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You pulled yourself upright in a bout of panic, slender and shivering fingers holding your waist as you tried to catch your breath. The monotony of cars droned from the Real City Streets below, their impatient lights bringing a lurid but evanescent glare that moved through your bedroom like a pacing phantom. You felt your head getting lighter as you tried to force yourself to breathe. Why did you have to have..scenes, inside your head? And movement, and sporadic, nonsensical events, and imagined people and oh goodness you were getting yourself worked up.
Your name is Nervous Broad, and you’re not used to dreaming.
“Daame?” You called out cautiously to the snoring lump beside you, rocking her gently.
“Dame can you. C-Can you please wake up,” you felt terribly guilty getting her up like this, but your nerves were already rising and you’d prefer to have something calm you down before you were inconsolable.
The lump groaned, loudly, as if to show you just how much this was annoying her, and turned to her side to look at you.
“Babe. s like, three am. I’m tiiiired.” She pouted, making your heart momentarily throb from just how cute it was.
“I-I know, it’s just that, Dame I’m terribly sorry but, hhhhhh” You’re whining like a child, a child. You’re not a child Broad. Stop acting like this! And no you’re absolutely not going to start sniffling because a perfectly generic dream scared you.
She seemed to catch on to your disconcertion because you felt two soft, strong arms wrap around you, pulling you into the bed with her.
“Broad, c’mon. It’s fine. There ain’t no weirdos starin’ in through our windows no more and if they DID, I’D FUCKIN LIPSTICK THEM ‘FORE THEY KNEW WHAT WAS COMIN’!!!”
A little too loud, but comforting coming from Dame nonetheless. You felt yourself melt a little when she planted a possessive kiss on your forehead.
“I know..., it’s. Not that though, this time.” You sighed, settling into her grasp.
“We never.. Had dreams in the imaginary realm.” you spoke quietly, as though this were a secret you were too shy to admit.
“Yeah, aand? S’just means that we’re real now hun. An’ now THEY ain’t real. NOW GO TO BED.”
“Pleaaase Dame," you pleaded. She rolled her eyes, but she let go of you and rested her head on her hand while she looked at you, showing that she was listening. You reached for her free hand for comfort.
“That’s the ah, problem though..
Haven’t you ever thought about it? We weren’t real. Not technically, even though I still thought and remembered and had those experiences he dreamt me in, and-
Does that mean that my thoughts weren’t genuine then? I could have just... faded into another daydream had he not been brought into that game. Am I doing my own dream characters infavours by having them?
Mmnnnnhnngh I hate thinking about this!!!!!”
You’re getting so worked up you were starting to cry, sniffling and shivering while tears hung and dripped heavily from your sleepy eyes. Crying quietly was nothing to gloat about though. It just meant that you were used to doing it often, and you had to force yourself to quell the intensity so you didn’t get any attention. GPI were you embarrassed though.
Dame frowned with concern, grasping your hand and treating it to a barrage of kisses. Dame was so lovely to you. You don’t know how you’d cope without her being there.
“Don’t we all sorta... got to be made somehow? You got pink baby sex shit, some fluky fellas imagination come real, hell, maybe we even got ectoslime babies comin’ out. Imagine that lol.” Did she actually say lol as though it wasn’t an acronym, out loud? Yes, she absolutely did.
“But we’re here now, ain’t we?”
“I-, I-I mean, I suppo-”
“And we’re so good at bein’ imaginations that we couldn’t even STAY like that and HAD to be real. Cause we’re BETTER than all’a them imaginary cake-eaters, right Broad? Broad f’ you say no I’m goin’ to cry too so you gotta agree with me right NOW.”
“B-But, but what if, I’m sure people imagined much stronger people than m-” “SAY YES!” “I-I know, goodness, I’m jus-” “THAT’S NOT GOOD ENOUGH YOU GOTTA AGREE WITH ME RIGHT NOW!”
She’ll continue bickering like this until you accede, so you finally nod in submission, saying an exasperated ‘yes’. She grinned, pulling you in closer and planted her lips right against yours. Ah, gosh!!!!! You blushed, wanting to hide your face.
“I love you Broad.” It was one of those rare moments where her voice sounded gentle, the dame staring at you with a genuine, real tenderness to her. Urgh, she looked so pretty even in the dark like this. You’d brush some of her hair behind her ear if she wasn’t holding your hand.
“Your dumb sleepnessness or realness attribute ain’t ever gonna change that.”
“I,,, love you too, hhh. Sorry, I-I just overthink the-”
“Used t’ worry me too though, m’ not about t’ lie to you. The whole balled up fakeness thing. Used t ‘ think that f’ I weren’t datin’ Sleuth I’d just..fuckin. EXPLODE or something. Or probably just disappear. But exploding’s cooler so I’m saying that one...”
That was a surprise to you. You stared at her for what perhaps was an unacceptable amount of time, your eyes wide.
“Wh-what, ah. Um. Dame, I’m so sorry. I never knew that!!”
“Yeah, I know. ‘Cause I never told you.” She let go of your hand and moved in closer to you; your cue to start petting her while she re-clung herself to you in another hug.
“S-EMBARRASSING Broad. Y’know m’ tough, so I don’t gotta hide this from you, but he dreamt me up so he could have a girlfriend! S’ His whole thing!
An’ then I thought, what if I stop bein’ one. That fucks up th’ whole purpose he got me here, an’ I HATE thinkin’ I owe some dumb guy so much, but I was scared a thinkin’ that f’ I got another role I wouldn’t... I dunno, be able to be here? Cause I ain’t doin’ what he thought me up for??”
You nod, making a little ‘mh hm’ just so she knew you were listening. If Dame hated one thing, it was people not paying attention to her.
“But,, you broke it up with him, eventually, Dame.” You added quietly.
“I DID. ‘CAUSE he’s a jerk. A hot jerk, who never saves me from nothin an' kissed someone else, an’ I think m’ supposed to like him anyway??? Ugh!! It’s just fluky balled up and flicked BUSHWA an I still miss him a lot but THAT. DON'T. MATTER!”
You wondered why your neighbours never gave noise complaints...
“ I wanted BETTER. I deserved it. And you were just sittin’ there all pretty an’ nice to me so I had to pounce on you ‘fore you an’ Pickle got official an’ all, y’know?
Wanted to take the chance.” Your flirting stage with Pickle had gone on for an embarrassingly long time, considering that neither of you were very brave..
But she was terribly brave, and you always admired her for that, even if the risk-taking was outright dangerous. It was her that came up with the idea of climbing out of those windows, while you mulled over it and bit your fingers until it bled because you were just that nervous. But she wanted to do it! She tried to convince you with words, made sure you had your teddy, then pulled you through after three hours of you two just sitting there. You had to have your eyes closed, but she insisted she didn’t care. She wanted her best friend in the real world or she was going to stay put forever.
“,,,Thanks for being there for me Dame...
I really feel so blind to not fall into your arms sooner.” That was meant to be a sort of joke, and you giggled. Really though, you were appreciative.
“I MEAN, we sorta did sometimes.”
Yes, you supposed so. She was just a great comfort?
“ANYWAY, THE POINT!!!!!!” She shouted, making your ears momentarily ring. Ouch!
“IS THAT IT DON’T MATTER. The other fake mooks? So WHAT. We got out, we’re fuckin’ real, and you’re with me. SO STOP FEELIN’ SAD and go to sleep or m’ never letting go of you ever again!!”
“That,,, doesn’t sound so terrible.”
“SHHHHH.
SLEEP. Now.”
You made sure to hold her while you closed your eyes, and though it took a while, you felt a lot safer when you finally fell asleep.