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Fandom Awakening (private with SleepyBuddha)

Eliasdagood

Golden ball of bloody cuteness
Sierra nods along to the rock music beating through her headphones, going through her college workbook. She’s on the chapter for anesthesia today, scribbling in the blanks about catheters, planes and stages, and chemical compounds. This is very serious work. Serious enough that she’s over caffeinated and and red eyed at five AM.

She’s gotta get this thing done in time for the test. And for Sierra, that means three days at minimum before the test. Even her cat seems to think it’s ridiculous that she’s up right now, suddenly biting her ankle hard. “Ow! Calamity, no!” Sierra scolds, swatting the top of the calico’s head gently. “Rude!”
 
Norman is bent over an IED concentrating as much as possible as he deftly began taking the device apart in order to disarm it. This was the 10th device tonight. This was his third 24 hr shift of this week. He was exhausted and only conscious through a combination of Monster energy and caffeine pills; so when he thought he heard someone talking it took every ounce of discipline not to jump I’m surprised. “ A Calamity? How did you get this frequency?” Norman unconsciously radioing. He thought there was something wrong with his Communications.
 
Sierra sits up straight, her whole body suddenly tense. “What the cinnamon toast fuck?” She yells, looking around her room wildly, and tapping the side of her headphones to pause her music. Nothing in her room, but that voice was like it was right next to her. And she heard it over her music, which was already impressive. “Who is this? Listen, I don’t know who you are, but please introduce yourself before scaring me senseless?”
 
Norman was just as confused as this woman was. Nonetheless he finished up his task of defusing the ordinance before responding, “ Lady this is Specialist Stewart of the United States Army. Now how-“ Before Norman could even finish his statement his Sergeant radio back what the flying fuck he was on about and to return to the Convoy. More than a little bewildered he did as he was told only when he opened the door to his vehicle he found himself standing in the middle of a what looked like a dorm or apartment.
“ What.. the.. fuck?” Norman muttered as he immediately locked eyes with the woman who apparently lived there. He was quite out of place in his full military gear. There was even some sand stuck to his cloths from his work.
“did I... pass out?” Unknown to Norman he was just sitting in his transport vehicle as they continued on.
 
Sierra groans softly, hearing odd clicking noises as she gets up, pacing agitatedly… and then there’s a guy. She yelps in surprise, taking a step back. “No. Do not. Get out of my room!” She grabs a letter opener, holding it in her shaking hand. Calamity stares up at her, hissing at her off the wall behavior. Sierra doesn’t seem aware of the cat at the moment, staring at Norman with obvious confusion and fear.

“Listen, I don’t know who the hell you are, but you cannot just bust in here! This is the third floor, how did you even-“ She grits her teeth, forcing a deep breath in, then out. “What the hell…”
 
Faced with a threat against his life Norman immediately goes for his gun only to find myself back inside his vehicle with his sergeant over comms telling him he was getting an emergency replacement and that he was get some rest. Quite confused Norman looks around only to find that girl inside the vehicle next to him holding the letter opener. “ What the... “ Norman isn’t even able to respond to the situation properly as the convoy began to pull into the FOB.
 
Sierra is wide eyed and scared. Her hand on the letter opener is shaking, and she’s looking around desperately. “What? How did I get here? Did I get fucking drugged?” She asks, hyperventilating as she looks back at Norman. “I didn’t do anything wrong, I want to go home!” She yells, looking like she’s right on the brink of breaking down crying. Her body thankfully landed on her bed, so she won’t be hurt by this. “Where are you taking me?”
 
Norman just takes a deep breath and sighs, cradling his head in his hands. “ I really need to stop mixing caffeine pills and Monster.” He muttered as he waited for the convoy to be checked and enter the base. When he lifted his head he found himself sitting on the woman’s bed in her apartment. She seemed quite distressed. “ Hey.. figment of my imagination... no need to worry... I’m just going to head back to my barracks and sleep probably.” Norman’s grip on reality wasn’t the greatest. In fact he was fairly certain he was already asleep. “Huh... this is a nice place you got here.. much better than mine.”
 
“Yeah…same.” Sierra mutters at his comment about caffeine. And then they’re back in her apartment, Calamity standing on her chest, and looking quite worried. “Hey, baby.” She murmurs, stroking the cat with her free hand, and immediately feeling calmer. “Yeah… so… Yeah. Maybe I should just ignore all this and get some sleep. I can finish my homework tomorrow. And thanks. I got pretty lucky. One bedroom per roommate is pretty nice out here.”

She might as well chat with her apparent hallucination. “If I see you tomorrow though… that’ll be a problem.”
 
Norman chuckled and shook his head, “ You’re telling me. The last thing I need is pretty little college girl in my head. “
Norman got up and found himself leaving the vehicle and walking across the base. He had to make a few side trips, turn in his gear, before he was finally able to collapse down on his cot.
“ So does this hallucination come with a name? I thought I was good with faces, but you’re new.” Norman says not realizing that he’s actually talking out loud now. Thankfully he’s alone for the moment. The rest of his unit had yet to return.
 
And suddenly she’s walking at his side in an area she doesn’t recognize. She sighs, following him to what looks like a barracks. “I’m Sierra. Terrifying to meet you.” She says with a chuckle. “Here’s hoping whatever this is let’s us sleep in the first place.” She tries to knock on one of the bed frames, curious about how solid it is. “You said you were Norman, right? This is weird. I thought the human brain couldn’t think up new faces. Must have seen you on the street or something.”
 
the bed wrack feels as real as if she were touching it herself. Though unknown to her Norman’s hand was touching the bed in the same manner.
“ I doubt that. I haven’t been State side in oh... 7 months now Thankfully my tour is up soon. May be a lot sooner if this Psych eval isn’t great. “ His thoughts drift back to Sierra’s apartment and he finds himself in there again. “ I’ve never been in here either. So how can I think this place up? I never went to college.”
Norman said amazed as he started looking around the room in an intrusive manner. Trying to find any hint that he can.
 
Sierra doesn’t seem to mind the breach of privacy, letting her him see the photos of her and her family, her textbooks on veterinary medicine, and her boxes of personal items she hasn’t unpacked yet as she gets up to walk with him. “Yeah… one of us is crazy. I mean, I hope it’s me. I don’t want to go through the existential crisis of thinking you dreamed me up and the right meds might make me go away.” She shudders.
 
“ Well if you are a figment of my exhausted mind you’re doing a good job of making me doubt reality.” Norman said as he picked up the vet textbook and opened it to a random page. He had expected it to be blank, but there were actual words and diagrams. The more he looked at it the more memories that weren’t his seems to float into the surface of his mind. Startled he dropped the book and whatever connection had been keeping him there was severed. Leaving Sierra alone with her textbook at his feet and Norm questioning his sanity. Maybe it was time for sleep. The solider lay his head down and let sleep take him. He had strange dreams of taking college classes. Maybe he should get his degree?
 
Sierra puts her book back in its place, sighing with relief. It hasn’t occurred to her that hallucinations can’t pick things up. “Well, night.” She mumbles, going to her bed to pass out, forgetting to even turn off the light. Calamity settles back on her chest, unaware of anything. Sierra’s dreams are restless. Shots, and explosions. She’s glad no one in her family has to do that.
 
The strange dreams thankfully gave Norman the best nights sleep he’d had in years, and had even shown him how fun an interesting college could be. He had joined up straight out of high school and had spends the past 6 years in the army. Now he knew there was something more to life. Norman woke up quite refreshed and as order made his way to get evaluated.
 
Sierra did not sleep nearly that well. Partially because her alarm went off at eight. She groans, moving Calamity off of her chest, and blearily wandering into the kitchen. She grabs a carton of egg nog, and sits down at their dining table. “Rough night?” One of her roommates asks. “Oh yeah… hey, you think they’d let me skip class if I say I’m hallucinating?”

“Bro, you good? You look like you didn’t sleep at all… for fuck’s sake, Sierra, you’re gonna seriously hurt yourself at this rate.”

“I’m fine, Jade, please just… lemme boot up for a while.”
 
Norman’s interview went about as well as he could have hoped. It was a matter of fact that he had begun talking to himself. Everyone in the unit heard it last night over the radio. That coupled with his atrocious work schedule lead him to be put on medical leave. Command is worried that the stress would end up causing him his life as well as endangering his squadron. So after filling out the necessary paperwork Norman was order to pack his things and head home. His tour was done effective immediately. Norman himself was rather conflicted. His pay was the same which was great, but... oh well. He could talk to his sergeant about his sudden desire to get a degree later on. For now he was heading home!
 
Sierra does decide to stay home, taking a nap for a few hours before calling a classmate to get notes emailed to her. Win. Now much more alert, she finishes her work from last night, and decides to treat herself by going out to one of her favorite restaurants. No imaginary soldiers yet… that’s a good sign, right? She gets on the bus, closing her eyes as she waits for her stop to be called.
 
It didn’t take long for Norman to have all his things packed up. Thankfully there haven’t been too many issues in the area so the next flight out to the States would be in the evening. For now it was Chow Time! His favorite part of the day! Despite his approved leave however Norman new he wasn’t going to be idle. After Chow would be PT. Even the best blades dull after neglect. So he would have to participate in work outs until he left. A bit of a pain, but in the end it was better than doing nothing. Norman stood in line patiently waiting for his turn.
 
Sierra gets off at her stop, and heads to her favorite diner, getting seated quickly, and ordering some cheese curds to start off with. This is a day for her, so she’s setting her usual rules about healthy food to the side for the moment. She can’t stop thinking about yesterday… which of course means that she’s very shortly standing next to Norman, yelping in surprise, and looking around wildly until she sees him. “Well… shit.”
 
Norman also recoiled at the sudden appearance of Sierra would have decked her out of instinct if she had actual been there. Instead he just looked like a lunatic grabbing at the air. “ uh... A mosquito was bothering me.” Norman said quickly to cover his behavior and returned to getting his food, which was salberry steak, Mac and cheese, and green beans. As soon as he state down though he found himself in Sierra’s diner. “ Oh Son of a Bitch! It was salsberry Sunday dammit!” Norman said as he looked at the cheese curds.
 
Sierra just stands there awkwardly, watching his hand go through her. “Sorry…” she mumbles. Then they’re back at the diner, and she grins, starting in on the cheese curds. “I mean, if it’s anything like last night, you’ll be back there in a minute.” She says, tapping her headphones when someone looks at her weird. Fake Bluetooth conversations for the win. “So… here we are again, I guess.”
 
Norman sighed as he began digging I to his own food only to have it taste like cheese curds, “ You just had to ruin my steak now didn’t you?” After thinking on it for a moment the change tasted how it should but the memory of it was still there. Norman didn’t have anything to play off their conversation so instead he took to whispering. He was still trying to figure out what was even going on.
“Seems that way Sierra. Putting his focus on her seemed to transfer his mind over to her. Where as if he thought about himself or his surroundings he would be back in the chow hall.
 
Sierra tilts her head, watching him pop in and out of her vision. “Huh… you good, man? You’re kind of… flickering.” She says, appearing next to him at his table again. Weird that she can still hear him clearly when she can’t see him.

She looks around, seeing everyone else. So… my cat can’t see you, and I don’t think these guys can see me. So if one of us has dreamed up everything, we’re only able to interact with each other.” The gears of her mind are grinding away, but there’s no good explanation for this, and it’s driving her nuts, if she isn’t already.
 

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