1.42 Imperfect Incongruity

Some nights Jyoti tries to put the dreams off by staying up incredibly late, even though they've often been exhilarating and it's fun waking up in wonder about everything that happened or was said. She jogs outside again, circumventing her mothers haphazard watch all too easily. She finds herself in unusual places, not least of all, the graveyard. There are glimpses there, of things she dreams about. But often she will blink and see that it was all starkly different from her dreams. Here there are harsh city lights just outside the path she travels, here the dead rule and there is a dreadful sense of not-belonging, even though she does not feel afraid. It's warm in her dreams, in his embrace, and cold, wet, windy or dry here as she runs.

Jyo recognizes this behavior for what it is- she's out looking for him. She knows that Luke cannot possibly exist. Nothing worked that way in reality- but she needs to know, she needs to feel that he's not with her to know when he is truly gone.

She even has the occasional dream where Luke is nowhere to be found, though she tries to meet him. She still manages to tangle with odd fantastic creatures and make up her own fun along the way.

Lucid dreaming is an entertaining experience.

There's even a line to play ghost dodge ball with her at one point.

Other times it can be all too real. She's even picked up by the local patrol once.

But he is there for that one, and it turns out he's finally enacting his plans to take her away somewhere 'safe'. He's arranged everything- her parents will be notified in the morning that she's been placed under witness protection, and she can travel with him under the guise of it. She doesn't know how it makes her feel exactly, that she doesn't get to decide. It's her future too.

“Luke- I don't think I can leave with you- I don't really love you.”

He turns and she can barely make out his profile though the mesh. “I know that. But this is something you need, nonetheless. Jyo, I- I need you to trust me. We have to leave, now.”

There's a vulnerability in his voice that she's unfamiliar with. So she acquiesces at first, thinking all the time that she's going to regret this, so much. The tempo of her heart rises until it's all she feels. This becomes a horror in her dream and it unnerves her- she does not want to leave.

She begins kicking against the mesh, yelling, screaming when it looks like he can't hear her. She doesn't want this, she doesn't want this, she wants to go home and be with her family. The urge to get out of the car rises, like bile in her throat. Eventually he turns, apologizes, the car veers violently up the path towards their house, more in the foothills of the nearby mountains than the city. He doesn't want her to hurt herself.

The tempo of the dream calms again, it's shifted to something lighter by the time they arrive at the house. He needs shelter this time, not her. “So this is my house. You're welcome anytime, but I don't know if it matters.”

“It matters to you so it matters to me.”

Meghan happily greets her daughter, who's just arrived home after 1 am with a boy.

Totally a real thing that would happen.

Oh wait, there's the yelling.

Her boyfriend takes the heat for her, and claims that it's his fault he's had her out late. Hot!

Her mind travels away from the conversation she is having with her mother, focusing in on him. His emotions, being at her home with her, are overwhelming, brewing below the surface. She's never had an insight into his feelings before now. He's conflicted- there is longing, anticipation, and for some reason, a hint of pride. Most of that is masked by curiosity.

How are they living now? He wonders. She feels the words he thinks on windless echo, and they don't make sense.

Luke walks away from the conversation to explore the outside of the house. He stops right away at her dad's project car, and he can sense everything that it means, to her parents somehow. If he were a mage it would be considered a powerful artifact, with all of the hopes and dreams and memories that have been seasoned into it, over the years. Jyo can feel it through him, oddly, but the car means so much more to her parents than she ever realized. It has a staying power. An anchor in their lives, defining a part of who they are together, even. Luke pauses, absorbing the feeling of it, while her mother drones on and on in the periphery of her consciousness.

His excitement wakes her up. She doesn't get it- not that a lot of these are making much in the way of sense lately- she has the feeling that's it's not just about her, after all. These dreams were some of Luke's thoughts and worries, as well.

She dreams on, warm in her bed, but there was a time when her parents had nothing. It would make for a wonderful novel- but she hates sitting still and doesn't keep a dream journal. Drifting off again, she wonders if she should be.

Luke, older at times now, waits for her. She doesn't meet him directly, but he is there. Now they meet more often outside the house- which is probably more convenient than at a graveyard, even if the graveyard was amazingly beautiful in her dreams. She gets a thrill that he's still here, where she left him last time.

“What are you waiting for?” She asks him, but he doesn't seem to hear her.

She wonders if they're even here at the same time. All she's getting are bits of feelings from him still, as if being here with her is such a novel thing. For a guy that can summon a horse at the tips of his fingers to impress her, shouldn't her place be kind of boring?

Is she looking at him, or is he watching her? She has everything, why would she ever want to leave her family and what they've built, behind?

She somehow knows that Luke has a surge of emotion that he's sorting though, but chiefly the taste of satisfaction is nearly on his tongue. He was right about everything. He doesn't know if he can stop himself, this time, if he wants to- now that he's seen his visions be fulfilled right in front of him.

Finally he breaks his silence and comes over to her. “You live in a lovely place, really and truly fit for a princess. I can see why you don't want to leave.”

She smiles- he gets it- but his face turns more somber than usual. “My family is here.” She reminds him.

He nods. “I know, I understand it well enough. I think- there's a lot you just don't have the experience to understand.”

Her mood sours. “You wanna say that again?”

He sighs. “Let's go back to where we usually talk. It's a bit more... comfortable. I have a lot to tell you and it's going to take time. We have to talk about your future.”

When they get there, there is a new tension in the air. “What do you mean, I have to be ready to face death? You didn't used to be this much of a buzzkill to be around.”

He remains patient. “It's hard to explain-but in your case, using fate or luck as an example- it's assured for you. Not in the exact near future, but within, I don't know, the next five or six years specifically. That's what I've been trying to tell you all along. You refuse to believe me on much lighter topics, but the reason I know is mostly coincidental. My fate is tied to yours, which is why I can see so much of what will go on with you in the near future. When our paths overlap- even if things change minutely on the how or where, I can still gain a clear picture of what will be happening in your life. I'm not going to have as much time to be with you as I'd like, or honestly as you deserve, all I can do is inform you about it. It can't be changed.”

“That sounds like some metaphysical bs again.”

He shrugs. “Again, I didn't make the rules. I just have a highly ...localized ability to peer into my own potential futures, which is what led me to you in the first place.”

“You're saying that certain meetings and ...partings are inevitable.”

He seems relieved. “You've been listening.”

“So... shouldn't that work the opposite way? That you can help to prevent unnecessary death or 'partings' as you can see them ahead of time? Assuming of course that I choose to believe any of this.”

“Well the major meetings and partings are tied to events. Think of them like they are keys that unlock the next stage of your own personal timeline in your life. In order to advance in your life, you have one key that could open many doors, but you may only choose one door, and as you pass through it, time marches you along so that you can't go back and make another choice. In your case, there is death behind just about every single door. I don't know why, but you won't know until you choose a door and use the key to that moment whom you will be parting with.”

“That's so creepy.” She groans. “I'm just supposed to believe something like that? Maybe you're more of a nightmare I'm having.”

He shakes his head quickly. “No- don't believe it, it makes no difference. Even I can't tell who will be affected with certainty, all I can think of is to warn you about the choices you're making. Make them carefully, and if something doesn't feel right, don't do it.”

“Odd, you're the one always telling me to leave Starlight Shores behind and forget about everyone I know it first place. And that doesn't really feel right.”

“About that... I do want to take you with me, but mostly I think it'll change who has to die. If you aren't around your family and close friends for a few years, maybe- and this sounds callous- but just maybe your fate will default to someone you don't know instead of someone you're really close to that you care about.”

“What if we leave together, and the person behind the door is actually you?”

He shakes his head in the negative. “It won't be. Like I said earlier, our paths will split ways again, much as I'd rather be with you. That's something that I won't get to change.”

She groans, trying to figure out how to give him the benefit of the doubt. “This is giving me a depressing headache, and I'm not even sure I'm actually here, talking to you in the first place.”

“I'm sorry.”

“Well I mean, don't be- it's just that I'm not sure why you're telling me really. It doesn't sound like you know who will be affected by this either. So, why tell me?”

“Because Jyo- I care about you. That shouldn't be such a foreign concept.”

“If you cared about me you'd show me who you are when I'm awake.”

“Okay, I guess I deserve that. But it can't be helped. You shouldn't ask me for more than I can provide. It wouldn't be right now, for a number of reasons.”

“Well, can't we talk about those reasons?”

“Someday, Jyo. But for now, think of it like another door. You haven't crossed the right threshold for us to even be in the right time and place.”

“Sounds complicated. I can dream about you even though you are nowhere near the same time as I am?”

“You are your mother's daughter, I'll give you that.” He manages a small smile.

It's not the first time he's mentioned her mother in passing conversation. “Or my father's daughter?”

Luke raises an eyebrow. “If you like.”

“Look, it doesn't matter- I'm going to have to show you, or you'll never believe it. After that, I'm going to assume that I've done everything I could, here.”

“Wow. Harsh.”

He shakes his head, not choosing to argue, and things fade once more around her.

Much like a loud, abrupt noise in a peaceful silent space, fear grips her primally when she is confronted with her brother's dying face.

He has so much to live for, but it isn't enough.

There's no time to process what she's just seen.

“This won't happen if you leave on time with me. I'm trying to tell you, people will die if this continues. Your family, home... everything can be lost.”

...and there's the pressure, again.

She feels herself becoming irrationally angry. “You need to fix this! There's no point in showing me if you don't intend to help me, Luke!”

“There's nothing to fix. It's fate already decided.”

“One of the fates, you said one of- can't my brother decide his own fate, too?!”

“I don't know, I don't see him.”

“What happened here? Who are you? Get off my property!”

The dreams get weirder, but they just keep going. They're about a much more dangerous future now, but as for what changed, it's impossible to know. In them, Jyoti takes the impending morality checks of everyone around her with optimistic stride.

It doesn't make sense to her that behind one of the doors in her timeline is her own demise, which she embraces fully in the dream, as if she's done caring about this.

They march on, without her consent, regardless. The possible futures, possible endings, swirl around her.

It's not the baby's fault. He was inevitable. His death, doesn't have to be.

She wakes this time in turmoil- it wasn't possible for her to feel so much fear, was it? But she did. The future was never assured, not even Luke could tell why he had seen so much, only that one of her choices would decide it.

She spends a weekend being really nice to her brother.

And things feels just as normal, as mundane as ever, during her waking moments. She can't share the dreams with anyone though, and it weighs on her, making it at times hard to breathe.

Summer drives onward, the noise of life around her sounds a white noise as she grinds, getting ready for college applications and essays, preparing to find her path after her last year in school, the world around her feels stale and in motion at the same time.

Her parents are oblivious of course, to her inner turmoil. She's given them enough drama as a teenager, so everything just looks like more hormones, to them.

Another pool party on labor day at the tale end of the season ought to help her feel in tune more with real life, and her classmates. She can only hope.

They look the same as ever. Kermit Singh still bucks all trends and flaunts his pigtails.

A lot of people show up this time.

Zelda Huanna, the Mayor's ex wife and Howard's mother.

Dustin calls over the kid that's supposedly dating his daughter. So he can stare him seriously in the eyes and pass judgment.

He begins this exercise by trying to get a selfie with him immediately, which freaks him out. The poor boy manages to stutter his way out of it.

“Sorry about that.” Dustin manages to not at all sound sorry. “I wanted to have proof that there's someone out there who is willing to date my daughter.”

Malcolm has no idea what to say to that, so he says nothing.

Dustin follows the boy's cue and also says nothing for awhile.

Then he gives up and shows the kid some funny viral video thing, which helps to break the ice a bit.

“My wife tells me you helped put out the fire we had on the lawn at the last party.”

This the kid is willing to talk about. He noticed there was no alarm so he didn't think anyone was coming to help, and it's really important to get these things quickly so nobody gets hurt. You have to aim at the base of the fire, and there's technique involved, and he had seen a spare chemical retardant hanging up by the garage...

“I'm just glad that my daughter wasn't alone out there.” Dustin says.

“I think we can agree on that.” Malcolm nods, finally starting to open up a bit.

“So are you working now? What kind of work do you plan on doing in the future?”

“I have a few part time jobs at the moment.”

“A few, why not one? You have schoolwork to keep up on as well.”

“I know that, Sir. Well- some are seasonal, and I want to earn enough to move out as soon as I graduate.”

Jyo shows up quickly, having seen them talking from inside the house. “Hi dad, I see you've met Malcolm.”

“I have, you must have forgotten to introduce us.”

“He's been at our parties before...” She defends lamely.

Dustin stares at his daughter, somewhat dumbfounded. She used to tell him everything, and trust him with every secret. It took this long to hit him that she's growing up and will soon be an adult in her own right.

“So, dad... Can you give us a minute?”

Dustin doesn't like that look for some reason. It has intent written all over it. “Only if you two promise not to go sneaking off somewhere.”

“It's my party and I'll sneak off if I want to.” She tries to joke but it comes out disgruntled.

“We'll stay here.” Malcolm assures him eventually, ending the standoff.

She is not going to get her date locked in for homecoming with her dad standing by them. Things are challenging enough between Malcolm and her.

Dustin hovers for a while just to make them uncomfortable, which doesn't work as they just wait him out.

So he hovers nearby and falls asleep on vigilant watch like the old man he's becoming.

“Jyo... everything okay?” Malcolm asks.

She sighs. “I just... sometimes I hate this place. Do you ever want to just leave it all and run away somewhere?” Why did I say that? She has to remind herself that those dreams are not real.

“I guess... it would depend... on where you want to go.”

And with that comment, Malcolm manages to reign her back in. Not that he realized he could be losing her in the first place.

Their conversation is interrupted by Circe Beaker kicking the absolute snot out of Alyss Khan, local teen. Nobody recalls inviting either person as a guest.

Malcolm can kind of see where Jyoti's coming from on this mess. There's no privacy in her life, it seems. If it bothers him that he and Jyo were interrupted when they haven't so much as held hands yet, he doesn't bring it up.

They try to ignore the drama as best as they can.

Jyoti for a moment is inspired by her many runs out in the moonlight and begins to hum a few bars of Ping and his Checkers. She recalls the song in a whispering melody, Malcolm needs no prompting to stop and listen in admiration.

Dustin would like to know how much his daughter knows about this guy to be singing songs at him all romantically.

Malcolm can't help but stare at her. The flush in her cheeks, the excitement when she speaks about the trip the family took to China, her love of martial arts. The feeling of the wind on her face while out jogging, the thrill she gets from little things in life is infectious. It's hard for him to say much to people in general, but even more difficult when she's looking at him so intently in return. He wants to reach out and hold her, and touch the skin on her shoulder to feel even closer, but even that seems like some distant dream. With all these people around, with the relationship so new, he wouldn't dream of it.

It's something special that he's more than a little scared he could break.

Jyo can't handle serious moments all that well, so she soon looks away and asks him if he was going to go to homecoming this year.

Which is kind of like she was the one to ask him, and more of an opening for him to ask her. She's been casually planning to go after all.

“Did you want to? I can get the tickets.” He offers, blinking.

Finally. “That would be great. Let me know what color you're wearing for the boutonniere.”

Meghan had a wish to swim.

These are her 'oh this is great, I'm so happy I am swimming' faces.

And so the party is concluded without much fanfair, but both Jet and Jyo have officially secured their prom dates. I mean, dates for homecoming. Whatever.

Jyo works out in the lab that evening and falls asleep somewhere below ground. Leila misses her human that night.

For once Jyo sleeps in peace and remembers nothing when she wakes in the morning. She's had enough of lucid dreams for a lifetime, anyways.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In which ghosts have no athletic skill. I'll be wrapping up the current 'fantasy bf' tale in about oneeee more update. Can you tell I had a lot of cool pictures I wanted an excuse to use? Sorry for all the randomness. xP

Also no, no your brother does not have main character powers.

“Haha, you got a sunburn! Idiot, idiiot, baaakaa~!”

This shit right here is why I still play this game.