Plagued (Adaryn)

[Thomas "Monroe" Montgomery]

Ah, the courtyard. His new spot since the library had become awfully populated with people studying and falling asleep while doing so. He couldn't handle that, although he had to admit that he had checked there first for the dark haired girl whose dream he had fallen into days ago. It was all that had been on his mind and it was beginning to make him irritable. He couldn't help but be worried for her.

Maybe it was just some random scary dream, but it seemed like it wasn't, like it actually had something to do with her. He wasn't sure, but he couldn't shake the nightmare from his mind.

He wasn't about to go to the dorm advisers and ask which one she stayed in, because obviously that would come off very creepy. So instead, he'd hoped he'd randomly come across her somehow, which was really not a good way of going about it either, since he was leaving it completely up to chance.

He'd headed out into the sun as soon as class was done. He'd kept falling asleep in the middle of his classes and getting scolded. It usually didn't happen too entirely often anymore as he thought he had it under control, but so much thinking about this girl and her nightmare was exhausting him.

Tired eyes glanced around the courtyard.

[Adaryn Breslin]

Quiet footsteps allowed Adaryn to make her way around campus relatively unnoticed. She always kept her head down and always kept her belongings close to herself. Right now she only held a single book, and she cradled it to her chest gently. The library became a place to avoid right about now, considering the nightmare she had occurred there. It wasn't a good memory, and she didn't feel ready to subject herself to really remembering.

There were moments where she wondered about the boy, though. She had seen him only briefly, but she couldn't forget his eyes. It shocked her that she could even remember the concern glazing those chocolate brown eyes when she had only seen them for a single moment. But that single moment made her wonder if he really was a part of the dream....

Adaryn quickly shook her head. Of course he wasn't real. Nobody would really show that much kindness to a person they didn't know. With a sigh, she took a seat in the grass of the practically empty courtyard. Addie brought her knees up slightly and placed the book on her knees. Despite the fact that it wasn't cold outside, Adaryn also brought her grey cardigan closer around herself out of habit, and brushed her dark locks out of her face.

Finally some peace and quiet with no interruptions.

[Thomas "Monroe" Montgomery]

Monroe wasn't so sure if he would find the girl he was looking for, mostly because he was so tired and almost every brunette started to look like her. He'd only gotten a quick glimpse of her face in the dream, but he remembered those piercing blue eyes. He just hoped that he didn't go after the wrong person. That would be awkward and hard to explain.

He made his way around the courtyard, eyes searching for the familiar girl desperately. It wasn't so much that he wanted to find her, but that he needed to. That nightmare had been plaguing him and it wasn't even his own!

He spotted a girl a few feet away, knees brought up to her chest. She was small framed and had long dark hair. Was that her? It was hard to tell from the back, then again, the back was all he'd really seen of her. He started to make his way towards her, wondering what the hell he was doing. He wasn't usually one to just go up to people and start making conversation.

He stopped behind her. "Uhm, Adaryn...?"

[Adaryn Breslin]

Adaryn was already finding herself diving head first into the fantasy world created for this specific book, and the world around her seemed to fade. It was a nice release to some pent up stress, mainly because she didn't have to face it when she was reading about other character's issues and conflicts. Reality was a difficult thing to handle, and little did she know, she wasn't about to get away from it just yet.

Being so interested in her book kept her oblivious. Adaryn did not hear, nor did she feel the person who approaching. It was bliss, but only for a second. The minute she heard a voice right beside her, she jumped. 'Who could be...?' Addie thought, but when she turned, her mouth dropped open and she let out a squeak of surprise. Brown eyes slightly covered by longer brown locks stared down at her, and instantly, her mind went back to her nightmare. 'No... He can't be...' Addie was trying to get away from her mind, and apparently she was beginning to hallucinate. It was probably another person, but she was seeing him.

Quickly moving to retrieve her book, she stood up. "Um, No. I think you're mistaken," Adaryn said softly, avoiding the boy's eyes. Why wasn't he fading? She had imagined the boy in her dream, hadn't she? She had to! He wasn't really. "I, um, guess I look like someone?" And with that, she dismissed herself, trying to get away from her hallucination. 'I really must be going crazy...'

[Thomas "Monroe" Montgomery]

Mistaken? When the girl said she wasn't who he thought she was, his eyebrows furrowed in confusion. Sure, he hadn't seen her face for that long--but those eyes and her hair weren't even the parts of her that made him think this was the girl from the nightmare. It was her voice.

She dismissed herself rather quickly, going off in a hurry. "Hey," he said, trying not to sound too entirely eager as he walked after her, breaking into half of a run, his combat boots hitting the cement. "It was you. I might be a guy, but I think I remember whose dream I was in." Was she embarrassed or what?

[Adaryn Breslin]

The voice wasn't fading, and she could hear his combat boots hitting the concrete. Just like they had been when he had rushed to her aid in her dream. But this couldn't be real. He couldn't have heard and seen the things he had. Because if he did, then he'd know her secrets, and she couldn't have that! She took pride in the fact that she hid it so well, but now she couldn't. Because he...

"It was you. I might be a guy, but I think I remember whose dream I was in!"

Adaryn stopped in her tracks and spun around, facing the boy once more. This time she put her hand out and poked him. It was a simple gesture to test if he really was real or not. And she touched flesh. He was definitely real.

"How the... " She looked away for a moment, down at her feet. "Why were you in my dream?" Honestly, Adaryn had half a mind to yell at him, but the other half told her that if he wasn't there, it probably would have been much worse for her. So she didn't yell. But she wanted to know why the hell he chose her out of everyone he could have invaded. "Why...me?" She asked him, still refusing to look him in the eye.

[Thomas "Monroe" Montgomery]

Monroe should have realized how forward that sounded. He was just shouting about being in her dream in a public place. He normally didn't raise his voice above a mumbling volume, mostly because it took too much energy. He also normally didn't push for things, but he just couldn't have her walk away from him.

That question of why. He got it so often. Why were you in my dream? He let out a heavy sigh. "It's my power," he began and then the next part came rushed. "I mean, I just don't go into people's dreams for the fun of it. It's not like that...It just happens." He didn't want to make her think that he'd just chosen to invade her dreams that night. That was creepy.

She was looking at the ground now, suddenly finding it interesting and Monroe felt sort of bad, approaching her this way in public, even if there weren't many people in the courtyard.

[Adaryn Breslin]

Adaryn backed away slowly, her lip trembling as she came to grips with everything that happened. He had heard the conversation between Louise and her. He had heard the things that the 'thing' had said to her. He had heard her scream for help. He had heard her sob with fear. Everything she had ever tried to hide was violated... There was a part of her that wanted to slap him. Tell him to leave her alone. But the other half kept flashing the image of him staring down at her before she had woken up. The care. The slight...fear. It was in her sketchbook. She couldn't yell at him.. No matter how violated she did feel.

There was a sudden urge to hug him, but she refrained from doing so. She had no clue how he would react to her, and Addie sort of had that strict 'no touching' policy in place. It made her uncomfortable to engage in physical contact. She rubbed her covered arms gently, and then wrapped her arms around her midsection. It was her way of comforting herself. It was almost like she was giving herself a hug, and it helped dull the urge to hug the boy. She didn't even know his name.

Finally, after minutes of silence, Adaryn said something a bit unexpected. "T-Thank you..." She mumbled, her eyes flicking up to look at him for only a moment before going back to the floor. "Thank you for helping me..." He saved you, and you know it. The voice in the back of her head said. You would have been so much worse if he wasn't there.

[Thomas "Monroe" Montgomery]

Monroe felt slightly awkward, standing here in front of her and shifting his weight from one foot to the other as she took her time to respond. Was she mulling over his power? What she thought of him? Whether or not she wanted to walk away? She seemed really uncomfortable and Monroe began to fill the silence, with rambling.

"Really, I don't just pick what dreams I go into. If I fall asleep and someone near me is asleep...well, I fall into their dream. I can pull out of the dream but it takes a shit ton of energy. Energy I don't have." He realized he was making wild gestures with his hands and let them fall to his sides, smiling sheepishly.

He fell silent again, and opened his mouth to apologize when she spoke. Thank you.

"Oh, uh...you're welcome." He hadn't been expecting her to say that. "I really didn't do anything though. I couldn't get to you...I tried but that place, your mind creates a pretty mean maze."

[Adaryn Breslin]

Adaryn didn't smile at his words, but rather, looked up at him in shock. It was obvious he was slightly upset, possibly at himself? Adaryn couldn't be sure, but she could see the translucent pink pulsing weakly around his body. He was taller than her, by quite a bit. She had to tilt her neck up just to stare at him, and she noticed how tired he looked. A side-effect of his power, maybe? Addie wouldn't ask about it though, in fear he might get upset.

"You helped me though..." She said softly, quickly averting her gaze the minute she met his. "You didn't have to... and you did. I-uh-never had anyone help me like that...before." He was a complete stranger to her. He had no obligation to stay, but he did. And he was the reason she came to grips with the fact that she could control her own nightmare. If he said he didn't do anything for her, he was kidding himself.

"So, uh... I guess you already know... But I'm Adaryn. My parents used to call me Addie for short." She held out her hand awkwardly. She had made several introductions in her life, but they never seemed to get any easier. Wonderful.

[Thomas "Monroe" Montgomery]

"Yeah, I helped you. I wasn't going to just pull out of that dream and ditch you, even if I did have the energy to do so," Monroe told her with the slightest of a smile that his tiredness would allow. "I do apologize if I invaded your personal space...I mean, obviously I did, so I'm sorry." He really was. It wasn't as if he hand picked whose dream he wanted to invade. He just wanted to get sleep.

He nodded at her. "Yeah...I caught your name," he replied, holding out his hand to clasp hers. "Monroe."

[Adaryn Breslin]

Her gaze quickly fell to their clasped hands and she bit her lip softly. Her mind flashed to when he hovered over her and tried to bring her back to consciousness within the dream. He didn't seem to be much better than her with conversation either. He seemed just as shy as she was, just maybe a bit less awkward. He'd probably have to explain his power constantly, since people typically wondered why a stranger had appeared in their dream.

"Monroe.." She echoed back. Adaryn took another look up at him, and she realized it did suit him. There was something about his appearance just screamed 'Monroe'. She couldn't quite explain how, but it was how she felt. "It, uh, suits you. You look like a Monroe..."

[Thomas "Monroe" Montgomery]

Monre realized that perhaps he was shaking her hand a little too long. In fact, his hand was just clasped with hers and he finally dropped it to his side, mumbling an apology and trying not to yawn. He'd barely slept a wink since her nightmare and it was really taking a toll on him. His mind felt slow to process.

"Thanks," he managed. "I can't say I get that too often." A lot of people insisted on calling him Thomas. It drove him insane.

He rocked back and forth from one foot to the other, suddenly unsure of why exactly he'd been so desperate to find her. Now that he had, his mind felt blank. "Look, I feel like I may have intruded in your personal life and by all means tell me to fuck off if I'm digging where I'm not welcome, but I wanted to ask you about your nightmare."

[Adaryn Breslin]

His voice was slightly slurred, and she made a guess that he was absolutely exhausted. She knew she had made the assumption that he looked tired, but now it was abundantly clear that he was more than that. He looked about ready to just collapse right there. Much like sims did when you didn't have them go to bed before the meter turned entirely red. They'd just fall to the floor right there, and refused to get up until they had some sort of rest.

He finally released her hand and she felt her cheeks burn hot. Human contact has been avoided for quite a long time, especially after what happened with Louise. Adaryn knew she had initiated the handshake, but he seemed to have held on for quite a bit of extra time. This was followed by him shifting nervously from foot to foot.

"I can't imagine why..." She mumbled.

His next words caused her to stiffen, and her eyes widen in panic. So... he wanted to talk about the dream? Why did he want to know about the nightmare? It was her own, right? But he helped you through it... he has a right to know.[/b] The voice in the back of her told her. But she didn't want to tell him /why/ she was feeling that way! Who that person was. Why her voice played on the loudspeaker?

"Why do you want to know about it...?"

[Thomas "Monroe" Montgomery]

"It's just not a usual name," Monroe told her with a shrug, refraining from telling her it was his middle name and not his first.

When he asked the question about her nightmare, she seemed to freeze up and he instantly felt a pang of guilt at digging into her personal affairs. He put up a hand as if to stop her right there. "Don't worry about it. It's fine. I just...it's just been on my mind since that night. I keep thinking about it. I just wanted to make sure...that you're alright," he said awkwardly. Which was true. He felt like it was his responsibility to make sure.