls.]

You—

[But when some of those flames reach him, not only does it make him flinch from the heat...

Badump.

There's a loud pulse in his head that makes him stagger and yell out as he clutches his head.]

[The moment he staggers is the same moment that the cuffs around Tifa's hands fall loose, and the same one where she feels a sudden jerk of her own before everything in the dream shifts, all of the control back in her own hands.]

... What?

[For how long she has no idea, but she isn't about to let that go to waste.

Another ripple of their environment and the house moves under their feet, the rumbling loud enough to drown out Eustace's shouting until they are no longer standing in the middle of that dungeon, but at the front door... and while she has a moment...

She lunges through the flames to reach for him, pulls him close, and kisses him fiercely on the lips, her tears staining his cheeks as she prays with every bit of her strength that this will wake them both.

Just follow the starflowers...]

[At this time it feels as if something is burning him on the inside, a scorching hot flame that makes it difficult for him to comprehend anything at all. Even when Tifa reaches him and kisses him, he still has no real idea what's going on.

But because he's lost whatever grasp he has on the dream, it's enough to expel him out of the dreamscape and jolt him awake, drenched in sweat, gasping and clutching at his chest and then at his mouth before he hunches over the side of the bed and heaves.]

[She feels him fade right in front of her. One moment, his lips are there and the next, they're gone, leaving Tifa standing alone in the burning foyer of the house.

And as her flames reach the wooden staircase and walls and doors and she hears them crackle from the heat, she exhales with relief.

There is that pull back to her reality, and she leans into it.

But it will take her a moment to wake up, her brow furrowed as she tries to find her way out of the fire and to the safety of their bed, and the tiniest noise escapes her at his side before she, too, jolts awake and immediately searches for him, still dazed and confused.]

—Eustace!?

Edited 2023-10-24 05:40 (UTC)

[Unfortunately, Eustace won't be able to notice as he remains hunched over the side of the bed, hand gripping the table and the sheets as he continues to heave and vomit, though he's not really producing all that much. It's more just fluids and bile, but it's better than the taste that haunts him.

The taste of her blood...

Just the thought alone makes his stomach churn and he wants to claw his mouth to shreds. Even if it only happened in a dream, the memories hit him too hard, the sensation and the taste too strong. It's even worse than when he had been cursed as a lindworm, though that really brings no solace as it only brings even worse memories forward and it worsens his body's reaction with a strangled cry.]

[She doesn't even check her neck for an injury—she doesn't even register it as she hears the sounds coming from Eustace, and she immediately shifts, her arms circling around him so that she can hug him from behind and hold him tight, her face burying into his back, before his thoughts begin to wander.

Because she knows where they will go.

Back to that war-torn field, back to the days they'd much rather forget, when they were both consumed by those nightmares that reared their ugly head. And for what? She doesn't know what caused them, or where they came from, only that it was her dream. Her idea. Her fault that he ended up this way...

And when he lets out that cry, her arms unwrap from around him only so that she can grab hold of him more fully and pull him into a proper embrace.]

[He stiffens when he feels Tifa's arms around him, and while he wanted nothing more than to bury himself in them, an old feeling of fear that makes him try to break out of her grasp.]

Don't—!

[Fuck. Fuck.

Again he lost control to something, to something nightmare related. And again he tried to hurt her—]

Stay away from me...!

[Why? Why does this always happen?

Cold, black frost forms around him, reminiscent of that night long ago, the guilt, anger, and remorse manifesting.]

[He can fight her all he wants. Before, a long time ago, she might have backed off and given him the space to cool down, but not anymore. She is his wife, and she had made a promise, said her vows, and she intends to keep them.

So when he tries to wrestle free from her arms, it only makes her hold on tighter, makes her press her forehead to him more firmly, even as the frost creeps over them. She'll take it, and she'll be the one to melt it all away.]

No.

[No, she will not stay away. Not anymore.

Does she think that she should be afraid of him? After all the other things that they have gone through? That this should scare her away? His demand falls on stubborn ears.]

I'm staying right here.

Tifa!

[A hoarse, strangled cry as he tries again to break free, but he ends up not putting as much effort and the hands that were pushing away start to cling to her instead.]

I... Again I...

[She shakes her head, still holding him tighter, if such a thing is even possible.]

Nothing. You did nothing.

[He would never hurt her so willingly, and whatever had snuck into her dream to take over him—now that she knows it wasn't just an illusion of a nightmare but really him, and her stomach sinks all the more for it—had only been able to do so because of her. Something she won't voice yet... not until he comes down from his panic.

Her hand caresses his cheek, the other threading into his hair gently to keep him still, as if she was the only thing to keep him from trembling so much. Even though she is the one shaking with a fury that she's kept bottled up for so long...

That this world would keep being so cruel to him...]

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