OOM: Victoria Cays

[latino_menace]

The evening had proved to be as fun as the day. The new boat was amazing, especially after he remembered how you're supposed to drive one. They'd gone for a long ride and then stopped off for dinner and drinks before heading home. Idyllic, really.

Except there was...something. Lots of somethings, really. All evening - and then all night - he kept being assailed by conversations he never knew he'd had before. He vividly remembers Teja putting him in the cells after he stabbed him...except if you'd asked him about it an hour before, he would have sworn that it never happened at all. And yet there it is, in his head. It's not clear, parts seem to have faded but it seemed so real.

It had got worse in the night. He'd dreamt that he was in bed with Mary Anne, only to wake up and find Fi. When he tried to shake the dream off, it wouldn't go. The next time, it was Saffron. Then he was in the Milliways cells, doing endless pushups to pass the time. Ramon's not the type that dreams much but what worries him - not that he'll admit it out loud - is that its happening when he's awake. Last night it had got to the point where he couldn't work out what was real or not, what the time was, who he was with or whether he was sleeping.

It was a restless night. Which is why dawn finds him sitting out on the balcony, smoking and drinking coffee, wearing just a robe and trying to work this out. Last time something similar happened, he nearly lost his mind and then his life. He'd really rather that didn't happen again.

Comments

[latino_menace]

He shakes his head, reaching for his coffee. He's tired.

'I've spent a lot of time in a different world but its never been a problem before. Besides, it's not...'

Again, he pauses.

'...it's like I'm getting crossed wires with someone. I remember all this stuff that I didn't know had happened. And maybe it hasn't, because this shit's just coming out of nowhere.'

He slams his hand done on the table suddenly, looking pissed.

'It's the fucking bar.'

[justcallmefee]

Fiona quirks an eyebrow at him, unphased by the outburst.

"What do you mean, 'remembering stuff'? And how do you know it's the bar?"

[latino_menace]

'Because that's where all the stuff in my head happens.'

Has coffee, and now cigarette.

'I remember, fighting Teja and pulling a knife on him and he put me in the cells. He had a security badge.'

A thought strikes him.

'Maybe it's premonition. He and I have always talked about fighting and he's not on Security. Maybe it happens in the future, I don't know.'

[justcallmefee]

"Teja on Security?" She can't help the chuff of disbelief. "Are you sure it wasn't something you ate? No, I know it wasn't, baby. Tell me what you're remembering, the more detail the better."

She beckons for the cigarette. Talk it out. Talk it through.

[latino_menace]

He hands it over and lights another in the same movement.

'There was a fight.'

He sucks his breath in suddenly, closing his eyes, a new image hitting him. Being held face down in the snow and strangled from behind and then pain...

'Sometimes it's inside with Teja. But I just got a flash of it being outside, and I got strangled.'

If that's premonition, it is, at least, a useful one.

'Mary Anne. And Saffron. And Demeter lecturing me about something.'

He shakes his head, trying to shake something more specific loose.

'It's just flashes, like when you remember something that happened when you were a kid but you can't recall the context or the reasons. Just bits and pieces.'

[justcallmefee]

The sharp gasp draws her hand to rest on his arm, a gentle pressure to bring him back to the present. The names of his other women make her look away, but she doesn't move her hand. Eventually her gaze returns, the fine lines around her eyes deepening with concern.

She takes a lazy puff, watching him struggle. The tension in his face reminds her of when he was coming back from a week spent as a tree. She can't do anything but be here for him.

"Definitely something to do with the bar then," she muses. "Well, I need to take that dress back, see if she can get it clean. Maybe after breakfast, I'll go back and check with her, see what the fuck is up." There's a protective edge in her voice.

[latino_menace]

'Yeah.'

He doesn't want to go back if he doesn't know what's up and hates himself for being weak about it. He rests his face in his hands for a moment, then rubs his eyes and straightens in his chair.

'This happened before only with someone else's memories,' he says, simply.

'I had his, he had mine. I went back to the bar and when we ran into each other, we nearly lost our minds completely.'

The way he says it should make it clear that he's not being sensationalist - he means, they really nearly lost their minds.

'I'd rather not have that happen again.'

[justcallmefee]

She's watching him like a hawk now, dark eyes obsidian sharp. If this is another attack, then they really need to get this house fortified, lest other events already set in motion catch them off guard.

"Yeah, better that you let me look into it. Besides, Moreno's men need to see you here."

[latino_menace]

'Mmm.'

He stares out over the water, wishing he could just sleep all this off.

'You think they're watching us already?'

He already knows the answer is probably yes but Jean Paul didn't make it sound like Moreno had a lot of men at his disposal.

[justcallmefee]

"No, but I think they'll send someone by to check on us. After the little party we had yesterday, it wouldn't surprise me if he thought he could get one up on us. I left the shotgun in the closet, just in case. You ever use a rifle?"

He's been with her long enough to know she's probably asking about the sniper kit she keeps in top condition, even when she's not using it. Out here on the water, she could pick them off their boats like shooting fish in a barrel.

[latino_menace]

'Yeah, of course.'

He doesn't seem concerned about them - hell, if they land here in force he can just go back to the bar and take his chances with the weirdness. Though he'll go mental if they damage the boat.

'Not for a while but I remember.'

He seems unconcerned about everything really, completely distracted. But he does glance over at her a few moments later and add,

'What was that about, anyway? The 'party'?'

[justcallmefee]

She looks down at her hands, twisting the last little bit of cigarette between her fingers.

"He put his hands on me. You think the next time any of his men get it into their heads that I'm a party girl to be passed around, they won't think long and hard about what happened to the last guy?" She sneers at the memory of his face exploding under the butt of the gun.

She flicks the butt away over the balcony into the water, her eyes dark.

[latino_menace]

'I suppose so.'

He remembers that she was acting like that sort of girl, which suggests that she was just looking for an excuse to blow up at them. Which is fine, if it doesn't make her a liability, and she hasn't seemed like the unprofessional kind at any other times.

'Does it happen a lot?'

[justcallmefee]

"If it happens more than once, then clearly I'm getting too old for this game," she drawls, unconcerned.

She looks across at him, her expression softening just a bit.

"Did I ruin your image of me as a good girl?"

[latino_menace]

'No, I meant...do you go off like that often?'

He's just curious. He likes to know what to expect. As for her question, he shrugs.

'If I ever truly thought you were a good girl, we probably wouldn't be together. You wouldn't have gone with me in the first place.'

She never acted that good in the beginning, which was why he wsa so confused when she kept saying no to him.

'I didn't know you liked things messy though.'

[justcallmefee]

"Like that? No." In other ways, maybe. Michael certainly seems to think she has a hair trigger.

"And usually, no, I don't like to get so up close and personal. But that dress is so tight? There's no place to hide a hand grenade."

Okay, she may be teasing there. Maybe.

She stands up and bends over him, nuzzling along his jaw before stealing another slow kiss. "I'm gonna throw some clothes on and go get us some more champagne. You go take a shower, and when I get back, I'll make us some breakfast. How does that sound, hmm?"

[latino_menace]

He nods, blinking slowly, returning the kiss. He'll take a shower and wake up a bit and maybe everything will start to make more sense. Including her.

'See you soon.'

[justcallmefee]

She runs her hands through his hair again, touches his cheek. And then she's back into the house, finding her jeans and a wifebeater, slipping into her wedge heels.

The dress gets a bit of tutting over. No matter. Bar can fix it.

She lets herself out of the closet and back into the bar.

[latino_menace]

He spends another five minutes just sitting, lulled by the waves. Then it occurs to him that she isn't going to be long so he gets up to hit the shower. And that's when everything gets really weird.

Yesterday, that dress had just been a dress. Now it's...he can see it, like he's seen it before, all covered in blood and...at the bar.

Fi's never worn it at the bar and certainly not in that state.

He shakes his head and walks inside to the bathroom. By the time the shower is switched on, he's leaning against the wall, breathing hard, knowing that she kissed him but he doesn't know when. It's like he was surprised about it but why would he be? She kisses him all the time and if this is a premonition, it doesn't make any sense.

It's a quick shower and none of it goes away. By the time she returns, he's sitting at the kitchen table with his head in his hands, trying to will it to go away.

[justcallmefee]

Fiona returns from the bar, her skin singing.

She drops the bottles of champagne in the kitchen and finds him. She's breathing like she just ran a hundred yard dash, her eyes shining bright.

"I know what's happening. I mean, I think I know. God, Ramon, you'll never believe what just happened."

[latino_menace]

His eyes turn up to look at her though his head doesn't move. Everything about him says well? though he doesn't speak. He's too busy wondering what's got her so wound up.

[justcallmefee]

"I just met -- you -- in the bar."

She stalks across the room to him, pushing him back in his chair and straddling his lap.

"A very young you."

[latino_menace]

That...was the last thing he was expecting to hear.

'...what?'

Seriously. What? He doesn't even grab her ass, he's so confused.

[justcallmefee]

"You bragged to me about spending your first day in the bar, and I quote, 'in a woman, in a fight, and in the cells'. And you hit on me and called me 'too old' for you in the same breath."

[latino_menace]

...he has to admit, that sounds like him.

'First day? So that would explain why this started yesterday.'

And everything else too. Teja, the cells, the fight, Saffron, Mary Anne...he runs a hand over his face once more. It's too soon for the possible ramifications of this to set in but they will, hell yes they will. And it's not as though this sort of thing isn't fairly common in Milliways.

'Jesus Christ.'