Psych journal

Roo took a sip of her smoothie and leaned back from the table to look over her work so far. The sketch for last night's dream was nearly finished: yet another view of her room, framed as if she were huddled beneath the window. The floor was at an extreme tilt, gravity pulling everything towards the door where the glowing eyes of her father waited. Her hand was clutching one of the legs of the bedframe, and under the bed, tinged with shadow, was the head and shoulders of something akin to a monster. Dark grey skin, spines protruding from his cheekbones like thorns, eyes watching her intently.

Roo tipped her head and started to add more purple and green to the shading of the observer under the bed. She was in the art room during lunch break, partly because it was much quieter in here, but mostly because she wasn't allowed to have keep pencil sharpeners in her room and she knew she would want to use her Prismacolors for this entry in her sketchbook.

Abs had been looking around in the lunchroom for Roo but didn't see her around. He knew that she had a fondness for the gym and work out areas but she wasn't there either. So now he was just wandering through the school. Man, this was grossly familiar to mindlessly ambling around in other people's dreams. He leaned against a wall and grumbled, "How hard can it be to find a cute freckled Asian girl with a fondness for oversized hoodies."

He finally had given up and flipped his phone open. He composed a text to the contact 'Roo-kins'.

'Hey, where are you hiding, Roo-kins?? I'm bored and demand entertainment!'

Roo flinched when her phone started bouncing around on the tabletop, growling "ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthu--" before she managed to snatch it up and flip it open. She opened the text and grinned.

"I'm in the art room, workin on the dream journal for Bolin. I has a smoothie."

He grumbled when his phone began to vibrate so vigorously that he almost dropped it while it played some annoying song that sounded like early 2000's kpop. He managed to get his phone unlocked at last and nodded as he read it.

He swiftly made his way to the art room. He peered in first to make sure she was still there. He messed with his hair for a moment and pulled his plumb colored v-neck t-shirt into place before walking in on silent feet. He smirked and playfully grabbed her shoulders meaning to surprise her. "Hey! Roo, found ya." He chuckled before his eyes fell on her drawing.

Wait. He knew that room. His eyes instantly darted to under the bed, his normal hiding spot in her dream. So she did see him last night. He managed to keep a look of panic off his face "I thought you said you were working on your dream journal."

Roo, who was in the process of taking another sip of her smoothie, turned her head to smile up at Abaddon when he grabbed her shoulders. She blinked, suddenly struck by a driving urge to ruffle his hair, and her smile widened.

She looked down at the page and shrugged. "I am. I'm doing drawings instead of written entries because it meshes better with how my brain works." She tapped her fingers on Abaddon's knuckles. "Whatcha think?"

It took so much of his focus to make sure he kept his face expressions in check. He allowed his brow to furrow as he leaned closer, looking like he was inspecting the room he already knew so well. "It looks kind of scary. Well done just unsettling."

He pointed to the door with the glowing eyes. "What is that?" Maybe he would get confirmation on who the man was that she was so terrified of. He moved his arms to wrap around her collarbones like he's gently hugging her from behind. His chin resting atop her head.

Roo set her smoothie back on the tabletop and found herself unconsciously leaning back against Abaddon. "That's my dad." She quirked her lips to one side. "Usually he's just, like, a shadowy version of himself. But he's been weird in m' dreams lately. Last night he had broken glass for knuckles, instead of th' bottles he usually carries."

"And then there's this guy." She tapped the monster under the bed. "He's been watchin' for a while now. I'm not really scared of him, but I don't understand why he's there. I remember havin' a monster in the closet when I was little, but once my dad got aggressive I stopped bein' afraid of things in the dark."

So he was her dad. He half flinched when she referenced what he knew was himself in her picture. "Huh?" He tried to pull it off as a surprise. He squinted his eyes pretending to look closer. "Oh, I didn't see that there at first. I wonder why it's there then."

He had to take a second to double check himself. everything was okay. She probably didn't know it was him. She hadn't drawn most of the face and dream him and human him did look pretty different. He just hoped it would be different enough. "I wonder what caused him to show up? Was he there before you moved here?"

Roo made a tiny, disgruntled kitten noise. "The first time I actually saw him was this past weekend. But he definitely wasn't there before..." She blinked. "Before I, uh, got here. My dreams started getting weirder on my first few nights in the dorm, though, and I'm startin' to think that he's got something to do with it. He just... watches."

She rested her hands on his forearms when he flinched. She figured he just hadn't noticed the figure.

Wait! Why was he helping her! Shitshitshitshit!!

"He sounds like a creeper," he grumbled. "Maybe it's just your brain doing something with being in a new environment?"

He shrugged and moved to sit next to her. He placed his elbows on the table and supported his face with one of his fists. "Did you finish that research paper for Bolin yet? I still have a page or two left."

"You're probably right." Roo couldn't help the slight pout in her lips when Abaddon pulled away. She sharpened an umber-colored pencil and started adding texture to the carpet in the picture.

"It's all written up. I finished it early this morning." She blew eraser shavings off of the page and held it out at arm's length to look it over again. There was something missing in the drawing, but she couldn't put her finger on what it was.

Then she looked from Abaddon to her sketchbook and back again. "Hey, hope this doesn't sound weird, but I'd really like to draw you at some point." She smirked. "I like your face."

He playfully rolled his eyes. "Of course you have it done early. Stop being so studious." He looked at her and noticed she was looking from him to the drawing. His jaw tightened a bit. Was she recognizing him?? What was she thinking?

He gave a half sigh when she brought up drawing him. Little did she know that he already had. He gave a shrug. "If you really want to, I won't mind." He chuckled and hefted himself onto the table. He sat cross legged, placed one hand on his hip and the other under his jaw. He looked slightly to the right. "Which side is my good side? Help me pick."

"If I weren't studious, I would fail every class." She made a scrunchy face at him. "I'm dyslexic. I have to try a little harder than usual."

She sat up straight and arched an eyebrow when he climbed onto the table. This expression immediately turned into a smirk. She cackled and punched his knee. "Get off the table, oppa."

He pouted at her, his lips pursing together. "How are you supposed to draw me if you can't get a good view? Do you not like my jaw anymore?"

He slowly slumped off the table and sat back down. He rested his head on her shoulder. He didn't want her to know about him. Not yet if ever really. So he would try to distract her from 'the monster under the bed' as much as possible.

Roo bit her lip and snickered. She quite liked Abaddon's jaw, as a matter of fact, but he moved before she could say so. She scratched beneath his chin when he rested his head on her shoulder, as if he were a pet.

"I can draw you without making you pose." She looked over the page in her book one last time, then turned to the previous drawing. The monster was in the corner then. In the one before that he was peering in the window.

"Mm. He's got nice cheekbones." She absentmindedly ran her nails through his hair. "Like yours. Regal, even." She smirked.

He smiled and made a happy hum when she decided to scratch his chin. He shifted closer to her so he could see her sketch book with more ease. How was she always able to see him? He'd have to be more careful from now on.

He grumbled. "I'm not sure how I feel about you comparing me to a weird creature that's haunting your nightmares." He looked at her. "Hey, if you don't mind me asking, what happened with you and your dad? He seems to be in all of these too."

"Eh, if it helps at all, I think you're at least a little more handsome than him."

Roo paused in the act of playing with his hair, letting the dark strands fall between her fingers. She bit her lip and felt herself beginning to flush.

"He..." She swallowed. "He, um..."

She blinked a few times and finally managed to string a few words together. "He hit me a lot. I'd rather not go to far into detail. Just a sad ex-cop with a temper and no one else to take it out on." She gave an involuntary shiver and on a reflex started rubbing her wrist through the bandana she wore.

He chuckled. "Thanks. I will take being more attractive than a nightmare monster as a complement."

He looked at her, his brow furrowed. He gently wrapped his arms around her in a soft hug. He rested his cheek against the side of her temple. "I'm sorry. I don't mean to pry. You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to."

He did enough of that in her dreams. Though it didn't exactly sit well with him for some reason that he might be making things worse for her. Maybe he would stop tweaking things and just watch from now on. Or at least until he could shake whatever this was.

He smiled and gently led her chin so she looked up at him. "Hey, why don't we go somewhere? Do something fun."

Roo didn't want to cling-- she really didn't. But comfort was what she needed, and when Abaddon hugged her she buried her face in the side of his neck. She made a muffled noise that was supposed to be "it's fine," but came out as more of a strained squeak.

She watched him for a long moment, then managed the shadow of a smile and nodded. "Wh-what should we do?" She blinked and realized that she had curled her fingers into the fabric of Abaddon's shirt, and grumbled as she unclenched her hands.

He gently ruffled her hair and shrugged. "I don't know. Anything. Whatever will make you happy and smile. We could go out to that cafe you wanted to, go hang out around town, creep out dumber kids, stargaze with snacks tonight?" He chuckled and poked her cheek. "Just tell me what you want and I will try to make it happen."

"Stargazing used to always make me feel better at home." Her smile turned legitimate when he poked her, and she caught his finger in her hand to keep him from doing it again. She reached up with her free hand to scratch beneath his chin again.

"But being out and about might help; go around and explore some of the shops in town." She watched him as she spoke, surprised that just seeing him there made her mood lift. "I'll buy you a treat for having to babysit me."

He grumbled and wiggled his fingers when she kept him from poking her again. But his grumble turned into a deep hum when she began to scratch under his chin.

"It's okay. I'm not babysitting, just cheering you up because I'm terrible and made things suck." He chuckled and stood up. "So we will go into town and then head up to the roof and stargaze when it gets dark enough. You know what that means? Lots of blankets and hot chocolate, just in case it gets cold." He smirked. "C'mon, let's put your stuff away."

He took one last look at 'the monster under the bed before closing her sketch book. "And we are definitely done with this for today."

"Why in the world would you think you're terrible?  My mood drops with no warning."  She watched him stand, a little disappointed that she could no longer reach to scratch under his chin more.  She really liked how he hummed.  And now she was blushing again, cheeks burning at the thought of curling up with blankets and hot chocolate and Abaddon.  

She felt certain he'd be able to hear her heart thumping in her chest when he leaned by her to close her sketchbook.  "I have to," she blinked and nodded when he said she was finished with her sketch.  "I have to put the pencil sharpener in the cabinet.  It's one of the numbered ones and I have to check my name off the list to show that I put it back."

His brow furrowed for a moment. He suspected that Dunehelded had it's thieves but to number and have a name book for pencil sharpeners? That seemed a bit excessive. Oh, well, just another weird thing about this school.

He shrugged. "Kay, seems good." He leaned against the table, waiting for her to finish what she was doing. He slumped his shoulders a bit, wondering how badly it would screw things up once she found out. Maybe she never would... Then why was he feeling so bad about it. It's not like he was doing anything wrong, right?

"H-hey, Roo," he looked at her, concern on his face. But he shifted it to a smile and he stretched his arms over his head. "Were you really serious about wanting to draw me?"

Roo ambled over to the cabinet, which she opened to place the sharpener in its empty slot. There was a strip of paper with signatures next to certain numbers-- Roo's name was listed several times, along with a handful of others.

She gathered up her pencils and zipped up the case she kept them in, all the while humming quietly to herself. When he spoke, she glanced at him through her hair. Her eyes crinkled a bit and she nodded. "Is that weird?"