It had been such a long day. Erik had gone and done some more shopping as well as helped do some stuff around the house for Cecily. He really liked it here. He liked Cecily even though she didn’t remember how to have feelings. It was alright though. Erik still liked her anyway. He knew, though, that he wouldn’t be able to stay here forever. He knew that he needed to start thinking about finding himself a real job so that he could look for a house.

He headed out into the backyard to let Cecily and Callie know that he was going to go take a nap. He was tired. He’d still not been sleeping well and hadn’t since that day Jayme had spelled him to sleep. He kissed Callie on the top of her head and headed back inside. He went upstairs to his room and kicked off his shoes.

He glanced out the window before heading over to the bed to lay down. It took a little bit for sleep to finally begin to creep over him. It was about fifteen or twenty minutes before sleep it finally came. Unfortunately, with the sleep came the nightmares. The never ending nightmares. This one was no different than any of the others. This one involves Verkur himself.

Charlie was dreaming, which was nothing new at all some part of Charles was always dreaming, it's what drove him insane you might say. George was doing something with that piano hw was restoring in Charles body....so charles was bored and in dream more deeply than usual, as he wasn't paying attention in the least little bit to his body.

He was wandering around dream itself with a little girl named Veronica. She ws dead, and stuck here. Charlie didn't have the heart to tell her she was dead. He'd been teaching how to manipulate dream no and again since he's met her a while back. When he'd found her she'd been palying hopscotch on the side of a building. He found that compelling, played for a time with her and had since made friends with her.

He was with her today, tonight, it was hard to tell time in dream, time being so fickle there. Charlie would make subtle shifts in the dreamscape and then Veronica would change them. It was a a game they often played. Veronica had just gotten done shifting them into night time from day time and from the country side to something very urban and gritty feeling. "We've run into someone's stuff." He remarked to the girl as he recognized the feeling he got when he slipped over the edge of someone's specific dream.

Veronica just let out a peircing shreik and pointed before winking out of this dream. Charlie curious looked where she pointed. Hmmmm a nightmare.....that was an impressive demon......He'd find Veronica later, this was weirdly interesting. He moved closer to see who or what the demon was toying with. This didn't feel like demon dream , or he'd have left. (Demon dreams are hard to get out of you know.)

A man was lying on a mattress in a corner of a nearly empty room. He had just woken up. There were candles of various colors, shapes and sizes all over the nearly empty room. There were shelves lined with books as well. In the middle of a room was a black velvet winged high backed chair. In that chair sat a demon. Not just any demon. Verkur. The demon of chaos. It appeared the demon was reading something.

The man appeared to have just woken and cleared his throat. The demon ignored the man for the time being and continued to turn the pages of the book he was reading. The top label of the page reads ‘God of Death’ in bold distinctive letters. The white eyes of the demon scan the page. Then slowly, without looking up, he pulls a ribbon from the book to mark his place, closes the book and holds it as he glances up.

The demon mockingly widens his eyes. “You’re up!” He chuckles low. “Come now Erik, did you really believe I would drop you?”

The man on the mattress had pulled himself into a sitting position. Upon seeing what the demon was reading, his eyes widened as he scrambled backwards on the mattress until his back was shoved in the very corner. He outwardly flinched sharply at hearing his name come from the mouth of the demon. “Yes,” he mustered out in a frightened whisper.

Charlie stood on the fringes of this barely substantial at all.....he's mostly dream fluff. This was just far to interesting to ignore. It was that pinhead Erik's nightmare, though thus far as it went it was rather dry. He piad attention to the demon wondering was this simply a dream or was it rooted in memory.

He continued to watch from where he was overlapping with a wall. (yes that's right he's standing in a wall to watch, his nose and lips poke out ever so slightly along with his shoes)

The dream suddenly changes almost as quickly as it had started...

At the moment, a mans form is lying on the bed in his 'bedroom' with a single candle lit near the bed and reading more of the large black book he had bought. It was all so confusing still to him. As he flipped through the book he ran across the pages regarding Verkur. He shuddered just reading the name. He hoped to never see that one ever again.

He got frustrated with reading and threw the book across the room. He still couldn't seem to put together his memories again nor could he figure out what had caused him to lose them in the first place. The only hint of an idea was the odd scar on the back of his neck.

He rolled over onto his stomach and held onto the pillow. Feelings of dispair and aloneness flooding him more and more with each passing day. He had no friends. None at all. Of course it was because he was so anti-social in the first place. "Fuck it all," he muttered to himself.

Picking the lock was a simple task, with claws like his, he could do just about anything he pleased. And he pleased to enter this little dump uninvited. The room smelled heavily of Erik, in fact, it smelled only of Erik. The demon lightly and soundlessly walked his way across the living room, or what might be a living room, folding his wings over his shoulders. This caused a gothic cloak sort of appearance.

Verkur wore his ever-present black clothing, a pair of black, shinny pleather pants and a ruffled, fourteenth century style black shirt. At the bedroom door he noted the phycic's back to him. A slow smile crept over his pale lips. He entered and lay one claw in the middle of Erik's back and ran it down the length of his spin.

"Good evening Andlagur." Husky voice.

Erik had been drifting in and out of his own thoughts in his desperate attempts to try to remember about himself. He was frustrated beyond belief. And pissed off. Pissed off that he couldn't even remember what had happened to cause him to not even know who he was. If it wouldn't have been for the ID in his bag he wouldn't have ever known even his name.

So deep in thought was he that he never heard a thing. Of course though considering who it was it's no wonder he wouldn't have heard anything. Suddenly something was touching him and running down his spine.

"What the fuck?!" He exclaimed as he quickly rolled away from whatever it was. His already pale face drained of any clue of color when he saw who it was. "How the fuck did you get into my house?!" Anger and fear mixed together was his tone of voice. But fear was all over his face.

He had been laying there in just a pair of black shorts and a black tank top. His usual sleepware. He grabbed one of his blankets. "What the fuck are you doing here?"

He cocked his head to the side slightly, his hair all falling to one side to create a curtian on the side of his grayish pale face. White eyes were full of amusement. He leaned over until his knees were on the mattress, He crawled up the mattress until he was next to his Erik. Yes, there was the possessive factor cropping up once again. Erik was now thought of as Verkur's property, he now has ownership of the overall Erik-ness.

Dutifully ignoring the questions and The Demon of Chaos smiled pleasantly, or as pleasantly as was possible with a mouth full of razor sharp teeth.

"And how is my moody little Andlagur this evening?" He watched for the man's reaction. Unlike Acid, Erik did have something to fear of this demon, though right now, Verkur was being completely 'pleasant'. Or in his opinion he was.

No control at all, the man was jumping around a bit, leading charlie to thnk these were memories, peole tend to access memories in dream much like shuffling cards and plucking random ones out. He sighed. Why the hell did the demon seem almost chummy with Erik though? Demons could be very capricious, but this was more than just impish mischeif.....was that a pet name the demon was using? And Charlie was letting Callie stay with this guy? He continued to watch hoping for more insight to be forthcoming. Tis dream afterall.....there is all the time in the world.

Erik stood there against the wall looking at Verkur. The look in his eyes was that similar to a deer caught in headlights. But yet there was anger there too. He didn't appreciate in the least this...demon...entering his home without his permission or anything. And how dare he call Erik his.

"Yours? Yours? I belong to myself!"

Erik hadn't forgotten his first meeting with Verkur but right now he didn't care. His space was being invaded and he wasn't going to hide that he was pissed off. His voice was angry but yet trembled a bit with the fear he was trying desperately to hide but not succeeding.

Erik glanced in the direction of his bedroom door to judge how far the distance was. There was no way in hell he wanted to stay here. Of course he probably wouldn't get very far cause he had no shoes on. He could scream right now but no one would really hear him since this shack was so far back in the 'projects' and people screaming was usually a normal thing around here.

"Why so angry, Andlagur?"

The demon of chaos stood and allowed his wings to relax, unfolding from the cloak appearance. He eyed the door silently. You can run but you can't hide....or get very far. The demon had wings. This should be obvious to his Erik.

Fuck! Erik had forgotten about the demons wings. He knew there wasn't a cold chance in hell that he'd be able to get away. Fuck fuck fuck! He didn't like the feeling of a trapped animal.

"Gee. I fuckin wonder. Maybe because you are here. Maybe because you broke into my house. That's really fuckin rude you know."

Just get the hell out of my house his mind wanted him to scream out. He toyed with the thought for a few moments and decided against it.

"What do you want?"

Dammit who gives a shit what he wants. Just make him go away!

Verkur actually managed to train his face to look hurt. Then the face slid and he was not smiling. It isn't good. In fact, his face looks like that of a man whose just caught his kid having sex.

"And tell me, my Psychic, why is it so rude?"

He didn't really wait for an answer. He ventured to the door way, stayed there for a moment, and then walked out into the pitiful living room. His eyes roam around the room for a moment, his clawed hands on his hips. He ignored the question yet again.

It was truly amazing that Verkur had yet to loose his temper yet. The demon returned to the bedroom door way, eyes fixed on Eric, waiting for his answer.

He was obviously the one asking the questions right now.

Erik ignored the look on Verkur's face. He didn't give a shit. "You don't just fucking go walking into someone's home. For someone who knows so much right now you sure have me fooled." That was Erik's way of calling him an idiot.

"Where the hell do you think you're going? I didn't fucking say you could walk around in my house!" Erik was shouting from the corner he'd managed to back himself into. He had actually been considering going out the bedroom window while Verkur was in the other room. But then he remembered all the crap that was on the ground back there.

Erik was getting even more irritated with the lack of answers from Verkur. Why should he have to be the one to answer questions in his own home? Dammit just make him go away! Oh right. He's bigger and meaner than Erik. Yeah right. I'm just gonna pick him up by the seat of his pants and toss him right out the door.

Erik's eyes turned towards the doorway as Verkur appeared again. "What do you fuckin want? And don't answer by giving me another damn question either."

Indeed a series of memories, conected to the demon, who had a claim on Erik. Charlie wasn't sure why a demon would want Erik, but he didn't really care either. In an almost mist like form he walked through the house. Charlie would have to describe it as a shit filled hovel really. He continues to observe the chain of events as it unfolds. Did Erik own this place or rent it......dear gods he hoped it wasn't a rental, it would be criminal to rent a place in this condition, even to Erik....

He listened to Erik lecture the demon on manners....this wasn't going well for Erik....Charlie finds it slightly amusing.

Verkur ignored that last bit entirely. He leaned against the door frame, his wings folding in slightly, Verkur crosses his arms over his chest loosely, claws on one hand pressed against the wood of the door frame. Second question comes first.

Erik watched Verkur lean against the door frame. His door frame. The door frame in his house leading in and out of his room.

"You."

One word. And probably the most likely to either piss off the human or to frighten him...or perhaps both. He'd also noted Erik failed to object to being called his psychic. The first part to breaking down his resistance.

Erik was stumped at that one word. What the hell is he getting at? Confusion crossed Erik's face. "What? You've got to be fucking kidding me right? Sorry to burst your little bubble there but I'm not up for taking. Thanks anyway."

Well, that certainly did surprise Verkur. He hadn't expected Erik to retaliate in that way. Say no, yeah, but he'd stepped over the line into pure idiocy. And this did not, surprisingly, anger Verkur. In fact, it did quite the opposite. It amused him.

Eric wanted him to go away so bad, yet, by surprising Verkur he'd only recaptured his fading interest. Which made a faint smile appear on the demons pale lips.

Now the second question.

"Who," that word was stressed, as if asking for clarification to who 'you' was, "doesn't walking to someone's home?"

This obviously means that Verkur can and will walk into any home he pleases.

Erik's gaze at the demon turned into a glare. "Hello. Is anyone home upstairs in your head? You do not just walk into my house! Is any of this sinking into your thick head?"

Smooth move Erik. You're turning into the dumbass of the century.

Now that made Verkur throw his head back and laugh that haunted, morbid laugh that belonged in an asylum. He stopped laughing and looked back to Eric.

"I, my sweet Andlagur, can do whatever I please."

He walked towards Eric, wings unfolding, lessening the area in the room. Lessening the only real escape route.

Erik stood there no longer leaning against the wall glaring hatefully at Verkur. The tad bit of color that Erik normally had was beginning to return to his face due to his anger. His gut felt like it was twisting inside as he watched the faint smile come onto the demons face.

Well so much for color on Erik's face. He's once again white as a sheet as Verkur's laughter filled the room. He didn't know what scared him more...the sudden laughter or the sudden stopping of it as Verkur returned his gaze upon Erik. Oh how he was wishing he could just blend in with the wall behind him.

"Blah. I'm not yours. And for the last fucking time my name is Erik. ERIK!"

Although his anger was coming and going that fearful look in his eyes grew more and more as Verkur began to walk towards Erik. His heart began pounding harder as the demon's wings unfolded and made it near impossible for Erik to figure out a way out and away.

"Get out of my house," he choked out in a whisper in one last attempt to make Verkur go away.

Verkur's clawed hand reached out, on a direct path towards Erik's throat, then, just before reaching him, his hand changed course, long granite claws grazing the mortal's throat, though it left no scratch. He plants his hand on the wall behind Erik. His wings begin to fold in around him, gathering Erik in as well. The tough leather created a dark wall around them.

Erik flinched sharply as he saw that awful clawed hand coming towards his throat. Oh fuck oh fuck oh fuck his mind screamed. He sucked in his breath sharply and held it as he felt Verkur's claws graze his throat. He didn't feel any pain so he assumed there was no wounds left behind. His eyes grew frantic with panic as he felt Verkur's wings closing around him and forcing him to be closer to Verkur than he cared to be.

Verkur is such a dramatic. It's almost sad. The other hand reaches up and hold's Erik's chin firmly, making him look up at his glowing white eyes. He speaks in a lower tone, his breath hot on his mortal's face. Verkur's breath smells of absolutely nothing, no toothpaste or breath mint, no stench, no food. It's nothing.

Erik had to force himself not to shake from the fear building up inside him. As soon as he felt Verkur's hand on his chin forcing his head up he squeezed his eyes shut. He didn't want to look at his face. He can't make me he kept telling himself over and over. He could feel the hot breath on his face and wanted so badly to pull away. But he didn't move. He couldn't move.

"We've established this already. Why must you be so tedious," He didn't yell. That might have been better then the dead calm voice he uses now. "I may call you whatever I please, I will do what ever I please," He leaned a little closer to whisper in his human's ear. "And I am not leaving and I am calling you Andlagur."

Verkur's horribly calm voice scared Erik more than if the demon had yelled in his face. He was actually wishing that the demon would just yell instead of talking so damn calm. Am I breathing? Erik was indeed holding his breath. He was starting to feel light headed. He opened his mouth slightly to release his breath and it came out as a very soft "no."

Ick, a decidely icky situation, a demon claiming Erik, who Callie was staying with. Not good, Charlie would have to try to fix that. Time to go digging through those books of Mr. Jenkin's some time, the ones in the locked trunk.

At any rate Charlie had seen nearly enough, just a little more, he needed to know the demon's name in order to do anything. It was obviosly not a minor demon....still the name, he would need the name. He continued to observe and wondered how theother man had lived like this.....oh wait he hadn't wanted to live, obviously he didn't care. At least he'd gotten out of this place. Charlie kept watching.

"No?"

Verkur smiled, a slow, creeping smile. Razor teeth, but outside of that fairly hansom. His hair had draped to one side again, long and silk like. He did not remove his clawed hand from Erik's jaw, nor did he tighten his grip. That dead calm composure remained summoned around Verkur, it seemed to be cool around them. His leather wings, like his skin, were the opposite of his breath. They were cool, and in return, they kept the cool air surrounding them just as it was.

"Go here," he removed his hand from the wall and tapped his own forehead. "Let's see what the last things that didn't cooperate with me look like now." Plural. Not just one but many. Indeed, Verkur's last true slaughter had been a massacar of an entire squad.

He wondered if his human, his Erik, his Andlagur really would suck up enough courage, or stupidity, to venture into his mind this time. Last time, Verkur had been out to embarrass him...and show him how to possibly use his power. This time, he was set on fear and gore. And gore just might be an understatement to that blood bath.

"And then you can see what happened to the last to cooperate."

Ah yes, Acid. Sweet, timid, self-hating, mind occupied by more then just himself little Acid. He'd learned much quicker, and the easier way, that it was better to just nod and agree. Verkur pictured him sitting in that cozy apartment with that little girl friend of his sipping tea and talking about their day. Disgusting really.

Erik's eyes were still squeezed tightly shut. He tended to do that when he was horribly frightened and didn't want the one scared the hell out of him to see just how badly. Nope. No way. He's not opening those eyes.

And even though his eyes were closed he knew what Verkur was talking about. The demon wanted Erik to go into his thoughts to see what ever it was that Verkur wanted him to see. He tried to shake his head but remembered that his chin was being held by the demon.

"P...please...d...don't...m...make...m...me," he whimpered out like a hurt puppy. He really did not want to go into the demon's thoughts. Not at all. He hated his 'gift' and hated even more to use it. Especially now.

Erik made himself to totally limp so that he was basically being held up by his chin that was in Verkur's hand. He still wasn't opening his eyes though. Because he went limp he was no longer able to stop his body from it's slight shaking from fear.

A limp noodle. That's what he was left with. At least he wasn't pissing himself again. Verkur held Erik there for only a little longer before allowing his wings to unfold, moving away from them, extending out to the sides almost all the way before he relaxed them on his back.

"I'm not making you." He replied. He pressed his body against Erik's to keep him from slumping to the floor while taking his hand off the mortal's chin.

"Why so...pitiful...Andlugar?"

He asked, his tone completely empty of the mock that was obviously there. He put clawed hands under Erik's arm pits and carried him to the bed where he too crawled onto the mattress and sat on the edge, once again perched like a bird.

Erik could feel the demon's wings moving away. He almost sighed in relief. But that was short lived as he felt Verkur press against him. He knew that it was so that he didn't fall to the floor but still. He did not like it one bit.

He felt Verkur's hands go under his arms and being moved. Then he felt himself on his bed again. He opened his eyes for a moment and scooted back against the wall and grabbed his pillow on his way. He held it tightly to himself as he brought his knees up.

"Why are you bothering me?" he asked in a whisper before he brought his face down to his pillow and began rocking back and forth. That was something he had done as a little kid after one of his mothers boyfriends had finished having their way with him. But he didn't remember any of that. He just sat there rocking himself.

"I'm not bothering you."

A matter of fact tone. As if to say, 'you should know this by now.'

"The next time I grace you with my presence uninvited, that will be bothering you. Mind you, my little psychic, you were the one who summoned me away from what I was doing for absolutely no reason."

That confused Erik a bit. He had been laying here on his bed minding his own business. He didn't summon anyone. In fact he had been getting ready to fall asleep. "I...I didn't. I...I was getting ready to go to sleep." Yes. Erik really is dense sometimes it seems.

"You summoned me in the woods. You disturbed my chaos."

Erik didn't understand what that had to do with him being here now. "What does that have to do with right now?"

The demon remained perched there on the edge of the bed, watching his human rock back and forth with amused eyes. He had some fucked since of humor. He reached out and almost in a fatherly way and at the same time almost a flirting way, and brushed claws through Erik's hair, no pain, just sharp tips grazing his scalp lightly.

Erik felt the demon's claws in his hair and he cringed. No not just merely cringing. He flinched and moved a bit to see if he could get Verkur's claws out of his hair. He shivered slightly. He continued to rock back and forth.

The demon seemed amused by the whole ordeal. And indeed he was.

"If you tried relaxing once in a while, Andlagur, then you wouldn't be so tense,"

Stating the obvious....the oh-so-obvious. And he continued to toy with his mortal's hair. There's the possessive, and it hasn't been denied for a while.

"I...I was relaxing. B...before...before you showed up." And indeed he had been. Even after having thrown his book across the room he had been relaxing.

Verkur did not take his claws out of Erik's hair. He continued to stroke Erik's hair just as he maintained that unhumanly calm voice. The demon's white eyes moved with Eric's body, watching him rock back and forth.

"What are you doing."

A demand, though so subtle that it would be hard to turn it down. Now the demon just seemed manipulative and dangerous, rather then frightening and dangerous.

Erik continued to keep his head down and rock himself. His arms tightened around his legs. "Trying to pretend you're not really here," he whispered so terribly quietly that he might as well have not said anything at all.

"Well I'm here."

Bat ears. Verkur just watched his human rocking himself around and felt like rolling his eyes. This one was ridiculous. But he wasn't going to give up. Not if he'd already begun to make him his. The question went unanswered, like so many of Erik's other questions.

The difference was that this time, the silence implied something. Something that greatly felt like "if you don't already know then you're hopeless and you'll never get it." He continued to comb his claws through Erik's hair.

"Just go to sleep, my human, you're almost of better use passed out then while you're awake."

A harsh comment, but of course, Verkur can make anything sound charming. Maybe that’s why he got completely unchaotic people to follow him. Why he wanted unchaotic followers? Not because he cared. He wanted the challenge that lay on the way to getting them to be his followers.

Erik reached his hand up suddenly and tried to bat at Verkur's hand to get him to stop touching him. He didn't like it and wanted him to just stop.

He was sitting straight, shoulders squared, his torso of his tall body faced the corner at a slight angle to Erik's body, almost completely sideways to him. His head was turned just slightly, so he was just looking out of the corner of his eyes at Eric.

"I'm not tired. I was before you showed up. I'm not your human," Erik muttered into the pillow.

"Not my problem." A flat empty tone that truly said he really didn't see it as his problem.

Erik looked up and glared at Verkur. "Yes it is. It's because of you that I'm not sleeping right now."

Erik kept silent at how easy it seemed to get the demon to not touch him hair. He was just glad to no longer have the demons claws in his hair.

The hand hitting at his own, he simply removed his hand from Eric's hair. Maybe just too easy. A soft smirk.

"How many times must we go over this before you finally get it, my Andlagur," he stressed the word 'my' this time. When he paused to wait for an answer.

”Fuck you."

Erik stopped rocking finally but stayed sitting as he was. Knees pulled completely up to his chest with his arms wrapped around them. He had looked up at Verkur with a glare long enough to say 'fuck you' before he moved to put his head back down on his knees.

A slow smirk crosses his lips.

"Gladly."

Erik's eyes widened in horror. A sharp horrified gasp came from his mouth. "N...no! Y...you...wouldn't! D...don't touch me!" Horrified whispering shouts.

He wanted to laugh when Eric panicked, but he did not.

"You told me to fuck you, I'm only saying I'm willing to oblige," his tone is a long drawl, nothing but sarcasm, though he's being serious. So very serious. "Now either go to sleep," his claws found his mortal's hair again. "Or fuck me, but for the Gods sakes, do something one or the other."

"No! I'm not doing one or the other!" Erik's voice had risen to an almost shout. The panic was still very much there in his voice.

As he felt those claws in his hair again he jerked away. "Stop touching me dammit," he said as he rose to his feet.

He looked at Verkur square in the eyes. He was glaring hatred out of his eyes. But that panicked look was still very much there as well.

He began striding towards his bedroom door at a hurried speed.

Verkur leapt up but didn't hurry to follow. He stood tall, he had to duck his head slightly to stand in the bedroom.

"You'll come back here, Erik."

First time he's used that name, and it was with such venom in his voice, if he wasn't used to speaking in such a way to terrify passer-bys on a regular basis, he might have frightened even himself.

His wings spread out slightly and his stance solid and seemingly ready to jump and attack Erik. In fact, that had been the way he'd stood when he'd been summoned, the second before he'd begun raging and thrashing around so dangerously in his clear barrier.

Still no name, and the demon was a memory, not really here enough for charlie to ask.....not that he'd be so bold to interupt at this point the demon seemed vexed. Erik did have some infuriating qualities. A few more minutes and if he had no name, he'd have to find out from Erik.....who had apparenlty been stupid enough to summon the demon and get himself into this mess.

Erik froze in his tracks upon hearing the demon speak his name. There was no color to Erik at this point and he felt his blood run cold suddenly. His mind was screaming at him to get the fuck out of there at all costs. But what was that cost? His life? He glanced down at the scars on his arms. To deep they were. It was painfully obvious that Erik had indeed had a death wish for himself before his memory was taken from him somehow.

As he stood there for a moment longer he let his head fall forward so that his chin was touching his chest. Slowly he turned around but didn't look up. He couldn't look up. He didn't want to look up.

Painfully slowly he forced himself to move forward towards Verkur. When he guessed that he was within arms distance of the demon he sank down to the floor in front of Verkur onto his knees. He leaned his head forward a bit more which caused his black shoulder length hair to fall from his neck. Under his hair was hidden the scar on his neck that he received the night he lost his memory. It was about 2 or 3 inches long and an inch thick. He didn't say a word as he knelt there on the ground in front of Verkur.

And he came back, and he sank to his knees. For a moment, Verkur had wondered if he'd encounter a human stupid enough to actually run. That would have become a mess all over his nice leather pants and then he would have been angry at the dead body. It wouldn't have been good.

He continued to look straight ahead as Erik sank to his knees in front of him. The human wasn't worthy to be looked at. But Verkur looked down anyways. His eyes were filled, still, with out rage. The glowing whites found the scar on the back of his neck. Verkur reached down and touched the scar with his granite claw. Then moved his claw and touched it with his thumb.

"I'd think you would be dead with a blow like this. Unless it isn't as deep as it looks." He reached down and grabbed a fist full of Erik's shirt and pulled him back to his bed. "What happened there."

Worded like a question. It was not a question.

Erik started thrashing his head back and forth in his sleep on his pillow. Sweat had already long formed and his hair was stuck to his face. His dream, again, took a change of events. This time, it wasn’t something that had happened. No. It was what Erik was terrified that would happen.

”Get out of my life you fucking piece of shit!” he screams at the demon while throwing stuff at Verkur.

“Testy testy aren’t we?” the demon taunts him.

“Fuck you bastard! Go to hell!”

The demon began advancing towards Erik with wings stretched outward. An angry expression on his face. Clawed hand reaches out and grabs Erik by the throat. Erik begins clawing at the hand wrapped around his throat, trying to get it to let go. But it’s not letting go. It’s tightening. Squeezing. Choking. Erik begins to scream....

Blah! Useless, nothing could be gained through clouds of terror at this point. Charlie could smell it's stink, it reaked of the nightmare plains themselves.

"Snap out of it! You're having a nightmare." He thought it at the man, and Charlie's thoughts are strong enough to twist dream, I'm sure he's quite loud in the other man's mind right now.

He's screaming... screaming... as he feels the clawed hand tightening... tightening... around his neck. He's choking. It's getting harder and harder to breathe...

What's this? Someone's talking to him. His eyes begin to dart around as he sinks to his knees with the clawed hand still around his throat. Eyes widen as they fall upon the ghostly form of the one who he knows can’t stand him.

“Charlie?” he sputters out as if it’s hard to breathe. Of course it’s hard to breathe. The clawed hand is still wrapped around his throat in his mind. “What... what are you doing here?”

"Now is hardly the time, you could really choke if this progresses. Can you stop it or should I?" he asks making himself tangible as he does.

He tries to shake his head but the clawed hand around his throat tightens even more. He gasps for breath.

Charlie takes a deep breath and makes everything vanish. The are standing now in field that looks as if it has just been tilled. In the distance swallows can be heard. It smells of earth and coming rain. The sky is grey, but pink on the horizon as lightening flashes.

Charlie lets the other man catch his breath.

His hands come flying up to touch his own neck as the squeezing feeling is suddenly gone. He very nearly falls entirely forward in the process but catches himself. He's still on his knees though. He blinks a few times before he finally stands up. He looks around slowly before letting his gaze fall back upon Charlie.

"How... what... what are you doing here?" He's still obviously quite confused.

"It's a dream, you don't think I'm going to struggle to stay awake to watch George fool with a piano do you? Oh wait, you may be that dumb, you wer stupid enough to summon that....monster.....Which particular demon of note is that anyway?" his tone isn't quite mocking.

”That doesn’t explain why you’re in my dream,” he says dumb-foundedly. A frown creeps onto his face. “Yes I was stupid and summoned a demon. Why do you want to know which demon that was?” Yes. Erik is suddenly feeling quite defensive.

"Your dream, well that was Veronica, I was teaching her to shift through dream, she spazed and left after getting us here, the demon scared her I suppose. I wanted to know what demon it was, I've seen a few wandering around, but not that one. Why would you summon a demon, I mean Really?" he asked drily, though he really did want to know.

When he'd been a tenager they'd terrified him. Wandering through the nightmare planes. for almost three years at one point though, has numbed Charlie to quite a few things. He still found it hard to figure what anyone would want from a demon. Power, meh demons don't give anything unless they gain something Charlie knows it from accidentally wandering into an occaisonal demon dream.

He listened in silence for a bit and then shrugged. “It had been an accident. I had just learned about magic and about what ‘powers’ I had. I didn’t mean to let it out entirely. It tricked me into doing so,” he answered. “I didn’t know what I was doing when I summoned it. I didn’t really realize that it was a demon. I thought it was all just a bunch of BS. The book I bought I mean.”

He fell silent for a few minutes as he gazed around at what Charlie had changed his dream into being. “It’s name is Verkur. It’s a Chaos demon.” He turned his gaze back towards Charlie. “And in case you’re wondering... Yes. I have told Callie about it.”

"Oh lovely, a chaos demon.....It's still bothering you isn't it. How do you plan on keeping something like that from messing with Callie nimrod? It will if it knows you care for her, which is beyond obvious. " Charlie says. He wonders why Erik is so stupid....Charlie's smarter than messing with summoning things and he hasn't even finished middle school (though George did educate him a good bit).

”I’ve not heard from it in a while. Not since the night I...” He stopped short. Just like that. “I’ve been trying to figure out how to get the damn thing out of my life for good.”

"Hahahaha, fat chance I doubt you have anything to trade with it for yourself, and if you did he would no doubt argue what's yours is his." Charlie commented. Still knowing the thing still pestered Erik made him very much want it away from the mand too, It might take an interest in Callie. Charlie simply wouldn't stand for that. He wasn't about to let Erik know though.

Erik frowned deeper. "You know... I really don't need this from you. Especially not in my own head. You told me to stay out of yours." He sighed and seemed to slump where he was standing.

"Look... I'm sorry. Alright? I'm sorry. I'm sorry for everything. I'm sorry for keeping you away from her that night. I'm sorry for pissing you off. I'm sorry for seemingly giving you more and more reasons to hate me." Whoa! Hold onto your hats folks. Erik is apologizing. Whether it does any good or not is another story. He does not, however, say he's sorry for loving Callie. Nor will he ever.

"What do you suggest I do to try to get it out of my life?"

"I haven't the foggiest. And I didn't come in here on purpose, though I should have left when I realized it was you. There must be something it would find more entertaining than you though, I mean seriosly. there must be people more fun to torment than you. Still being a chaos demon it's bound to be insanely fickle. " He comments.

The apology is noted but not commented on. So the other man had figured out why it bothered him, Charlie wondered if he'd had help. It wasn't worth pondering, he dropped it recognizing he was simply being bitter.

"Do you lose much sleep over that?" he asks. He knows how bad Callie's nightmares are he's been in them and knows they bother her nearly constantly, he wonders if Erik's do too? It might explain the suicidal tendancies, sleep deprivation slowly unhinged people.

Yes. Erik had help in figuring out what he'd done wrong. He wasn't going to admit it though. He wasn't going to admit that it took a complete stranger to point out what it was that he, himself, hadn't been able to see. That would just make him look even more like an idiot.

"He's very posessive. Insists that I, and the others that have to deal with him, belong to him and only him." Erik knew why the demon enjoyed tormenting him. Verkur was able to easily play his fucked up mind games with Erik. It hadn't helped that their first meeting, Erik had pissed his pants... not once but twice.

He shrugged slightly. "That and... other stuff," he admitted. Other stuff. Oh yes. All those childhood horrors that plagued his mind.

[I]You mean to tell me you can interject your thoughts, ease drop on other people mentally and you have nightmares you can't manipulate? If you allow the terrors to overwhelm you they will only continue to. Have you ever tried to exert your will here, even in the slightest? " he asks. (Charles sometimes takes forgranted just how much time he spends dreaming compared to everyone else.)

Again Erik's defenses go up. Way up. "Look man," he begins with a slightly irritated voice. "I'm still getting the grasp of being a telepathic empath. It wasn't all that long ago that I even learned that I was that. And even shorter than that before I really learned what it was."

"Even normal little children can learn to do it, as long as outside forces don't intervene. You should try it. Or at least learn to recognize your dreaming before you wake up....I trust you have learned to jerk yourself awake at least?" he asks.

He shrugged slightly. "If you want to call it that,," he answered. "I wake up sweaty and screaming."

"You get much sleep that way? I know Callie doesn't." he says softly.

He shakes his head and sinks down to sit on the ground. "No. I don't," he admits. Damn. Erik seems to be admitting quite a few things at the moment. Maybe it's because he knows he /can/ wake up at any time to get away from this.

"Do you intend to da nything about it?" Charlie asks.

"Do anything about it? You mean besides letting someone spell me to sleep?"

"Well that is one approach. I mean like attempting some level of control, I hope your life isn't like your dreams, you don't let it run you, do you? Dreams are no different, they only run you if you let them." he says softly.

Of coarse when you can't wake up from your dream to exscape you have to learn control....

Erik glares at Charlie for a moment. "No my life doesn't run me. I run my own life thank you very much."

"That is my point, why should your dreams be different, they're your dreams." Charlie says.