House on the River

Chapter 5: Insomnia

It seems that the problem is very deep
’Cause every time I try to sleep
I have nightmares
Thinking about getting together with you
No, no, I wouldn't say so
I would not call it a curse
But what worries me then
Is when I wake up if it might be worse

-Violent Femmes

After coming to the understanding that sleep would not find her that night, Kira got out of bed about eight a.m., and turned on her television. A pounding stereo was coming from the room next door, and she tried to block it out of her mind. “Who in the hell would be listening to that at this hour of the morning?” she thought to herself. Yes, Marty Rex, who lived in the apartment one door over, loved to blast her house music at all hours of the day. Marty, like Vera who also lived on their same floor, had lived in the Triassic period of Earth’s history 65 million years ago. In her former life she was a ferocious, blood-thirsty tyrannosaurus rex, but now she looked just as human as everybody else here, and with just a tad more manners. Tall for a female, standing at five foot eleven, she, like Vera, also had a craving for raw meat, and had a quick temper to go with that.

Another part of her was thankful though, for the distraction. It was the little things that she had to give thanks for nowadays, in spite of everything else that was going on around her. Forcing herself to focus on the bass coming through the wall was all she could do. She could not get his face out of her mind, and now she was about to begin the coming day on no sleep at all. Her eyes were heavy, but she was afraid to close them for when she did, she did not like what she saw. No, that wasn’t it. She liked it too much. Disgusted with herself as she was, she liked the way he looked at her, trying to hide those seemingly unnatural feelings as much as she did. She could see in those dark green eyes of his the confusion and lust that was so much hers.

After debating with herself back and forth for about an hour whether it was even a good idea to go outside of her room today, she had had enough of Marty’s little mid morning one-person party she was throwing next door for herself. Kira finally decided to get up and ask her to turn it down. About a minute had passed before Marty finally answered the door.

“Hey Kira! Good to see you this morning. Come on in!”

“Alright, thanks,” she replied, stepping through the door. “Listen Marty, I was wondering… could you turn down your stereo a little, please? I’m still trying to sleep this morning.”

“Good god Kira, you look terrible!” she exclaimed after a glimpse of Kira’s dark circles that had formed under her eyes. The gelfling honestly looked to her like death warmed over.

“Yeah, I know. I didn’t get much sleep last night. I’ve had a bout of sleeplessness these past couple of nights and I’m still trying to get some rest this morning before I start my day. It must be the change in weather.” It was the best she could come up, and to her relief Marty did not seem to question it.

“Well, maybe you should try eating something. You look really thin, especially lately. Care for some rare sirloin?”

“No thanks Marty, you know I’m a vegetarian.”

“Yeah, I know. I never understood that, but suit yourself,” she replied, almost laughing.

Marty turned around, and adjusted the volume on her stereo to something more suitable for Kira’s sleep deprived state of mind.

“Is that better?”

“Yes, much better. Thank you so much, Marty!” she replied, sincerely grateful.

“No problem, Kira. Now go get some sleep before you get sick.”

“I will. Thanks again!”

She headed out the door, went back into her own room and crawled back into bed. Chuckling to herself, she thought Marty was certainly the friendliest t-rex she had ever come across. Not that she had ever met one prior to her arrival here, but from the movies she had seen and what she had read, they had a reputation for being downright vicious creatures. Then again, things were never like they were supposed to be, especially as of late. After about fifteen minutes of lying in bed staring at the ceiling, she finally was able to sleep, if not for just a couple of hours.

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It was eight a.m., and Na Na laid there in his bed, tossing over once more. Sleep had come to him less frequently over these past couple of months, but not once had he actually gone without sleeping for an entire night. Behind the darkness of his eyelids, he could hear her voice and he could smell her scent. Never in the thousand years of his life had he an appreciation for beauty or fairness, but she was everything that embodied that. Above all, he could not figure out why. All logic told him to fear her and hate her, that she was of the race that would bring about his clan’s destruction. Yet, he could no longer bring himself to feel such things. There was something else as well, lying beneath all that jumbled confusion. It was an emotion, an unfamiliar one, much more terrible and sinister, then anything else he had ever felt.

Rather than trying to focus on this strange and uncomfortable feeling, he decided to get out of bed and get dressed. He took one look in the mirror – he looked like absolute hell. Not really all that surprising considering his lack of sleep lately, but it had been a long time since he had seen himself so pale. He quickly brushed his teeth, ruffled some styling gel through his dark hair, and tried to make himself as presentable as best he could. He then went to his tiny kitchen, made himself a cup of coffee, again with his usual triple shot of espresso. Na Na finished his brew, grabbed his laptop, and then went out to the communal room to see who was out there. Any social interaction at this time he surmised would be better than sitting here thinking about her. Or worse, focusing on that nagging feeling that was seeping like a poison into his brain.

As he entered the communal room, SkekEkt and Vera were sitting in front of the large plasma television, watching Project Runway on Bravo.

“God Vera, look at that shit. Those dresses are so boring, so mundane. Does nobody have any fucking taste on this planet? They look like something you would wear to a sandpit,” she complained, absent-mindedly yanking on the many multi-colored jeweled necklaces that hung around her neck. “I mean, at least my designs have a little creativity, as well as class and prestige.”

The female Skeksis was referring to her former vocation as a fashion and interior designer for her clan back at the crystal castle. Although that was not currently her official title here anymore, she still designed all her own clothes as well as the extravagant, almost over-the-top jewelry she always wore, as well as anybody else that was willing to pay for her designs. Of course, Ekt did not receive many requests from those outside her race, since by modern American standards her creations could be looked upon as either gaudy or downright tacky most of the time.

“I don’t know, Ekt. They look fine to me. Not everybody here dresses like a Skeksis, you know. A lot can be said for subtlety,” Vera said, chewing on a piece of raw chicken.

Just as Ekt was trying to think of a snide reply, she caught a glimpse of Na Na out of her peripheral vision.

“In the name of the triple suns, what in the hell happened to you?” she exclaimed, taking one look at his exhausted appearance.

“I was out late,” he mumbled at her. “Why do you ask?”

“Because you look like shit, that’s why. Have you looked in a mirror?”

“Like I said, I was out late. It happens, Ekt. Get over it.” He had to keep his cool. If he let on that anything was amiss, he knew his problem could get much worse, very quickly.

“I don’t know Na Na, I think Ekt’s right. You do look like ass. What in the hell were you doing last night?” Vera said, laughing almost hysterically.

“Something that didn’t involve you and your shit-brained comments,” Na Na replied, rolling his eyes at her.

Vera shot back at him, “Well, if you’re going to be so secretive, Na Na, we’re all going to want to know more. You do realize that, right? Was it something embarrassing? Did that mad scientist Tek mistake you for a podling and attempt to drain you of your living essence?” She asked this in her ever so charming tone, referring to the skeksis scientist SkekTek, and the method in which he turned the pod people back on Thra into mindless slaves.

Ekt laughed out loud at her last remark. Yes, Vera’s quick wit and sharp tongue definitely made for good entertainment.

Unable to come up with an equally caustic rebuttal, he shot her one dirty look, and proceeded to sit down on the sofa in front of the television, logging onto his laptop to check his email. Under normal circumstances, Na Na could trade barbs with Vera all day and not blink an eye, but already he was operating on zero sleep, and his mind was full of other distractions – well, one in particular. He began surfing the web, and listening to Vera and Ekt continually critique the program they were watching, trying everything within his will not to think of her.

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Several days had passed, and the weekend was approaching once again. Kira and Na Na managed to not catch sight of each other all week. This of course, did not make things any better for either of them. Now that they had been confronted openly with the situation at hand, it was all they both could think about. In spite of her ever-growing frustration and anguish, she was keeping her eyes open for anything that seemed out of the ordinary, just as he had requested of her. Yet as hard as she scrutinized what was going on in her surroundings, she came up flat.

Never once did it occur to her that her good friend Eros might be behind it. Maybe had she spent more time with him after his little mishap, the thought could have come to her that he might have been involved. However, she had spoken to him maybe twice since the incident took place, and not being all that familiar with the mythologies and folklores of this world, she did not really even fully realize the extent of the powers he possessed. Even if she did, she had no reason to think that he would inflict something as horrific as this upon her. He was her friend, after all.

The last thing she wanted to do however, was sit home in her room, pushing away thoughts of what Na Na’s lips would feel like on hers. It was Saturday night, and it was time to get ready to go out to the club. Yes, he would most likely be there, she could no longer kid herself that he wouldn’t be, or that things would be different this time. She did decide however, that this problem needed to be tackled head on, and there was no more room for running from it. Every problem had a solution – that’s what her adoptive mother always told her, and why would this one be any different? A short lived sense of peace came from this idea, one she had not felt since her friend Eros’s little blunder. She jumped in the shower, then adorned herself in that dark blue party dress she had bought from Marshall Fields a couple of weeks earlier. She adjusted her long, flaxen blonde hair up into a stylishly loose bun. After finishing her hair and make up, she grabbed her coat, and headed out to Top of the Rock for a night of music and dance.