Someone Like Me...Finally (Candence)

[Candence Waterson]

"But you don't necessarily know if they're memories or just figments of imagination," Candence insisted. Despite her less than convinced insistence, she had to agree with him, at least mostly. There was definitely a decided difference between memory dreams and imaginative dreams... and sometimes the two were intermingled. She gave a brief exhale through her nose. "I guess... I'm just not a fan of the whole Hammel super-power school thing in general." She shrugged and quirked the side of her mouth briefly in a half smile. In truth, she was a whole lot more than "just not a fan". More like "avid dislike".

"Why would you try not to dream walk?" She raised an eyebrow, surprised by this. "I mean, you really don't have a say in it... and you need sleep..." She paused. "No wonder you look like you're about to run into a wall. But anyway. What's so bad about dream-walking? Besides ending up in other peoples' nightmares sometimes?" Not that she was meaning to downplay ending up in nightmares, but really... Dream-walking was that bad usually.

She nodded in response to his advice. Not that she'd been even thinking about cutting out sleep. At least, not to that extent. "Well that stinks... Hope you get it straightened out before you die." She frowned briefly. Really, he would get better use of the stupid ability to put people, including yourself, to sleep by touching them. A pity there was no way to transfer powers. But no use worrying over that. Instead, she gave a vague smirk. "Well, if you ever need to take a nap or something while you around here, let me know." She raised a hand and wiggled her gloved fingers briefly before returning them to her pocket. "Not to sound creepy or anything," she added with a quiet laugh.

[Thomas "Monroe" Montgomery]

"Yeah, but people still get pissed. They still think it's invading their privacy, you know? People view dreams as something that only belong to them, they don't want some guy they don't know suddenly appearing in them and knowing about them." Not only did they find it intrusive, but it took away from the magic of dreams only belonging to the person who had them. That was his experience with it anyway. "I don't think anybody is truly a fan," he mused. "Maybe someone with probability manipulation. Something useful anyway..."

What really shocked him was that she didn't seem to understand why he tried purposely not to dream walk. It made perfect sense to him, but to another girl who shared the same power, it seemed alien. "It's more like I try not to sleep. I have a say in that." Or at least he used to. "I don't like people getting in my business when I don't want them to, I don't want to intrude on others and it's just...awkward." Something told Monroe she hadn't been in a guy's wet dream yet. Was she in for a rude awakening.

And then her somewhat sympathetic comment turned out to have a twist ending. "Uhm, thanks?" The next part got his attention in a better way. "Wait, you can put people to sleep too?" That was almost a weird combination, although it made sense. It just seemed like it was convincing the user to put people to sleep so they could get into their subconscious minds.

[Candence Waterson]

Candence nodded thoughtfully. "That's only if you let them know that you're not part of their dream though. I mean, you don't have to be like, 'what's up, I'm a dreamwalker and not really part of your dream'. If you blend in, no one gets pissed. Sure, it wasn't as easy as just that, but she'd practiced blending in for quite a while now. She had no wish to identify herself in the middle of someone's dream.

It surprised her briefly that he didn't seem surprised at her "not being a fan" of meta stuff in general. Sure, not everyone liked their power, but typically it was because they wanted a different power than they had. Not because they just weren't a fan of meta in general. Of course, then he mentioned "useful" powers. She gave a small shrug at that. "It'd be useful just to be a normal human being too," she retorted.

"Yeah, and choosing not to sleep is really working out for ya," she mused. "What, were you in a super scarring dream or something?" She paused around the end of that sentence, realizing she maybe didn't want to ask that. Because it was possible. She definitely wouldn't have wanted anyone to go through one of her own dreams, from before she'd manifested. Since then, sure she'd experienced some frightening, strange, and just flat out awkward dreams, but awkward and frightening as they got, none of them could top her own nightmares. "Anyway," she muttered, quite ready to move the conversation along.

"Yeah." She shrugged again. "I wouldn't mind being meta quite as much if it weren't for that minor detail. ... Well, that and Hammel," she added. "If you figure out a way to transfer powers, lemme know, and I'll give it to you."

[Thomas "Monroe" Montgomery]

"Yeah, you can blend in, but I feel like I stick out like a sore thumb. That...and it's more that I don't feel comfortable intruding," Monroe explained. At least she was good at blending in and probably wouldn't end up like him, not ever sleeping.

"That's what I think!" Monroe said, a little too excitedly when she said something him and his friend Sebastian talked about so much. "Trust me, I'd feel a lot more useful if I was a normal human being. I'd probably be slightly more normal as well. It'd be good for everyone, really." But thinking about that, it was like a dream...an impossible one.

She was sassy too, and although she didn't like telepaths too much, he had a feeling she'd get along with Eloise in that regard. "Well, not super scarring. I just...as I said, I just don't like to intrude." He shrugged. That and he had his fair share of scarring dreams...like Adaryn's for instance.

An idea was sparking in his head as she confirmed her other power. Would it be selfish to ask? "Would you..." he trailed off. "Could you..." he started again. And this was the power she didn't like? "Would it be weird if I asked you to put me to sleep?"

[Candence Waterson]

Candence considered his words, then ventured, "Why do you think you stick out? I mean... with practice, it's pretty simple. Usually. I mean, sometimes it's pretty much impossible, but still." Of course, in those situations, she typically preferred that the person knew she was there, so they wouldn't do anything too awkward or stupid.

"I guess I see your point with the intrusion thing, though. But still, it isn't like you have to pay attention to what they're doing. It's a dream world, so most of the time there's other places you can wander off to, right? So you don't necessarily have to see anything too personal. Usually." Again with the usually. There were always exceptions, of course. And she felt like she was making this all sound overly easy. Sure, she'd worked hard at blending in and going other places than the dreamer's immediate area in dreams, but the cost of actually learning to control what dreams she entered... which would possibly be better, on second though.

Candence blinked at his outburst of enthusiasm toward being normal. She hadn't exactly been expecting that, but she quickly nodded in agreement. "Exactly. It isn't as if dreamwalking is particularly useful for anything." Except escaping nightmares, of course, but that wasn't a practical "use".

She nodded as he reiterated his disliking to intrude. And, as she'd already voiced her opinion on the whole intrusion thing, left it at that.

Again, Candence found herself blinking in surprise at his reaction. Asking her to put him to sleep? That... hadn't been the reaction she'd been expecting. At best, she'd figured he would laugh her sarcastic offer away, and at worst decide she was a creep and walk off. Had he been anything other than a dreamwalker, she would have most definitely been weirded out by his request. However, as it was, her surprise quickly dissipated as she gave a shrug. "Yeah, it would be weird. But it'd actually almost be refreshing to have my power do something other than be a pain in the butt." Definitely refreshing to have it do something useful.

[Thomas "Monroe" Montgomery]

"I don't know," Monroe said honestly with a shrug. It had been a rather long time since he was in a dream. He just knew that he was always noticed, people always questioned his presence and he had a tendency to want to get involved, to want to help people through the bad dreams, the things their subconscious leaked out when they were asleep. He'd done that for Adaryn and at first she hadn't been thankful for it--it had been an intrusion. He was just lucky that she ended up valuing his help.

"True." He had to agree that she had a point. He could wander off elsewhere in the dream to deal, but either way, it just all felt wrong and it didn't always work out to where you could escape what was happening in the dream. He couldn't help but think that it seemed this girl had it all figured out...and here he was, almost nineteen years old, feeling lost. He was graduated and he was still going back for training, making almost no progress with a power that was taking over his life. The same power she so gracefully handled.

He waited for her response and felt relieved when she shrugged. Of course it would be weird. She'd admitted that much, agreeing with him, but she also said that it would be nice for her power to be useful. "I normally wouldn't ask," he blurted. "It's just...it's gotten bad. Even a few hours would help me at this point."

[Candence Waterson]

Hm. Candence shrugged too. Maybe it wasn't as easy for some people as others. Or maybe other people just didn't believe it was as okay as her. She'd never had an overwhelming urge to help people through their dreams, unless they were extremely bad nightmares, but even then she played it off as being part of the dream as much as possible. She had absolutely no wish to be recognized as foreign to the person's mind.

Candence nodded seriously. If it was one thing she knew how to do, it was how to make it look like she had everything under control. Her way of life depended on it, really. If her parents thought she was doing anything less than perfectly, they either urged her to try harder, or worried over her horribly. Neither of which she found pleasant in the least. So, play everything off as perfectly under control it was. Restless nights? No, of course not. Problematic sleeping nights? No... or at least, nothing her anesthesia couldn't handle. Never seeming to fall into proper restful sleep? Certainly not!

She almost grinned at his blurted explanation, but it ended up more as a half smile. "Yeah, yeah. I bet you really are just a perv trying to mess with me." She tossed her head. "Anyway. Where are you wanting to have this beauty rest? ... And I'll warn you, sometimes people have a headache when they wake up. Usually not bad and doesn't last long, but I'm not good at the stupid anesthesia thing yet, so sometimes my putting someone to sleep is the equivalent of knocking them out. Just without the goose-egg." Yeah, giving the possible side-effects out. Perks of having a pharmaceutical-esque power. At this thought, she couldn't help but give way to some of her snark, "Further side-effects may include nausea, vomiting, coma, and death. Consult your doctor before attempting." She indulged in a smirk. None of this sentence was true, of course, but it amused her at least.

[Thomas "Monroe" Montgomery]

Honestly, it sounded like Candence was a lot better at this whole dreamwalking thing than he was and maybe his power wasn't so complicated, maybe he made it complicated. That realization dawning upon him made him fall rather quiet.

"Hey," he spoke up when she acted as if it was ridiculous for him to make that disclaimer. "I just didn't want to come off that way. At all. You're the first person I've met who has a power even remotely close to mine and I don't wanna screw it up by asking you to put me to sleep." He just wanted to make that clear. Perhaps he was taking all of this too seriously. "Uhm, it would be nice if i could be at my own apartment, but I won't make you travel that far." That and Eloise would surely think it strange if he brought a random underage girl into their apartment to put him to sleep. It just sounded weird. "So...wherever is fine. Preferably not on the floor." He'd fallen asleep for a few moments in such random places across campus that it didn't really matter though. "What about the student lounge?"

He was glad that she was agreeing. "And I don't care about the headache, to be honest. I need this, even if it is like being knocked out." It was kind of sad how desperate he was, but he pushed that feeling away. "Thanks for reading me the warning label. If I go into a coma, that might be the best sleep I've ever gotten."

[Candence Waterson]

Candence waved off the explanation of his disclaimer. "I get it, I get it. I was just being sarcastic." She shrugged. Somehow, it still felt weird that she'd met someone with her power. Maybe that was why she was being a little more snarky than usual.

She nodded in answer to his suggestion of the student lounge, and started off. Really, that was the best option. Nice as he seemed, she had no intention of going to his apartment. Not that she was nervous of the idea, of course, it would just probably be awkward going to some random guy's place.

"Welll, you're not likely to go into a coma. I haven't had it happen with anyone else, anyway." She fidgeted with her fingers. Nice as it would be to put her power to good use, it was still weird to actually be using it voluntarily. Maybe she'd find her calling in life as an anesthetist at a hospital or something. She'd never really thought about that option... But being a nurse would be interesting. A lot of school. But it wasn't like there were a lot of places she could put her powers to use-- and she definitely wanted a job her powers could be useful, instead of them just being a depressing add-on.

Which brought up a question, "You going to college for anything..." Wait, what did she even call him?" "What's your name, anyway?" Just figured she'd forget to ask.

[Thomas "Monroe" Montgomery]

"I figured you were, but I just wanted to make my intentions clear," Monroe replied. There were enough people who probably got the wrong impression of him. He'd figured she'd agree to the student lounge and well, if anybody saw what happened and was weirded out, so what? At least Monroe could get some sleep. Could she put herself to sleep? If she could, that power would be very useful for him to have, along with his dreamwalking.

"No," he said, and he was somehow sort of ashamed of that. "At least right now...my life is kind of a mess." He had to admit that, even if it was sheepishly. "I'm working and really just trying to figure out my power...still." Another thing he had to admit. "I'm Monroe."

[Candence Waterson]

Still trying to figure out his power? Hm. Sounded like his dream walking was about as pain-in-the-neck-ish as her tactile anesthesia. Probably because he had such a different take on it than herself... He didn't use it as a way to get away from things. Obviously. It was more of an unwanted burden, like she viewed the anesthesia.

"I get that," she said aloud. "I don't have everything worked out either... the anesthesia thing is my pain in the butt thing." She gave a wry smile. "What are you trying to figure out about dream walking, anyway? I mean, really, if you just think about the dreams as being your own or something... You dreamed before you got the dream-walking thing, right?" The question seemed silly, because it was just weird to think of someone not dreaming. She knew people that didn't dream much, though...

"Candence," she said in response to his introduction. And there didn't seem to be much more to say on that subject, so she left it at that.

[Thomas "Monroe" Montgomery]

"Well, you've got time." Monroe didn't know how long, how many years until she graduated, but she was sure to be more proficient than he was when he graduated. She already seemed to be. "It's more like...I'm dealing with the reprecussions of my decision to avoid using my power in the past years. I feel like I'm stuck like this, permanately not able to sleep, like my mind and body won't let me even though I know I'm exhausted. It's easier now since I'm not at Hammel, to try and get some sleep here and there without falling into dreams all around me, but even when I've tried, I can't. I think I developed insomnia by forcing myself to stay awake." He shrugged his shoulders, as if it wasn't a big deal, even though it was. "That, and well...I can't control it or practice controlling it until I use it again and I can't fall asleep, so it's really....frustrating at this point." He grinned sheepishly.

He was rambling way too much and their introductions were short. One word. A name. "Cool...so....about that chance of some sleep..."

[Candence Waterson]

Candence nodded quietly as Monroe explained the difficulty of his power. Or rather, the difficulty of his insomnia. Because it didn't seem he had problems with his power-- you had to be able to use your power to have problems with it. And insomnia sort've interfered with using this sort of power. She briefly wondered if perhaps this could be the "usefulness" her trainer had talked about, when she demanded to know what on earth an anesthesia power was good for. She doubted this was exactly what her trainer had in mind, but hey, helping someone to go to sleep so they could face their power, that was useful, right? Well, that and the fact sleeping was sort of important for health reasons.

"Well, maybe we can form a study group or something," she mused drily. "I can practice putting people to sleep without giving them migraines, and you can practice dream walking." Though she put this forward in mild sarcasm, she couldn't help but wonder if it'd be a good idea. Really, both of them could benefit from it. And a circumstance like that would be one of the rare ways she could practice that particular aspect of her powers without feeling guilty.

"Anyway, yeah." She shrugged as they reached the student lounge, and was relieved to find that it wasn't packed with students. "Ready when you are."

[Thomas "Monroe" Montgomery]

"Study group?" Monroe laughed. "More like a sleepover that nobody would want to go to." Who wanted to go hang out with two people who would put you to sleep and then invade your dreams? They would make quite the pair.

As they reached the student lounge, Monroe was relieved that it was empty. He'd really lucked out. "So," he began, as they entered the room. "How long do you think it'll knock me out for?"

[Candence Waterson]

Candence shrugged and gave a faint grin. "I dunno..." she mused drily. "Sounds like a blast to me." All the sarcasm...

"Anyway." She shoved a chair over next to the sofa and plopped down on it, feigning nonchalance to conceal her nervousness. What if she did it wrong? It wasn't as if she'd been practicing this aspect of her power, after all. More like outright refusing to mess with it. Of course, she wasn't sure how she could really do it wrong. She'd either put him to sleep or not. And since she hadn't really learned to anesthetize people more gently, he'd also have a headache. But she'd already warned him about that.

How long? "At least a sleep cycle, so long as no one tries to wake you up. So... about an hour and a half at least? Depending on how well your body takes to it, maybe two or three sleep cycles. When do you want to wake up? I've heard that if we both visualize what time you want to wake up while I put you to sleep, it can help." Of course, that was another one of those tricky "you actually have to practice it" things that irritated her.