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Who: Dairine Callahan (

fearbringer)
What: Nightmare stalking and another nasty surprise
When: 5/5, night
Where: 404, Dairine's bedroom
Rating: PG for now

Barring castle-wide losses, Pitch spends most of his nights making the rounds through residents' bedrooms, lurking around and watching dreams. Not being able to cause and influence nightmares is frustrating, but it's not hard for him to adjust-- they had been a relatively new power of his, and before he'd discovered that he could influence the Sandman's dream sand, he'd spent untold millennia without them.

This isn't his first visit to Dairine's room. Tonight, he enters through a darkened corner and immediately heads over to the bed, carefully stepping around errant stuffed animals to avoid tripping over them. He leans over the sleeping girl, hoping that it's a nightmare she's having to night.

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Dairine's room isn't far off from what her bedroom looked like back home. The shape was a little different and she had gone to the liberty of adding a bookshelf, but otherwise it was pretty much the same, all the way down to her Star Wars bet sheets (Paradisa version, of course). The clutter is also normal for her, having collected a fair amount of stuff over her two years in the castle. Books, gadgets, odds and ends are scattered throughout the room, on top of shelves and her desk. Even the walls are covered in drawings and paintings. Her stuffed animal collection which usually neatly piled next to the wall is even suffering from the localized entropy, thanks to pets. The only two that were spared were the ones next to her bed: a giant Captain America bear and a stuffed bunny.

The sleeper herself is curled on the bed, lightly snoring. She must have been sleeping for a while now, since she has already started her nightly fight with the bed sheets, skewing them this way and that. By now, Pitch has probably realized that despite appearances, this isn't a great indicator of her dream-state. The only way to be certain was to look.

Inside her dream, Dairine was sitting in the castle's old game room with a group of other people. There might be a few that Pitch might know, like Conan and Nita, but others are people who had long left. Her friends. Watching an older man in uniform try Space Invaders with limited success, she shakes her head and laughs. "Wow, Bucky. I thought shape-shooting was your schtick." The man mutters that the game mechanics are too clunky but shoots her a fond smile anyway. A grey skinned, horned girl challenges him to some other game, and he starts to follow. Strange, but rather tame for a dream.

Of course, these things can change fairly quickly. Outside the game room window, the sky suddenly turns dark, foreboding a less pleasant turn of events coming up.

At first, Pitch is disappointed-- no nightmares. He almost leaves right then and there, but that sky... it might be a sign of better things to come. He decides to wait it out a little longer.

The wait will pay off sooner than he thinks. For as the man called Bucky walks away, dark ripples begin to appear in his footsteps. Suddenly, a train whistle blasts from nowhere, deafening, and the floor caves in below Bucky as half of the game roof turns into an abyss. Bucky falls, followed by others that were close to him at the time. Dairine lurches forward almost over the edge herself, hoping to save at least one of them.

Grabbing the nearest arm, she looks down to see Conan dangling below her. If she were aware of her dreaming she might have commented on it being the second time she's saved him like this, but no such luck. Instead he scowls up at her without a hint of gratitude, as if she were hovering nearby just to annoy him. "What are you doing? I didn't ask for your help."

Dairine is a little thrown off by it, but she scowls back. "Well, tough, because that's what you're getting." She tries to pull him up, but the detective seems to be getting heavier and heavier.

"Go away, Dairine," Conan responds coldly. "You're just a kid. What help would you be?" As he says that, he pulls out an arrow... wait, an arrow? ...and the hand she is holding is no longer Conan's but Clint Barton's. In one swift motion, her old archery teacher stabs the point into her hand, and she lets go with a cry of pain.

"Now, that's more like it," Pitch murmurs as it begins, his arm coming to rest along the headboard of the bed. He misses being able to influence nightmares-- but on the other side of the coin, he doesn't need them the way he did at home. People here can see him. Many are afraid-- or at least wary-- of him. And thanks to the Castle, fear of the supernatural and unknown is an ever-present part of life in Paradisa, and none of it is something that can be explained away with a "don't worry, things like that don't exist".

This place is like a second coming of the Dark Ages. Nightmares no longer have to be the staple of his diet. They're just a little endnote now.

Back in dreamland, Dairine has been so preoccupied with trying to save her friends that she hasn't noticed the room slowly shifting around her. The game systems are gone. Her remaining friends are also gone. The room seems larger and more intimidating without them, as shadows seem to swirl around with no rhyme or reason. Occasionally they appear to have many legs, crawling along the walls and into deeper shadows. Nightmare creatures, not too far off from Pitch's own Nightmares.

Dairine turns her head just as the shadows begin to gather into one corner of the room, forming the shape of a man. Her heart drops into her stomach, but she does not show it, not even in dreams. It would be too dangerous. She quickly stands to face the shadows, her face no longer showing pain nor fear, just as the shadows begin to pull away to reveal a man.

He does not seem that remarkable at first glance. Handsome certainly, with bright red hair and a dark three piece suit. However, one could almost mistake him from a tall, attractive middle-aged business man if not for the cruelty in his eyes. Dairine though, is not fooled. She knew the Lone Power.

The Power, for his part though, smiles casually like He is meeting an old friend.

"He raises a good point, you know. Your friend... what was his name again?" A tilt of the head, and a slightly colder smile. "Oh well, he's gone now, so I suppose it doesn't matter."

"Wrong on two counts, but I suppose you don't have many friends to compare it with so I'll let that one slide." Dairine counters, giving the Lone One a strong glare. "What are you doing here anyway?"

The Lone Power's gaze hardens, becoming knife-like and dangerous. His voice though stays the same rich friendly tone. "Same thing I'm always doing. Sitting here, waiting for you to mess up. You wizards really are a forgetful bunch. 'Where a creation is, the Creator will be there also.' Just because I'm quiet does not mean I left."

Dairine thinks to herself that no, they really haven't forgotten. So much of her last week back home had been reserved to top secrecy because of that clause. The Lone Power existed wherever entropy was, and thus could possibly eaves-drop on them at any time. Keeping secrets from It was hard, but not impossible. She only hoped she could keep them while she was stuck in Paradisa.

Well, this explains why Dairine thought Pitch and this guy were in league together. They kind of... talk alike.

He keeps watching.

The Lone One paces over to casually look over the ledge to where Dairine's friends have vanished. Dairine watches him closely, mentally preparing spells in case this goes south.

"A pity. You wanted to save them so badly yet they wouldn't even give you the chance. Do you ever wonder if it is really worth the effort?"

Dairine squares her shoulders. "Not really. After all, you are part of the reason why they're not asking for help in the first place. Every effort that might take you down a notch is worthwhile, if it saves one life or hundreds."

The Lone One stills, deadly quiet. Then It whispers, "Is that so."

With a flick of his hand, the shadows rush at Dairine, wrapping around her. She shouts angry as she fights against them, furiously enough that she almost misses what the Lone Power says next.

"It won’t make a difference, you know. No matter how you try to change the inevitable, I will still get them in the end. Sarah, Bucky, Rue." It's face darkens. "You should have learned after your mother. You can't save anybody."

Dairine yells, livid at the Power for bringing up her mother, but the Power is unmoved. With a final push, Dairine falls into the chasm, seeing nothing but darkness around her. The shadows seem to be pressing in around her, and all she can hear is the Lone Power laughing, malicious and amused. Above her, the Lone One still stands out of sight, watching her as she falls.

Suddenly the man turns, looking towards the vantage point that Pitch is watching the dream from. Slowly, he smiles.

Pitch doesn't realize that anything is off at first. Sure, the guy is looking at him, but there's no way he can see him. It's just a coincidence.

Coincidence? Perhaps. But then the Lone One speaks again, and it's certainly not to Dairine. After all, he sounds far more pleasant than he did with her.

"Well, look who dropped by. The Boogeyman himself."

... Well, this is unexpected. Pitch doesn't quite know what to do with himself at first, but he recovers quickly.

"I'm not used to people realizing that I'm watching."

"I reckoned as much. You were lucky; this one is more perceptive than most."

A glance towards the hole in the floor makes it clear who "that one" is.

Pitch shrugs, just a little.

"This is what I do. I'm not afraid of being caught."

He clears his throat.

"But I must admit, I'm confused about how we're interacting." Dreams are just figments of people's imaginations, after all. They aren't really real. "Is this the Castle's doing?"

"No." The Lone One admits. "This is not the Castle's doing, no more than it was the last time someone deigned to visit. We are able to interact merely because when wizards dream," and It says the word 'wizards' like Its speaking a curse, "they tend to toe the line between real and fiction far more than your average dreamer."

It smiles.

"Of course, our nature helps too."

"There is no 'we' or 'us'," Pitch says smoothly. "I am entirely my own, just as I assume you are."

"Of course." The Lone One replies good-naturedly, smiling.

"But individuals can have similarities. For example, we are both immortal beings tied to our duties, are we not? You can see into human dreams and fears. That is part of your nature. As for me," It shrugs, "I like to keep a close eye on my creation. A very close eye."

He makes a thoughtful sound. "This girl, you mean? Is she important to you?"

"You could say that." Important enough to try killing constantly at least.

"However, she is only one small part of my work. For every being who exists within entropy, I am with them. This girl just happens to be more self-aware than most."

Pitch looks thoughtful. "You and I really do have some similarities."

The young man turns to look at one of the shadow centipedes with a thoughtful gaze. "You could say that."

That is, unfortunately, all he gets out before the Lone One is interrupted by a loud "NO." Back in the real world, Dairine's pet Bit (which looks for all purposes like a levitating cube) has woken up and discovered the intruder in the room. The Bit, now a ball of red spikes, continues it's string of "NONONONO," launching itself at Pitch's head.

With a shout of surprise, Pitch reels backwards, scrabbling at the thing and trying to pull it off.

"Let go!"

"NONONONONONO..." It keeps saying, following Pitch. The Bit doesn't have arms, so it can't latch on, but it will float as close to him as possible to get its point across.

Except the Bit might be the least of Pitch's worries right now. With all the racket it is making, the sleeping figure begins to stir. Dairine's eyes blink open. "What's the matter now--"

Her words stop as the scene comes into focus. Suddenly Dairine is sitting up with a livid expression on her face. Within seconds, an invisible push of momentum hits Pitch hard. Hard enough to slam a grown man into the wall.

"You," she hisses. Someone is pissed.

Once he realizes the Bit isn't actually attacking, he stops smacking at it, only giving it an irritated shove every so often. That push, though-- that's not something he was expecting either, and he careens across the room, landing on his back.

He slowly picks himself up with a groan. He's a spirit, so no broken bones or bruises-- but it still hurt.

"Yes, it's me," he says irritably. "Just doing my job."

"Not in my room you're not!!"

Dairine stands on her bed, her expression the epitome of rage. The expression alone makes her ten times as intimidating than normal, though the little green jedi on her pajamas sort of cut the effect back a bit.

"How did you even get in here?! The door is locked!" In more ways than one. Dairine had put in great pains to protect her room, though apparently there were some holes in need of filling.

"Yes, in your room," he retorts. "You aren't more special than everyone else here. I'm the Boogeyman; watching the fears and nightmares of mortals is what I do. If you don't like it, you're welcome to stay asleep."

Bad choice of words there. If there is one easy way to make Dairine dislike you, it's pointing out her lack of specialness. Because as far as she is concerned, she was more special once, long before she arrived her. And she didn't like reminders of her demotion.

"Oh I don't think so! Right now I wouldn't care if you were the freaking Sandman. You'll stay out if you know what's good for you."

He scowls at the mention of the Sandman, but doesn't comment on that part.

"I am really not scared of you, little girl. I feed off of the fears and nightmares of the residents here, and I'm not going to make an exception of you simply because you threw a tantrum."

"Yeah? Well, you should be."

She fully intends to make his life a lot harder, starting with making sure he can't get in her room.

"Because I'm not scared of you either. I'm annoyed." Understatement. "And when I'm annoyed, my actions make a tantrum look like a walk in the park. I warned you once that you don't want to underestimate me. I'm not going to warn you again."

"You feel fear. That's tantamount to being scared of me." ... Sometimes. He considers it to be, anyway.

"And if you really don't want me to underestimate you, you could start by telling me what makes you a threat. Because really, all I've ever heard about is your friendship with the Guardians, and they aren't here."

"It's not the same, and you know it." Dairine is fairly certain of that, like she's heard it somewhere. That Pitch was most powerful when people feared him, not just random fears.

Ohhhh, Pitch, you are treading on dangerous ground indeed.

"They aren't, but I don't really need a Guardian to kick your butt. I can do that myself." She flexes her hand and suddenly there is a bright light in her grasp. It writhes like she were holding a live lightning bolt. "I prefer showing over telling."

"Why wouldn't it be? I bring fear. I am fear." Though not necessarily in Paradisa, he's realized. People felt fear here before he came, and they'll feel fear if he leaves. It's weird, and it contributes to the feeling of powerlessness that he feels here sometimes, but he also gets something in return: more believe than he's had in centuries.

"And I'm not interested in a fight. I don't fight humans." He's done it, of course-- when those kids back home had decided to with the Guardians, he hadn't backed down from attacking. But for the most part, he considers humans in a completely different domain from himself. There's no reason to fight them. They aren't worth it. They aren't threats.

... But this girl clearly has some sort of power.

"Are you human?" he asks. Because if she's not-- or if she's from a place where humans can be powerful enough to go toe-to-toe with spirits-- he'll need to be more careful. He's perfectly willing to get into fights when he thinks he has a chance of winning, but he doesn't particularly like antagonizing beings that are more powerful than him (he already leaves Will and the demons alone). He hopes he won't have to add Dairine to that list-- her fears are interesting, and she annoys him enough that, even if she isn't a mere child, he bristles at the idea of backing down to her-- but ultimately, he knows he'd prefer it to setting himself up for an unavoidable ass-kicking.

Edited 2014-05-22 17:25 (UTC)

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