(no subject)

[a1enzo]

The skin under Enzo's eyes is a shade darker than the rest of him.

He doesn't have nightmares too often anymore. Not as a general rule.

But the last two nights have been a collage of every bad thing that's ever happened in his life—and there have been plenty—overlaid with a persistent, itchy sensation of being watched.

He's sitting by the fire now, closer than he usually allows himself, writing up his observations. His fingers fly over the text window.

Comments

[ami_imperfect]

Forgive her bluntness, but...

"Whoa. You don't look too good, Enzo."

[a1enzo]

Better for seeing her, though. Morale counts for a lot. Though it doesn't replace sleep.

"Oh, man, am I glad to see you. And not just the usual way."

[ami_imperfect]

"Oh?"

She sits down next to him on the couch, turning so that she's facing him.

"Why's that?"

[a1enzo]

"Something new's going down here. Can't be sure yet, but it seems like it might be up your alley."

[ami_imperfect]

"Really? What kind of stuff has been happening?"

She shifts in her seat a little, all business.

[a1enzo]

"Index zero, what made me think of you in particular, cold spots. Like, ranging from 'is it a little chilly in here?' to a puddle from a broken pipe in the infirmary that's frozen solid. Index one, there's this symbol that's started appearing everywhere, I'll show you in a nano. Index two," he smiles weakly. "I've been having bad dreams again. And I don't think I'm the only one."

He has, of course, had plenty of nightmares in his life, sometimes recurring. But usually they go hand in hand with bad times, present or recent. Life's been pretty good lately, nothing should have set them off.

"Also, it's been really foggy outside, but I don't know if that means anything."

[ami_imperfect]

Dani mentally files each point away so that she can mull them over later.

"I wouldn't know off-hand either, not with more info. But how bad are the dreams?"

[a1enzo]

He grimaces. "All the... usual things. Daemon. The apocalypse. You know. Plus extras. Someone watching me. Scary and creepy, if you see the difference."

[ami_imperfect]

She nods; she knows, though her 'usual things' veer more towards Vlad and the asteroid.

"Do you know who the someone is?"

[a1enzo]

"No. I sort of caught a couple glimpses of someone, but they were all shadowy. All I could tell is they were really tall."

[ami_imperfect]

"Huh." Weird. "So, what's up with this symbol you were talking about?"

[a1enzo]

Enzo looks around and spots one, chalked on the wall near the floor. "There. Some of them are scratched in tables, some are on trees, Mark doodled some, there's one printed on the wall in the treefort..."

[ami_imperfect]

"Printed? Like...printed-printed?" Yeah, because how many definitions of 'printed' are there, Dani?

Rather than waiting for Enzo to answer Dani gets out of her chair to inspect the symbol closer. She pulls a small spiral notebook and pen out of the pocket of her hoodie, flips to a blank page and copies the odd symbol down.

[claudiometer]

"You don't look so good."
Not that Claudia looks terribly well-rested herself, but it's not for the same reason as Enzo. It's entirely (and through the magic of Millitime) on account of stuff at home.
At least she doesn't have to write the report this time.

[a1enzo]

"Thanks," he says drily. "I haven't been sleeping well. I think it's part of the new crisis."

[claudiometer]

"There's a new crisis? Can we seriously not make it five minutes without another one?"
As long as it's only one crisis and not fourteen at once.

[a1enzo]

"Of course not. You don't want this place to get boring, do you?"

[claudiometer]

"Well, no, but home's been thrilling enough to tide me over, lately." And if HG's sticking around... well, the thrills are going to continue, if only because Artie may never stop grumbling.
"What's up this time?"

[a1enzo]

"Only early stages so far. Cold spots, lots of fog, a weird symbol showing up all over the place, and I'm not the only one having trouble sleeping."

[claudiometer]

"For what it's worth, my trouble sleeping was entirely my own fault. What kind of weird symbol?"
Hello, Investigator Mode, how are you today?

[a1enzo]

"Like an X in a circle. I dunno, it just looks like something from an advanced math character set, but it's showing up everywhere, on the tables, on the trees, on the infirmary wall, and a friend of mine even doodled it in his notes."

[claudiometer]

"Huh. Weird. Might research-fu it up when I get home, see if I can't find anything, but right now - well, no Internet access to speak of."
And while she's good, she doubts she's 'hack into the Warehouse database from another dimension entirely' good.

[a1enzo]

"Yeah. Whatever it is, my spellcheck utility really doesn't like it."

[claudiometer]

"Spellcheck utility?"
That's a new one by her.

[a1enzo]

"It was a birthday present from my field partner." He hesitates. "Don't laugh, okay?"