star_kingdom_logs | (no subject)

Entry tags:

(no subject)

WHO: (name of all characters involved, please include whether the log is opened or closed to other players as well.)
LOCATION: Traverse town. Whatever little spot Flynn's managed to find to call home.
TIME: Backdated to September 14th
WHAT: Rapunzel and Flynn bond over
RATING: 9.5, 9.3, 9.7 and an 8.4 from the Ukrainian judge

[Flynn is having a bad night.

Now, his life had many a bad night in it. But this one, well, it definitely makes the top ten list. He isn't one to let dreams get to him, but these. These he can't shake at all. Everytime he closes his eyes, they're there. Waiting for him right where he left off.

He dreams of the orphanage. He dreams of every childhood fear coming to life and finding him. He dreams of small prison cells and a rope tight around his neck. He dreams of a certain young blonde, lying motionless and blank-eyed. He dreams of it being his fault.

All in all, dreaming sucks, and he is done with it. He's quit his place on the couch, the living room -- the bedroom in the tiny apartment he'd given to Rapunzel. Girls needed space. To be girly. And... well he doesn't know. He doesn't want to know.

So he quits the couch and flops himself down in a chair in the kitchen, dark circles under his eyes, chin propped in his hand, elbow against the table.]

Aaah... maybe if I had something stronger to drink.

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[Rapunzel slips quietly out of her room, Pascal on her shoulder with his tiny face pressed into the side of her neck. She has her hair pulled tight around her, hands gripping the locks in place as she carefully tiptoes toward the kitchen.

She hasn't been having a great night, either. She's been tossing and turning in bed as, for the first time in a long time, she's been thinking about her mother. Her dreams have been filled with the horrors her mother always told her about: men with pointy teeth, rhinos, thugs... Still, she's had enough of that. And upon finding that Pascal appears to be having similar night terrors, well... That deserves a hot cocoa drink.

She didn't expect to find Flynn slumped into a seat, though. She pauses, her hold on her hair tightening a little.]

What... happens if it's stronger...?

Sleep gets much easier. If it's strong enough. [Flynn answers. Yup. Let's teach the sheltered princess about binge drinking. Good job, Flynn. But he tries glances up a bit surprised to hear her voice. He cracks a bit of a smile, even if it looks fairly tired, really.] Trouble with sleep too, blondie?

[He nudges out the seat beside him at the table with his foot, inclining his head towards it. Have a seat, goldie.]

[She steps closer carefully, like she's afraid something's going to pop up out of nowhere and scare the living daylights out of her.] Just a little...

[She's tugging anxiously on her hair as she finally slips into the seat next to him. Things seem easier to deal with once she's sitting down and she lets out a heavy sigh.] I mean... Pascal's having nightmares.

[Which makes Pascal look up and make a face. Rapunzel can't see it, but Pascal is of course calling shenanigans on that little claim of hers.]

[Flynn blinks at that before his expression flattens.] The chameleon [See? He's trying.] is having bad dreams?

[He sees your shenanigan calling Pascal, and nods juuuust a little. Yup. He knows.] So what kind of things are Pascal's nightmares about? Because I gotta tell you, that sounds pretty rough. Maybe we can put some of his fears to rest.

[Rapunzel nods while Pascal shakes his head "no." She still doesn't notice.]

He... doesn't really say what his nightmares are about. But I know they're bad, and... And I think I can guess.

[S'okay, frog. Flynn's got you on this one.]

Yeah? Well, let's hear your best guess then, blondie. We can start there.

[Chin on hand, elbow on table, and he gestures with his other hand in a "please, go on" sort of motion.]

[Pascal is forever a skeptic of you and your intentions, Flynn. :|]

Um... Welll... [She shifts a little in her seat, her hands immediately starting to fiddle with her hair in an anxious gesture.] There are lots of scary people out in the world, big thugs with pointy teeth, and- and poison ivy all over their bodies and they pop up out of the bushes to mug you...! And then there are the wild rhinos that can trample you down right where you stand, and the cannibals, and- and- and- and snakes...

[C'mon, little lizard buddy. He's full of the purest intentions.]

Whoa whoa whoa, blondie. [A pause at that.] What world is this we're talking about here? Because it sounds awful.

[Nope. Skeptical forever.]

[Her slightly panicky rambling comes to an abrupt stop and she needs to take a breath to calm herself down. She's not supposed to be scared of all those things. Because she's... tough.]

That's... all of them? Mother always talked about how everything's horrible outside of the tower, but once I left with you I didn't believe all of that anymore... But now I think maybe all the terrible things have just been hiding, and they're about to show up everywhere.

... And that-- That's probably why Pascal is scared and having nightmares.

[All right. Let him mull over this one for a while. Mom's been feeding her horror stories about the world outside the tower?]

Hey look, blondie. I wouldn't consider myself an expert on many things -- being dashing, sure. charming and handsome, absolutely -- but I've got to say I've spent a lot of time in the world outside your tower, and I think your mom's got some bad information.

Don't get me wrong, there are bad people and bad things in the world. But not... quite like what you're thinking.

Sorry, what the chameleon is thinking.

Gotta be honest, I'm kind of among the worst things you could run into, and you've handled me pretty well.

[She's absently combing her fingers through a section of her hair, eyes fixed to a random spot on the table as she listens.]

Soooo... Pascal doesn't need to be worried about... the rhinos?

[She has to consider this for a moment. So some of what Mother has said is true, but not all of it? In that case, which parts are true and which ones aren't?]

And you... You can't be one of the worst. Your teeth aren't pointy...

Never seen a rhino myself. I think Pascal is pretty safe from them. [They'll just stay out of the Pride Lands world.

But here he just flashes her a bright non-pointy-toothed smile.] Had 'em filed down so I could fool cute blondes and their guard-frogs.

[He's hilarious isn't he? Well, he thinks he is.]

Oh... Well, okay then. But then... They could still be out there?

[For a second there, she bought that. But then she's letting out a breath and forcing herself to calm down. It's nice to have Pascal pressing against her neck, since that kind of lets her know that Flynn was lying there.] That's a joke... right?

Somewhere yeah, but not making a point to run people down. They're just animals. They get scared, they react.

[Flynn blinked but grinned, reaching over to pat her shoulder lightly.] Yeah, it's a joke, blondie.

Look. Maybe this'll make you, or well, make Pascal feel better. I'll look out for bot of you, all right? Even if it might not have been exactly on my to do list, I agreed to get you out on your adventure and back to your tower safely. And I figure there's no time like the present to start trying to be a man of my word. ...never gave that one much priority, really. But hey, always good to try something new.

Oh... [She blinks slowly. That does make sense, doesn't it?] Sooo... there's no such thing as an evil animal. [It's not a question, but she says it with so much uncertainty it might as well be.

And then her head tilts slightly to the side, confused at first. But then her eyes widen a bit in surprise and she blinks, Pascal mirrors the look, even if deep down he remains as skeptical of Flynn as he's ever been.]

You would... really do that for us?

Well. The jury is still out on certain horses. [AHEM.]

Well... yeah. I would. [He clears his throat, suddenly a bit self conscious.] Don't get the wrong idea, blondie. You know the way it is. I want my satchel back. Remember "tear apart the tower brick by brick never find it blah blah" right? I don't have that much energy.

Besides. We're both stuck in this place. I'll look out for you. And you can look out for me. Sort... of a new deal.

[She quirks an eyebrow upward slightly at that. Idly she has to wonder on what an evil horse might look like. She certainly has not yet seen the horse of which Flynn speaks.]

A... new deal... [She seems to consider this for a moment, exchanging a quick glance with Pascal (who merely shrugs in response). It's certainly not a bad deal. And Flynn's a perfectly decent person to spend time with and... Well, he definitely knows more than either Rapunzel or Pascal do about all the things that they might encounter.

Only once she's satisfied with this self-argument does she turn back to Flynn with a little nod.] I'll need a new frying pan, though. I think I'm... much better at looking out for people when I have one of those.

[He'll let her mull it over, though he watches her, eyebrows lifted just slightly.

And then. Then he just laughs.] Yeah, we'll get you a good, solid frying pan. Just, you know, don't swing it at me. I've had my fill of that, thank you very much.

[A pause and he adds more seriously.] We'll be ok here, blondie. Just a matter of time before we find our way home.

[Hearing him laugh helps her relax a little, a little smile spreading across her face.] If you don't give me a reason to, then I won't~

[And then it fades, just a little, and her gaze turn back to some spot on the table. She reaches up to tuck some hair behind her ear with a sigh and, upon sensing the slight change in demeanor, Pascal presses against the side of her neck once again.]

It's... been a pretty long time, so far...

I'm still trying to figure out the reason for the first few times. [Breaking and entering, Flynn. It was because you broke and entered. But he's not paying attention to that.

He nods though.] I know. And it may be a while yet. But we'll manage. Besides, this place isn't so bad. Think of it as an adventure. With lots of travel opportunities. And you know, the company could be worse.

Wellllll~ The first time was definitely because you scared me when you climbed into my home through the window without calling.

[She heaves yet another sigh, an even smaller one.] I... I know... But it's all just... very, very strange.

I have to admit I didn't expect there to be someone up in a random tower in the middle of the woods. Or a random tower in the middle of the woods to begin with. Or you and your frying pan definitely wouldn't have gotten the drop on me.

[So he's not good at this reassurance thing. He works aloooone. Even when he works with other people. But well, more and more he feels oddly protective over the blonde. It's a strange and disturbing thing. But he reaches out and settles a hand atop one of hers lightly.] You're telling me. Strangest thing I've ever seen. But hey, could be a lot worse.

Even if nightmares seem to be an epidemic. [...this is him kind of admitting he's had some whoppers of bad dreams of his own tonight.]

[That brings her smile back, even gets her to laugh a little.] Or I'm just really good at protecting my home from strange men~

[She turns to look over at him again, blinking slowly. Her head even tilts slightly to the side as she considers him for a moment.] You were... having nightmares, too? About what?

[...oh shoot he did kind of admit that, didn't he? Oops. So he answers, flatly as possible.] Blondes with frying pans.

[Ahem. He sits back in his chair, shoulder hitching in a shrug.] You know, the usual. Monsters that hide under beds. Vampires. Hangmen and the gallows. [Yeah, that last one especially.]

[She thought he was serious about that for a second again. But then she decides he had to have been joking, so that gets her to relax again. A little.

But anyway. She's definitely curious about the contents of Flynn's dreams. She's read about these monsters somewhere before, but she's still not really sure what they're like... And she's read about the gallows, too.]

Have you... ever seen any of those things before?