Ice Cream VS Nightmares
17303
THREADID
19
POSTS
1 - 10
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I hope this helps, Tobias thought as he paid for the ice cream. He'd been turning Clare's words over in his head since her call, all the way down to the grocery store and back. A nightmare so bad she'd called to check on me. He slipped the bag over his wrist and headed back towards his apartment.
He waited at the corner, hoping to catch her before heading in.
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Clare nearly passes Tobias thanks to a particularly long yawn, but opens her eyes just in time to see him. There's a moment where she doesn't quite recognize him, then she sudden grins, takes in his face and her eyes dart to his hands, then back to his face. "Hey! didn't expect you to be walking back."
Tobias smiled and waved, the plastic grocery bag dangling from his other hand. "Just picking up our treat," he said, pointing at the bag. "Thought I'd wait and see if I caught you." He looked a little confused when her eyes darted to his hands. I guess I'll figure out what that's about soon enough.
He widened his smile and he waved towards the door. "Come on up, might as well get this in the fridge before it melts." He hummed a little tune as he jiggled the keys into place, and opened the door.
The door opened into Tobias' hollow. The building itself was a pretty modest hut in the middle of a cleared meadow. The door, and each of the widows, are all decorated in delicate knotwork, weaving the Wards into the design of the hut. He motioned for Clare to step inside.
The inside is a cluttered workspace, for the most part. Several tables with half-finished projects and tools spralwed on top of them have been placed around the room. A pair of doorways lead off to the right, and a small kitchen is huddled in the corner. He cleared off one of the tables, and disappered into the kitchen. "Can I get you anything to drink?"
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Clare gave a nod, and followed Tobias through his door to his hollow, then into the hut. Her lips quirked up as she looked around - she hadn't thought of a building herself, something about the clearing as it was called to her - perhaps the openness of it. But that was something to think on later, instead focusing on Tobias and reaffirming that yes, he was here and this was real. That the image of him in a carpet of petals with the half-finished guitar and no hands was just a dream, and nightmare.
"Water would be good, thanks. And we might as well eat the ice cream as we talk. She actually sit on the table, making sure there's enough room for both of them and shrugs.
"Make yourself comfortable," Tobias called out from the kitchen. He emerged a few minutes later, two bowls heaped with icecream, some spoons, and a glass of water for Clare. He gave her a smile, and climbed up next to her, offering the bowls to let her choose.
"Dig in." He just sat there with her, letting her tell him what happened in her own time.
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The ogress kicks off her shoes and folds her legs onto the table, eating slowly and seeming to push at the icecream more than eat it. He eyes wondered around the shop, taking in the disorganized mess, all of Tobias's many projects, and the woodwork of the space. All the while sneaking peeks at Tobias's hands every few minutes and resist the urge to touch them.
"God. Scared so badly by a dream that I have to check up on people. I feel a bit pathetic."
Tobias gave her a reassuring smile. "Hey, don't feel that way." He stirred his ice cream a bit. "Nightmares have a way of wiggling into your subconscious. They get you while you're guard's down." He paused for a moment, staring into his ice cream. "I think a lot of us have nightmares, after what we've been through."
He closed his eyes for a moment, and slipped a spoonful of icecream into his mouth. He nodded, coming to a decision. "I had one myself a few nights ago. About Him. He trapped me in a cage of lightning, as he picked apart my life. Telling me how useless I am. How pointless this," he indicated the various projects around them, "Just how pointless this all is." He could feel the melody in his strings, underlaying the conversation. The tension made him grab his arms, trying to calm them before another string snapped.
He stared down at his icecream. "In his eyes, I was always a failure." He pulled up his sleeves, showing his arms. "These are the signs of my failure. You can guess that this dream unsettled me."
He forced a smile he didn't quite feel back onto his face. "We're here Clare, and we're okay. Nightmares dont' make us weak, they just show us what we care about." The smile finally turned true. "And that's not pathetic."
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Clare Listens intently, slowly eating her ice cream. She let him finish, mulling his words over, then sets her ice cream to the side and Gently rests a hand on his strings, fingers falling between then to stroke skin. "Tobias, you succeeded. You escaped. You're here, setting your own business."
She smiles, then pulls her hand away to pick up the bowl again as the smiles wilts. "What you care about is safe - growing, even. I... in my nightmare, I found another me destroying people I care for. You, Rook... Hell, Dom even... She took off your hands." She grimaces, and stabs at the ice cream a bit before licking it off her spoon.
Goosebumps ran along Tobias' arm at the light touch. He could feel the pitch change, as her hand damped vibrations in the string, the soft counterpoint to their discussion raising to meet her. But he didn't pull away from the touch. Instead, he gave her an encouraging smile as she pulled away herself. He shuddered when she mentioned his hands. "What you care about is safe too. We're safe. That other you, the one that hurt us? That's not going to happen. That wasn't you." He held his hands out so she could see. "My hands are here, and you're not going to take them. Not like that. You want to know how I know that?"
He paused, searching her gaze. He wanted to make sure he had her attention for this last part. "Because you feel horror. You're not going to hurt us, because you care. The idea of taking my hands from me scared you so much you called to make sure I'm okay. And I bet you called them too. Or you're going to."
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Clare slips one of her hands into his, when he holds then out. She can't help it, some part of her wanted to confirm that they were there. His question drew her eyes to his face, and then his answer took her breath away.
It was what she needed to hear, with an honest conviction that made it more that a mere platitude. Some of the tension eased from her muscles and she nodded. A grateful smiles creeped across Clare's lips, and she rested her head against Tobias's shoulder."Yeah. I figure Rook would be able to give me so advice on who to contact, if it keeps bothering me, and... I'm still not sure about how to Aproach Dom..."
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