And So It Begins [9/15/2017]

[thedreamthief]

It didn't feel like any ordinary dream.

That wasn't saying much when the dreamer in question was Ronan Lynch, but even for him, it didn't feel ordinary. Just how seemed impossible to quantify, but Ronan could feel it in the shudder of the wind against his skin, the hint of a whisper down his spine, the flicker of wings in his peripheral vision.

There was something lingering at the edges. A presence. Calling to him. Pleading.

He wasn't dreaming with purpose this time, his sleep largely dreamless and much easier to come by in the past several months with all his closest friends nearby and his mother only two doors down. There are no Terrors. Haven't been for months. Was this one now? When Ronan slept these days it was for hours on end, as though his body was trying to make up for years and years without.

But not tonight.

He woke slowly, in fits in starts that were far too familiar. A wisp of white fluttered across his eyes and a sinking dread hung in his chest as he blinked his eyes open. He was stuck in place, fingers twitching, gripping at nothing and, for a moment, he couldn't breathe.

And then he could.

He hadn't brought anything out with him, or at least nothing he could see. But the shiver in his room hadn't faded.

Frowning, Ronan checked the clock -- 6:21. The sun was peeking over the horizon already. He rubbed his eyes and swung his legs over the side of the bed.

The door to his mother's room was still closed as he passed and Ronan quietly jogged down the stairs in only his boxers and muscle shirt, slipping into a pair of flip-flops that may or may not have been his own before stepping out into the crisp morning.

The chickens greeted him with quiet clucks as Ronan carried in the pail of bird feed. Hercules stumbled over on graceless legs while Cinnamon only blinked at him from near the fence.

Ronan sprinkled the ground with a handful of seed, still unable to shake the vestiges of the dream.

Comments

[thedreamthief]

Adam's arms tightened around him briefly and Ronan inhaled, sinking into the warmth of his familiar embrace as the chickens continued to cluck and peck at the seed at his feet.

"What the fuck's a meeting going to do?" he asked with a huff of a humorless laugh. "It'll just get Gansey on a tangent."

Though, honestly, that might not be a bad idea now that Cheng had disappeared. It might give him something new to focus on for awhile, something that may or may not be as fruitless as examining the mysterious of this fucked-up city.

[incognoscibilis]

"I could use a Gansey tangent right about now," Adam said, waiting for the elbow in his side and a laughed innuendo. It was true though. Gansey thinking out loud was likely to help them as much as anything, if they could get his thoughts to follow a track. And with ley lines, they usually could.

"I'm pretty sure that something weird in your dreams is probably a Thing we're not supposed to ignore."

[thedreamthief]

It wasn't a bad thought. Sometimes Gansey's tangents actually landed on something solid and helpful. Less so here just because Darrow itself was a fucking mess, full of dozens of new variables none of them really knew how to handle.

But maybe he could figure out something. There were still ley lines, after all, even if there was no dead Welsh king anymore.

"Probably," he agreed, lips still curved in a frown. "But you think Gansey will have any fucking clue what to do? Could just Darrow fucking shit up again." Somehow, though, that idea wasn't exactly comforting.

[incognoscibilis]

Adam paused and let himself indulge for a moment, nuzzling against Ronan's neck, the corner of his jaw. In moments like this, there was a softness to Ronan, the boy you could fall on and cut yourself. It seemed a shame to waste it when they both needed the reassurance.

"I don't know, but he'll sound real official about it," Adam said. Even if it was just 'Darrow shit,' it could mean a lot of things and most of the time 'Darrow shit' was never good.

[thedreamthief]

Despite himself, a smile tugged at the corner of Ronan's lips. It was true, really. And there was a chance Gansey might actually stumble on something in his rambling. Even if it was just Darrow show, Gansey had been deep in exploring the city's origins since the moment he arrived -- both times. There was a chance he'd find something.

"Or maybe I'm just paranoid."

This time, his tone was almost more hopeful.

[incognoscibilis]

"I think we've earned the right," Adam said. Their lives were plagued with conspiracy, hitmen, murder, and magic, Ronan even more than most. By now, when something felt wrong to Adam's gut, he trusted it. He didn't want to say or believe that something wasn't right but the evidence was pretty compelling.

"It'll probably seem less weird after breakfast," he said in that same almost hopeful tone. Adam hoped they were wrong.

[thedreamthief]

Ronan arched an eyebrow at that, relaxing just slightly.

"You trying to say something?" he asked, his voice almost teasing even as the unease stayed firm in his belly.

Glancing over at the house, he gave a jut of his chin. "Mom up yet? We could see if she wants to make eggs. Haven't checked the coop yet, but I'd bet there's enough in there for french toast."

[incognoscibilis]

"I'm trying to say," Adam replied, his own light tone doing the exact same as Ronan's. "That breakfast sounds damn good and we both know it." Cavalier didn't really suit him, not unless he was going over the top with a quiet yee-haw, but Adam thought he got points for trying.

"I don't want to wake her if she isn't." Which was to say, Adam wasn't sure exactly how much license he could take with someone who was, essentially, an in-law.

[thedreamthief]

With the chickens still happily pecking near his feet, Ronan shifted the bucket from one hand to the other as he started back toward the house. He trusted Adam to follow, but glanced back just in case, still not quite smiling.

"I can wake her," he said, though he figured he'd just make breakfast himself if his mother really was still in bed. It wouldn't be good, but.

The smell of coffee greeted them as he pushed open the back door into the kitchen and, finally smirking then, he looked over at Adam just as Aurora looked up from the book she was reading at the table.

"Well, there you are," she said as Ronan closed the door behind him. "How are my chickens this lovely morning?"

[incognoscibilis]

As always, Adam put himself behind Ronan in Aurora's presence. Although she was a person who had been made to love, it was still hard sometimes to believe Adam Parrish was a person who could be loved by someone like Aurora. Ronan, yes, because they understood the ways they were broken, but not Aurora.

"They're eating," he replied, an unspoken ma'am on the tip of his tongue, barely suppressed.

[thedreamthief]

His mother's smile was as warm and welcoming as ever, her gaze lighting upon Adam as she quietly closed her book and set it aside.

"Well, I suppose they shouldn't be the only ones so lucky," she said, throwing Adam a wink before glancing over to Ronan. She stood up from her chair and grabbed the apron off the hook behind the door. "How about some eggs and sausage, then? Ronan sweetie, can you see what we have in the freezer?"

After washing her hands off in the sink, she turned her attention back to Adam. "Do you have class this morning, Adam? Can I make you a lunch to take with you?"

[incognoscibilis]

Adam paused, feeling oddly singled out by the question. Lunch would be something made for him, not them. He barely suppressed the urge to glance at Ronan, as if he'd provide the right etiquette. As if Ronan had ever provided any etiquette.

"I do," he admitted. "But you don't need to worry about me." That was what sandwiches were for, something easily put together. Rarely satisfying, but doable.