undergrounds | Mr. Sandman

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Mr. Sandman

6 Feb.

It's February, still cold but Valentine's Day just around the corner and people starting to think of spring, it might not be surprising that romance seems to be in the air. Hard to pin down just what the difference is—but romance seems to be nagging at a lot of minds.

It might be because last night, you had a dream. Nothing clear, but bits and pieces stick with you. Maybe it was just stolen glances and light kisses, or maybe it was flashes and surprising jolts of something more physical, more raw. Either way, the dream doesn't quite fade away when daylight comes.

The strangest part? It's about someone you normally try not to think of that way.

Dreams are like that though, sometimes. It's probably nothing.

10 Feb.

A few days later, and the dreams keep on keeping on. For at least one person, it's every night. For others, it may be more intermittent. It may be just happening for the first time, after a visit to the Redbright Institute or passing through the surrounding neighbor, or after chatting with a particular vampire. It might happen spontaneously. Either way the dreams keep coming, and they continue to be about someone in particular, someone who you've been denying or ignoring your attraction to, but it's getting hard to pretend you don't feel a little warmer when you think about them.

It's starting to seem like there's something a little weird going on here. Even weirder? There's a chance that the person you're dreaming about is having the same dreams. Not just romantic dreams—the exact same shared dreams.

At least, they are if they're dreaming of you too.

14 Feb.

It's been a week now, and the dreams keep escalating. Not only do they become more frequent, they're more vivid. What started with disjointed images and feelings, more impressions than anything else, have evolved into full narratives—ranging from chastely romantic nonsense, imagining that the object of your desire is a knight coming to rescue you from a dragon, or arrived to offer comfort and support in a bleak moment, to intensely erotic. Some of them may be down right silly.

But the common thread is there. They are all about the same person, and they all expose the fact that you care about them in a way that's not as platonic as you've pretended.

And maybe it's about time you confronted that?

On the other hand, maybe you're just riding this out.

Either way, this is getting sorted out tonight. There's not going to be a better time for it

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Natasha's chin comes up at that, her attention sharpening. She has thought that something was strange her, even toyed with the idea of unnatural. This lends some credence to what she'd considered a paranoid theory.

"There was a horse back ride—and I was in a corset."

Oh. Oh god. Evie blanches, then flushes, ducking her head to try to hide it. How awful- to be blushing, but the reminder of how amazing Natasha had looked, how badly she'd wanted to rest her cheek against her fair flesh...

"And there were strawberries..."

"The same dream," Natasha voices the thought on both of their minds. Natasha doesn't blush though. She's not ashamed of it—it's a dream. And if she's attracted to her friend, it's not something wrong. Just... awkward.

"Evie?"

"It was a dream," she says, surprising herself with the firmness in her voice. That's all it was. "Some strange fluke that made it so we had the same dream, a spell, maybe. Nothing more than that."

Natasha leans back, a little surprised by Evie's vehemence. And perhaps a little stung by it in a way she doesn't entirely want to admit. "You seem very confident about that."

"Of course. There has to be some sort of logical explanation for this, I'm sure." Why else would she be dreaming about Natasha, thinking about her long fingers and the way her lips felt against hers.

A pause. "You don't think it's something else, do you?"

"Not something else, but maybe... more to it. I thought..." Natasha has never revealed things about herself easily. Even before she was a vampire, even before she was a spy, she had used secrecy as a shield.

But here she is, and if she doesn't expose herself at least a little, then there's no way of moving forward.

"The dreams aren't normal, and if we had the same one it's probably not natural. But I don't think they're based on nothing."

She presses her lips together. Damn it, Natasha had a point. They had been weird, and shared dreams was... Something fae did, perhaps.

"No- you're right. I'm sure some fae's gone and cursed us." That didn't explain the kiss and the feelings behind it. But she wasn't here to talk about those, right now. She takes a sip of her drink.

"It could be that." Natasha bites her lower lip as she hesitates. Even with this opportunity, it's hard for her to admit what she suspects. She doesn't share easily, even with a friend.

"I might have an idea why it happened to us."

Oh dear. She doesn't want to hear it. She can't say it.

Maybe it won't be so bad to hear it from Natasha, she thinks. And maybe it's not even what she thinks it might be. Oh god.

She manages to keep her anxiety from playing out on her face, but barely. "And what's that?"

"I think... I haven't been entirely honest with you. Or myself." Her head bows somewhat as she says it, her lips tightening.

"You know I value our friendship?"

Oh dear. Subconsciously, Evie mimics the movements of her friend, and she leans forward a little bit.

"Of course I do. And I value it, as well."

"Then you understand why I wouldn't want to risk that?"

Evie's frown deepens. "Of course- whatever you say, Natasha- it won't effect our friendship, if it should come to that. It's only a theory, after all." There's a soft smile that follows the statement.

Natasha nods, accepting that. She knows it's not so easy to actually keep a relationship unchanged, but she does appreciate the sentiment.

"I think the reason this has been happening is because I've been trying to ignore the fact that... my feelings for you aren't entirely platonic." She snorts then, glancing away. "That sounds like the kind of thing the fae would do, right?"

Evie's suddenly aware of how dry her mouth is. Her glass is dry, and she knows better than to try to avoid and fill her glass again. That wouldn't do anyone any good.

Before Natasha spoke, she knew what she was going to say. Somehow, deep down, Evie had recognized it in Natasha, and, now that the words had been spoken... something was stirring inside of her, too. Low at first, then slowly rising in her throat and leaving through a bubbling laugh.

"That's- oh god- Natasha-" tears prick at the corners of her eyes, and she finds herself wrapping her arms around her friend. "You say it, and it makes sense."

The hug takes Natasha by surprise. Her arms come up, returning the hug almost automatically. At least she doesn't have to worry about the other woman taking it the wrong way.

"Does it?"

Evie laughs again, pulling back slightly. She lets go of Natasha with one hand, using it instead to rub at her temples.

"I- yes. There have been... things I noticed. But I didn't put it all together until now. Things- things on my side, as well." Now it's her turn to duck her head.

"On your side as well," Natasha repeats, tilting her head to keep Evie's expression in her line of sight. Her heart flutters at Evie's admission in a way that makes her feel silly. She's much too old and experienced for that kind of youthful pattering.

But considering how new it is for her to have a friendship with another woman like this, it puts things in such a new context.

"You mean you've felt the same?"

"I didn't really know what it was, until now," Evie admits, looking away for a moment.

"Then you said it and everything clicked. The dreams all made sense, and- this is the first time I've felt this way toward another woman."

"It's not exactly a first for me," Natasha admits slowly. To some degree, she'd always counted it as a vampire thing, but if she were to be honest it was probably there all along.

"But I'm still not handling it gracefully. It's less about women and more about... I haven't had a lot of friends."

Evie isn't surprised. She grew up in Victorian England, and they weren't exactly notorious for their liberal attitudes towards sex. She and Henry had been extremely respectful of each other throughout their entire courtship. But that's what it had been about back then. Courting.

Now, people dated. And, as being friends with people like Caroline taught her, dating seemed to on it's way out now, too.

"I've always recognized beauty in other women," Evie confesses. "Just not... This." She makes a vague gesture between the two of them.

"I hadn't, either, at one point in my life. I usually try not to make many friends." She ducks her head just a little, looking up at her with her nearly-teal eyes. "But things have changed, and I'd like to think they're changing for you, as well." Gingerly, she reaches for Natasha's hand.

"Seemed like a liability," Natasha agrees. Then her lips tighten and she lowers her eyes. "Like a vulnerability."

She whets her lips, then sighs, raising her chin as Evie takes her hand.

"It has been. Making friends... or more than friends?"

Evie understood. Lord did she understand. They were similar women, in that regard. Just on opposite sides. (She's briefly reminded of another Assassin, raised by Templars).

Almost of their own accord, Evie's fingers lace with Natasha.

"I think I can manage more than friends."

Finally, Natasha lets herself finally start to believe that this is possible. More than possible, it seems to be happening. "Yeah?" she says, her throat suddenly dry.

She leans closer. "You sure about that?"

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