[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/hNYWbM0.png[/img][img]https://i.imgur.com/qsCZpOI.png[/img]
[color=darkgray]"It was kinda metal. I hit the sheriff's son with a shovel. Almost died."[/color][sub][sub][sub][hr][/sub][/sub][/sub][/center][right][indent][indent][color=#598865][b][code]The O'Sullivan Household.[/code][/b][/color] [color=dimgray]│[/color] A collab with [@Surtr][/indent][/indent][/right][center][sup][hr][/sup][/center]
Claire suddenly rose awake, thrusted awake by that weird ass dream of hers. 

For the last few days, she was having dreams related to that bloodbath that took place at the lumber mill, but now... that was a whole different experience. Almost like it was something that happened. Claire was probably reading a bit too much into a dream, but it felt like a [i]recollection[/i] of some sort. Ugh, it was probably just something that Claire should just forget about. Rubbing her eyes, the girl looked around her messy room with clothes draped around because Claire couldn't bother to put them where they belong - not now, of all times. Her room had white wallpaper, which was hard to notice given all the various posters Claire had draped around. She shook her head as she climbed out of bed...

... and into some comfortable bunny slippers. 

That she would be embarrassed to be seen in, but at her grandparents house, she couldn't care less. She'd also be embarassed to be seen in her underwear, but it wasn't like anyone can see through walls and stuff. She shook her head as she grabbed her phone and went straight out the bedroom door. She stepped into the kitchen, where her grandmother - a kind old lady in her sixties, with greying hair, was preparing food. Which Claire could tell was bacon, pancakes, and etc.

Which told Claire that she was awake too damn early.

"Hello, Clairey," Riley said in an accented voice.

"Grandma, I'm not ten anymore..." Claire said as she slumped down on the dining room table. She sighed, as she looked to her left, and saw the television. The headline being [code]TOWN REELING AFTER MASSACRE.[/code] A reporter chick from the city prattled on about how the massacre was a tragedy, how people across the states are praying for the lost, and how the police are on the hunt for the killer. Bah! It was just a reporter chick hamming it up for the ratings, and to Claire, she was background noise. 

And when one press of this shitty TV that was bought in the nineties, she wasn't even noise. Claire rolled her eyes... many of her friends were killed in that incident, and yet they haven't even found the bastard yet. Probably papa sheriff helping his boy escape punishment again. Claire found it [i]real[/i] hard to care at this point. Though, the only thing she could care about was the fact that he was still out there, and there have been a few more deaths in town...

Now, Claire wasn't no vigilante, but if the authority won't bring Scott down, then it lies on people like her. Her thoughts were interrupted when her phone buzzed, and she was curious as to who in the hell was texting her at nine in the morning? [i]Someone's gonna get a boot up their ass...[/i] Claire thought to herself as she flipped her phone open, and unlocked it.

[center][quote][b]From:[/b] Brit
[code]Hey Claire, are you busy this morning?[/code]
[/quote][/center]

Oh, what a pleasant surprise... she was messaged by Britney Williams, the big bad bitch of Farmer Hill. A rich girl that... was very close to Claire back in the day. They drifted apart, and for good damn reason. Claire didn't want much to do with the Williams girl. Claire kept her number only out of some vague sense of nostalgia (and if she needed to bum money off her).

Claire typed out an exasperated reply.

[center][quote][b]To:[/b] Brit 
[code]wat do u want[/code]
[/quote][/center]

[center][quote][b]From:[/b] Brit 
[code]I just want to have a talk with you about something at the Sucre Cafe. I'll forget about the money you owe me if you do.[/code]
[/quote][/center]

"Oh... now you're playing hard ball," Claire immediately knew that something was up. Part of Claire wanted to (politely) tell Britney to fuck off, but if she's willing to drop her debt, then it must be serious. While Claire didn't want to, she didn't want to owe a debt to the Britney gal. Especially since she never liked being in debt to someone (especially when she blew the money on weed). She nodded as she replied.

[center][quote][b]To:[/b] Brit
[code]u betta keep ur end of the bargain, brit[/code]
[/quote][/center]

[b][center][quote][b]From:[/b] Brit 
[code]Oh, I will. Just keep YOUR end of the bargain, and get here.[/code]
[/quote][/center]
[/b]

Claire didn't respond, and figured that she should finish eating, and get dressed. Before, Claire wondered something...

"Grandma, where did Grandpa go?" She asked, with a raised eyebrow.

"I'll stop calling you Clairey if you stop calling me Grandma, Clairey... it makes me feel old," Her grandmother said as she sauntered over, and put a plate of food directly at Claire's place on the table. It included pancakes, bacon, and scrambled eggs. Claire prepared to dig in, but her grandmother answered, "If you must know, Connor went to the store to pick up some groceries...." 

She trailed off, and Claire mentally swore. That meant that her method of transportation was gone. She shook her head, and realized how horrible the prospect of walking from one end of Farmer Hill to the other, in order to get to Market Square. She thought about it, before a lightbulb turned on in her head. She flipped her phone over, and went to Dex in her contacts (Or as she had nicknamed him "The Virgin Dex").

Dex was a swell dude, was of her few friends in this madness, but she couldn't get the feeling that he was just nice to get in her pants. [i]At least he's not so damn direct.[/i] Claire thought to herself, as she went to send him a text message.

[b][center][quote][b]To:[/b] [color=gold]The Virgin Dex[/color]
[code]yo dexter, i need a favor[/code]
[/quote][/center]
[/b]

[hr]
Meanwhile...

[hr]

Dexter's life was a little less complicated at this very moment. He was going through the motions of his daily morning routine, which begun and ended with him practicing his little flashing ability. It had become somewhat of a daily ritual, and he had really thought he was starting to get a handle on his new party trick. Today was different though. He had been training himself to trigger his flash by snapping his fingers, but he just couldn't do it this morning. After that incredibly... gruesom dream. Every time he snapped, it would fizzle, almost like he was striking a flint, and eventually it stopped doing anything at all. Once his fingers started to hurt, he decided to give it a rest and just go about his daily routine. He had flipped the light switch in his bathroom on, and had gotten through brushing his teeth when he decided to snap again.

The lightbulbs went out.

Dexter furrowed his brow and fiddled with the light switch, which would turn on for a split second and then turn off again. He thought again for a moment and realized, it must be the fuse box in the basement. He snapped his fingers in realization, and his little party trick decided it wanted to work again.

So now, Dexter was currently in the bathroom, on the ground, in the dark. His hands were holding his eyes and generally, he was not having a good time. He spent a few minutes groaning on the floor, attempting to bring his vision back at least somewhat. He phone, which was on his bed, buzzed. and stumbled to his feet and out of the dark bathroom. He blinked rapidly in an attempt to bring his now fuzzy vision back into focus, and stumbled over to his phone.

[b][center][quote][b]From:[/b] Confused Penis
[code]yo dexter, i need a favor[/code]
[/quote][/center]
[/b]

He had received a text from Claire O'Sullivan? He hadn't heard from her for a hot minute.

Dexter and Claire became friends long before Claire earned the reputation she had today, and maintained a friendship because, well, Dexter just wasn't a dick like Hagan or others who wouldn't be named. They didn't have many classes together, but they had shared electives, and their adult friendship began because when he offered her pencils, he didn't complain when they were returned a little chewed up. Things just kinda cruised from there. They didn't talk often, but she kept Hagan off his ass at parties and he helped her out with classes when she needed it. He hadn't heard much from her since school ended. He blinked another few times and rubbed the palm, of his hand, creating a dull glow in the palm of his hand. This was a new trick he had begun to practice. He messaged her back.

[b][center][quote][b]To:[/b] Confused Penis
[code]How can I help?[/code]
[/quote][/center]
[/b]

It wasn't much longer before he received his reply.

[b][center][quote][b]From:[/b] Confused Penis
[code]can u drive me to the sucre?[/code]
[/quote][/center]
[/b]

[b][center][quote][b]To:[/b] Confused Penis
[code]Yeah sure, what time?[[/code]
[/quote][/center]
[/b]

[b][center][quote][b]From:[/b] Confused Penis
[code]how soon can you, dex?[/code]
[/quote][/center]
[/b]

Dexter looked away from his phone and to his watch, because he was trying to train himself out of relying on his phone for literally everything. He squinted his eyes in an attempt to discern the small lines with his still somewhat blurry vision. It was, what 8:35ish? Most people their age wouldn't be awake yet. He had an excuse with his flight training to be an early bird, so she was the oddball.

[b][center][quote][b]To:[/b] Confused Penis
[code]8:45? Why are you up so early lol[/code]
[/quote][/center]
[/b]

It was a minute before Claire replied.

[b][center][quote][b]From:[/b] Confused Penis
[code]having problems goin to sleep[/code]
[/quote][/center]
[/b]

Dexter knew Claire well enough to not question any further. If she wanted to tell him, she would.

[b][center][quote][b]From:[/b] Confused Penis
[code]Okay, see you soon![/code]
[/quote][/center]
[/b]

Dexter continued his daily routine, spare of any flashes, and left his house at 8:40. It didn’t take long for Dexter to drive across town. While he didn’t frequent these older and slghtly more sketchy areas, he was familiar enough with it’s layout to navigate to Claire’s house without the use of google maps.

When he pulled up in front of Claire’s residence he shot her a text to let her know he was there, and then snapchatted a picture of his steering wheel with the caption of “Eat my entire ass”. While waiting, he decided to practice his snapping ability some more. With sunglasses on, of course.

[hr]

When Dex had said yes, Claire immediately took one last bite of her pancakes, before she got up. If she's fast enough, she'll get done getting ready. She wondered if she should ask Dexter about that dream she had... but, he'd probably think she's crazy. Or maybe she was crazy. She read somewhere that dreams reflect the subconscious - and an adventure where kids get attacked by monsters in the woods doesn't reflect that well on it, now does it? The girl made it back to her room, and decided to omit a shower... because she intended on going the hell home after hearing what nonsense that Britney had to say. She smelled her armpit for a moment, before just spraying herself with some perfume to drown out the smell. She quickly threw on some old torn up jeans, a tank top, a brown jacket she had, and heavy combat boots. She quickly returned to the table...

... only for her phone to buzz.

She sighed to herself for a moment as she just [i]knew[/i] that Dex was here. Just to make sure, she turned on the phone and the notification appeared right on her screen. In a fit of desperation, Claire shoved as much food as she could into her mouth, before she quickly got up and said, "Alright, Grandma, I need to be somewhere... can you wrap that up for me?" She asked.

Her grandmother shot her a worried look, before she said, "... Be careful, Claire."

"Yeah... I will..." Claire said as she walked out the door and saw his gay little Masda Miata...well, it was better than her grandfather's pickup truck from the goddamn nineties, but Dex drove a car that stuck out in the rugged Farmer Hill. Not that she was complaining - he was her only option (other than walking for an hour). She walked over to the car, leaned over, waving to Dex as she opened the door. "Dexter! Thank you so much for this," Claire said as she climbed in.

Dexter raised his eyebrows. Normally people, and by people he ment Ryu, just vaulted into the car since he drove with the top down most of the time. Opening the door like a normal human being was a nice change of pace.

[color=gold]“Oh, yeah. No problem dude. Good morning, by the way. Sleep okay?”[/color] He said, forgetting her text from earlier. He shifted gears and began pulling away from her house.

Claire sighed for a moment, not realizing that he forgot. She interpreted it as he wasn't going to drop it until he got a straight answer. Though, he felt a bit more comfortable around him because at least he didn't treat her as one big piece of fuckmeat. "I'll be straight with ya' here, Dex," Claire said, "It's been going badly."

She rolled her eyes, "Been havin' some weird ass dreams lately, but they felt a little different from dreams... dunno."

Dexter rubbed the side of his head with his free hands and shifted gears again. [color=gold]"I know how you feel. I dreamt about some people fighting a monster last night. Was like something out of an RPG. Some chick had a sword and everything."[/color] He sounded much less concerned than she felt about it, but then again there had been some weird shit happening in this town as of late.

Claire's eyes went wide for a moment... as she stopped in her tracks. "I..." Claire trailed off. "No... I..." She was at a complete loss for words, before she just stopped dicking around the question, and just came out with it. "... I had a dream just like that. It started with the two kids, right?"

[color=gold]"Yeah! Looking for their dog that..."[/color] Dexter trailed off, motioning with his hand as if he really didn't want to talk about the animal's fate. [color=gold]"Got taken by a guy who..."[/color] He trailed off again, realizing by Claire's face that she knew exactly what he was talking about. He waited for her to fill in the blank, just in case he was insane or if she was just playing him for a fool.

"... turned into some deer thing?"

[color=gold]"That's certainly the lightest way to put it."[/color]

"Okay, okay, okay," Claire said putting her hands up, "Before we jump the gun here, let's remember that people don't have the same dreams..." She tried to deny it. "It's... just a coincidence, something, I don't know. There's gotta be a reasonable explanation for this."

Dexter stopped the car and handed her his sunglasses. [color=gold]"Put these on. When I snap my fingers, whatever you do, don't look directly at my hand."[/color]

"Ummmm...." Claire raised an eyebrow as she stared at him, then the sunglasses.

[color=gold]"Just do it."[/color]

She shrugged. "Okay." She put on the sunglasses, and then (sarcastically) said, "These are cool shades, if I might say-"

[color=gold]"I actually really appreciate that."[/color] Dexter said, being genuine. He turned his head and snapped his fingers, and on command his hand created a flash of impossibly bright light. He did it a few times, and then spoke again, [color=gold]"I don't think this is coincidence. This started at the party a few days ago. Ryu and I and the girl we helped had something... happen to us."[/color]

Claire's jaw dropped as she was amazed... but, then she shook her head and said, "No, no... don't give me that shit. This X-Men shit ain't real, how in the [i]world[/i] did you do [i]that[/i]?"

Dexter shoved his hand in her face, this time emitting a dull glow that illuminated from within his hand. The bones in his hand were the only parts not producing light, contrasting against the light. [color=gold]"I don't know! It just started! I've turned into a fucking lightbulb!"[/color] He yelled. He stopped and held the glow for a moment, then stopped and pulled his hand away. [color=gold]"Sorry, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to yell at you."[/color]

"It's... alright," Claire said. "I'm just trying to figure out what the fuck is going on in this town." She answered.

"First someone grabs an axe and goes on a rampage, and now you're fuckin'..." Claire trailed off as she stared at Dexter's hand. "... Superdex."

[i]God, I'm corny as fuck.[/i]

[color=gold]"I personally would've gone with [i]DEXterous[/i] but if we're talking superhero names I'm all for suggestions. As long as I dont have to wear [i]spanDEX[/i]"[/color] he said, giving her a smile. He put the car in gear again and pulled off. They were almost at the cafe at this point.

"Please Dex..." Claire trailed off... suddenly, that surprise and disbelief was replaced with intrigue. She didn't know what she was going to do for the rest of the day, but now she's found something. "Okay, I think we need to figure this out. You may be the only one capab..." She trailed off as she remembered something that Dexter said.

"... you said two other people have powers like this?" Claire asked.

[color=gold]"Yeah uh..."[/color] Dexter trailed off. [color=gold]"Ryu and I went back into the lumber mill to try and help others out. I can create light. Ryu was able to create a... black hole or something. The girl we helped out healed her broken leg in minutes."[/color] He said. He was focusing on the road, because he didn't want to see Claire's face. She probably thought he hung out with a bunch of freaks at this point. 

[color=gold]"It was kinda metal. I hit the sheriff's son with a shovel. Almost died."[/color]

[i]So, there's more...[/i] Claire thought to herself, as she looked at Dexter. She didn't know if this was truth or not. Still... Dexter had no reason to lie, and he just turned into a fuckin' lightbulb. She knew of Ryu, but she definitely didn't want to interact with him at the moment. At least, not after what happened. They were on good terms, but she avoided him.

"So you're light, and he's darkness?" Claire playfully said.

[color=gold]"I mean, I'm comfortable enough to say that we're the straightest gay couple in existence."[/color] Dexter said, shrugging. [color=gold]"He's my best friend, it's almost fitting."[/color]

"But," Claire said, "I'll have to talk to you about this a bit more after I'm done at the Sucre... but, not one word. To anyone." She said. "Next thing we know, you'll be wearing a hospital gown with scientists putting tubes into you."

Dexter smiled, and elbowed her lightly. [color=gold]"You're the first person I've told who isn't... y'know, themselves."[/color] he explained. [color=gold]"Mom always said I have good intuition on who to trust, so I'm trusting you."[/color]

"I... I'm touched you'd tell me that," Claire said... it was a good thing that she told him about the dream. Because in this town, everyone thought that she was a slut, or something else nasty... but, Dex? He thought of her as a person.

At this point, Dexter pulled into a parking spot just in front of the Sucre. He said something under his breath about 'rockstar parking' and touched the outline of a thin silver chain necklace under his shirt, which was his dad's at one point. He stepped out of the car and walked around, opening the car door for Claire in an over-the-top manner. [color=gold]"Your coffee and breakfast pastries await, madame."[/color] he said, bowing with the arm that wasnt holding the door extended in the direction of the cafe.

Claire smiled, "Why thank you kind gentleman." She said. "Do you want something while we're here? I got a few bucks, and you [i]did[/i] just drive me halfway across town." 

Dexter waived it off. [color=gold]"Thank you, but it's all good. It's what friends are for."[/color]

Claire shrugged as she walked on to the cafe, "Yeah, Dex," Claire said as she looked back with her hands in her pockets, "See you 'round."

Dexter enjoyed the view as she left but didn't make a scene about it, he simply leaned up against his car to do his daily snap-streaks. It was a nice day, might as well enjoy the weather out here in the parking lot. Plus, he knew Claire was [i]probably[/i] going to need a ride elsewhere. He wasn't much of a coffee person anyway. He swiped to his messages app and shot a text to Ryu.

[b][center][quote][b]To:[/b] [color=#598865]Lord Thunder Cunt[/color]
[code]Skidaddle skidoodle your dick is now a noodle[/code]
[/quote][/center]
[/b][hr]
[@Grim]