Time Warp: River of Dreams (Open)

[Deleted]

May 2012, 3:30 am

Sleep was not happening. Not for the first time. Wouldn't be the last time.

Now granted, it had tried to happen, but it was only after three hours of anxiously pacing and lying about with his eyes on the ceiling before his body wore itself out enough that it had no choice but to let sleep claim him.....for about an hour. Then he was popping right back up out of his still made bed and pacing all over again. Only this time, Oriel had to just get out of that room and change his pacing route to cover the entire building. He darted out at a reasonable pace, barefoot and clad in only jeans and a white tank.

Go up a flight of stairs. Walk down the hall to the other end. Go up another flight of stairs. Walk down the hall to the other end. Go down a flight of stairs. Walk down the hall to the other end. Go down another flight of stairs.

And so this cycle repeated until Oriel found himself in the first floor lounge, scoping out the vending machines and cursing himself for not bringing any cash. He was a little hungry, but not enough to go all the way back up to his room.

The 15-year-old boy strolled over to the couch, scratching the back of his head with a loud yawn and flopped down face first upon it, his bare feet hanging generously off the cushioned arms and his jeans uncomfortably pulling down from his waist, showing off the upper band to his boxers of a blue-plaid color. Through a veil of dark hair, his equally dark eyes spotted the television remote on the coffee table and he reached out his hand towards it.

Too far.

Oriel continued to hold up his arm, as if he expected to miraculously develop telekinetic powers for his own convenience.

[Carleigh Davidson]

Oh, insomnia. Carleigh cursed the sleep disorder that plagued her ever since manifestation. It was the main side affect and reason why she was heading down to the main floor of the dorm. Time passed slowly when she lay in her bed, waiting for sleep that wouldn't come. The fourteen, almost fifteen, year old accepted her fate, begrudgingly. It kind of, really sucked.

Wrapped in her fuzzy pink blanket, Carleigh trudged down the empty, silent hallway with a sleepy sigh. It wasn't that she wasn't tired, but couldn't sleep. Nobody ever seemed to understand that fact. She quietly opened the door, hoping not to wake up any of the monitors. The young girl wasn't too angry, as slept overcame her quickly the night before. As force of habit, Carleigh continued walking towards the best couch in the room, the one closest to the television. Her slippers barely made a sound against the floor, preparing to settle down on the couch and turn on to channel surf.

Only, there was a figure there. She stopped, standing in front of the table now, squinting as her eyes adjusted further to the dark. Someone else was here at this time of night? The young girl nearly jumped in surprise when the hand reached out, like a zombie or undead creature. "Need this?" she whispered softly, pointing to the remote. Assuming so, Carleigh picked up the remote and handed it to the stranger before sitting down on the floor, still wrapped up in her blanket.

[Deleted]

Oriel wasn't expecting there to be anybody else up at this hour. Now, sometimes there were and when that happened, Oriel just ignored them. Sometimes they were just up for a late night snack from the vending machines, sometimes they were just bored. Oriel had even woken in the middle of the night to find the first floor lounge filled with students who were too busy gaming to go to bed. Then there were those that bugged him incessantly because he was the only other person awake and they wanted to talk.

Well, Oriel often didn't just want to talk.

Well, Oriel often did just want to talk, but was more than certain that nobody wanted to hear what he had to say anyway. So he never offered it or if he did, it came out as something too offensive for them to stick around.

At this point, Oriel's brain was too tired to think of an acceptable insult outside of just a grunt. Which was exactly what he gave when a figure in the dim lighting inquired into his needs. Once the remote touched his fingers, he fumbled it in his hand and pressed the red power button, effectively turning on the television. Without a word, he started shifting up through the channels, keeping his unhindered eye on the images that passed by, searching for anything slightly interesting while he slowly made his way up to the Cartoon Network.

He stopped on what looked like the movie Singing In The Rain and let his arm flop down the side of the couch.

[Carleigh Davidson]

Carleigh turned to face the television after the figure failed to say anything coherent. Which was a shame, since the young girl was always in a talkative mood. Even after three in the morning. Afterall, this was her prime time. When the majority of homework was complete as well as the majority of her t.v watching. She stared at the television, not offering any input into what to watch. She didn't care, really. As long as it was something that provided a distraction.

What kind of a response was a grunt? It kind of frustrated Carleigh, but again, stayed quiet. She watched the movie for a few minutes, the silence killing her. It made it worse with the other person in the room. Tapping her feet on the ground, she turned to face the stranger again. "Would you like some coffee?" she asked sweetly, making some sort of gesture towards the general vicinity of the coffee machine. The caffeine always helped erase the fatigue. Not to mention it gave her another chance to make some sort of attempt at conversation.

[Deleted]

Oriel might've been in a talkative mood but...he needed to be awake first and not failing to even be half-asleep. Though if he were up for talking, this girl might not like what he had to say. Well...he couldn't see her very well, so couldn't make too many comments. At this point all he knew was that she was nice and had a cheery voice.

The boy blinked slowly, his lips and cheeks squished against the cushion, as his eye caught the moving picture of some goofball running off the walls and trying to hit on a dummy. The sound was turned down, almost to mute, so the music and lyrics didn't carry too far, but Oriel could hear it playing in his head. He almost didn't hear the girl's next question.

After a short moment of thought, Oriel grunted out an "Uh-huh...." which sounded only mildly different than his previous grunt. After another moment of thought, he finally slighted his head so he could move his lips to form actual words. "Sugar. Lots. Please." More grunts that sounded suspiciously like the words he meant them to be.

[Carleigh Davidson]

Ditching her blanket on the ground, Carleigh held back a chuckle. The stranger sounded and kind of resembled a cave man, with his messy hair and man grunts. She walked quickly across the room, as to not stand in the way of the television. Not that he seemed to be paying much attention to it anyway.

The dark didn't hinder her from measuring out the perfect amount of coffee grounds into a clean filter. It wasn't brand coffee, but it sufficed in this case. Carleigh yawned, waiting for the half pot of coffee to finish brewing. She didn't know how many cups he would end up taking, but she hoped for at least a couple of cups. Carleigh grabbed two mugs, one a faded blue and the other with a logo to some hotel in Las Vegas.

She trudged over to the fridge, splashing a bit of milk into the one mug. Carleigh then poured a little bit of sugar into her own cup and poured a lot into his mug. What constituted as a lot? Shrugging to herself, she figured a three second pour was plenty. She grabbed a few extra packets, just in case though.

With a smile, Carleigh placed the packs and the one mug in front of him. "Here ya go." she said, still oddly cheerful for this time in the morning. "Extra sugar just in case as well." With that, she took her own mug and began sipping the hot beverage.

[Deleted]

The man grunts were the best Oriel could muster at the moment, considering his tiredness and his moodiness. Couldn't sleep, couldn't be awake, the most he could do was mindlessly watch the television.

The smell, though. The smell of the brewing coffee was enough to rouse him slightly…at least enough to raise his head and position it more comfortably. He didn't move again until the mug was set on the coffee table in front of him. Oriel turned his head to fix his eyes on her.

Ah. A pretty blonde. No wonder she's so bubbly.

Probably a virgin.

Oriel took a long, slow breath before pushing himself upright and sliding his legs over the side. He pat the space beside him, inviting the girl to sit down, before leaning over and taking the mug between both hands. "Thanks." Less than a grunt this time. He put the mug to his lips and sipped in the sweet, hot liquid carefully. "Oh, fuck coffee where have you been all my life…?" His eyes were barely open, but still he flit them to the side to look at the blonde again. "…..the fuck're you?" he mumbled.

[Carleigh Davidson]

Carleigh placed her own mug on the table, grabbing her blanket off of the floor. She wadded it into a ball and left it nearby, just in case she got cold or something. She sat down next to him with a smile, running a hand through her tangled hair. "No problem. Always nice to have a cup on these sort of nights." Carleigh said, tucking her legs off to the side. She nodded in agreement, holding up her own mug as some sort of joke of a toast. After developing the insomnia, coffee had definitely become a regular part of her life.

Carleigh turned to face the stranger, still smiling. "I'm Carleigh, and you are?" she asked, taking another sip of the coffee. She exhaled in relief, leaning back on the couch. "I don't think we've met before."

[Deleted]

Oriel was hoping that the caffeine would grant him the energy to at least tip him one way or the other, into sleep or more wakeful. "Ain't caffeine s'posed t' keep you 'wake? Don't know 'bout you, but I wanna sleep." He snorted, an attempt at a laugh, as he slighted a smile at her own attempt at a joke.

He continued to sip his coffee, then licked the remaining taste from his lips. "Oriel," he said without resistance. "And nah….probly not." Oriel would remember if they had. "But I'm the jerk who's always snoring in the back of the class, so maybe you don't know me 'cause you only seen the top of my head." It was surprisingly a lot easier for Oriel to sleep in the middle of class. Or in one of the trees in the courtyard. Or in some slut's bed. Anywhere but in his own bed, in his own room.

[Carleigh Davidson]

Shrugging, Carleigh set down her half finished cup of coffee. "I know I won't be sleeping tonight. So, might as well perk up and start the consumption." she said with a chuckle. On its own without explanation, the sentence probably made Carleigh look a little... out there. "Can't sleep cause of insomnia. How about yourself?" she asked, starting some more small talk. She genuinely hoped he was able to fall asleep. It sucked staying up all night.

Oriel. The name sounded familiar. She'd heard of an Oriel before in passing conversations. Maybe a teacher or two yelling at him to wake up. Looking at his hair, she smiled, holding back a laugh. Yeah. She'd definitely seen that flop of hair sleeping in class. Giving Oriel a skeptical look, she shook her head. "I'm sure you're not a jerk." Carleigh said, clearly a clueless.

[Deleted]

As opposed to Carleigh, Oriel would give anything to sleep. He was, or had been, trying the exact opposite approach; overwork and exhaust his body so that it had no choice but to go unconscious. It wasn't working so far. Just making him exhausted, sleepy, and restless. Which was mentally painful. "Brain hates me. Won't shut off." He took another sip from the cup of joe. "And nightmares." From all the anxiety of....everything.

Oriel chuckled. She'd obviously never met him when he was fully awake and grumpy. In class he had an aura of the slacker who was sometimes awake enough to toss antagonizing comments at the teacher. Then after classes he retreated to naps in the courtyard, by the pond, wherever he could until he felt rested enough to actually be awake and launch full blown asshole attacks at innocent bystanders. "Thanks," he said anyway, accepting the compliment without another word.

While Oriel was in the mood to talk, he wasn't much good at small talk and so didn't know how to bring up conversation. And damn him if he ever started a conversation with "So what's your power?" and a cheesy grin.

"So, uh.....what're you in for?" Changing the words doesn't make it sound any less dumb, Oriel.

[Carleigh Davidson]

Knowing all too well about the brain not shutting off, Carleigh nodded with a small, sad sigh. "Yeah..." she trailed off, another mouthful of coffee going down. Nightmares? Although curious, Carleigh decided now was not the best time to delve into Oriel's personal space. Instead, the girl nodded again. "I'm sorry you have to go through that." she added with a slight frown. She was glad for his company, as it kind of got stale and boring after time. The whole no sleep thing.

Maybe she'd luck out and pass out for a couple hours. Maybe. Carleigh chuckled, running a hand through her hair. She grabbed a hair elastic from off of her wrist, using it to hastily throw her hair up in a messy ponytail. "You phrase it like we're in jail or something." she said, but then answered his question. "This wonderful ability to... what's the word... hypnotize, I guess, people. Basically I can influence people's thoughts but only while sleeping. It's pretty dumb." Carleigh couldn't think of a reason she would use the power once out but oh well.

"How about you?" Carleigh asked, happy to change the focus from herself to him. 

[Deleted]

Oriel was surprised that she didn't ask the question that many people would have senselessly asked. Nightmares about what? He'd been asked that before. Been told that they're nothing, they can't hurt you, etc etc etc. He knew that very well already, but it just wasn't that easy. Hell, if they were as childish as monsters and things going bump in the night, then it wouldn't be a problem. Though looking back on what he remembered, to a "normal" person, they probably didn't even seem all that bad. Which was why he never talked about them. Not that he had anyone to talk about them to. Maybe Tak, but he didn't want to burden her with his problems. "Thanks," was all he said.

He gave a halfhearted laugh. "Ain't we, though?" From how he understood it, meta-kids manifested and then were whisked away by some official of the school against their will. He'd never heard of a single person being allowed to say "no". Oriel himself realized immediately when he met with Dr. Campbell that he didn't have a choice in the matter, no matter how much he wanted to stay behind in New York. "These guys kidnap us, stick us in this place, and keep us here for upwards of about 5-10 years." They said it was in his best interest to come here, but they were a bunch of liars to him. He didn't trust a single one of them.

Oriel raised a brow in interest at her ability. So she was a natural human manipulator? Just like some girls he knew. He wondered what that was like. "Only when they sleep? Howzzat work?"

He shrugged, mulling over the explanations of his ability that he didn't quite understand. "Fuuuck....something about ink manipulation...manifest...I dunno. I can pull ink out of pictures, basically." Oriel still had a lot more to learn about it though. And progress was going very slowly.

[Carleigh Davidson]

Sure, Carleigh had experienced nightmares, but nothing reoccurring like it sounded like Oriel had to deal with. No wonder he was awake at this hour. Probably was afraid to go to sleep and have to deal with the nightmares. A slight frown appeared on her face, sympathizing for the poor boy. She nodded in response. "So... sounds like something that happens a lot." she added, biting her lip. "If I'm prying too much just let me know." Carleigh said, nervously fidgeting with her fingers.

She shrugged. Guess some people saw it that way. The young girl never did. Not that her power was over the top or super dangerous, but she had been relieved knowing she wasn't the only weirdo in the world who had strange powers. And boy, were some powers strange. "I guess I never looked at it that way. Some people could see it that way. Me, I don't mind being here so much." Carleigh admitted, shrugging again. Double checking the math, she added "Well... I've been here for a couple years now. Hopefully it's not more than six years." Carleigh gave a lighthearted chuckle. Plus, she had met some really cool people here. It was her eight year old self's dreams, going off to boarding school. Except the whole powers thing was not expected.

"Like, it's subliminal. I can only do it when they are asleep. Can't touch them. Can only speak to them. They have to be in the right sleep mode, otherwise, nada." Carleigh laughed. "In terms of powers, I got a lame one. Don't know how I can ever use it unless I want to try and get an army of minions. on my side."

Well, she'd never heard of that power before. Sounded interesting. "What can you do with the ink afterwards?" Carleigh asked, tilting her head to the side.

[Deleted]

Oriel shook his head though he wasn't sure exactly what for. She was prying and he didn't want to answer questions, but he couldn't stay irritated. Probably just too tired, which was strange since that usually just made him even more cranky. "It's fine," he said, holding back a yawn. "Just thinking, you know, maybe one of these days it won't be a problem." He looked up at the screen and snickered. He'd seen this movie so many times, even managed a peek at the stage show, and it still made him laugh.

Carleigh's story, it was one he'd heard before. There were a lot of kids here who like being here, who adored their powers and showed them off. There were kids from good families, bad families, some even like him with no family. One thing he liked about this place and meta powers was that they didn't fucking care who you were or where you were from or who your daddy was, if you were gonna get powers, you got them. Very non-discriminatory. Yet…he still felt out of place, sharing in a world alongside people who didn't know what hardship was. Like he didn't belong there. This place may not have been a prison, but he wasn't allowed to leave just the same, no matter how unnatural he felt.

"Couple years? Fuck, I only got here in September." It'd only been 8 months and he still couldn't sleep in his bed. The fact that this girl had been there for two years already yet still suffered from insomnia didn't spell high hopes for his own future.

"So, you can give an order to people when they sleep and, like, make 'em act like a chicken all day?" That sounded amusing. Oriel would totally abuse that if he had that kind of power. He shrugged. "Dunno, guess just…put it back? Seems pretty useless if you ask me. The shit that come out ain't even that strong, so breaks easy." He couldn't think of any practical use for his own power.

Oriel took another sip of his coffee.