Welcome to Gaia! ::

Starts on Page 332!

Kemis: So.... Spending a lot of time with my sister... *throws a roll of toilet paper casually at a house*

Lewis: Yup... *tosses an Egg at the front door nervously*

Kemis: You sound nervous... You should be... unless you have something to tell me... *says dully while refusing to look at him. There goes another roll*

Lewis: No... I... I've got nothing to say... *debates on telling Kemis the truth, but throws a toilet paper roll into a tree instead*

Kemis: *smirks* I knew you were too good of a friend for that. Hey, you take out that window, I'll spray paint the car.

Lewis: *feels like s**t* sweatdrop yeah... so um... *throws rocks at the window* so... hypothetically speaking... if I WERE doing anything with your sister, which I'm not.... what would you do?

Kemis: *narrows eyes and slowly turns to him* Depends on what you're DOING... with my sister...

... hypothetically.... stare

Lewis:..........did it suddenly get really hot out here? sweatdrop I think I need to go get some water.

Kemis: What's the matter, Lewis... I thought you liked it hot. After all, my sister is the fire oneroi, right? sweatdrop

Lewis: heh... yeah.... sweatdrop *can't stand it anymore* Dammit, Kemis. I have to tell you something. sad

Kemis: What is it, buddy? *stops throwing things*

Lewis: oh man... you're going to hate me for this. sad cry Wren and I... uh... well... let's just say my hypothetical questions aren't really so hypothetical...

Kemis: I knew that, you moron. I was trying to get a confession. What did you do? stare

Lewis: Um.......Wren

Kemis: *a set of hands violently grabbed the collar of his best friend's shirt and shoved him against the car he ad been previously hoping to spray paint. An alarm went off, the lights in the house went off, but Kemis didn't move to release him* WHAT did you ust say?? stressed

Lewis:I don't want to say it again *whinces* You heard me the first time. Just hit me and be over with it, I'm not sorry for what I've done! *panic whimper whince* I'm only sorry I lied about it.

Kemis: *his grip began to waver and his enraged expression faded slightly. He stood shaking for some time before rearing back his fist and punching him hard in the jaw with so much force he nearly fell. But he let Lewis fall from his hands as a man and his wife came to the door of the house they had been vandalizing. He gave the couple an angry look and began to walk off*

Lewis: *falls to the ground and sits there a while, massaging his jaw* you... you punched me... *angrily gets up and tackles Kemis while also ignoring the people in the house* What was that for?! I said I was sorry! *punches*

Kemis: *takes the hit and begins wrestling around with him angrily* YOU JUST TOLD ME YOU'RE ****ING MY SISTER AND YOU DON'T THINK I'M ENTITLED TO PUNCH YOU?!

Lewis: *wrestles back* I'M NOT ****ING HER! IT MEANS SOMETHING, YOU KNOW! *head butts*

Kemis: *knocked backwards onto the ground but scrambled back up to punch him again* THEN WHAT IS SHE TO YOU?!

Lewis: *in between punches* I love her! And I'm not just saying that to get into her pants. I really do! *kicks*

Kemis: *allows himself to be knocked down once more, but this time he had what he was looking for. He wiped the blood from his chin with a satisfied smirk. He finally stood up, panting, ripped clothes, and bleeding from random places* Look.... I don't like that you two were going about it behind my back... or that... well... you went about it at all.... but... Somehow... I can't help but trust you. I don't want to... but I do... and you had better not take advantage of that. *he looked away, spitting out some blood because Lewis and Kemis just formed the first Oneroi Fight Club* ... Gawddamnit! Why my sister? Were ya'll atleast... using... you know... *he ran a hand through his hair and paced around a little in deep thought. However, he was clearly done fighting*

Lewis: *rolls over on the ground, sits up on all fours and spits up some blood* Yeah we did.*makes sicky noises, as blood is not a tasty thing*

Kemis: Good. *he sat down on the sidewalk to catch his breath* She's too young for that... And so are you.

*by this time every house on the street is lit up and families were standing on their front steps hugging each other close and looking at them with judging eyes. But Kemis didn't much care until he heard the sirens in the distance* Oh s**t...

Lewis: eek *hurridly* well... this has been a... rather interesting night, and there's a lot more I'd like to say to you, but I think now is running from the cops time instead of talking time. Wouldn't you agree?.... friends?

Kemis: *smirks through a steady forming black eye* Race you! *and with that, he took off running*

Lewis: You cheated! *but doesn't really care... he's just happy that they're friends again... runs off after him*

Kemis: *running all out to win as if it would change something if he did*

Lewis: *fails at running* ToT Wait for meeee! *is getting caught up to*

Kemis: *begins to slowly come to a stop in front of the shop, hunched over with his hands on his knees trying to catch his breath*

Lewis: *still aways away* I hate running! ToT

Kemis: *looks back at him, realizing nothing would change. He sighs in defeat* Fine... you can.... have my sister.... ok? *he panted as loudly as he could to him* Just promise you'll... treat her right... or I'll break... your legs...

Wren: *kitty ears perk up* Does anyone else hear yelling outside?

Lewis: I promise! I wouldn't dream of hurting her! *collides with him out in front of the shop* I... I couldn't make them stop running...

Wren: *walks to the door and opens it to find her brother and her boyfriend in a little pile of oneroi in the front yard. Her hands shot to her mouth in surprise and she raced forward to help Lewis off of Kemis* Oh my goodness! Are you alright? You both look like--Oh Gawd! You're hurt!!


Kemis: Idiot! Control your feet, why don't you!

Lewis:It's not as easy as it looks! *turns to Wren* don't worry about it... Kemis and I were just having... manly time...

Wren: I'm not sure what that means but I'm getting the first aid kit anyway! *scurries off*


Kemis: *sighs. Reaches in his pocket for a packet of cigs and pats the pack against his palm a few times*

Lewis: *looks with disgust at Kemis' cigarettes, but doesn't say anything about them*

Zooey:*crawls over to Kemis and makes grabby hands* mine?

Lewis: eek

Kemis: Get your own, kid. These are MINE. *he takes one out and waits*

Wren: Got it!

Kemis: Sis...

Wren: Got it. ^^ *strikes finger against leg like a match and a small flame appears at the end. She holds it out and lights up his cancer stick*

Kemis: Thanks.

Wren: Anytime. *begins rummaging through the kit; has no idea Kemis knows*


Lewis: *bends down towards Zooey, half to talk to her, half becuase it's awkward up there with Wren and Kemis* Now Zoo-Zoo. You don't want those cigarettes. They're nasty and they-OUCH!

Zooey: 4laugh *is pulling his hair* Mine!

Kemis: *chuckles* That's right, kid. Don't let him bad mouth my fix. He's got a few bad habits of his own... *eyes travel to Wren*


Wren: *looks a little surprised but looks away to pull out a cotton ball and THE STINGY STUFF!! surprised

Zooey: 4laugh *claps her hands at Kemis*

Lewis: my habits aren't so bad *steals a glance at Wren, but notices the STINGY STUFF* eek Oh, will you look at the time. It's time for me to not have my Iodine. *tries to sneak off*

Wren: Now, Lewis! Sit down! *chases him with a cotton ball*

Kemis: *left with Zooey.... takes a drag... and blows it in the air above her* Why do I get the feeling I'm gunna like you when you grow up?

Zooey: *smiles at Kemis and looks for something to chew*

Lewis: No! *runs off*

Wren: LEWIIIIIIIIIIIIIS! XO *waves cotton*

Kemis: *moves his tail out of her reach and continues to smoke*

Zooey: *tries to grab at the smoke* mad mine! *can't reach*

Lewis: I shall not be disnfected! crying *hides*

Kemis: *smirks and puts it out, picking her up, and bringing her to Kimi* Here ya go. Don't let her start smoking. It's a bad habit. *stuffs pack back into pocket*

Wren: *stomps foot angrily* Lewis! You get back here!!

Kemis: *passes and puts a hand on her shoulder* He hurts you, you tell me. *walks into Iria's room and closes the door behind him*

Wren: o_o;;

Deshi: And Kemis often ignores me. He went out. Never tells me where though. That boy... *sigh* Atleast he's a lot more well behaved now that he's older.

Police: Excuse me, ma'am... Is this your boy?

Deshi: ....... Then again....

Police: Quiet, son. Ma'am, do you know what your son was doing?

Deshi: ....... Volunteering at the homeless shelter?

Police: If by homeless shelter you mean a few houses down and if by volunteering you mean spray painting it... Then yes.

Deshi: .... Ok.... Uh... I'll uh.... I'll handle this, boys... You go home to your families...

Police: If this happens again, ma'am--

Deshi: It won't..... WILL it? stare

Kemis: stare Whatever...

KEMIIIIIIIIIIIIIS...

Kemis: ....... No... it won't...

Deshi: ^^ Good.

Police: *exit*

Deshi: Now what did you spray paint on their house??

Kemis: ..... A picture of *****: ........ How can I stay mad at you?? heart heart *hug*

Wren: *runs in* Lewiiiiiis! Lewis?? Where are yous? I got you a cookie! *searches in odd places like under the rug and so forth*

Kemis: Lewis isn't here.

Wren: Aww...

Kemis: He left you a message though.

Wren: heart

Kemis: He said go away. I hate you.

Wren: gonk

Deshi: KEMIS!

Kemis: What? She glued a phone to my head. This is revenge.

Starts on Page 599!

Kemis had been having a particularly shitty morning and his afternoon had not gotten any better. He had been sleeping better lately but his crappy mood was once more effected by bad dreams, as always, but lately they had begun to get more and more specific. Detailed. He could smell blood and the scent was constantly in his nose. Nightmares were fine, he was used to them by now, but because he was sleeping better there was no waking up to escape them. He was trapped.

He had slept rather late today, waking with a splitting headache. He fumbled down the stairs, one hand trying to steady himself on the railing while the other hand rested on his forehead, which was sweating bullets I might add. He groaned as a string of particularly unpleasant images flashed in his mind.

Blood, fire, a different person, a body, his sister's crying face...

He nearly went tumbling down the stairs as his feet missed a step. His hands flailed, grasping for anything stable that would keep him the same.

He wanted to do something... something he hadn't done. He had the urge to do things he knew to be wrong. He felt he could. He knew he could. He could do them with a good heart too. The smell of blood was slowly becoming appealing and he long for it to be real.

Why was he thinking about this?

"Kemis?" Deshi smiled cheerfully up at her baby boy. "Are you ok? You dizzy? You could go back to bed. I'll get you some medicine."

He lifted his head. His mother.... Why was she so happy? It didn't make any sense to him.

He gripped the railing tighter as those thoughts entered his head again.

"No, I'm fine..."

"Are you sure? You don't look so good! You're pale and sweating! Let me check your temperature!"

He begged her with his thoughts to not come any closer and flinched slightly as her hand slipped under his long bangs and onto his forehead.

"Oh, don't be such a baby!"


His knuckles turned white from his tght grip on the railing but his other hand had nothing to restrain itself with. Slowly it moved toward her, shaking as he fought the sudden urges.

Why? Why now? Why her?

Crim was coming around the corner when she saw Deshi and Kemis. she almost dropped the ramen that she was eating.

the look on Kemis's face was familiar and it scared her. and poor clueless Deshi. Crim cleared her throat to announce her presence and nervously said:

hey Deshi, Kemis. what's going on??

"Hey Kemis~" Dashwood said, as he popped around the corner, big golden eyes bright as he smiled, unwitting of the chaos oneroi's internal dilemma. "I'm teaching Luciora an' Germant to play Snakes an' Ladders, an' they keep trying to eat the game pieces. Wanna help me?" The little calico tail twitched and he beamed winningly at the older oneroi.

Kemis ignored Crimson's presence though the thought of her suddenly amused him in a very unusually creepy way. He had managed to intertwin his fingers into Deshi's hair before the existance of Dashwood disturbed his already disturbed thoughts. TWO idiots were too much for his slowly shattering mind to handle.

He flashed a frightening glare to the child, his eyes shadowed in part by his damp bangs.

Deshi didn't seem to be aware of anything. She was still trying to figure out why his hand was in her hair. He previously always blew off anything that had to do with her and went off on his own. Maybe he WAS sick. Should she go get the medicine anyway? What were his symptoms?

Yeah, she wasn't catching on...

Looking up at Kemis, Dashwood saw the rather terrifying look, and he quailed, backing up -- his ears lay back flat against his little head as he looked at Kemis. "O-okay I guess that's a no an' I'm gonna go back an' make sure they're not choking on' somethin' so uh... okay bye, Kemis! An' feel better!" His tail tucked slightly, Dashwood hurried off, mewling a bit.

Crim wasn't very scared. she could handle herself. it was Deshi she was worried about. Kemis would calm down eventually. but what would happen if Deshi got hurt because of Kemis. Kemis would never forgive himself, and that would cause a whole mess of problems.

uh Deshi, could you come here for a second please?? i'm having trouble deciding where to categorize this new anime soundtrack.

"Huh?" Deshi looked over at Crimson with a blank and blinking expression. Something was up. That much she knew.

Kemis directed his glare to Crimson now and the area within about a 10 foot radius became slightly hazy and dark as the items within said radius began to tremble slightly.

"Uhh.... Kemis? Honey? You're hurting me..." Deshi squeaked as his hand in her hair became a deathgrip.

"Hey, uh..." Kit had been sitting a few feet away in a chair, focusing on some stupid little puzzle -- the same one she'd been working on when Germant had hatched -- but as the table began to quiver, the pegs were beginning to fall out. "... Is that an earthquake?" Seeing Kemis' hand in Deshi's hair, she stood up quickly, the chair clattering to the floor. "... Kemis?!"

Deshi struggled a little to break free of Kemis' grip to go to Crimson but found that made her head hurt a bit worse. She had a strong pain tolerance and even stronger hair but that really hurt.


"Good." Kemis whispered, a smile on his face and he ignored Crimson.

The more she struggled it only made those feelings of pain and suffering stronger. He wanted to hurt her. He wanted her to scream in agony. He wanted them all to die writhing and cursing his name as they descended into the depths of hell.

His had that was previously gripping the railing of the stairs latched onto her arm violently.

But the funny thing was, there was no voice in the back of his head telling him to stop. Somehow all the tv shows he had watched made him expect that. Those dramatic shows were love ruled and justice prevailed. Suddenly it all meant nothing to him.

This felt right.

Crim stared in horror as Kemis held Deshi. she watched as pain masked her face. No! she thought.

Kemis stop!! Please, you're hurting her!! Crim cried.

"... Stop being an a**, Kemis!" Kit, well, didn't think as usual -- she simply plowed in with the best of intentions.

Literally.

"You're freaking everyone out, so quit!" Shoulder first, Kit rampaged up the stairs, shoving Kemis down as hard as she could.

Crim rushed forward and grabbed Deshi when Kit rushed Kemis. to hell with the fact that if he didn't quit he'd kill her.

Kemis slammed backward onto the stairs hitting his head hard on the ledge of one.

The items stopped shaking and the dark haze was slowly slinking away...

Deshi yelped as his hand left her hair. He certainly took a chunk of her hair with him. She nearly stumbled as well because he had been gripping her arm pretty tightly and the sudden jolt of Kit's rash actions had knocked her a bit as well. However, she was far from ungreatful.

Deshi fought Crimson's grip on her. If something WAS up with Kemis and he really was going to hurt people, she certainly didn't want to leave him alone with Kit! That was her buddy and she had just saved her!

Kemis picked up his head, Kit effectively on top of him. He reached up and felt the large bump on the back of his head. He cursed under his breath. That really wasn't helping the headache he previously had.

Deshi snatched her hand away from Crimson and rushed to Kit to get her off.

"Ootch..." Kit shook her head and tried to sit up, fumbling and ending up on her a** a few steps down. "Kemis, are you okay?" she muttered it -- she'd tripped over a step, so her shin ached, but otherwise she was semi-unharmed. She had plenty of padding so the bounce down the stairs hadn't really hurt.

"Yeah, I'm ok." Kemis grumbled. "That hurt, y'know."

He SEEMED back to normal enough... Right?

Deshi went back and grabbed Crimson's hand to drag her along too. No way she was leaving her alone. No one was really safe. She knew for a fact he could move things for 20 feet.

She gently grabbed Kit's shoulders and began pulling her away, not wanting to hurt her.

Meanwhile, Kemis was looking at his hand with interest, noticing the small chunks of brown hair he had pulled off. However, it didn't seem to phase him that he had just pulled it off of his mother's head.

"... Yeah, uh... sorry?" Kit, slightly bewildered, allowed herself to be drawn away from the boy. Hell, that'd been... ... creepy. Well... that was just about enough excitement --

Kemis had examined his hand for a while before shaking the hair loose from it and looking up, eyes narrowed as always. "Yeah, sorry 'bout that." He said casually. When Kit was off of him he stood up and rubbed the back of his head again. "That's an impressive bump..." He winced as his fingers passed over it. "I'm lucky it didn't crack open."

Deshi was still a little confused by the whole situation.

The time of your child is coming, Mother... be prepared.

"Kemis?"

"I'm gunna go put ice on this." Kemis said, walking off randomly, still rubbing his head through his thick purple hair.

Starts on Page 512!

"Don't let my fathers see those. It's hard enough getting them to stop being lovey-dovey in public. It ruins the professional atmosphere of the shop."

Iria... Someone needs to b***h-slap you a personality.

"It's Christmas! Christmas is supposed to be warm and fuzzy and loving!" She protested at Iria's comment.

"Iria hasn't felt warm and fuzzy and loving over anything in her life." Kemis grumbled.

Oh yeah, she was feeling it alright.

"What is your problem! Ever since I woke up you have been nothing but a heartless b*****d! Not much of a change BEFORE I fell asleep but you get where I'm going, right?" She yelled at Kemis.

"We've NEVER gotten along, Iria! What makes you think it will change just because Christmas is around the corner?" Kemis yelled back. He knew very well they had finally gotten along moment before she entered her dreamign stage. THAT was a different story.

"Aww, don't fight!" gonk Deshi whined, "Kemis, say you're sorry!"

"Aww... Look they're fighting!"
Shining stifled a laugh and looked at Milk.
"Don't you think they need a little... Christmas spirit?"
She winked and motioned surreptiously to the mistletoe.

"You're nothing but a selfish little punk, you know!? Don't pretend like you were never interested! YOU kissed ME! YOU started this mess and I'm not giving up until you tell me why you're throwing it away so fast!"

"And DON'T you touch me or come near me with that or I will personally make sure you have bad dreams from now until Christmas!"

crying Shining sniffled at the threat Iria made.
"You're meeeeean Iria... Maybe that's why Kemis doesn't like you..."
She muttered.

Lewis broke away from his kiss with Wren.

"Whaaaaat?" he said. "Kemis? You kissed Iria? You dog, you!" XD

"Shut up, Lewis! This doesn't concern you!"

"I'm not interested anymore, ok? While you were prancing in your little dream world, life went on! Time went on. Things changed! I don't need you anymore! I've got enough chaos going on inside of me right now!"

Kemis had never looked this angry before but he ended it with averting his eyes to the floor, running his hands through his hair.

Iria looked highly offended. Not just from Kemis but from Shinings words as well. Tears actually formed in her eyes and she took a step back.

The girl decided to ignore Shining to keep herself from either doing something she would regret, or crying... which she would equally regret.

"Kemis... What are you--?"

"Must be nice having such sweet dreams all the time, huh? Having no past as an oneroi to worry about? You better count your blessings because I've got none!"


"Kemis... sweety?" Deshi stepped forward, eyes full of concern.


"Stop looking at me like that! I saw you that night! You were there and I know you remember it! Stop pretending like it never happened!"

The lights flickered and the room began to get colder.


Takuto dropped his controller.


Wren's body temperature went up.

Completely out of line, but feeling justified, Kimi ran across the room to Kemis and popped him one across the cheek.

"Listen you!" She said, waving her finger threateningly at him. "You may have bad dreams, and yeah, they're horrible. I've been noticing how you're acting, so I'm assuming they must be horrific. But that doesn't give you ANY RIGHT to treat Iria like that OR mention her heritage. She can't help what she is. And she can't help what you've done! So you best come to terms with yourself and your past and quit being such a b***h!"

Zooey dropped her controller as well, and stared, slack jaw at her mother.

"It's been nice knowing you, mother," Lewis thought to himself.

Kemis stood completely stunned. He had never seen his mother's friend do anything that seemed remotely like a parent the whole time he had known her and that had been since his birth. He stood rather still, staring at Kimi with a quickly bruising cheek and wide, almost intimidatingly so, eyes.

Any small object within a five foot radius of him slowly began to jiggle in it's place, roll around, or even float.

A red ribbon from the decoration box flew at Shining and tied her hands together, then wrapped around her mouth.


"Kemis! STOP!" Deshi yelled angrily and stepped beside Kimi.


Kemis took a step back, equally surprised at his mother's change.

The objects stopped or dropped to the ground, several ornaments shattered on the hard floor.

He looked down, his hair covering, shadowing his eyes.

And slowly... without a word... He walked out of the room into his own.

Iria's tears began flowing down her face and her fingers were covering her mouth.

"What happened while I was out?"

Starts on Page 522!

There was a sudden banging on the door.


"Oh yay! New lurkers!" Deshi squeaked, jumping out of her chair and rushing to the door. She flung it open happily. "HELLOOOO!"

But she was met with a rather angry looking pair of cops and a rather drunken pair of oneroi.

"Kemis?" Deshi blinked. eek

"Do these young men live here?"

Deshi nodded, eyes wide in surprise.

"We caught these two performing acts of vandalism with oreos, peanut butter, and eggs," the second cop said. "Their may have been alcohol involved, as we found an empty bottle of whiskey in the area."

Kimi looked back and forth from Lewis to the cop a few times, before finally settling on Lewis, shooting him a thumbs up.

"That's my boy!" heart

Lewis grinned sheepishly.

"Kimi, don't encourage this! KEMIS! Is this true??" gonk

Kemis just grinned..

"Are you two their mothers?" He asked, looking from one set of teen girls to the set of teen boys.

"Yes... Why?"

".... No reason..."

Cop #2 blinked, not even wanting to know what kind of crazy families these boys came from.

"Yeah," he said a little awkwardly. "Don't let it happen again."

Then he turned around to get the HELL out of the vicinity.

Kimi ran up to Lewis and hugged him tight.

"I knew you were my son!" she smiled. "Woo, you smell like alcohol."

"Yeah," Lewis said. "We uh... went a little crazy tonight."

"We were even crazier in that bar. Remember the song we sang?" Kemis smirked seductively at Lewis.

"Do I wanna know where this is going?" gonk

"How could you run off like that!? I was so worried!... And you're still drunk! Stop looking at Lewis like that!!" Deshi stressed.

"But I LOVE drunk people," said Kit happily, bouncing Luciora on her shoulder to burp the little kittyboy.

"Not when it's my SON!" gonk

"Oh Kemis," Lewis joked. "You shouldn't say such things infront of people.

"Why should we hide?" Kemis said, bringing his face closer to Lewis' in a seductive manner until finally their lips touched.

Lucky Deshi was watching a bug or she would have freaked.

"Wee! Ladybug!"

Kimi was also watching said bug, or else she would have freaked too, but for a different reason. Yes, Kimi is a sick, sick child.

eek Lewis' eyes widened and he made an OMGI'MALARMED sound at Kemis.

Zooey dropped her controller and began to giggle.

"Heh, my brother's a fairy," she said. twisted

"He is not! He's bi!" Takuto crossed his arms. He loved his brother too much to let someone say something bad about him, "Take that back!"

Kemis broke the kiss and laughed. "You're such a moron, Lewis. Like I would seriously have the hots for you."

Deshi had pounced on the lady bug but was very disappointed when she peeked between her fingers and saw that she hadn't caught anything. "Awww.."

Wren blinked. "Is it sad that I found that kind of hott?" eek

Lewis' eyes widened again.

"No!" he said. "No love triangle! I love Wren!" gonk

Zooey was doubled over in laughter at the whole thing.

"Way to lose the bug, Deshi," Kimi griped.

Deshi sobbed. "I liked that bug too..."


Kemis just laughed.

"And YOU! Go to your room! You made me miss the bug!" gonk

And Kemis went to wobble to his room.

"That's right! No love triangle! He's my brother! That's gross!!" gonk She was thinking more along the lines of a threesome...

Page 584!

((Side Story that I HAD to do to make myself feel better...


Takuto was passing through the halls when he heard a familiar sound. Music... A song... The song he was no longer allowed to sing. It was coming from him mother's room. And despite her horrible singing voice, there was something new in there... Emotion. Her heart. She was singing Eternal Snow... and she was crying.

"Mom?" He called, opening the door a bit. He had waited for the song to end before intruding.

"Oh!" Deshi said in surprise, turning off the last new notes of the song and wiping her eyes. "Hey buddy. What's up?"

"Are you ok?"

"Yeah, I'm ok... I.... You can sing this song again. I won't get mad. I... I got it out of my system. I feel better."

"I'm glad... You can't blame the song... You can't blame yourself."

"I know... I know... Thank you..." Deshi kissed her son's forehead and hugged him. "Come on. I'll go watch you kick Zooey's butt in video games!"

"Ok!"

As they both raced to the door, Deshi looked back at the bulliten board on her wall. Pinned on it was a prayer card for a lost loved one... Someone who had died... the exact moment Deshi was listening to that song. If she hadn't been listening to it... maybe she would have heard something... maybe she could have helped... But today when it came on her iPod she managed to listen and sing along for the first time since his death.

I miss my uncle...))

Page 823!

It had been days since he'd had a good night's sleep -- heavy-eyed and exhausted, Dashwood sat on the couch with a book, trying to study. Kit had told him he needed to read more, and much as he disliked being studious, he thought it might tire his mind out enough for him to doze a little.

It wasn't working, as he stared blankly down at the pages, so tired from childcare and housework that he could hardly think.

Kemis had gotten up suddenly during the night with an odd craving for a glass of milk and, being the cat-boy that he was, he felt he should obey it.

One his way to the kitchen Kemis spotted light coming from the livingroom.

"One of the kids must be up..." He grumbled and stomped over.

"Hey! Shouldn't you be in be--.... Dashwood?"

Looking up sluggishly, Dashwood offered Kemis a hollow-eyed smile, plucking at the blanket he'd covered himself with while curled up on the couch to read. "Yeah... I know I should be in bed," he said tiredly, sticking a bookmark in the book he'd been trying to read. "Can't seem to get to sleep, though... not for a couple of days."

"No kidding. You look like s**t." Kemis said, slight shock in his face and perhaps a little impressed he was still functioning. "I'm gunna guess this is one of those times that I'm suppose to use my dream priest super-powers to make things all better, right?" Kemis scratched his head. "Any idea how I go about doing that?"

"Got no idea," said Dashwood with a little laugh, shaking his head and sighing, putting the heavy book on the table. "I thought about trying some sleep medicine but mom said..." He fought a yawn. "... that she didn't know how it'd affect our biology. We're different, so..."

His head drooped a little, and he frowned. "But hell, I'd almost rather die than not sleep for much longer..."

"It would be best you don't think like that. You don't know what I would have given to not sleep before my dreaming stage." Kemis said, trying his best to be encouraging. "You having any nightmares when you DO sleep?"

"When I do sleep," Dashwood said, self-deprecatingly, "I don't usually dream... and when I do dream, it's nightmares. But I'd still rather have nightmares than not sleep. But it's not so bad. I get a lot done..."

"What happens in these nightmares you have?" Kemis took a seat beside him and made sure it was very clear in his eyes that Dashwood had his full attention.

Looking up, Dashwood smiled wearily as his tired, red-rimmed golden eyes met Kemis's violet ones. "I... it's always awful -- and always the same. I'm always in this dark place that smells of something... something burning." He swallowed hard. "And I'm wearing dark robes, and I can hear people screaming." Haunted, he shook his head, his voice hitching. "T-the people around me... are doing terrible things to them, and in the nightmare I know I'm s-supposed to be, too, but I'm still myself in the dream... even though I know I have nobody like Mom to take care of me. I bet I sound stupid, huh...?"

Kemis had looked away halfway through his explanation of the dream and was staring at the floor with the same haunted expression.

"I had nightmares too... All the time... Even from the time I was born. There were voices--always there, always speaking, always shouting for this and that and...." He took a shakey breath. "And I couldn't obey them but I wanted... God, I wanted to more than you could ever know... They'd ask for horrible things and I wanted to do them and..... In my dreams... I did... Dashwood, I did... Fire and blood... People I knew, people I loved-I tortured them. And I laughed... I laughed and I smiled and I could not have been happier... So Dashwood, when you ask me if you sound stupid know that from the bottom of my heart, to me... you do not.... You. Do. Not."

He ran a sweating hand through his hair and drew in a long breath before looking back up at him with his violet eyes that new exactly what Dashwood meant. "You have many hardships in store for you... And I want to do everything in my power to help you."

A slow nod, and Dashwood bit his lip. "I... I'm scared," he confessed, "that... that those dreams are real. They're s-so vivid... just like you say..." Biting his lip, he sighed. "I don't know if anyone can help, though... but it's g-good to know that I'm not alone."

The deep shadows in the room quivered in response to Dashwood's distressed mood, and he smiled, sadly.

"It's alright... We all have to face our demons sometime...." Kemis shifted in his seat, now facing Dashwood a little more. "Icelus never gave me an instruction manual on all this. Maybe if I wave my hands and concentrate or something I'll bullshit this priest thing." He gave Dashwood an encouraging smile. "Close your eyes. Maybe it'll work."

"Alright," Dashwood said, trying to dispel the awful thoughts, the faint ghosts of remembered blood and twisted revelry and torment. Rubbing the heels of his hands against his eyes, he then curled himself against the arm of the couch, where he'd set up a pillow from his bed. His legs tucked against his chest, he curled his tail around him, the calico-furred thing twitching softly, exhaustedly, his ears drooping.

"Thanks, Kemis," Dashwood burred softly, smiling wanly before laying his head down on the pillow, looking at Kemis gratefully for a moment before closing his tired, burning eyes, hoping the other's priestly powers would be able to dispel this lingering insomnia.

Kemis was now at a loss for anything to do. Shifting around wondering if he should poke him, hold a hand over him, start chanting jibberish, or throw holy water on him. Perhaps all of the above would be fine but he decided to save that if nothing else worked.

Where was he going to get holy water at this time of night?

Wait... He was a PRIEST after all. Shouldn't he have a stock of that or something?

He cleared his throat, deciding to be serious but felt pretty stupid for doing so with no knowledge of how to go about it. However, he took a slow deep breath, let it out again, closed his eyes, cleared his mind, and held his palm out to his mother's friend's son's forehead in hopes no one walked in and decided that he had watched too many movies.

Come on, Icelus. Don't leave me hangin'...

Eyes closed, Dashwood could feel the shadow of the other's hand against his face for a long moment, trying to sleep -- but as the moments passed, a strange calm seeped through his body, making his limbs heavier, and his breathing deepen and grow softer. The stress and fear and anxiety flowed away, evaporating as if it had simply been clogged all this time, and the power had passed the clog for the moment.

A soft, faint mewling sound escaped him, and his ears drooped softly as he slid off to sleep, without the will or the desire to fight the rising tide of exhaustion, his soft calico tail limp on the blankets.

Kemis stared for a moment, disturbed by the sudden noise. He looked down at Dashwood... then to his hand... then to Dashwood again.... then his hand...

"Damn..." He said, rather impressed with himself. He used that magical hand to pat himself on the back. "This calls for some milk."