A day of waiting

Johanna hadn’t planned on having a roommate. She wasn’t sure she was suited for it, honestly; if nothing else, things rarely went well for the people around her. Then again, she wasn’t sure how much could ever hurt a literal dream.

And there were certainly upsides to having a naked woman living in her apartment. Johanna worked at her desk, shooting off emails and following down a few online leads - thankfully there was nothing urgent that needed her in-person attention just yet, so she could help Emma acclimatise.

Emma was, slowly, beginning to relax. She was still jumpy, but with the curtains drawn and just Johanna for company, she was at least less on-edge than she had been in the car.

At the moment, she was engaged in a staring contest with a bowl of cereal. Johanna sighed.

“You going to eat or not?” she said.

“I don’t know,” Emma said.

She prodded the bowl suspiciously. Johanna rolled her eyes; well, at least she probably wouldn’t need to spend much on groceries.

“Okay, so house rules,” Johanna said. “Most of my friends will knock before letting themselves in, they don’t want a demon in their face again, so just go to my room and you’ll be out of sight of any guests.”

“R-right,” Emma said.

“And if I start sleepwalking, you shake me awake asap, you got that?” Johanna said.

“Yes! I promise,” Emma said.

“Otherwise, place is yours. Don’t open any of the locked books, don’t break anything, and don’t read anything Latin,” Johanna said. “If I’m bringing anyone over, I’ll call in first so you have time to hide in the spare room. Sock on the doorknob means ‘don’t come in,’ the old classic.”

“Er,” Emma said. She flushed. “You’re going to have people over?”

“I mean, maybe, sometimes,” Johanna said. She shrugged. “Life happens.”

“You know I can’t help it if they dream…” Emma said. Her voice trailed off.

“It’ll do them good,” Johanna said. She paused, then chuckled to herself. “If they start sleep-walking, no hurry to wake them up.”

“Um. Okay?” Emma said.

She flushed a little again. Johanna snorted, and glanced back at her tablet.

Emma was still in her peripheral vision; it was undeniably distracting to have that much bare skin on her couch.

“So, er, do you need anything to do?” Johanna said. “Books? Netflix password?”

“Ooh! I know Netflix!” Emma said. She tilted her head. “People think about it in a lot of my nightmares. I think it inspired their dreams.”

“Can be a lot of boobs,” Johanna agreed. “So. Er. Do you want the context for those scenes?”

“There’s story as well?” Emma said, open-mouthed.

“Usually,” Johanna said, slowly.

Excitedly, Emma ran towards the TV. With mixed feelings about the loss of the distraction, Johanna returned to her e-mails; she was at least gratified to see payment had come through for last night’s case anyway.

The day went by surprisingly quickly, with all the preparation work. She heard the TV playing from another room, broken up by the occasional shocked gasp or laugh, and got a few potential cases in her inbox.

She tried to not rush into things quite so much these days. Preparation was important; there was one seeming-legitimate minor exorcism needed, but it could wait a day so she instead went back to sources and double-and-triple checked that she knew every detail of the rite.

No mistakes. She kept to the maxim, even if she felt less of the cold drive, not after a night without that nightmare. No repeats.

Still, she’d consider the day a success. Emma seemed to have mostly settled in, and she had a plan enough to hope Emma could handle a few hours without her tomorrow. That just left…

Johanna finally shut down her tablet, and went out to the next room. Emma was still curled up on the sofa, lounging a little more openly.

“Okay, I’m about to nod off,” Johanna said. “Still no idea what you do, but keep it down, okay?”

“Okay. Um. Sleep well?” Emma said.

“Here’s hoping,” Johanna said. “You good?”

“I think so,” Emma said. She wriggled. “It’s weird, being out here, not constantly being summoned to be someone’s dream. It’s been like that ever since Lord Morpheus made me.”

“How long ago was that?” Johanna said.

“I don’t know. How long have humans been having dreams about turning up somewhere naked?” Emma said.

Johanna whistled appreciatively. Emma squirmed.

“Do I want to ask what the Lord of Dreams when he decided to invent that?” Johanna said. “Serious question.”

“I don’t know,” Emma said. She blushed. “Um. I think he was drunk.”

“Explains a few things,” Johanna said. She tilted her head. “Endless can get drunk?”

“Odin was visiting his castle, I remember,” Emma said.

“Ah, Norse pantheon, I get you,” Johanna said. “If anyone could do it, I suppose.”

She hesitated in the doorway for a moment. Well that was an answer to a question she’d never had.

“Well, er, night I guess,” Johanna said.

“Night!” Emma said.

She was more cheerful anyway, even if she did unconsciously keep her arms crossed.

Johanna hesitated in the doorway for a moment, then shrugged; it felt weird, but then a fair bit of this arrangement was odd. Still, so long as it worked.

An evening routine later, and she made her way to bed, half-pondering. She wasn’t as tired as usual, not after having a decent night, and it was an odd experience to be looking forward to bed rather than dreading it. Still, she felt tired enough to manage.

She’d made it through one night, she told herself. What was the worst that could happen in a dream?