#dreamwatch

I have mostly been working on about andrew, that's true! Its the closest to being Something I Could Post so I was trying to chase that momentum. But I welcome multiple asks tbh I got these wips that I only seem motivated to work on when I get prompting to do so. BUT I got another ask about rapture chaser, so here's my too-verbose explainer!

Director's commentary wise the title of the song comes from a song of the same name by Spanish Love Songs. The title came well after I'd written a good portion of the internal monologue narration, but without really any sense of setting or emotional stakes. I think it was just added after a page break on the original wip I posted so its origins were pretty directionless as my wips often are and it didn't have a title. Pretty sure I was just listening to the album in the car on the way to work after having picked at the wip a little bit and just ended up looping this track all the way in and it crystalized a lot of what I had been trying to articulate in the context of this AU. There are sections that I think are pretty transparently influenced by lyrics from the verses as a result.

But in an attempt to not let myself off the hook and leave it at that, I decided to put some work in for real on rapture chaser and here's what I managed:

I'm exploring a dilapidated mall, which was recently destroyed under mysterious circumstances.

Eventually, I enter what was once a very nice restaurant. The large aquarium tanks are empty, part of the roof is caved in over the stage and all the skylights are busted. However the indoor plants are thriving, some vines already escaping into the main mall.

I pick my way through overturned tables, stopping to examine some golden salt shakers on the floor. Behind and above, three taps of shoe on hardwood break the pristine silence, and then a voice (Male? Gender is weird in dreams, who's to say).

"Welcome, pleasure to know you,.. ??"

I stand up and turn slowly. A little ahead of me Is the stage(more of a platform it was almost level with the ground), and on the stage is a well dressed man smiling in a pleasant but unnerving manner.

He was wearing a dark grey suit, almost back but not quite, a red striped pocket square sitting neatly in his breast pocket. He would look very sharp if not for his hair, which was a windblown mess.

A spotlight shown down on him, despite there no longer being power to the building.

His looks and manners seemed a thinly veiled facade, as there was a definite air of danger about him, like a storm just about to break. The man was decidedly other, not human at the least.

He holds a hand out, and asks If I'd like to play a quick game. I foolishly say yes, taking his hand I am pulled up on stage.

The quick game is in reality a series of quizzes and challenges, dished out by the man as game show host. In spite of danger about him, Show is playful and genuinely seems happy for my company and a good game, participating in most of the challenges himself(I learn through this that he is quite fast and has acidic spit).

Actually, I'm having fun as well, until I'm not. The challenges start getting more dangerous. Durning one I am shrunk to three inches, after which I refuse to participate any more. Show tries to argue me back in, at first friendly but becoming aggressive.

Stressed and somewhat afraid, I say some things I don't mean and hurt Show's feelings. He quickly becomes irrate and his entire tune changes. He stalks toward me, then freezes and snaps back the other direction, pacing up the stage and mumbling to himself.

I slowly back up, maybe I could climb down the stage, but I'm not fast enough. Show whips around and reaches into his jack, pulls out a glass bottle full of purple liquid and tosses it my direction. The bottle hits the floor, bounces twice and rolls to a stop at my feet.

"I suggest you drink that. It will protect you once you find yourself between my teeth." Show hisses, gnashing his teeth for emphasis.

I'm rightly terrified by now, not sure what exactly Show means to do, but I remember the acidity of his mouth and quickly open the bottle. I clumsily drink the entire thing, the purple staining where it drips into my clothes.

Show hunches and shuffles , looking entirely predatory, like cat ready to pounce.

"You have 20 seconds." He sneers in a gleeful kind of madness.

I bolt. I know I won't make it far on foot so I try to hide. I slide under a door into a bathroom, climb up a shower curtain and onto the lip of the shower wall. From there I jump onto a high shelf and push myself all the way into the back corner.

Now there was only to wait. I hold motionless and try to control my breathing. Only a few minutes pass before the bathroom door opens. From my vantage I only see the top of Show's head pass through. I hold my breath, all I can hear are the slow taps of Show's shoes on the tile.

He stops in the middle of the room, silent. A buzzer sounds off, a noise I recognize as indicating the end of a challenge. Show's voice is close, once again playful, singsong almost.

"Oh! You know what that means, don't you?"

An arm appears on the Shelf and easily reaches back to snatch me. I scream. Show holds me infront of his face and shoots me a sympathetic look.

"It's alright, you did well! Better then I would certainly.". I squirm and kick at his fingers, he doesn't even flinch. He switches back to impish, grinning,"Rules are rules!"

Show pops me in his mouth, I'm small enough that he easily fits me all in at once. He presses me around, into his pallet and under his tongue. He's salivating heavily and I'm soaked in seconds.

Only a moment later, I'm tossed to the back of his mouth and gulped down. The deeper parts of his internals seem to have a underglow, setting everything in a dim purple light.

I slide into Show's stomach, the space is only twice my size, and coated in a thick purplish liquid. I struggle to get comfortable, as show's movements cause me to topple and slide. Finally, the stomach tenses and shrinks a bit, leaving no more room to slip or move.

Andddd that's all I have folks.

After this the dream skips about . I do see Show again later, and we are on good terms(racing shopping carts), so I suppose It turned out in the end.