synthneon | oceanview (different path) || ❝ turn the page i need to see something new. ❞

[ Nothing comes through the link she once shared with Polaris. No answer. Not that she has received anything for the last year. The continual state of hee and the broken relationship (connection?) with the being she considered her best friend.

« What did I do wrong? »

Her head tilts in Alan's direction before looking over her shoulder at him. Her gaze looks haunted, feeling that darkness brush against her mind. Not quite to the level that Alan or even Rose Merigold experienced. ]

No. It wasn't you.

[ Knowing that she still can't hear Polaris even now would just add to his somewhat unsettled state, but he can't do anything to bring the connection back. He wishes that he could; he wishes there was something he could do.

He still wonders if it's his fault that the connection seems to have gone quiet. But they have other things to figure out now, and so he focuses his attention on her, noting the expression on her face. In light of what he's just seen, he wonders if she picked up on it somehow. ]

Don't tell me you saw him too.

I felt... something. Like waves? [ Jesse frowns for a moment. She curls the blanket around her bare chest. ] It's probably nothing.

[ If she shares more he might insist she stays behind. Again. That he alone goes off into the night. Despite what he said just a handful of hours ago. Jesse isn't going to let that happen. She's walking with him into the dark this time. She'll bring him home then they'll find Dylan.

Jesse looks back up at him. ] Sorry if you've been waiting on me to wake up.

Waves? [ Alan frowns too, as he tries to think, tries to pin down ideas that seem to be swirling around in his mind. ] Water. An ocean. Why an ocean? [ He shakes his head because that doesn't make sense to him. Well, it makes sense to a degree, but it feels like something is keeping him from really understanding it all. ]

I don't know if it's nothing. It- it feels like it's something.

[ He doesn't want to insist that she stay behind; he doesn't want to be alone with no one else in the dark with him. But how can he ask her to come with him? It's something he's still wrestling with even now.

He shakes his head. ] It hasn't been that long. I hope you got to sleep a little.

[ "Why an ocean?"

Jesse's gaze stays forward on the ground in front of them. She has a feeling she knows why. Waves. Lake. Something tied to Cauldron Lake is trying to fill in the place Polaris used to occupy. Her hand curls on the blanket pressed to her bare chest.

Something dark. Not the Dark Presence... something like it.

She doesn't want to worry him. He is already preoccupied with the story and the people involved. Her issues can wait. After all, he isn't home, right? He couldn't help with them. Not until she stays with him once they end this story.

« I'm not being lrft behind again. By him or you. Not that you answer. » ]

Enough... probably. [ She dares to look back up at him. The haunted look remains in her eyes, but she says nothing about it for now. ] It's morning... so where to now?

[ Alan can't even begin to explain why, but a part of him feels like he wants to help fill in the place that Polaris once occupied. How can I do that? Is being close to her enough? Is telling her how I feel about her enough? Would she even want me to?

He finds himself reaching out for her, reaching for the hand she has curled into the blanket. He wants to touch her; he wants to hold her, if she'll let him. Honestly, he doesn't want to think about the story right now; he just wants to think about her. ]

Just probably? Are you sure you don't want to lie down again for a little while? [ He sees the haunted look in her eyes, and he hates that it's there at all. How can he help get rid of it? ]

Maybe we should stay here a little longer. [ He figures she'll see right through that and figure out that he doesn't actually know where they should go next. There's several options on the table and he can't decide which one makes the most sense. ]

[ He reaches over for her hand, and immediately, Jesse leans against him. Eyes close. The idea of laying down again does sound ... nice. Good. Laying with him and feeling safe.

It doesn't matter to her at the moment that he has no idea where to go or what they should do next. They need to enjoy this moment. She has no intention of leaving him or being left behind. ]

Yeah. I like the sound of that. [ Especially considering that both of them have no clothes on. ] I ... it's not good. Whatever it is trying to contact me.

Okay. I like the sound of that too. [ He likes more than just the sound of it; he likes the idea of it, and he likes the feeling of having her close to him, especially since they're both not wearing anything right now. He wants to feel her, to press himself against her so they can feel each other. ]

It's not... is it the Dark Presence? [ He shakes his head as his frown deepens. ] It can't have you. It can't get in.

[ I won't let it. ]

[ A frown and a glance to the side. ] No. It doesn't feel the same way. It's... similar.

[ She won't tell him how if she closes her eyes and focuses on the feeling she could tell what that being looks like. The mental image is in her mind and the hair on her arms stands up. Suit, a twisted smile, wearing Alan's face. It's not Alan, but people would think it if all they knew was him on the television.

« It's not Alan. »

She leans into him more. She doesn't want to have conversations pretending he's home and what they'd do together. She can't pretend. All she wants to do is feel him and be with him in this moment. She wants to let him in all the way as she had before. That way they can hit that special place that only they seem to know.

Could she do it without Polaris? Her friend was the one that interacted with whatever it was inside Alan.

« I don't want to feel alone in the dark anymore. » ]

Edited 2024-09-06 16:43 (UTC)

[ Alan's frown only grows more pronounced. ] How is it similar?

[ He has a sinking feeling that he doesn't really want confirmed, but that feeling is telling him she's picked up on his own mental image and recollection of what happened, and he doesn't like that one bit. He wanted to spare her that, to keep her from knowing what he'd seen.

But apparently even his wishes on that topic weren't enough to make it so. When she leans against him, he follows suit, leaning slightly against her in return. If she wants to just feel him and be with him, then the least he can do is provide that. ]

Never mind. It doesn't matter, does it? All that matters right now is us. [ In the grand scheme, he knows that's not true, but surely in the middle of this insanity, they can carve out time for just them and nothing else.

He leans in, lightly brushing the side of his face against hers, and he stays like that, because it feels good. It feels right. ]

It's like the Dark Presence... but it's not like when the old woman was being used. Jagger. It's more ... clever. I guess? [ She frowns and debates telling him the truth. He might not react well. He might decide he has to leave her behind.

« Screw it. He'll probably find out somehow. » ]

It feels like it's trying to be you. It's not. It's nothing like you.

[ She lifts her head in order to look at him properly. He's aged a little. Bags under the eyes, and more scruff than she remembers him having. His hair is still short. She can look in his gray eyes and still see Alan Wake. He may doubt himself, but Jesse still sees the man who found determination despite the fear and uncertainty.

She really does love him.

A hand raises to his face and she rests the palm of her cheek against the skin. ]

You're Alan Wake... and whatever he is? Whatever it is? It just imitates you.

Great. More clever, just what we need. Not that I expected any of this to be easy or to ever really go our way, but...

[ He looks down and glares at his hands. The floor. Anything that's right in front of him. ]

Why doesn't that surprise me? What other bad turns can this all take? I don't want it taking over, I don't want people thinking that I've suddenly gone bad. That wouldn't surprise anyone, really, but- I wouldn't do that. I wouldn't do the things the Dark Presence or the boogeyman or whatever the hell it is would do.

[ His hands clench into fists as his frustrations rise. It's not just frustration either; it's fear, worry, anxiety... Maybe all three of those words mean the same thing, but it's how Alan feels. He's not really reacting well, even if he's not lashing out or pulling away. He might be recoiling inwardly as his nerves rise, but the one thing that gets him to stop is the feel of her hand resting against his face. ]

How do you know that? How can you even be sure?

[ « Boogeyman? »

Her gaze drifts to the side. A pretty lacking explanation. That's unlike Alan. Maybe that's just who this thing is. The Boogeyman. Trying to be Alan Wake. ]

You really think that I have no idea who you are after all this? I don't just let people in... I don't just ... love anyone. You think I wouldn't be able to tell the difference between the Dark Presence, something like it, and you?

[ She bristles at the idea. After eveythting. Really? ]

I didn't end up homeless because I'm irresponsible. I kept insisting things ... to my forced therapist. They insisted I wasn't safe to work. I couldn't pay bills. All because I know the truth and they think I'm insane for knowing what really happened in Bright Falls. Ordinary.

That you're not dead.

[ He's watching her reactions; he feels... nervous. Antsy. Part of him feels like he's coming apart at the seams, that his panic and anxieties are getting the best of him. And now, knowing that she's figured out that someone is trying to take over his life, trying to be him.... that hardly eases his nerves. ]

I don't think that, but this... this isn't just as easy as... Invasion of the Body Snatchers or whatever.

[ Alan's hands clench into fists; he doesn't have a lot of concrete facts here, but part of him thinks that Jesse may not always be able to tell him apart. Or maybe that's just his fear that he's trying and failing to bury. ]

What if it's so convincing that even you can't tell me apart?

[ He looks away for a second then, only to look back at her a second later, and then it seems to him that he's gotten his answer. ]

I know. I believe you. [ He doesn't know how, only that he believes her without question. ]

You know the truth, and the Dark Presence can't fool you. I just have to remember that, and not let it make me forget. It's going to try and make me forget, but I can't do that. I have to remember that you know the truth.

Edited 2024-09-28 19:53 (UTC)

[ Her eyebrows narrow at his questions. The insistence that she couldn't be able to see the difference. Something inside her bristles at the idea that she would be so incapable. Maybe Alan is the one that fears so much being "stolen." Something she doesn't quite understand until he clarifies it a moment later.

Why would the Dark Presence steal things from him? Doesn't it need him to write a story to let it out like before?

Jesse shifts. One leg moves over his to sit herself in his lap. The sheet is the only thing that separates their bare bodies. Green eyes latch onto his gray ones immediately. She may not have the glimmer that a version he met of her once upon a time does, but she does have her own natural power. One that demands all the focus on her when she isn't hiding. ]

You came to me originally. Remember? You needed my help. So... you need to trust my instincts. Okay?

[ He notices the way her eyes narrow as she looks at him and listens to his questions; something about the expression on her face makes him recoil inwardly and visibly retreat but just a fraction. He doesn't pull away entirely, but his nerves and fears are starting to rise and he can't quite hide his reaction

He doesn't know what she's thinking, or that she's wondering if he's so afraid of being taken or stolen or losing himself to the Dark Presence, but he would feel the slightest bit of embarrassment if he knew she'd guessed at his mindset and thoughts.

But then she shifts, moving her leg over his and positioning herself in his lap. He wants to look away, to avoid her gaze, but with her sitting where she is and with how close they are together, he finds that hard to do. Her eyes are latched onto his, and he finds her presence so magnetizing that he can't look away. His eyes lift to meet hers, and they stay there, riveted by her and how close she is.

He can't hide when she's looking at him like that. Maybe he can't hide at all. ]

... Yeah. Yeah, I did. I- I need your help still. It's just- [ I'm scared. Terrified, even. ]

How do you fight something like this? People aren't supposed to fight insane darkness monsters or whatever the hell this is. But... [ His focus returns in full, and even though there's visible fear in his eyes, he doesn't look away. ] If you can help... [ He takes a breath, because he can't remember the last time he trusted someone like this. ]

Then I'm going to trust you.

You called me. So, here I am.

[ Technically, she forced his hand to instruct her how to get to him. Even then, he was the one that sent the message looking for her. Alan called out to her and she answered. She just how he came to her in Bright Falls and she helped.

Jesse raises her hands and puts them on either side of his face. ]

People aren't supposed to fight darkness monsters? [ Her eyebrows narrow slightly. ] Things like this are everywhere, Alan. Even if they're not always the Dark Presence. I don't know how it happens. Why it happens. There's... it's like a poster on the wall. Everyone is looking at it. Sometimes something creeps out from behind the poster, through this ... this hole it's covering. Ordinary. Bright Falls. They're real. People fight them. Where else do urban legends and folk stories come from?

Polaris... she was something like it. But, good. Nice. [ « Before you went away. » ] I trusted her to help me stop what happened in Ordinary. You trusted her to help do whatever it was you did in Bright Falls. She's gone--it's just me. So, I'll do whatever I can. Whatever you tell me.

...maybe you'll come home that way.

[ She leans against him, eyes never leaving his. She can feel the gentleness of that tug towards him. The gravitational that Alan always seems to have when it comes to her. A pull that she can't ignore and always turns her head towards him. No matter where he is. ]

... Thanks. Really, thank you for coming.

[ Even if she did force his hand, he can still be grateful that she showed up for him. He missed her, and he couldn't help but be afraid that he'd never see her again, no matter what promises they made to each other.

His eyes lower and his gaze falls, but then he feels her hands slide into place against his face, and he slowly looks up at her again. ]

You know what I mean. Doctors don't fight darkness monsters. Surgeons. Teachers. Librarians. Things like this might be everywhere, but that doesn't mean everyone sees the darkness. [ A pause. ] Maybe they see the poster but do they see what comes out from behind it? People fight them, but only certain people. People like you and me. Other people don't believe in it. They don't believe in what's behind the poster.

The monster under the bed doesn't exist. The urban legends and folk stories exist, but that's all they are to some people: legends and stories. How do you make people believe that the monsters are real?

[ He gives an involuntary shudder in spite of himself. ]

Polaris is going to come back. [ He pauses again. ] She'll come back, just like I'm going to come back. I'm going to come home.

[ If he says it enough, maybe he'll start to believe it.

She leans against him, and Alan feels or hears something urging him to pull her even closer to him, so that's exactly what he does. There shouldn't be anything separating them, not even the smallest space of inches. Even an inch is too far apart, somehow. They're supposed to be together, and if the darkness tries to stop them, well- then Alan's going to be one of those who fights the darkness whenever he needs to, and even if he doesn't need to. ]

People in Bright Falls fight the darkness when the sun goes down. They just never talk about it... but, it's still different for people like us. I think. We're just pulled to things like this. Maybe once you encounter it once you keep encountering it.

You can't make people believe in them. They have to see it themselves and accept it... and most people never will. It's why we're special.

[ Special because I have someone who believes.

Her eyes flick down to his lips then dart back to the gray ones she loves. He tugs her closer. She presses against him entirely with only the sheet separating them. Keeping them from being skin to skin. The fact they had been intimate the night before seems hardly relevant as that pull drums louder and louder in her head. ]

Edited 2024-10-07 02:14 (UTC)

[ Alan's expression turns thoughtful; a little far away but not entirely gone or checked out of this conversation. To him, this is still new; it's still something he's learning to accept as being true and unavoidable. Jesse's words only underline that for him, that even though it might appear that the residents of Bright Falls just go on living normal lives, that's not true for all of them. Some of them fight back under the cover of darkness.

So it's always been like this. Maybe I couldn't see it or maybe I wasn't ready to, but it's always been there. Things really aren't what they seem. ]

You wanted this. You wanted confirmation that what you knew was real. [ It's just a statement, looking for confirmation that Jesse was open to the possibility of the world being bigger and scarier than most people knew. He's not even sure why he needs that confirmation; maybe because knowing that she welcomes it and accepts it could help him do the same. ]

I need to learn to accept it too. I'm not quite there yet, but I'm trying. I know I can't close my eyes to it, at least.

[ Even if I did, the darkness would be there. It might even get me and take me away.

He feels her pressing herself against him, and suddenly his interest in talking goes away. He doesn't want to talk right now; he just wants to feel her and have her feel him, and so he presses himself against her in return. One hand curls itself around the sheet between them and gives a quick tug, as if asking if she wants the last barrier between them removed.

It's not even a barrier that hasn't been crossed, as they did that the night before, but he knows he'd cross it with her again and again, as many times as she wants. ]

I wanted someone to believe me. I already knew it was real. What happened in Ordinary happened. There was no accidentally explosion. Just ... some spooky shit and then a government cover up. No one believed me. They all think it's a story I made up to handle losing Mom, Dad, Dylan... everyone.

Physical proof helps. It's just not the validation I was looking for.

[ Her forehead gently rests against his. Have they done that before? It feels like they have. ] I wanted... I wanted to be with you again. If that means being in the dark and fighting to bring us both home? Okay. That's what I'm going to do.

[ It's not just that. It's this... whatever it is that is trying to be Alan. I want it gone. Away. It's not him. I want HIM. It won't go away. It's like this ... this cloud or blanket I can't get off of me. It only felt like it was gone when I found Alan.

When she asked how to find him.

Jesse easily slips out from underneath the blanket. She presses fully to him again. Skin on skin, hips to hips, forehead to forehead. She wants to feel that place again only they seem to exist in. Just the two of them. Maybe she can't feel it without Polaris, but, she has to be able to try. If Alan comes home and Polaris is never there again... it's up to her.

Not that Alan would be coming home without her. She isn't leaving him here.

Eyes drift downwards again. That pull inside her demands to be with him. ]

Is it enough if I say that I believe you? It's not just saying words; I believe you. I know now that strange things happen, strange things that can't always be explained.

[ He moves in a little closer and his hold on her tightens just a fraction, as if saying without words that she won't lose him, not if he has anything to say about it. ]

I'm sorry about your family; I'm sorry you lost all of them. But I know you, and I know you wouldn't make up something like this.

[ She rests her forehead against his, and he leans his forehead against hers in return. ]

Okay. We'll fight together. [ Somehow... her on her side of things, him on his. And maybe one day, they'll be on the same side again.

But then she's pressing herself against him, and every part of her is touching him, and he's touching her in return. They fit together as if they were made for each other, and he can't stop the pleasured moan that escapes him.

If they have to be apart whenever these moments come to an end, he wants to make sure he remembers this. He wants to remember how she feels. He wants to remember how they feel when they're together.

He wants to remember everything. ]

I know you do. People don't just randomly look for someone through a text message.

[ Jesse imagines he sent that text out enmass. Whatever signal he could find. How he found hers without Polaris... maybe they do have some kind of deep connection that she may never understand. Or, she's afraid to understand it. If she does, will he disappear into the night again? ]

After we finish this new story? You'll show me what you have. I may not be able to write... but, maybe I can help somehow. [ Because, he's not leaving me behind again. ] There's a way to come home from the night and we are going to find it.

[ Her intuition is trying to tell her it won't work out that way. Something is going to happen. She doesn't want to listen to it. She's staying with Alan. Her mind has been made up and no story or dimensional borders are going to keep her from making that real. No matter what everything in her is saying.

An almost sense of desperation fills her. She had to stay with him. Even more, that darkness seems to try and tug at her attention. It wants to get in. It wants her to accept it, not Alan, and she refuses.

That doesn't mean she isn't scared of it.

Jesse pushes against him at his moan. Her lips brush against his as her shoulder shake slightly. Somehow the Champion of Light phrase shifts into her mind. That's Alan. Who he is.

And she needs it to keep the darkness away. ]

Alan...

[ « Help me. » ]

[ There's a way to come home from the night and we are going to find it.

The words resonate in Alan's mind, or at least, they attempt to, but he's not sure if he truly believes them yet. He wants to believe, and he wants to have hope that he'll find his way back home one day, but everything seems so impossible. Hopeless, even.

I can't give up. I have to keep trying. I have to keep believing. She's not giving up, so I can't give up either.

Before he can do or say anything else, however, he senses a shift in her demeanor, her attitude. Her composure. She seems desperate, unsettled. She pushes herself against him, and he wraps his arms around her to pull her closer.

He doesn't really know what he's doing, short of holding her and hoping his closeness helps somehow. Helps with what? He doesn't have an answer to that unspoken question.

But if she's looking, she might notice that the lights around them are glowing a little brighter, and they're even beginning to gradually shine a little brighter, growing in brightness a second at a time. Alan himself hasn't noticed anything; he's just holding onto her, hoping that somehow, this helps. What if it doesn't? What if nothing I do helps?

As far as he can tell, he's still in the dark. Oh, there's the street lamps, but they seem dim to Alan's eyes. He can't tell that it's growing brighter, or that the brightness seems to be coming from him.

Maybe he's in too deep to see the light for himself anymore. ]

[ She can feel how the Darkness tries to creep up the back of her mind. How it tries to take the place Polaris had once been in. The Darkness had Alan's face. Slicked back hair, a suit, and an easy grin.

{ Come on, Jess. We both now the guy is screwed. He ain't coming home to you. He doesn't even want to really come home. I promise he's given up on the whole thing. This little stint? It's just the final goodbye tour. }

No. NO. He's coming home. You're wrong.

Jesse feels the light more than she sees it, with her attention split between Alan and the encroaching feeling and words in her mind. She presses her mouth to his, trying to keep his full attention on her. They can kiss, go another round, either way is fine with her. Just as long as all their attention is on each other to beat back the horrors of the night.

Even if it is morning. ]

oceanview (different path) || ❝ turn the page i need to see something new. ❞

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