( A new month has begun. This one is an endless night, the moon perpetually full, casting an eerie green haze across the city — a fog that seems as though it, too, will never end.
There's a growing uneasiness with that unending night. Perhaps they all feel it, especially those who remember what such things meant back in Deerington. The feeling of dread is almost palpable.
And even within the warm comfort of the townhouse, security seems short-lived. It's Paimon who's taking a certain type of charge, these days. Both he and Peter are terrified by the thought of falling to deep Corruption again. The demon will do whatever it takes to avoid that, and so he's begun to manipulate Peter in little ways, reaching inwards to place certain filters over his eyes, his mind. He helps his vessel to see things, feel things, that aren't truly there. Gives him a little bit of sunshine here and there, a hallucination right outside the window. Gives him good dreams, peaceful things, spinning them across Peter's mind like a spider web. It helps.... but it's costing energy from the boy who still has a long way to go when it comes to being able to handle the demon's power within him, the toll it wears on him physically.
But some of Paimon's energy is reserved for Luna, too. Because the witch's Corruption hasn't..... abated, and Paimon's not quite able to combat it within her the way he can so directly combat it within Peter. There are ways to try — and he has been, but so gently, so carefully. He won't hurt her the way he once had, when he'd accidentally seared himself into her mind with his too-bright presence.
No, it's.... small doses of mental visits: not invasive, but soft. It comes when she's sleeping, when Peter's lying in bed next to her, and the demon can feel his witch's mind, that connection made ever-stronger thanks to the direct mental link his vessel now shares with her. The demon has been visiting her off and on for a few weeks now, to so gently manipulate things to be gentler, sweeter for her. She's suffered greatly, these months. The stress from Maul, from Willow's death, from March's events... Her physical Corruption's persisted even when Peter's melted away: her eyes still shimmering iridescent, the pair of little antlers still poking out of her head.
Paimon's very worried about her. And so, he drapes warmth into Luna's dreams, coating the darker parts with his presence. He gives her colours she likes — pastels, sparkling, soft and calm. He gives her the smell of sweet things cooking, warm summer rain falling outside, cocoa on a crisp autumn day, and glitter upon her fingertips. Sometimes, he gives her little snippets of memory: a schoolday back in Deerington, eating lunch with Diarmuid and Louis; a photobooth shared with Peter, both smiling and shy; Luna's cosy kitchen back home, with the tall, slender figure of her father there beside her, smiling.
— — —
It's hard to make sense of time when it's forever dark, but "bedtime" still has its place. Peter's almost exclusively sleeping with Luna these days, and it's where the boy is now: facing her and tucked in close, breathing quietly. It's comfortable, peaceful, and still.
And then Luna whimpers.
It's such a soft sound, barely audible at all. Peter certainly doesn't hear it, even as close to her as his head is tilted, a blonde curl brushing against his cheek. But Paimon hears it — or rather feels her distress, and the demon stirs at once. Unravels from his own stillness within Peter, the boy's eyelids fluttering softly before they peel open. For a long moment he just stares widely in the darkness of the room, pupils slowly expanding, and then Luna twitches slightly in her sleep. It's an equally subtle thing as the little whimper, but the demon catches it immediately. He knows what she looks like in the middle of a nightmare, very well by now.
Lying very still, his dark eyes move to catch sight of a frown of upset touching the girl's lips, and immediately he's mentally coming to her, utilising the powerful mental strand that connects her and Peter, but he's had his own connection with Luna for a very long time, now. He knows the shape of her energy, the feeling of it, as well as he knows his own. Gently and silently, Paimon eases inwards; he's experimented with it over time. It isn't always possible when they're both awake, but he knows how to connect to Luna in a dreamstate mentally without disturbing or distressing her. Knows how to quiet his own buzzing presence in little doses, so that he can give something warm to her in her dreams, and over time, he's been able to do it more and more. He knows that this is something he's meant to do.
He'll find what's hurting her, and he'll make it go away. )
action | early April
There's a growing uneasiness with that unending night. Perhaps they all feel it, especially those who remember what such things meant back in Deerington. The feeling of dread is almost palpable.
And even within the warm comfort of the townhouse, security seems short-lived. It's Paimon who's taking a certain type of charge, these days. Both he and Peter are terrified by the thought of falling to deep Corruption again. The demon will do whatever it takes to avoid that, and so he's begun to manipulate Peter in little ways, reaching inwards to place certain filters over his eyes, his mind. He helps his vessel to see things, feel things, that aren't truly there. Gives him a little bit of sunshine here and there, a hallucination right outside the window. Gives him good dreams, peaceful things, spinning them across Peter's mind like a spider web. It helps.... but it's costing energy from the boy who still has a long way to go when it comes to being able to handle the demon's power within him, the toll it wears on him physically.
But some of Paimon's energy is reserved for Luna, too. Because the witch's Corruption hasn't..... abated, and Paimon's not quite able to combat it within her the way he can so directly combat it within Peter. There are ways to try — and he has been, but so gently, so carefully. He won't hurt her the way he once had, when he'd accidentally seared himself into her mind with his too-bright presence.
No, it's.... small doses of mental visits: not invasive, but soft. It comes when she's sleeping, when Peter's lying in bed next to her, and the demon can feel his witch's mind, that connection made ever-stronger thanks to the direct mental link his vessel now shares with her. The demon has been visiting her off and on for a few weeks now, to so gently manipulate things to be gentler, sweeter for her. She's suffered greatly, these months. The stress from Maul, from Willow's death, from March's events... Her physical Corruption's persisted even when Peter's melted away: her eyes still shimmering iridescent, the pair of little antlers still poking out of her head.
Paimon's very worried about her. And so, he drapes warmth into Luna's dreams, coating the darker parts with his presence. He gives her colours she likes — pastels, sparkling, soft and calm. He gives her the smell of sweet things cooking, warm summer rain falling outside, cocoa on a crisp autumn day, and glitter upon her fingertips. Sometimes, he gives her little snippets of memory: a schoolday back in Deerington, eating lunch with Diarmuid and Louis; a photobooth shared with Peter, both smiling and shy; Luna's cosy kitchen back home, with the tall, slender figure of her father there beside her, smiling.
— — —
It's hard to make sense of time when it's forever dark, but "bedtime" still has its place. Peter's almost exclusively sleeping with Luna these days, and it's where the boy is now: facing her and tucked in close, breathing quietly. It's comfortable, peaceful, and still.
And then Luna whimpers.
It's such a soft sound, barely audible at all. Peter certainly doesn't hear it, even as close to her as his head is tilted, a blonde curl brushing against his cheek. But Paimon hears it — or rather feels her distress, and the demon stirs at once. Unravels from his own stillness within Peter, the boy's eyelids fluttering softly before they peel open. For a long moment he just stares widely in the darkness of the room, pupils slowly expanding, and then Luna twitches slightly in her sleep. It's an equally subtle thing as the little whimper, but the demon catches it immediately. He knows what she looks like in the middle of a nightmare, very well by now.
Lying very still, his dark eyes move to catch sight of a frown of upset touching the girl's lips, and immediately he's mentally coming to her, utilising the powerful mental strand that connects her and Peter, but he's had his own connection with Luna for a very long time, now. He knows the shape of her energy, the feeling of it, as well as he knows his own. Gently and silently, Paimon eases inwards; he's experimented with it over time. It isn't always possible when they're both awake, but he knows how to connect to Luna in a dreamstate mentally without disturbing or distressing her. Knows how to quiet his own buzzing presence in little doses, so that he can give something warm to her in her dreams, and over time, he's been able to do it more and more. He knows that this is something he's meant to do.
He'll find what's hurting her, and he'll make it go away. )