applesaucedream | First Night [Open to Multiple]

Jodie Holmes, age six, sits in an unfamiliar bed in an unfamiliar room. One wall is lined with a mirror that is not really a mirror. There are cameras mounted in the corners, their power lights like unblinking red eyes in the dimness (not darkness; they left the light in the hall on for her). She surveys the sparsely furnished room with her back against the headboard and her chin atop her teddy bear. There is a flashlight on her bedside table, and she knows Cole is just outside. They should be safe here, and she tries to be brave - brave for Aiden, whose fear shivers the tether that binds them.

"Don't be scared, Aiden," she says, hugging her teddy closer. "We're gonna go to sleep, and nothing bad is gonna happen." The phrase has a practiced cadence to it, like a prayer, or a magic spell. But God hasn't stopped the monsters, and she doesn't know if she believes in the good kind of magic anymore.

She pushes her legs beneath the covers, but she doesn't lie down. Something is coming. She can feel it.

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Is she? Now that he's aware of the dreamworld, Jodie isn't a burden to carry at all. Still, he's hardly going to hold her against her will. He bends and lets her slide down to stand on her own two feet, hands staying on her sides just a moment to be sure she won't fall over. "There we are. Now, don't you think it's time for an ice cream?"

It's good to be on her feet again. She feels steadier, this way, and less like their surroundings are going to melt away into something different, something worse. She's not so sure that won't happen, though, and she slips her hand into Andrew's, so she won't lose him.

"Okay." It seems like ages since she's had ice cream, though it can't have been that long.

Ice cream he can conjure up easily, though he chooses to scout out a (recently materialized) concessions cart rather than make the food simply appear in their hands. He grins, having meant to offer his hand before Jodie went ahead and took it anyway. "What kind do you like best?" he asks as they approach the cart, a too-extensive menu dominating the front. So he might have taken a few liberties and added a few extra varieties, not like that'll hurt anything.

Fortunately, Jodie already has a flavor in mind, so the list isn't too overwhelming. She just checks to make sure her choice is on there before asking, "Bubblegum?"

Aiden, for his part, contents himself with hovering nearby, examining Andrew more closely. He was too focused on the monsters before to pay much attention to the man. But now he watches him, watches the way he treats Jodie. He doesn't look at her the way her father did - as if she's a monster, or a punishment. He's being nice.

Andrew, Aiden decides, is okay.

If it hadn't been on there, Andrew would have found a way. He passes Jodie's ice cream to her before ordering a chocolate-dipped frozen banana for himself. Belatedly remembering the third member of their little party, he pauses while unwrapping his treat and glances around. "Do you eat ice cream, Aiden?" he asks the air. Hopefully it isn't a sore subject.

"Thank you," Jodie says shyly as she takes her ice cream. The monsters are already a distant memory, though she can't quite shake the feeling that this is all too good to be true.

That doesn't mean she isn't going to enjoy her ice cream while she can, though. When Andrew asks Aiden his question, Jodie can only shake her head in response, her mouth full. "He doesn't have to eat," she explains once she's swallowed. "He's not a person." After a beat, she amends, "Not like us."

He is laying it on a bit thick, but Jodie seems like a kid who could use a happy dream. Whether he'll be able to hold it off if her subconscious brings back the monsters remains to be seen, but Andrew hopes he's jarred her far enough out of the mindset to prevent that becoming an issue.

'Not a person'? Andrew wonders how Aiden feels about that description. "Has he ever tried?" he asks innocently. Partly he wants to suss out more information on this mysterious Aiden...and partly he just wants everyone to have ice cream.

Jodie frowns at her ice cream. At first, it's just one of puzzlement - what difference would trying make? Even Aiden feels confused by the suggestion. He knows he's different. He can see things, and move things, but all he could do with an ice cream cone is knock it to the ground.

Then an image surfaces in Jodie's mind, like a bubble rising up through water: Cole, standing straight and limp-armed, his eyes a milky white. Her frown deepens as she lifts her chin to look up at Andrew.

"He shouldn't try," she says with sudden intensity. "It's wrong."

Andrew blinks down at her, still worrying the banana's chocolate shell with his lips. He's found some sort of sore spot, though why it should be wrong for Aiden to eat dessert he doesn't certainly doesn't know. "Because of what he is?" he asks, still groping about in the dark for answers.

Jodie's only a little less confused than Andrew. Aiden's never… he's never done anything like… she frowns, shaking her head. "He doesn't have a body," she says firmly, because she's certain of that much. She doesn't want to think about how he'd get one.

Aiden drifts closer to her, upset because she's upset. The ambient temperature starts to drop, and Jodie shivers, her breath ghosting in front of her. "Stop it, Aiden," she says wearily.

"No mouth, no ice cream," agrees Andrew lightly, ignoring the chill in the air as best he can. He'd still like to get a more detailed answer out of her, but he's still cautious about anything that might upset her and bring back the monsters. "That's alright, plenty of people don't have solid bodies. I just wanted to be sure he wasn't left out if he didn't have to be."

First Night [Open to Multiple]

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