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Despite being utterly exhausted Euri could tell this entire situation was awkward. But, unfortunately, three nights of almost no sleep was drowning out her common sense, and it had no intention of stopping until she got a decent amount of rest. It was what had pushed her to climb out of bed, make her way up the stairs to the nearly empty fourth floor in her polka-dotted nightgown, and stop in front of Robin's room. She had resisted it in the beginning, of course, because she was stubborn. She didn't need anyone's help falling asleep, even Dog's. It was just a simple process that her stupid body would eventually pick up on; in addition, it would also realize that all those nightmares about ghosts and possessions and undead things weren't helping, and would cut them out.

It was three in the morning after three nights of sleeplessness when she finally gave up. She was so tired that embarrassment barely even crossed her mind. She simply stared down at the doorknob until her brain processed the fact that it was most likely locked, then continued along a rational path of unlocking it via hex. A few songlike words tumbled from her lips (not normally necessary, but she wasn't in the clearest state of mind), and she heard a tiny click that signaled the door was now hexed and completely unlockable until the spell was reversed. Knocking never occurred to her.

Euri stepped into the room. Even though it was dark just knowing the presence of all that scrawled writing on the walls made her shiver, and she was quick to dart on her toes to Robin's bed and crawl under the covers.

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Robin doesn't sleep much himself (if the writing on his wall is any indication). He sometimes lies awake for hours at a time, scribbling numbly on the wall, as if instructing himself to "go to sleep go to sleep go to sleep" will actually make it happen. He hates that he has to sleep. He hates that he's so exhausted all the time, mentally more than physically. He hates that when he tries, he's visited by nightmares and ghosts and things that will not let him rest for long.

But every once in a while, he does sleep. Very rarely, he passes straight through his dreams and into a world of blissful unfeelingness. He passes out, practically unconscious, and sleeps for hours and hours at a time. It's nearly impossible to wake him up when he's like that, which is why Euri's crawling into bed barely makes him budge. He's out like a light.

Sometime after she settles down, he wraps his arm around her and pulls her a little closer to him--probably a habit, might as well be engrained in muscle memory. He always sleeps better when there's someone with him. Maybe it's the conduit of energy, maybe it's something more subtle. But she's warm, and that's all he needs to fall back into a deep level of unawareness.

Whether Robin would be awake, or angry, or even in his room had never entered into Euri's mind at all. She had just been trained on the bed and avoiding looking at the walls, and once she was in his bed her main priority was sleep. So she was startled when she felt his arm, a brief moment of rationality bursting into her head - Robin is awake and this was a bad idea - but when he didn't speak she calmed down and rolled over.

Oh. Well, this wasn't so bad, then. Like all the times she crawled into bed with her mother when she was a child, or when she could manage falling asleep while keeping Dog a large size. The runes of her contract were already warming the blankets up and relaxing her further, so she just closed her eyes and snuggled closer and sighed and started mumbling.

"U el orepci dy mdyb nefurk rukndlehim epyod Etic piurk bymmimmit pa knymdm. U dnurg ud zem piseomi yw dni syrfihmeduyr zi net zudn nul, ert dni sohmi yr num pyta, ert num rishylersa epucuduim. Ortiet shiedohim ert ebbehuduyrm nefi eczeam msehit li, pod dnimi zihi zyhmi dner vomd ryhlec rukndlehim. U dnurg ud um piseomi ayo luknd pi huknd, dned ni um bymmimmit.

My... myhha."

The apology trailed off as she fell asleep.

((Trans: I keep having nightmares about Adel being possessed. I think it was because of the conversation we had with him, and the curse, and his necromancy. The undead and ghosts have always scared me, but these were worse than normal nightmares. I think it is because you might be right, that he is possessed.

So... sorry.))

He thinks he hears music. He can't understand the words. They're like Michael's words, but not from Michael at all. They're in a different shape, drifting and fading in and out of his few shallow dreams.

Robin's eventually stirred to consciousness again by light stretching across his face, leaking in through his ever-open window. He reaches for that first, fingers stretching and curling ineffectually over his cheek at the source of the warmth. When his sense of place and time start to kick in, he moves to roll over--only to realize, with a shock, that there was someone on top of his other arm.

His immediate terror (an extreme confusion, really) is dulled a second later when he recognizes her hair. Euri, laying next to him--she must have sneaked in sometime during the night, unless the magic of this place is playing a trick on the both of them. Those seem to be the only explanations.

Part of him wants to throw her off. The sudden closeness is uncomfortable and unexpected and (he thought he said she had no reason to be in here) he isn't sure what else to do. But the other part of him, the part winning out, urges him to remain where he is. It's not an... entirely unpleasant surprise. And besides, she's irritable enough when she's awake and rested. He doesn't really want to see what she's like when she's suddenly jolted out of sleep.

So he sinks back down into his pillow, waiting and trying to figure out what to do.

It's another hour or two before Euri stirs from her deep, much-needed slumber. With no more nightmares and no dreams at all she ends up sleeping far later than normal - another hour or so after Robin has woken up.

With a yawn Euri stretches her legs out, very intent on just lazing about in that comfortably hazy bleariness that clouds one's mind upon waking up. That is, until she remembers where she is a split second later. The thought jolts her into consciousness, and she freezes, cracking her eyes open a fraction.

".... Um."

By that time, Robin had settled into drifting in-and-out of a half-sleep. The shirt and the noise is plenty to shake him out of it, though, and the first thing he does is pull his arm out from under her. He flexes his hand, urging the circulation through his fingers.

"...Morning." he says with as wry a smirk as he can manage, given these bizarre circumstances, "It's concerning how your not knocking seems to be turning into a habit."

He isn't embarrassed. These sort of things don't get to him like that. If anything, he seems a little annoyed, unhappy with the fact that he's got to deal with this a second time.

Euri scoots back immediately, putting more room between them as if somehow that would make things less uncomfortable. It didn't, but it was worth the effort.

"I was half-asleep!" she snaps back, curling her legs close to her body and pulling the covers up to her face to give her something to hide behind. "I was -" Desperate would be the most appropriate word, but there's no way she's saying that to him, " - I wasn't thinking straight...!"

Which was entirely true! She wasn't sure about a lot of the other residents here but witches, even half-witches, still needed regular amounts of sleep to function. It was even more important for summoners.

".... Sorry......"

"Ah, I see."

He rolls onto his back, happy to let her hide under the covers. If it means she's doing less looking around the room, then all the more power to her. He can't be too angry at her this time, as long as its contained. As long as she's polite and apologetic (he's so relieved that she didn't decide to sneak in on a night where he's shed off his form; that's something he doesn't want to explain to anyone but Michael).

He breathes in, breathes out. Something of a sigh.

"So what was your not-straight thinking, then?" What's her reasoning (or lack thereof) for crawling in bed with the guy who scribbles all over his room with his own blood? He wouldn't have expected himself to be her first choice. "Why aren't you all curled up with Adel?"

Euri just groans at the mention of Adel. She's still kind of mad at him for being so insensitive, and there's the fact that they haven't really talked about that night with the tequila, and she has no idea where exactly she stands with him right now....

She yanks the covers over her head. Of course, none of those were the reason she didn't go hunker down in Adel's room for the night. Those explanations would have been reasonable. "Shut up. It's embarrassing," she's mumbling, muffled by the blankets.

Well, that was more or less to be expected. He waits for a moment or two, either to let her stew or to make up his own mind about something. Then he reaches over to lightly pat the lump in the covers where he's pretty sure her head is.

"I would have presumed that you consider my bed to be the greater of two evils," still smirking a little, "I'm a little flattered."

Either he has a warped and incorrect understanding of the situation (and he doubts that he does, being him), or something weird is going on. Something worse than him? He still wants his explanation, even if Euri isn't exactly willing.

"But I'm going to keep asking until you give me an answer. What's the problem?"

Oh, great. He would just laugh at her for being childish. This was so stupid, anyway. Nightmares were things little kids had, not adults who were supposed to be self-sufficient and independent and all that other grown up crap. She should have been over them a long time ago.

Still, talking them out had usually helped when she was younger.

Euri takes a deep breath, not moving from underneath the blankets. At least this way she wouldn't be able to see him if he did laugh. "... A nightmare."

She pauses, then corrects herself. "A lot of nightmares. Over the past few nights. I haven't been getting any sleep...."

"What kind of nightmares?"

It's the first thing out of his mouth--a little smug sounding still, yes, but not cruel or belittling it any. Though he's no reader of stars, he has a lot of belief that dreams are important. They mean something, even if that something isn't much.

And he's been plagued with them for a very long time; he has no right to laugh. If anything, he's a little surprised someone like Euri would have them bad enough to not sleep (she's not like him, after all).

".........."

That was a much better reaction than she was expecting. Euri pulls down the blankets just enough to peer at him with scrutiny, to make sure he isn't being patronizing or planning on having this lead up to some smarmy insult.

When she is satisfied that doesn't seem to be the case, she responds. "... About ghosts possessing Adel. I know it's stupid! But they felt real!"

Robin hums, affirming. That explains why she's here, he supposes.

"That really has you worried, huh?"

He turns his head to look up at his own ceiling; at the deep marks he's carved into it during his month or so of self-prompted imprisonment (for the most part). He can recall Euri saying something about not liking ghosts, too. The whole thing was starting to add up a little better.

"A little, I guess."

She's not exactly willing to admit it worries her a lot, and that she doesn't even want Robin to be right about the whole possession thing, but those dreams clearly mean something. She's still watching him, though, to make sure he isn't going to start teasing her about how ridiculous this whole thing is.

Of course, that's when she notices he isn't wearing a shirt.

.... Euri tries very hard to keep her mind on topic, but it's now wandering to other things as her cheeks darken and she shifts back a little bit more. "I - it's not a big deal! I'll get over them! It's not like nightmares are permanent things - at least, they've never been permanent for me. I don't really know anything about the study of them, but I'm pretty sure mine are just stupid temporary things!"

Oh, he notices. There's no way he couldn't, with her face turning all red like that. Nightmares--he can show a measure of respect for those. Euri's perversion, however... that's just asking for it.

"I know," he remarks offhandedly, smirking even wider, "There's a lot to take in."

And the he laughs that quiet, off-kilter laugh of his. He likes that she's normal in that respect, at least. He turns his head again to regard her properly, sinking back into something closer to earlier.

"I'm sure you're right. These things usually pass in time."

Euri really really wants to punch him right now. But, she supposes, since she is intruding on his personal space and all she can at least try to be civil and avoid physical violence. Robin would probably appreciate that.

"Right..." she mumbles, turning a darker shade of red as she tries to figure out some kind of fallback. Her mind isn't coming up with much though, aside from yelling at him. "... And be quiet! It's just - weird - since you're as pale as me! And you, you know, usually wear shirts so it's not normally as obvious!"

"Mm, right. That's absolutely it." He might deserve a punch at this point, his voice dripping with sarcasm. Then again, maybe that's what she gets for picking his room. "You don't have to be embarrassed or anything."

Easier said than done, he's sure. "But I suppose if it bothers you that much, it wouldn't be hard to find a shirt." Which is really a trick in itself--will she say yes, or come up with an 'oh, no, it's not a problem' excuse for him to stay where he is?

"........" Oh, that jerk. One hand gripping the covers twitches with the urge to smack him, but once again she holds back. Now he's just being difficult.

"I - I don't care! This is your room, do whatever's comfortable!" is her answer, though inwardly she can't help berating herself. That? That is the best she could come up with? A full-blooded witch would be running manipulative, teasing circles around Robin, and here she was floundering just to avoid saying something completely stupid. It was pathetic.

He smiles, then shoves the covers back down over her head.

"Comfortable would be laying next to you, I think." Honest, but more meant to tease her. He scoots out from under the sheets anyway (Euri managed to steal most of the proper covers while they were both asleep), sitting up against his wall instead. It's cold, and he can feel the lines where the wall has been gouged out against his back. He can count his vertebrae. It wakes him up.

Still, he rests his hands on his knees and leans over so that there is no real loss of space between the two of them. "I can see why you've gone and hogged the blankets, though. You're barely dressed yourself."

"H - hey!" she's snapping that and finally pushing herself up so she's sitting as well, though she is still keeping one hand firmly around the blankets for security. And despite being so flustered and agitated Euri's still ogling him a little. She has a much better view now, after all.

"Don't tease me, this is more than I usually wear!"

... Wait, that came out wrong.

"- I mean -"

Oh, great, a voice at the back of her head is muttering as she sputters and tries to backtrack, nice going, Euri.

Yeah, he laughs at her for that one. He ends up pressing his hand into his cheek, looking at her fondly. She really was too easy.

"All right, all right. You're doing most of that yourself, anyway." He considers that as good an agreement to drop the subject, and moves on to other things, "If you don't want to talk about that, let's talk about Adel instead."

He keeps bringing up Adel a lot around her--he can't help it, the two of them are obviously linked. Their stories are tied together in a way that he notices, but doesn't quite understand yet.

Euri sighs heavily. Alright, yeah, talking about Adel would be preferable. At the very least it would give her something else to focus on, even if this is kind of a strange time for a serious conversation.

"You don't... really think he's possessed by a ghost, do you?" She looks mildly uncomfortable at having to just say the word 'ghost'. "I mean, I know he has some kind of curse, so possession on top of that would be really serious...."

He settles into a more serious mindset. "What kind of curse is it? Do you know?"

His condition is both similar and foreign to what he's seen before, so he figures that gathering extra information couldn't hurt.

"No...!" That answer is coming far too quick for comfort, because for a witch it's plainly obvious. Of course she doesn't know what kind of curse it is, how can she when she's never even been able to even cast one?

"There's just - a lot of different kinds of curses out there. And the only symptoms I've seen of his are pain and black markings on his body. Those are pretty vague." Euri is sighing, twisting a white lock of hair around her finger. "There are ways to narrow it down, but that either requires talking to him or looking at what's in that flask of his."

"What flask?"

He doesn't waste any time in asking--he knows he won't be able to get any answers out of him in a civilized way. A flask, though--that's manageable.

"Ah, wait. It's that thing he keeps in his bag, right?" That thing he was clutching after Robin found him squirming around in agony? He guesses that could be a clue, sure.

Euri nods. "He always has it with him. It could just be water or alcohol, but he's never let me get a closer look. I'm willing to bet it has something to do with his curse."

Or his necromancy, but she wasn't going to mention that.

"Then I guess we'll have to get a hold of it and take a look."

He says this in a cheery, casual way--as if he were discussing dinner plans, not the implication of theft. Possibly breaking and entering. That sort of thing is really just an afternoon's work, and there's been a distinct lack of it since he's been here.

"Shouldn't be too hard."

"That's stealing, you know." Just in case it wasn't already absolutely clear. Robin seemed like the type to toe the morally grey line, anyway.

Not that she was about to dissuade him. Back home she had poked and prodded Adel about that flask, and even tried to steal it once or twice, but he guarded the damn thing with his life and never answered a single question. And because of that Euri's curiosity was spurred even further.

"How would you get it from him? And keep him from noticing its absence? I think I would need a few days...."

"I know." That's all he says on the matter. Morally grey is too orderly--he likes to think of it as morally improvising. If Vincent were here, he'd understand. To the rest of them, well... they're preventing a potential disaster, a death, or worse--a possession. That's fair grounds for a little theft. The lesser of two evils.

But a few days? That throws a wrench in an otherwise piece-of-cake plan. "What, you can't just look at a little of it?" he asks, craning his neck back. He wonders if he could do it. "My kingdom for a biochemical scientist."

He can't remember the last time he met one, actually. The Third World scientists barely qualified as scientists, let alone specialists. And no one here has really boasted about their abilities in this particular field...

The whole thing it'd have to be, then. "We can swap it with a replacement, a replica. As for how... I could probably just sneak into his room, right?"

"Biochemical...." Euri frowns, then shakes her head. She isn't sure what that was, but it definitely sounds like an insult. "It's not that easy! There could be all kinds of ingredients in that stuff!" An annoyed and slightly embarrassed expression is crossing her features. While it's true determining the components of potions and medicines isn't an easy thing to accomplish, she doesn't want to bring up the fact that if a witch like her mother was here they would only need a day, probably less. "I... might be able to work with a small glass worth, though...." she mumbled, indicating with her hands a shotglass-sized amount.

Fortunately, she at least wasn't going to be dealing with acquiring the flask. So if that got screwed up, at least it wasn't going to be on her. "He keeps it with him.... You'd have to do that while he's sleeping."

That expression... he knows he's making her more and more embarrassed. It's all in good fun, at least in his mind, and he hopes she won't hold it against him for too long. It prompts him to reach out and brush some of her hair so that it lays flat against the side of her head (sleeping on it made it a little messy, after all).

"Easy." Nodding, he goes for a compromise, "I'll try getting just that much first." That seems the safest, in case Adel should actually need that stuff for something. "And then if you need more, I'll just swap them properly. I don't think he'd ever notice either way."

Euri is looking more embarrassed at the touch, but it’s at least the ‘oh-god-an-attractive-shirtless-guy-is-touching-me’ kind of embarrassment instead of worthlessness.

“… Okay,” she’s replying in a mumble, swallowing thickly. “But be prepared to steal the entire thing. I’m not… really good at this kind of magic. At all.” She is, in fact, expecting to screw up horribly with the first sample, due to previous experiences.

"This will be good practice, then."

He doesn't seem too phased by Euri's doubt in her own abilities. Right now, he's focused more on the chance at a challenge. It sounds like it'll be fun.

"Tonight, then," he settles, taking his hand back, settling up against the wall once more.

"Alright." Better to get it over with sooner than later.

Euri begins to move to the edge of the bed, though after a second she hesitates and abruptly leans over to lightly kiss Robin's cheek.

"... Thanks for not throwing me out," she's saying quickly, before she scoots back to the edge of the bed and stands.

Robin wasn't expecting that. He looks back at her, a little dumbstruck with surprise, hand moving halfway up to his face before he becomes acutely aware of his own movement again. The hand drops back down towards the bed.

"Just--just don't make this a habit," he says, the only comeback he could think of. His smile is poorly hidden, threatening to break through the cracks of an otherwise relaxed and collected composure.

Finch used to do that. It's all he can really get through his mind. Finch used to do that.

"I'll try to remember that," she's replying as she smooths her nightgown down and heads for the door. It's hard not to look at the walls now that's she's up, and the door isn't any better - it looks like there's dried blood on the back of it.

Fortunately, it doesn't bother as much as it normally would because she's amused she managed to ruffle him, even if it was just a tiny bit. She isn't hanging around though, and she'll only pause briefly outside his door to fix the unlocking hex she placed on it earlier.

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