Time Warp: Don't Get Too Close, It's Dark Inside (Open)

[Deleted]

Summer 2012

Apathy.... That was all Phoenix knew anymore. When he wasn't drowning his demons by filling himself with his own hallucinogenic dust and escaping reality, he was hardly anything other than a quiet, empty shell that snarked at anyone that got too close. When he was feeling the effects of his self-produced drug, he was unpredictable, often volatile. He had very few friends, which wasn't a surprise. One-night stands were not uncommon for the heavy-lidded pixie; he tried anything he could to fill the hold that Rue had ripped in him when he left, but so far nothing had helped. Not at all.

Even though it was summer and the weather was nice, Phoenix was dressed in dark, long-sleeved clothing, along with a pair of sunglasses that did little to hide the hallucinations that danced around him. Most were pretty abstract; floating shapes and strange colors and the occasional unicorn that decided to grace his vision for some reason today. He was staring at it now, lips slightly parted as it trotted around the courtyard, oblivious to his pain and emptiness.

It came closer to him, and he reached out a hand to pet it; of course, his hand touched nothing, and anyone that was watching would likely just see a weird kid sitting on a bench with his arm outstretched towards empty air.

[Calliope Gallo]

To Calliope Gallo, summer was for family trips to Mykonos. For visiting her Yia-Yia who hated to travel, but did anyway because she never saw her grandchildren enough. Summer was about culture. The experience. The traditions. It was about seeing Chester across a room and wishing she could talk to him. It was about summer dancing classes to ensure she didn't fall behind over break. Or that she didn't get lazy under the encompassing, brightening sun.

It was everything. She felt no pain in her joints as she did in the colder months. She adored her time outside. The relatively naive girl was simply existing within her own happiness. Her greatest concern was that she mightn't see Eric for a day or two at the most. That he wouldn't surprise her, even though she protested that she hated it when he just appeared. She knocked off her slip on shoes and let her toes feel the grass beneath them, hooking the back of her shoes with her fingers and carrying them with ease.

When the overly bright girl saw the boy on the bench with his arms out wide, she admittedly thought he was being weird. But then, this was a weird place. So what was she to expect? Concern coloured her bright blue eyes as she wondered what she should do - if she should do anything.In the end, she did. She almost always did.

"Excuse me," Calliope tried, her voice light, "Is everything okay?"

[Deleted]

The unicorn stood before him for a few moments, apparently letting Phoenix indulge in a few pets of the imaginary creature that wasn't really there. If he'd any happiness in him, he might have smiled, but instead his features stayed somber as he finally pulled his hand away, and the mystical animal trotted off and away to the grass. As he watched, it suddenly became yet another trail of purplish light flying through the air, like the many other colored beams trailing around him.

It took him a long moment to register that someone had spoken to him. Slowly, Phoenix's sunglasses-clad face turned towards the voice, his movements creaky and uncertain. What had she said?

"Uh.... Yes," he finally replied, hoping she'd asked him a question, and that 'yes' was the right answer. His voice was monotonous, and a little scratchy; he cleared his throat. Phoenix squinted at the girl, then slowly lifted his hand to pull his sunglasses down to reveal extremely dilated, foggy eyes, to get a better look at the girl who seemed to be glowing some goldish light in his vision. Like... An angel?

".... Am I dead?" he asked dumbly. As if in a trance, Phoenix's hand reached out for the girl. Maybe she could take the pain away. Maybe this was finally his saving grace.