thechanged | SLEEPING BEAUTIES EPILOGUE: THE KISS

When the vines took her, the fish girl was dragged underneath the water's surface. Koi fish now weave between the lingering vines, nipping at her fingers to no avail. She rests just inches from air, but her gills took over instinctively, so the only thing hinting to her whereabouts is the little cluster of bubbles right above her face-- no one can hear you snore underwater, but in the right circumstances, they can see it. Even beneath the soft ripples and refracted light dancing across her face, she sleeps with a peaceful look, like she simply fell asleep there of her own will. Leave it to her to be positive even in her unwilling slumber.

He doesn't leave it to chance. Very soon after he's been awoken himself, the searchlight is already backtracking to where he knows that he slept. Hours and hours of hazy dreams later, he's going to finish what he started.

It doesn't take him long to find her pond. The vines have started to wither, but not enough. He can see how they've plunged beneath the water, and to a sight like his, the bubbles are all too obvious.

He only hesitates for a moment, hovering above the water as he contemplates his line of action. Then he's plunging beneath, fueled by his nebulous levitation, and heading straight for the vines entangling her legs.

His claws make short work of them, now that they're weakened. Once he's broken them up enough that he knows she'll be able to wiggle free, he returns for a breath of air, only to plunge beneath again.

Hands sliding over fish scales for purchase, luminous in his underwater light, he presses his lips to hers.

She blinks awake slowly, not realizing that anyone is there at first-- not until she tries to stretch and finds herself still underwater, and still restricted.

"Oh." What else should she say? But it comes out as just bubbles, still submerged though she is.

It's only then that he can be content with the fact that his efforts have been a success, and acknowledge that fact that he's pretty much out of air. He flashes her a thumbs up before allowing himself to surface with a gasp.

He doesn't even have to tread water, really. The advantages to being so light are that he floats on water pretty much effortlessly.

It takes her a few good moments before she can push the deteriorating vines out of the way, but after a bit of a struggle, she manages to get herself up out of the water. You wouldn't ever be able to tell, but she's blushing a little. What can she say? That's certainly an interested way to wake up.

"What was that all about?" For the moment, she's forgotten all about her dream, though she'll remember it shortly.

He pulls himself up above the water, almost like he's sitting on it, and gives himself a shake to dislodge from the water from his hair. With his light it is pleasantly sparkly.

"Vine curse," he says, simply. "Made everyone go to sleep." As a reminder of his whole thorn experience, the water has opened a number of his deeper scratches again, leaving lines of neon yellow in the place of normal blood.

"As to all things, makeouts are clearly the answer." A pause. "But no seriously, that was the cure or something. Don't ask me, I guess the house is a raunchy pervert."

"Oh. So it wasn't just because you really like me." She's only half joking. The other half is maybe a little disappointed that the reasoning is so boring, but what can she do? Before she can say anything else on the matter, she notices the cuts-- her own skin has been torn in places, but it dissipates into the water just as quickly. "Are you hurt?"

"Well, you're pretty hot and everything," he shoots off without pausing to think. If he did that, he would almost certainly get embarrassed! "But so am I, so we're really just doing the public a service."

After taking the time to breathe that comment is a lot more...hm. Hm. Shit, better carry on like nothing happened.

"I'm fine, no big deal," he adds, waving it off.

It does get a giggle out of her, her shoulders hunching. He's too kind. But she's too distracted with the cuts to say more on it, reaching out to run her finger over one on his arm.

"You don't look fine," she chides him, giving what she thinks is a very serious look-- it isn't. Not in the least. "Let me see, give me your arm."

"Meh," he says, shrugging that off even as he lets her take a look at the wound. "I think I've died a total of two times at this point so it's hard to be all that concerned about it. Like...besides in the obvious 'wow that's fucked up' kind of way."

Despite his objections, she lays a little kiss across the cut. It doesn't actually do anything except smear some of the blood, but it's the thought that counts, isn't it?

"There. That will have to do for now." Though he's not doing very well at comforting her. "Why did you die?"

"I dunno why I died the first time. I just remember it feeling like my head exploded." His eyes narrow, his look becoming more contemplative. "This time though...it was like the world was ending and I was trying to escape, but I was killed before I could."

"Really?" She stares at him for a good few seconds, before she has to close her eyes. Shaking her head, she gives a conceding shrug. "I don't know what that means. It sounds scary though. You're sure it wasn't just a dream?"

Her own dreams had been pretty real this time.

"As sure as anything around here," he says, shrugging. "I dreamed about it too after I went to sleep, but it was way more pointless and weird. I guess I'm just the kind of guy who dies doing stupid shit a lot."

"Well..." She pats his arm, while she thinks about what she really wants to say. "Try not to die anymore, okay? I don't think I would like to have dead friends."

He is her new hero, after all, and she is pretty sure that qualifies him as a friend, whether he likes it or not.

"Doing okay so far," he says, "despite all odds. Hey, if I get murdered, at least I'll probably see it coming."

Except, on second though, that actually sounds terrible.

Is that supposed to be a joke? She's not really sure if that's supposed to be a joke, and so she just winds up laughing uneasily.

"I guess so." And that's all there really is to say about that. "Did you sleep well, at least? Any interesting dreams?"

Joke or not, it's factually true, he thinks. At her question, he just kind of made a face.

"Fuck no. I just floated around for hours and argued with some assholes. Not only was it confusing, it was boring. I've been somewhere like that before, I'm sure of it."

"Are you so sure that was a dream?" He is kind of cagey. Just a little. But in a weirdly endearing way. "Maybe you'll have a better one next time. --next time you sleep on your own, that is. Not next time there's attack vines on the loose."

"I saw some other people there," he says, shrugging. "I guess I'll know how much of a dream it actually was if they remember the same thing. Like I said, totally would not be surprised."

"Speaking of people," because now seems as good a time as any to mention it, "Have you ever seen a girl here? With red eyes and long red hair? Longer than mine, even!"

Maybe, she hopes, he remembers seeing her somewhere-- if she was actually real, and not just a creation of her dreams.

He takes a moment to think about that.

"No, but I'm pretty sure I did see a dude with hair like that. Why?"

"Because that's what I saw in my dream." The corners of her lips turn down every so slightly, and the furrow in her brow is barely noticeable, but there. Trying to remember it all clearly brings up a whole new bout of worry. "She said she was somewhere in the house, like she couldn't wake up like we did. I think someone was stopping her?"

The details have grown a little fuzzy, or at least harder to put into words, but the feeling is still vividly there.

"Oh." He's frowning now, too, not that it's apparent. He focuses on that idea, searching for any kind of portent for the subject. It's annoyingly inconclusive.

"Like, it would actually make sense for there to be people still sleeping in other parts of the house, so I guess we're bound to find her as quickly as we'll find anybody else the house is locking up. Which is...you know, probably not fast at all." He eases up a little. "But still theoretically possible, I guess."

"Yeah, I guess you're right." She's a little dejected, but it's true, he is. Seeing her rather than just imagining some faceless, formless being asleep elsewhere in the house had made it so real for her. But there was really no reason to think she might be the only one. Something about the idea that she might be kept asleep by another, someone who could be reasoned with, stuck with the fairest.

"We should probably go wake up the others right now anyway. We'll want them to come too, if we're going to searching the house."

SLEEPING BEAUTIES EPILOGUE: THE KISS

for Sollux

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whoops totally misread that have some alterations

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