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Subject: Saving the Future: Crossing Lines |
Saving the Future: Crossing Lines “Hope you don’t mind,” Sally Rezilyant cooed, as she literally poured herself into Dreamcatcher Kokopelli Foxglove’s hammock, to nestle against him as he stirred from his slumber, “but I’m still not used to sleeping alone, and your buddy Canada-boy is a bit too uptight to let me cuddle up against him in bed.” Dream squinted speculatively, then smirked. “Sure, why not?” he snorted drowsily, before his brain caught up to his current circumstances. “I mean, you do know that nothing’s going to happen here between us, right?” he checked. “Right,” Sally condescended, even as she managed to snuggle herself under Dream’s right arm, and wrap her own arms around him in turn. “Even though we both apparently prefer to sleep in the nude,” she observed with interest, as he finally noticed her naked flesh rubbing smoothly but insistently against his own. “Tell me more about the world of chastity, Scott,” she quoted teasingly. Dream’s sudden burst of barking laughter startled and upset Sally. “I’m sorry,” he continued to chuckle, even as she eyed him warily, “but I’m not Scott Summers, and you’re not Emma Frost, so I’m not about to cheat on my redheaded wife with you.” “Why not?” Sally challenged. “You’re already cheating on her, with that old —” “I am NOT —” Dream bit back the rest of his angry retort, and Sally could feel his breathing briefly becoming as heavy and voluminous as a bellows, before he completed his original statement more calmly. “I’m not cheating on anyone. None of us are. And she’s NOT old,” he emphasized sternly, even as he still lay beside her. “I’m the last gal who’s going to judge someone else for this sort of stuff, but … you’re married to one, and having sex with both,” Sally pointed out. “How is that not cheating?” Dream shut his eyes tight and pinched the bridge of his nose for a moment. “It’s … complicated,” he settled on. “It’s like … me and April, we belong to each other, yeah? I mean, I’m her boy, and she’s my girl, but … we can extend invites.” “Ah,” Sally nodded. “So, others are occasionally welcome to attend the party?” “Only with mutual, informed consent,” Dream stipulated, “and prior permission.” “Ah,” Sally sighed again. “So, since she’s not here to let you off your leash …” “It’s not like that,” Dream frowned and shook his head. “You belong to her,” Sally paraphrased him mockingly. “I respect her,” Dream shot back, before his scowl softened. “She’s one of the only ones I’d rather ask for permission than for forgiveness.” Sally blinked in surprise. Coming from Dream, who congratulated himself on being beholden to nearly no one, this was a huge admission. She decided to approach it from a different direction. “So, what about …?” she faltered, as she struggled to say something other than “old.” “Bettie?” Dream guessed, then shrugged. “She’s not married to me or April. She’s our guest, and our friend — more than our friend, she’s practically family — but she’s free to see whoever she wants to see, no prior permissions needed.” “So, I could seduce her, instead of you,” Sally suggested facetiously, “and neither you nor your wife would have any problems with that?” “You couldn’t seduce her,” Dream rolled his eyes. “You’re not her type.” He cocked his head to one side and peered at her speculatively. “What exactly is this, that you’re trying to do here? I mean, what … you’re, like, testing me? Is that it?” “You’re the one who keeps trying to recruit Simon and me to your side of the aisle,” Sally countered, with a calculating coolness. “Especially considering how badly I was burned by my last boss, I’m not about to follow the blind faith of some shining knight, unless I’ve already judged for myself whether whatever chinks he has in his armor mean that he’s unfit to lead me. And to hear Simon tell it, you suffered one hell of a serious fracture point in the Moderator’s reality.” Sally heard the metallic clanking of Dream face-palming with his artificial left hand. “Goddammit, how many fucking times do I have to tell people?” he exclaimed. “IT’S NOT ME! Alternate timelines and retconned realities don’t count! That’s like blaming Peter Parker for behaving like an assclown in ‘Brand New Day!’” “Okay, okay,” Sally surrendered, retreating into herself. “There’s something else, isn’t there?” Dream sensed. “Nope,” Sally popped the “P,” in her haste to spit the word out. “Nothing else. It’s not like I’m scared, or lonely, or anything like that.” “There’s nothing wrong with being scared,” Dream sought to reassure her. “I think everybody’s at least a little scared right now.” “Are you scared?” Sally lifted her head from his chest to gaze up at his face. Dream inhaled sharply. “No,” he confessed. “Sorry.” “You’re a pretty poor liar,” Sally scoffed, albeit slightly annoyed by how sincere he sounded. “Fuck you,” Dream tossed off casually, not even bothering to meet her stare. “I’m a fucking flawless liar. But in this particular instance, I also just so happen to be telling the truth, as embarrassing as that is for a proud liar like me to admit. Even before your former boss turned my skull into a live-action replay loop of the Zapruder film, I’d already died enough times to earn my Gold Card membership in the Phoenix Club.” “Even if you could die for real, you wouldn’t be afraid to,” Sally saw straight through him. “You’re afraid for everyone else. You’re afraid that the rest of us might not make it out of here alive, and you’re afraid that you might not ever see your loved ones back home again.” Dream ran the prosthetic fingers of his left hand through his hair. “We all deal with loneliness in our own ways,” he conceded ruefully. “Which is why you haven’t kicked me out of your bed yet,” Sally deduced. “Nothing’s going to happen,” Dream repeated, his eyelids drifting shut. Sally couldn’t resist one last try at a tryst. “I could make myself look like her —” “That sentence ends right there,” Dream cut her off, his eyes still closed, in a tone that left no room for further discussion. And so, they slept together, without sleeping together. Dream stayed faithful, to the women he loved, but Sally found a safe place at his side, and found herself less scared and lonely than she’d been before sneaking into his hut. |
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