[attr="class","barnaby-words"]




This place made him anxious. Paranoid. Worried that a monster could spring out at any moment and impale him on a poisoned barb. That... was a phantom pain that lingered whenever he entered the Ultra Deep sea.[break][break]

Barnaby's aversion was made worse by the mist that trailed behind them, curled around their ankles. [break][break]

"I have..." He confirmed. The admin didn't know much, but he knew it couldn't be good. There was no avoiding the mist, though, when they had a mission to complete here. "It leaked into our world during the Star Soirée."[break][break]

What a mess that had been. He'd only heard accounts from partygoers and read reports after the fact - not experienced it himself.[break][break]

"Reality begins to... shift." Already he could taste something metallic on his tongue. It felt like a stone had settled in his gut, too; some awful, foreboding feeling. [break][break]

"If you feel yourself slipping, hold my hand." He shifted his arm so that it was palm-up and ready to pull her back from the brink of whatever was about to happen.

[attr="class","barnaby-notes"]

[break]

• postdormitum: interdream[break]
• hidden identity (masked)[break][break]

TOTAL: 60 MP[break]
+ 50 MP for participation in a PD battle/mission[break]
+ 10 MP per IC post in a PD battle/mission[break]

[attr="class","elisatestbody"]

A snide protest at his offer curled behind her tongue, spite bubbling to the surface before she swallowed it back down.[break][break]

"All right," she conceded quietly, though the words came out slow and heavy, like an anchor unwillingly dragged out from deep undersea. "You should know, I've rarely had pleasant dreams."[break][break]

Her pace likewise slowed beside the Rocket admin, fingertips grasping air as they tentatively broached what little distance remained between them -- almost, but not quite, touching skin to skin.[break][break]

All at once, the mist shifted; off-white darkened into swirls of pitch black, winding like arms to reach for her clothing. In seconds, the intangible became tangible as claws hooked their way into her leg, pulling her back into the false tide as a startled scream ripped from her throat.[break][break]

Her hand reached for his outstretched palm like a drowning woman desperate to find shore, feet kicking back the foreign influence as her pulse raced with frenetic energy. Unseen behind her, something large and growling hissed out its displeasure as her foot connected with fur and teeth. She felt it crumble apart like dust behind her, drifting away on the currents.[break][break]

An Emboar? she wondered, but dared not look to confirm the presence of her husband's favored Pokemon. Dreams took power from your fear. Dreams only became real when you fed them with imagination.[break][break]

Her eyes shut defensively, gripping Bee's hand so tightly her nails threatened to break his skin.[break][break]

"Talk about something. Anything," she demanded, the faintest quiver of fear audible despite the vocalizer that masked her voice from recognition. "Please."

[attr="class","elisatestcredit"]

[attr="class","barnaby-words"]




"That makes two of us, then." Barnaby responded in kind, his tone on edge not because of her reluctance, but because of the circumstances they currently faced. It was dangerous here, after all. They needed to stay alert.[break][break]

Not that that would save them from the taunting nightmares both of their subconsciouses breathed to life. Elisabeth Fiorelli's came for her first - clawing at her legs, pulling her down into an abysmally black darkness.[break][break]

"Don't let go!" Barnaby yelled, one hand gripping hers, the other clenched around Elisa's forearm as he tried desperately to keep her with him. It all felt so real. And perhaps it was, until it wasn't. With a sharp kick the shadowed EMBOAR pulling at Elisa disappeared into dust.[break][break]

"Here we are, you're alright." Barnaby reassured while helping his friend to her feet, checking her over for any injuries as he did so. The fabric around her ankles and calves was tattered - clearly shredded by the rake of tangible claws - with thin lines of blood peeking though.[break][break]

"Can you walk? Let's try to keep moving." Still gripping her hand, he didn't give Elisa much choice in the matter. They needed to keep moving if they were going to find a way out of this mist.[break][break]

"That Glastrier you gave me is quite the feral thing," Barnaby began, rubbing comforting circles into her palm with his thumb. "It trampled a League officer to death back in Granite Cave before the man could shoot me."[break][break]

He continued on like this for several minutes, all while the shadows undulated and weaved around them, - faces appearing and distorting over and over again. Some were familiar, some were not. He figured those that weren't belonged to Elisa's dreams.[break][break]

"What of the Poipole I gave you?"[break][break]

Oh. That was a bad thought to have.[break][break]

Barnaby froze, shakily lowering his gaze to his abdomen.[break][break]

There, blood seeped through his clothing. It dripped down, down, down, until he was soaked in it. Smelt of it. Could taste it welling in his mouth, trickling down his chin.[break][break]

"E-elisa..."

[attr="class","barnaby-notes"]

[break]

• postdormitum: interdream[break]
• hidden identity (masked)[break][break]

TOTAL: 80 MP[break]
+ 50 MP for participation in a PD battle/mission[break]
+ 10 MP per IC post in a PD battle/mission[break]
+ 10 MP per IC post in a PD battle/mission[break]
+ 10 MP for incorporating feelings of paranoia[break]

[attr="class","elisatestbody"]

The lack of gravity left her able to move fluidly mid-air, no undue pressure to be placed on her injured heel and calve. Barnaby's voice, and the comforting circles palmed into her hand, steadied her mentally and emotionally as they continued onward. What he said didn't matter; the sound of him speaking to her was enough to quell her anxiety.[break][break]

Absently, she wondered why she had not brought a Pokemon capable of AROMATHERAPY with her. Had she gotten careless enough to think nothing could frighten her into a panic anymore? Or had she subconsciously placed that emotional burden on the man next to her?[break][break]

Her emerald eyes dared to look at him openly as the notion came to mind, the mask hiding her naked curiosity from view. Seconds later the sound of her name startled her from her reverie, and she glanced down to see red liquid seeping through Barnaby's chest, blossoming out like a bloody dahlia through his shirt.[break][break]

"Don't look down," she commanded him, reaching for him and preparing to -- well, to do what? Her mind spun as she attempted to find a way to fight an illusionary malady.[break][break]

Her eventual solution felt frustratingly childish, and yet, it remained the only one she had.[break][break]

"Close your eyes," she continued in a soothing lull, turning off her vocalizer. When she spoke next, her soft Kalosian accent whispered through her mask, familiar and comforting. "When you look at the nightmare, you give it power. You feed it with your fears."[break][break]

Her arms wound themselves around him, holding him close against her. While the wound was nothing but a mirage, the blood gushing from it looked and felt real, and she shuddered as it blotted through her own clothing, staining her skin.[break][break]

"Imagine a place that gives you peace," Elisabeth murmured softly in her friend's ear. "A scent, maybe, or a person who centers you. A memory that warms and brightens, rather than frightens. For me it's my mother's garden. I close my eyes and I pretend I'm there, and everything awful that came after melts away."[break][break]

As if conjured into existence by her words, beautiful Galarian rose bushes flourished all around them, their sweet fragrance carrying through the currents to calm them both.

[attr="class","elisatestcredit"]

[attr="class","barnaby-words"]




The entire traumatic ordeal came rushing back - the neurotoxin, the hallucinations, the way he'd scratched at his own skin until it bled raw - as swiftly as the blood that spilled from his abdomen. Just like it did then, this all felt so real. [break][break]

But she brought him back. The soothing voice of Elisabeth Fiorelli, undistorted and inflected with a calming tone, reassured him that all of this was just a figment of an alien realm. She pulled him close, and BARNABY FINCH let her do so without restraint.[break][break]

"Peace?" At first he resisted the implication. What peace had he felt in his life, truly? But, slowly, images of green pastures and the smell of molasses interwove within her mother's garden. Whickers of delight, horse flesh pressing against him, the feeling of freedom while galloping on an eager RAPIDASH. In those fleeting moments, few and far between, Barnaby supposed he felt as at peace as someone like him could.[break][break]

Dream-like and semi-transparent, a GLASTRIER approached and nuzzled into Elisa's shoulder. A memory of an old companion. It chased away the last of Barnaby's anxiety.[break][break]

The blood stopped and hardened on his clothes.[break][break]

"... That was a neat trick." He managed to reply lowly, arms tightening around her waist. Barnaby's face was still buried in strands of golden hair as he continued into her ear, "I owe you one."

[attr="class","barnaby-notes"]

[break]

• postdormitum: interdream[break]
• hidden identity (masked)[break][break]

TOTAL: 90 MP[break]
+ 50 MP for participation in a PD battle/mission[break]
+ 10 MP per IC post in a PD battle/mission[break]
+ 10 MP per IC post in a PD battle/mission[break]
+ 10 MP per IC post in a PD battle/mission[break]
+ 10 MP for incorporating feelings of paranoia[break]

[attr="class","elisatestbody"]

Necessity had drawn them close, but his arm around her waist held her fast. She'd chosen to use herself as a shield to prevent him from staring into the face of his fears; suddenly, at this proximity, her own silent terrors fluttered up again with the murmur of his low tenor against her ear.[break][break]

Breathing in the scent of lavender and sandalwood was so painfully, achingly familiar.[break][break]

"Favors in our profession are dangerous," she managed to say at last, and in this moment, she bitterly regretted turning off her vocalizer. "It's nothing. We should move on."[break][break]

When Elisabeth turned to him again, another pair of pale hands had snaked around his neck and shoulders, the sharp nails delicately pressed against his exposed skin.[break][break]

"Is that what we really want?" another feminine voice laughed, sultry in its Kalosian accent. A woman who mirrored Elisabeth in every way manifested behind the admin, her lithe form dressed in nothing but a cloud of pink smoke, wild blonde hair tumbling down her bare back. This doppelganger pressed her lips to Barnaby's neck, hands now roaming across his body as she pulled him covetously closer to her own. "Why not linger here longer with me, mon loup?"[break][break]

No mask hid the interloper's face from view. Elisabeth had no choice but to stare in horror at this succubus of herself, and a wicked smile grinned back at her, taunting her with her own subconscious need.[break][break]

"She doesn't have to stay with us, of course."[break][break]

A series of POISON BARBS abruptly jutted between them both, throwing Elisabeth back against the nearby cavern wall as her phantom clutched the Rocket admin possessively tight.

[attr="class","elisatestcredit"]

[attr="class","barnaby-words"]




The mist swirled around him, snaking around his legs, manifesting into yet another tangible figure – this one much more tantalizing than the last. The spitting image of the woman in front of him; well, from what Barnaby could piece together, anyway. There were parts on display that even he hadn't seen before.[break][break]

"This doesn't look like nothing, Elisabeth."[break][break]

Sultry hands held fast to his body, prying at fabric so frustratingly in the way. It was the succubus' voice and explicit wording, though, that truly brought a wicked smile to Barnaby's lips. [break][break]

Whether it was the mist egging him on or his overriding urge to tease Elisabeth Fiorelli, the admin removed his mask to reveal his all-too pleased expression.[break][break]

"Is there anything you'd like to confess?"[break][break]

He pressed his mouth to bare flesh, finding it surprisingly tactile and succulent.[break][break]

All the while those bright, taunting cobalt eyes of his locked on Elisa's emerald, not wanting to miss even a second of her reaction.

[attr="class","barnaby-notes"]

[break]

• postdormitum: interdream[break]
• hidden identity (masked)[break][break]

TOTAL: 100 MP[break]
+ 50 MP for participation in a PD battle/mission[break]
+ 10 MP per IC post in a PD battle/mission[break]
+ 10 MP per IC post in a PD battle/mission[break]
+ 10 MP per IC post in a PD battle/mission[break]
+ 10 MP per IC post in a PD battle/mission[break]
+ 10 MP for incorporating feelings of paranoia[break]

[attr="class","elisatestbody"]

The mask that should have served as her salvation had been knocked askew by the impact of her fall. When Elisabeth turned to see the aggressor that had tossed her aside, the scene she saw left her briefly stunned speechless.[break][break]

What BARNABY FINCH would see was her slow-dawning realization of his intentions as he removed his mask, mocking her with his own play on the fantasy her mind had unwillingly created. It was an action she should have expected of him; what she didn't expect was how enthusiastically her doppelganger responded to his attention in kind.[break][break]

Specifically, how audibly.[break][break]

A pink flush suffused her skin, and without thinking, she threw a SCATTERBANG towards him to silence the matter between them once and for all. It cut through the cries with a deafening bang before going quiet. In the dust, the figure seemed to dissipate and scatter, much like the Emboar from before.[break][break]

"If you expect me to respond to whatever perverse idiocy you've conjured here," she said at length, resuming the wearing of her mask with visible irritation, "I'm afraid I'll have to disappoint you. My own imagination is far less vivid than your own."[break][break]

To her silent mortification, the residual heat from the encounter wouldn't abate; her face still burned red behind her mask.

[attr="class","elisatestcredit"]

[attr="class","barnaby-words"]




Sound was such a provocative thing. Especially the sorts of sounds now echoing off the walls of pink mist surrounding them. So encouraging, so enticing. So representative of unresolved need.[break][break]

As the doppelgänger moaned in his ear, ravenous for further touch, Barnaby eventually pulled her into a deep kiss - cutting off all noise save for the wet melding of their lips. [break][break]

It was short-lived, however. The admin was soon left tongue-out as Elisabeth Fiorelli's shade faded into oblivion. Not to mention his ears were now ringing from the lobbed scatterbang.[break][break]

"That was a little much, Elisa." Barnaby commented, rubbing at his temples.[break][break]

"And disappointing. Don't pin your sexual frustrations on me." He sighed dramatically, returning his mask to his face. "But do let me know if you need help with any relief in the future. I'd be more than happy to see that sight again."

[attr="class","barnaby-notes"]

[break]

• postdormitum: interdream[break]
• hidden identity (masked)[break][break]

TOTAL: 510 MP[break]
+ 50 MP for participation in a PD battle/mission[break]
+ 10 MP per IC post in a PD battle/mission[break]
+ 10 MP per IC post in a PD battle/mission[break]
+ 10 MP per IC post in a PD battle/mission[break]
+ 10 MP per IC post in a PD battle/mission[break]
+ 10 MP per IC post in a PD battle/mission[break]
+ 10 MP for incorporating feelings of paranoia[break]
+ 100 MP for completing a PD mission[break]
+ 300 MP for "losing" a PD mission[break]

[attr="class","elisatestbody"]

"How quickly you forget the hierarchy of Rocket in the field of battle, Admin."[break][break]

She brushed the dust from her uniform as she rose to her feet, the vocalizer failing to hide the dry disdain in her voice as she turned her back to him.[break][break]

Keeping a cool distance between them both, Elisabeth likewise kept her pace brisk as she returned her attention to their previous objective. Or tried to, although pushing the previous image out of her mind proved more difficult than anticipated.[break][break]

Enough so that it frustrated her into making one last retort despite herself, unnecessary and more likely to backfire than not in its goading.[break][break]

"And for what it is worth. I have my own outlets for 'relief,' not that they are any of your business."[break][break]

She continued walking, attempting to put the matter behind them both -- though dreams had, she well knew, a way of following you whether you wanted them to or not.[break][break]

All fiction was always born from something real.

[attr="class","elisatestcredit"]