It's in the middle of the night and somewhere in the good end of town is a man. A sleeping man. He would appear on the outside to be sleeping quite peacefully. However, he's not sleeping as peacefully as one might think. No. Peaceful sleep doesn't come very often to this one. Nightmares plague his sleep almost constantly. Tonight isn't any different...

The scene is dark and gloomy. Dead looking trees surround the area. The sky is dark and black. No moon in sight. Not even a single star sparkling. Making for the night to appear even more dark and gloomy. At the base of one of those trees huddles a man. He's covering his head with his arms. There's splatters of blood on his once white shirt. His white pants are also covered with blood. If you look close enough, you'll see that there are whip marks that caused tears in the shirt. A cracking sound can be heard as a whip flies out of no where and continues to hit the cowering man. Where is the whip coming from? Who is holding onto the other end? It appears that there is no one there.

"Stop it," cries the man. "Just stop it... You're not real..." But it isn't stopping. The whip continues to crack through the air hitting the man over and over again.

And here comes the man in black. It's all he wears lately, definitely something about him has changed, hardened, it's hard to know what's going on with him. Insanity has always been a part of Charles, but cruelty is a new affectation.

"Aw how pitiful, a telepath who can't even master his own mind." He says in bitingly sarcastic tone. His footfalls make no noise here, he doesn't wish them to, and so they don't. Dreams are Charles Galloway's element afterall, he's more real here than he is when he's awake. Tendrils of fog move in around him, wafting about like smoke, yet not.

He knows that voice. One arm comes away from his face so that he can look around to see who's there.

"What do you want?" he asks as he narrows his eyes slightly at the sarcastic tone coming from the man in black. The whip continues coming out of no where and hitting him.

"Just passing through....." He replies. It's true, he wouldn't seek Erik out, perhaps if he were more twisted, but really he isn't that far gone yet. Still he shifts the scene with his mind. The reality around them wrenches for his manipulation is far from subtle. As things ease back into being from tight and blurred the scene is now daytime. Early morning at an empty train depot in a mountain village.

The only sound is that of birds in early morning song. The nearby grass glistens with dew. "You really need to get a grip on yourself you know." Charlie says. Gently he crouches down and helps the other man sit up. Though the potential for cruelty lies just beneath the surface, it is clear to see he was once not so bitter. His movements are careful and gentle, almost like one would treat a child.

The whip is crashing through the air towards the cowering man when it's suddenly not there. At all. It's gone and so is the dark and gloomy scene that had been there.

"Yes. I really do," he says in an almost defeated tone as Charlie helps him sit up. "I really don't need to end up back in that other place." He sighs and leans his head against the wall that's behind him instead of the gnarled old dead tree.

"Passing through, eh?" he asks. "How is it that you seem to always stumble upon my nightmares when things like that are going on?"

"Random variability, I should point out I sometimes have fifty dreams simultaneously. I sould never look for you." he says. While it's true it's only tue to a point, I'm sure commanded to do so the madman would obey.

"It's been a while, and you haven't kiled yourself....."more sarcasm here. "I conclude not wanting to go back refers to Royal Pines?" he asks. Charlie isn't one to beat around the bush.

"I didn't think that you'd actually go out of your way to look for me," he replied. "That would be uncharacteristic of you." A touch of sarcasm of his own.

"No. I've not killed myself. Nor have I even had thoughts of trying," he says and lifts his head from the wall. "And no, I don't want to end up going back to Royal Pines."

He fell silent for a few moments.

"So... you've stumbled upon my dreams, changed my nightmare into this..."

Pause.

"What's up?"

"It's just the first place I though of that wouldn't be traumatic. The nine helss is out of the question, it's mating season. Nothing is up, as you say. I'm dreaming, I always dream even when I'm awake." he offers.

You really should learn some level of control here. It is a surprise he isn't gloating about their last meeting. I suspect the only reason he isn't is because he doesn't want to dwell on the Demon.

His eyes narrowed slightly as the man made mention of mating season in the nine hells. That brought a quick flashback to what Verkur had spoken of. He didn't like that in the least.

"How've you been?" He almost cringed as he asked that. It wasn't like he really actually cared cause he didn't. The to men couldn't stand each other. But yet, Erik really does hold a bit of respect for the man. He'll /never/ say so out loud though.

"I've been." he said simpy as he looked around. "You should change it." he said with loose gestures at the dreamscape around him.

Charlie knows Erik could give a rats ass, it's mutual, the one thing that might have bound them together will likely never be part of either man's life again. Still he had promised to help the poor wretch with his dreams once, he doesn't break his word.

"Change it? How?" he asks feeling quite stupid.

Does Charlie even know that Erik isn't ever returning to that one thing that might have bound them together?

He's crazy and terribly perceptive, he'd never be able to go back under the same circumstances, why would the lesser man be able to? Charlie does still very much view Erik as a lesser man, a weakling. He gives a derissive snort at the other. "Change is something you have to want, to begin with...." he almost sighs the words.

A weakling? In some aspects, Erik really is. Not that he'd openly admit it.

"Change..." he mutters. "Change happens even when one doesn't want it to." He sounds almost sad as he speaks.

Rain begins to fall in the current setting they are in. Erik's done it without even knowing that he's done it.

"Good, even if it is self sabotauge." the man in black murmurs with a slighly appreciative nod. He shakes his hand almost limply by his side until and umbrella manifests in it. It too is black. He opens it over them both.

Erik was visibly surprised at the sudden rain that was coming down on them.

"Self sabotauge?" he questioned. "Did I do that?"

"Yes, I'm not into doom and gloom in most cases." Charlie admits quietly, he's hopeful in a desperate sort of way, but he isn't typically a gloomy fellow in spite of that. "Strong minded and weak willed, what a terrible combination." He hods out his hand to help the other man up. the gesture looks civil and gentlemanly, though I doubt Charlie feels either towards Erik.

Erik takes Charlie's hand and pulls himself up so that he's standing now. "Oh..." he mutters and looks around. A sudden flash of lightening brightens the area and then the rain is gone. Entirely. Just like that.

"Hmmm you may not betond hope. Let's see what you can do while we walk." Charlie says. He folds them umbrella up and then it simply seems to be gone. "You think you can take us somewhere, slowly by changing your surroundings, or do you need a demonstration?"

Erik nodded slightly and started to walk along side of Charlie. Take them somewhere... Change the surroundings... Erik had to think about this for a few moments. "I'd like to try," he answered finally.

Now where would Erik go if he were wanting to go somewhere nice? He used to enjoy going to watch the ocean but that reminded him too much of someone he'd be better off just forgetting right now.

A few weaping willow trees began showing up here and there. But they were actually weaping.

The beach would piss Charlie off, he avoided it deliberately, the really reason they'd arrived at the train depot. I'm sure he avoids it for the same someone/reason.

The weeping willows bugged him too for that matter, it was too much like something he'd expect on the open plains of dream not in an actual dream that belonged to someone. He made them stop before he could curb himself.

"Sorry," he said quietly as the willows vanished. "Don't know why those came."

They walked a little more and a river appeared in front of them. With a waterfall. A slight smile crept to Erik's face as he walked towards the large boulder that was so familiar to him.

"I go there often," he said absently. "To the river I mean. I sit and look up at the waterfall that I had jumped off of and wonder why."

"The cruel gods willed it, just so I could go fishing." Charlie replied. "You don't find it at all morbid?" he asked.

Erik merely rolled his eyes as Charlie's fishing comment without taking his eyes off of the moving water. He folded his legs in front of him as he sat on the rock.

"Strangely I don't," he answered honestly. "After checking in with Jayme, I go and sit on this very rock to just watch the moving water. I've started writing again. I can only seem to do so when I'm here though. Here as in the real here and not the dream here."

He fell silent for a few moments.

"I often find myself asking myself if it was even worth it," he says quietly. "If it was worth doing what I tried to do. If it was worth it any of the times that I tried it."

"Not at all." Charlie says quietly. He doesn't have to wonder. He doesn't even like Erik and he doesn't have to think over his answer.

Erik and Charlie may not get along, hell they may never get along, but Erik does respect the man. Why? He's not sure. He won't ever admit it though.

"The more I think about it," he says quietly. "The more I think it wasn't. I find myself thinking that none of it was worth it."

Long silent pause.

"I think ending up where I did was probably the best thing that's happened to me though." He turned his head slightly to glance at Charlie out of the corner of his eye. "Don't tell anyone that. Please."

"Like I would even admit knowing you, much less talking to you." Charlie reminded him. I doubt he'd even tell the demon. "You did need help though, the angel was worried about you, she asked me to help her look at one point. I declined, I didn't mention where I was sure you still were either."

"True," he said and returned his gaze to the moving water. "Yes. I did. More than I cared to admit."

Long pause.

"Thank you, Charlie," he says finally. "For pulling my sorry ass out of the mess I'd gotten myself into and for taking me to the hospital."

Another pause.

"I really am grateful..."

"Well no one eles was going to save you. They were all busy...." his words tapered off. It wasn't that he begrudged that business. Hell he wasn't even angry now as he had been that night. He had been Angry erik wasn't with Callie, but he knew now Erik couldn't have done anything for her but make it worse, as he'd suspected from the very begining. At this point he wasn't even adamant in his belief Erik wasn't good enough for Callie, he was more inclined to blame himself for the situation she'd wound up in. But part of him, deep down blamed her, after all she had fallen in love......

"You're the last one I ever expected to save my sorry ass," he admitted. And it's true. Never in a million years would Erik have ever thought Charlie would save his life. After much therapy with Dr. Lane, Erik no longer puts the /entire/ blame for everything that's happened on himself. And we're talking a /lot/ of therapy.

"If you don't mind my asking..." he finally says. "Why did you do that?" He was curious. Has been from the moment he found out.

He won't even answer it out loud....You didn't deserve to die......

Erik didn't even know what to say at that point. He knows Charlie doesn't like him. He's still not sure just what it is about himself that caused Charlie to not like him. He won't ask though. Hell, if he were a stranger meeting himself, he probably wouldn't like his sorry ass either.

The scenery behind the river slowly began to change. The river had probably looked weird in the background it had been in. Large green trees and bushes began to show up as well as the ground shifting and changing. They were now in a mountain setting. Erik glanced towards Charlie with slightly widened eyes.

"Did I do that?"

"Yes." Charlie said quietly. Suddenly his hand was full of small flat stones. He began to skip them across the water, even though the water was running somewhat swiftly. His degree of control here is very precise. "You need to work more on conciously affecting this place, your thoughts turn dark and then your fears take over here." he cautioned.

"How do I do that?" he asked as he watched the rocks skip across the water. On the other side of the river, a doe came out and began to drink the cool refreshing water. A small fawn at her side.

"You need to be aware first of all that it's dream, you seem to have a handle on that now. Next you need to be aware of what you are doing, some dreams do just happen, and they should or you wouldn't rest, but you need to be able to assert control as needed. Be aware of what you want to be happening here. Surely your mind can feel at least part of what you're doing. Try something and focus on what you're feeling as telltales when you do, perhaps we can at least get you to the point where you aren't asking me if you did things this go around." he suggests.

"My mind races so much that sometimes I don't know if it was me doing something or not," he says. "Even when I'm awake. I find myself probing minds when I really don't mean to. I still don't quite have this telepathic thing down yet."

Focus on what he's doing... focus...

A scrawny looking buck comes out of the trees on the other side of the river. And I do mean scrawny.

Is a certain someone feeling scrawny himself or what?

"All the time it's that way, you need to take up meditation and spend time training your brain. I can't help you there." he said shaking his head.

Meditation... "Maybe Dr. Lane could help by giving me ideas and such on how to train my brain," he suggested. "Or something." He wasn't sure. He was just grasping at straws at the moment.

"Oh yeah shrinks love that stuff, guided visualizations, relaxation techniques, hypnosis...." He acknowledged, Charlie has been through so much mental care he knows a good deal about shrinks.

Erik couldn't tell if Charlie was being sarcastic or not. He assumed not though. "Dr. Lane was able to help me get to the point I am now with hypnosis," he said. He wasn't sure why he was sharing this with Charlie, the man who dislikes him the most, but he was. "I was pretty bad off when I got there to Royal Pines. My mind held on long enough to get ahold of Jayme and then it was gone."

Pause...

"My mind reverted entirely back to being a five year old child..."

"Trauma does things like that to the mind to kep it from sustaining more damage. Most people gradually come back on theri own eventually." he says. Bare in mind the man was raised in mental health institutions more than by his own family.