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[And Lion doesn't blink, doesn't shift or tilt her head in any way. Just stares back and smiles, unconscious that she does, for the simple pleasure and odd triumph of meeting his eyes. They really are beautiful, not because they're so unusual but because they suit him, are him. Lion might mumble part of that out loud but she is unaware if she does.

Plain, average eyes with that gentle look and the only notable thing is that they sometimes look a different colour in the right light but a lot of people's eyes do. Being perfectly normal is fine, though.]

And how much sleep do you actually get? Shouldn't you try for even an hour or two more a night? Maybe I won't sleep in so much if I know you're resting.

[Similar to Will, just nagging on a topic that is more like commenting on the weather than anything. Fingers entwine and Lion keeps their eyes locked.] ...I might have another idea to wake up. Forgive me for dwelling on it but it would be nice to return to actual sleep. Even if I don't mind 'waking up' to talk to you.

[Sure it's in a nightmare but it's always nice to see Will.]

[Perfectly normal is what makes her so special. That even through everything she's been through, even with her other selves being witches and her current self studying magic, even with her stupid moments and bratty attitude and horrible punishments. She's able to stay herself through all of it, and that her eyes are untouched and beautiful comes from a sentiment she'd never be able to understand, even if he explains.

But that kind of lost translation is fine sometimes.]

Anywhere from one hour and thirty minute to three hours and seventeen minutes, average is two hours. Excluding the obvious case. [That one time he was sick doesn't count against his sleep schedule, she can do the math herself if she wants to hold that point over his head.] And by that logic, you should be an insomniac like me. If you want to make sure I'm resting, you can't do that if you're asleep yourself.

[The same song and dance, even with her so close and that presence still pounding at the edges but being ignored all the same. Going through the normalcy of it all just means it's not a nightmare, but another evening spent vehemently arguing with each other in public when the translations are nothing but affectionate teasing and kindness. And her only answer to her second suggestion is a shrug.]

I don't sleep that much anyway. If you want to go back to lazing around, I won't stop you. [Says him, crowned lord of apathy and laziness, but the words behind it mean she's free to explain her idea.]

[At least that normalcy is why Lion is so certain nothing will happen to change her. No bad, nightmare type changes anyway. Between catgirls and witches and cosmic horrors, if Lion can continue to sigh over a grocery list, then everything will be fine.]

You're so stubborn about something like sleep of all things. [Ignoring Lion is just the same, though it really is more to keep them both in a calm mindset. But she sighs and that marks the end of that for now before putting the idea forward.]

Well, what if we beat this together? That is...mm, how would you put it? 'Illusions to illusions.' Defeat those and see if we can wake up. I'm sure they're here, too.

[He still doesn't understand why she gets so depressed over grocery lists. He's the one who ends up carrying everything on his days off.

The response to her calling him stubborn just gets a short laugh. Because she can play that all she wants, ulterior motives or not she's still a hypocrite. In some christian denominations, that would be a sin. Such a horrible girlfriend. Even if he doesn't follow that one and is guilty of it himself. She's still horrible.

As for her idea, it gets a short 'hn'. Either thinking over it or agreeing or contempt, who knows. A beat or three pass before answering.] It might, but I wouldn't know where to start. None of my rules work that well with the horror genre.

[A true statement, but the meaning behind is more depreciating. It might work better since it's a dream, never know. But still. It's one of the few fragments he can't rip open from the inside, disproving it might not even do anything.

Good thing there's no such thing as a futile effort, right?] Worth a shot.

[For the first time since approaching, Lion moves - only enough for a brief kiss and still not breaking his gaze.] At least it will help pass the time.

[And give them something to focus on. Main goal no matter what is to beat the atmosphere here until they wake up. Just talking is nice but it could still slip away. Something active seems like a good idea and if it fails, it still served a purpose.]

I've never done anything like that, though. I've only seen you do it and Dlanor-san in the games. But I suppose just making up rules won't really do any good, right?

[For the second that kiss is returned, the atmosphere drops off and everything is the same as ever. Sitting in their bedroom at night and wasting away minutes talking about nothing but it's fine since it's time no one else registers. The eyes staring at her don't lose their unfocused shine, but at least the smirk into her breathing after she pulls away means the translation fits.]

Maybe. Wouldn't want to waste precious seconds.

[Just like that, it really is back to normal. Sure, there's a surging, malignant aura pounding against every visible surface, but his shrug at her question makes it seem like it doesn't touch him. If it is, he's gotten better at pretending over the past few minutes.] It wouldn't. Rules need to be sanctioned in order to be used. Furthermore, using rules implies an agreement. That your opponent is honorable enough to follow them, even if it means their own defeat.

[The unsaid answer is that the horror genre tends to lack that honor. Alas.]

[Some more tension uncoils and Lion breathes in for a long moment and just sighs. Just pushing back thoughts that won't help, which is much easier to do when focused on Will and being close and she's not sure why earlier she didn't simply just cling to him.]

It would be the same basic premise, though, correct? Revealing the truth to get rid of it? [Though thinking on it, a lot of what she's read tends to imply 'truth' in this instance is something so ridiculously horrible that people go mad. Hm. Speaking without explaining those thoughts.] ...Maybe that would be bad, too.

[Because she's ridiculous, and so is he for not letting her close in the first place. But they're ridiculous together and it's okay now, because he won't hurt her and she's not afraid, even if they have to spend the next three hours sitting around and talking about nothing until Will's internal alarm wakes the both of them.

And her question gets a short 'hn', head lowering a bit and eyes closing. Not because of her for once. Because 'mystery' means there's a mundane truth. That a human did this to that person in such a manner. 'Horror's truth is never as friendly. Either exactly as you read it, or the kind where everything is all in your head and the horror is you're insane without knowing it, or a truth even worse where no one wants to think about it.

He opens his eyes to answer, but she reaches the same conclusion, and the response falls out in a soft exhale, the words paired with it sucked dry. Revisal. Try again.] It would be bad.

[Worrying her bottom lip. Fighting a genre is much harder than she thought, which Lion already thought it looked difficult. It requires a lot of knowledge and some stories Lion has read might verge on horror or have a horror twist but nothing fully into the genre.]

Right... so then the goal in horror... [Pausing because...well, what is the goal in horror? To scare you? It is more than that, isn't it? Stories are all telling something. There is a message to decode and that's usually how it works, right?]

Right, okay, in horror, the main purpose is making you face something, isn't it? An undeniable truth or possibility? Does that sound right?

[The apprehension in her look is actually more that she's doing this entirely wrong than actually being wrong. How nice it would be to prove she's learned a lot since that first day.]

[If it makes her feel any better, he never handled anything in the entirely-straight horror genre. That was more the 9th branch's thing, and hey, made them happy and less creepy. Everyone wins. Especially people who didn't want to do with it because they were too lazy and surrounded my idiots who'd get scared and cry and hand in resignations and that's just more paperwork to worry about so to hell with that.

But in either case, Lion's answer does get a short 'hm' of affirmation. Right answer. And she thinks too hard on herself with an expression like that, but no need to point out things she's already aware of.]

Correct. To be specific, it's to face something that you don't want to see. An undeniable truth that would have been better off unspoken, or a possibility that's the worst fragment imaginable. The other difference is other stories use words as their means to the message. You might not understand it, but if you read it enough times you'll understand. Horror plays purely off of the emotions of the reader, to get out the worst reaction possible. Quite a malignant genre, if you ask me.

[Hence all the sub-genres. Straight horror, psychological thriller, gore, last-minute mindfucks where everything is the viewer's delusion, and so many others. Because one of them, somewhere, is going to be the one that slays the reader.]

[On the positive side, Lion's expression does clear up hearing she's right. And she even understands what he means, more or less, especially with horror being prevalent in so many works. Not that Lion isn't used to reading a story and having elements of a different genre decide to pop up but it's much different when horror seems to fit into anything.]

I think I understand. A lot of times in horror, the suspense and ability to build tension and fear with subtle touches is considered best, isn't it? I remember reading somewhere if you don't show the monster, the reader creates a worse one. [Which, she supposes in a pause, is true, since they've created their own nightmares, haven't they?] How on earth do you beat something like that? The horror genre usually wins.

[As far as she knows, a big selling point is that everyone ends up dead or traumatized to the point where death would be better or just in such a bad shape that it's only a faint but likely to be crushed hope they'll get better. Fantasy can get pretty brutal but there's almost always a way to fight back. Mystery, well, the detective nearly always wins and it's more of a big deal when they don't.]

[That's really the worst part in trying to take down anything in the horror genre. There's one way to win and two parts needed to do it. The first is you need to know no fear, so all methods fail and the opponent can be defeated. The second is how to defeat them.]

Also correct. The only way to defeat a monster in the horror genre is to be an even worse monster... In all honesty, even I rarely crossed that line. [Which says something, judging by her nightmares and his confirmation of them.] Not to mention that, from the start, you can't let it get any hits in. Things like suspense and subtle movements and presence shouldn't affect you.

[Which means they both failed right from the start, and he will willingly admit he has no idea how to work from there. As if he wasn't on a bad enough compatibility in the first place.]

[Lion catches that. Defeated before they even had the idea to fight it. Unfair but isn't that how the horror genre works?]

What a rude genre. It didn't even give us a chance. [Sighing and shutting her eyes, though she keeps resting against him.] If we're already caught up in it, then...it's not impossible exactly but...more difficult than I thought.

[Not to mention Japanese horror especially loves those hopeless situations.] Well. That's very nice that it wants to be difficult but so do I.

[Her response just gets a laugh, because really. How very much a her answer to that kind of thing.] It really is rude. It's saying something when even I don't want to deal with it.

[And he's the effective commander of the rude armada.]

Be as difficult as you like. I'll even help. Just saying outright I have no ideas.

Oh? Does that mean I'm in charge of this one? I'm afraid I don't have any rules or a blade to cut through this problem. Just my stubborn determination.

[Lion is, however, smiling. Possibly even grinning. Oh sure this could end horribly and probably will but it gives her a chance to try. And running through the vague ideas she has, those sort of ideas she's gained through pop culture osmosis on what one definitely doesn't do in horror. There are 'rules' sort of like that and she's aware the genre breaks even those but...

Giving him another kiss, she pulls back and straightens up. Glancing around for a moment as if trying to find something. But either she gives up or decides on something, because she lifts her fingers to her mouth.

Same fingers that deliver pinches of death also deliver a whistle sharp enough that she doesn't need a sword.]

Please excuse me. [That wasn't to Will.] But I believe one guideline is not to provoke the monster. If this is a shared nightmare, there are two monsters here and they both should know better than to be rude.

[Will, your girlfriend is suicidal when she gets an idea.]

[There's a short blink, idly wondering whatever idea she fell upon in that derpy brain of hers. Still lacking some of the ability to care about it or be worried, but that's fine. Too busy watching in apathy as she goes about whistling, jerking a bit at the loud noise, but the sentiment behind is worthy of some credit. This is what that accursed tiger blood turns into, even in Lion of all people.

Except then he finally registers what she's saying and what she's doing.

Lion what the hell are doing.

And the realization is a surge from both sides, one half screaming to kill her before it gets worse and the other to protect her from even God Himself. A migraine starts in seconds and the rest is a blur, but the latter wins out, standing in front of her like a sentinel with his sword drawn and eyes already flipped back to that shining inhuman yellow.

It'd be a more awesome response if it didn't take another few seconds to sort everything back in place good enough to hiss a response.] What are you doing? Have you gone insane?

[In a role reversal, Lion is actually quite calm. Of course, there is no change in eye colour or anything so telling. But if the at ease yet firm stance and unwavering tone and steady eyes mean much, it means Lion isn't worried.]

My sanity isn't an issue. Is better to wait as prey or trap the monsters?

[Rhetorical. Lion made a choice after all and is carrying it out with certainty. If this a dream, there is some advantages.]

Would it be easier to fight yours first or mine...? [Yet again it doesn't seem to be a question to be addressed. A click sounds and if Will looks, she's summoned a shotgun.] Witches hate bullets, don't they?

[And then Lion raises the gun and there's only some awkwardness in the movement as she shoots the closet. A pause.] ...It never is the closet.

[Most would find such antics from Lion horrifying, what with losing all sense of fear and shotgunning things with a frighteningly accurate aim, even if her movements are off enough to show she doesn't make a job in shooting things in the face. It's not like her. Sane people would find it scary.

Will just kind of stares blankly as she moves, and it's probably something only angels have in their heads that make watching such a scene almost beautiful. And it takes another few seconds after the shell hits the floor for him to regain proper thought structures. She's a fool. In both hers and his own nightmares, he's the monster that ruins it. And yet, she's hunting for something that by all logic should be him.

There's a moment where his eyes narrow at the back of her head, sword raising, and it's her only warning when a gust goes past her face and cleaves the bed neatly in two. All business with a look of mild disgust and when the inquisitor mindset isn't turned on her, it really is something amazing to behold.]

Beds are one of the popular ones. Too bad.

[Though her eyes widen at the sudden breeze, spinning around to see the source, Lion pauses. Likewise, anyone should really find this at least a little scary. They might even think that was aimed at them. If Lion thinks it, it doesn't bother her, though it doesn't even cross her mind.

Far too busy admiring that appearance which usually only brings terror and now brings a brief sense of wonder.

Focus. Lion reloads the shotgun with a frown. Yes, going after the witch might be part selfish. How could Lion face Will? Yet by the same token, it is because Will always has to face her that Lion would rather do this for him. Even if he can do it. He shouldn't need to take that sin over countless nights alone.]

You see I thought even if this is horror, what we fear is still based in mystery. If we want to relate the two, we could say the killer is a human.

[No idea how to do Will's but that bridge will come. And funny how under the desk looks so foreboding now that it's shadowed and dark. Raising the gun again with the same calmness, except before she fires the lights go out.

Which is ridiculous because they had light from the fragments but it is a witch after all. Which means this is 'magic?' Though, lights and power outs...are popular in horror.]

Will? Please don't move away from me... [Not afraid but just unsure because if she can't see, she can't shoot, she doesn't even know what's there now and shit that's how horror gets you.]

[And that kind of response, swiftly shifting the genre from pure horror into a mix against mystery, earns the same smile that's half knives, half approval and all undefeated ego, and it really is quite familiar to that last stand. Sword raised against an encroaching monster that can't be defeated, but still fighting through it anyway because She's the one there.]

Mystery? I can work with that.

[Barely getting the time to react more on that since the lights vanish and reality turns into a solid toxic black. Then Lion speaks, somewhere off to the left now - did he move without realizing it, or was that her? unimportant - and the wavering in her voice is enough to track her down.

And she gets no warning before deja vu settles in again, him scooping her up to hold in one arm but still having his left one left pointed out in the abyss. Still nothing but grins and a bad attitude, but at least the faint sheen of his eyes and his own sword chase away the slightest bit of the darkness.]

Move away? Why would I do that? [Said with that dim amusement like chastising a child, but it's a rhetorical since he continues without prompting.] I held onto you until my arm was severed from my body. This time seems much easier.

[Being happy for the darkness because it hides the blush is probably not the best priority. Lion always has had odd ones, though, so it's fine. And though it is like last time, it looks more ridiculous with Lion clutching a shotgun. She points it into the darkness, anywhere that isn't Will, because that's all that matters.] I appreciate the sentiment but try to keep yourself intact, please.

[Just responding turn to that attitude. If she can do it around Bern, she can do it now. Bern would be a pretty good monster in the dark, Lion thinks, with her shadow cats and general creepiness factor.

Lion half expects golden butterflies or cackling or something like that. It would make sense. That's a ghost story and that counts as horror, right?

Except instead, she feels a tug on the gun. With a short, surprised sound, Lion fires and there's nothing to make her think she hit anything. Ah if only she swore.]

I-If you want to prove you aren't afraid of a gun, then let it hit!

You don't like scarecrows?

[Said with all the amusement of someone who doesn't care they're lampshading their own horrifying appearance before death. She's here, she's alive, and while she looks silly holding that shotgun, it doesn't matter too much. Because it's the usual sarcasm dance and the idle distraction is enough to keep that static in the back of his mind barred off.

For a while anyway, because there's a shotgun blast and a fraction of a second later, he's turned and ripped open that section of the sky, and there's the resistance of hitting something, but nothing's there to see what happened. It's already unnerving, that he has a nocturnal being's eyesight but the darkness is still fully opaque - if she's successfully moved it to mystery, then a witch who controls shadows? think about light tricks - and not even being able to see what you're tearing apart makes it a bit harder to focus.

But that's fine. Don't focus on it for now. Focus on the other thing. Lion's voice ringing at the very ends of perception, and it's only until he can put her words together does he realize his awareness fell off a bit. And now she's freaking out. Great.]

Calm down. Don't be afraid of it! Fear means you've been defeated!

[Another reason to pick a witch, after all. Their witches don't belong to horror. Assuming Lion can succeed in this much, it gives Will a better chance. But if it isn't their kind of witch, then it's just building fear, right? And building fear means building an end and-

Lion mentally shakes away those thoughts at Will's voice.] Y-Yes! I'm not afraid.

[Fingers curling tighter around the gun before reloading again. No she is afraid but just because Will hit something doesn't mean anything. It could be a trick. Ah where's Battler when you need a long list of ridiculous possibilities? Just taking a few calming breaths and it's fine because Will isn't letting go.]

How can someone make a room this dark? Could they do something to our eyes?

[Just trying to push it to mystery and give Will an advantage somehow.]

[She's afraid, and it makes a sigh get released through in a single exhale, because it means they're losing ground faster than he'd assumed with this plan of hers. But that's fine. It just means everything's back to the usual, with her scared and needing a savior and him playing the simultaneous roles of knight and human shield.

Who needs Battler? Throwing out countless blasts of faulty logic that all get shot down anyway? Pointless. Focus, spread out the details and find the needed ones again. There has to be an opening here to switch the genres. That's what Lion was hunting for, so that's what needs to be caught.

Hit something, but did it really happen? There was the feeling of a direct hit, but no resistance of a living thing pulling away from assault, or that more instinctive one of releasing the sin with a being's blood. So an illusion? No. Think of it as a mystery. An illusion like that breaks the 14th, unless proven otherwise by the 1st. The exclusion clause. There's a hint elsewhere. One point found, find the next.

And Lion's question is a snap of something falling into place, glancing up to stare at where she once was, but with that mistaken realization she's gone. And the response is a frown. Yeah, that would be the clue wouldn't it? It wasn't an illusion. How can you be sure you've hit something when you can't see it?]

Blindfolds... no. Light still gets through, even with black ones... Our eyes were damaged. [Just a theory, but the largest point in favor is it's a valid move of the horror genre. The fear of losing one's sight and being completely helpless. Quite effective, and a powerful move right from the start. How unforgiving. But that's also like horror, isn't it?]

Oh, lovely. We're blind?

[Despite being said in her usual mild annoyance, it's actually a comfort of a sort. Will might not be certain but it is a good start and Lion feels a little pride that her idea might work after all. Just need to not freak out. Mysteries are their own sort of scary but you can catch the culprit and generally know things will be fine.

Lion still doesn't let go of the shotgun for a second. Doesn't matter if she doesn't know what it could be pointing at. It's not pointing at Will.] All right. They wouldn't have had much time to do that unless it was a delayed reaction. Is that possible? Set-up like that is allowed, right...? If you wanted to make a mystery seem like a horror story, setting up things before like that would be good.

[She knows horror allows it because horror gives no damns on how much of a disadvantage someone is at but mystery tries to play more fair.]

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