"Dude, are you okay?" Toby asked for umpteenth time that day, eyeing Jim as if he were emotionally unstable and about to either blow his top or burst into tears any second. "Don't tell me Morgana got into your head now?"
"Ugh, don't mention that witch's name to me," Claire groused, slinging her backpack higher up her shoulder. Her cheeks were still pale from her struggle against Morgana's control of her only the night before, the shadows under her eyes not quite as deep as they had been in the past few weeks. "If I ever get my hands on her, I'll—"
"Maybe you should work on recovering first," Toby chuckled, elbowing Claire lightly. "You're not gonna get your hands on anyone until you're feeling better, and you've got your new magic tricks under control."
Jim remained silent, following along behind his best friend and wife — girlfriend, Jim reminded himself with a painful clenching of his heart — as they made their way to gym class.
"Jim, really," Claire said after a few more seconds of tense silence. She paused right before the gymnasium doors, giving Toby a pointed look and nodding her head inward. The short and chubby boy took the hint and gave Jim a slight smile before rushing inside, leaving the couple alone. Claire raised her hand to cup Jim's cheek, and he nearly sobbed at the touch, his memory so vivid in what more that touch could do and what it meant. "You look like you're about to throw up."
"I..." Jim's voice was rough with emotion as he spoke, and he lifted his hand to cover hers on his face. "I think I'm losing my mind."
"Did Morgana get to you?" Claire asked, half laughing, but with a concerned look on her face as her eyes roved his anguished expression.
"No, I..." Jim closed his eyes, drawing in a shaky breath. "This... this has to be a dream — a nightmare."
"Well, I'm not a fan of gym class, either, but that hardly makes it a nightmare," Claire laughed, brushing her thumb along his cheek. "Especially in comparison to Gunmar and Morgana."
"No," Jim gasped again, not surprised to blink and feel warm wetness spill over. "This... we've already done this. I've already lived this."
"What do you mean?" Claire frowned, brushing the tear away, her expression unreadable. He hated not being able to feel the presence of her soul within his — but that had been a dream, right? An incredibly vivid dream, but a dream all the same. Or this was the dream... but that couldn't be right, either; even in sleep, he would be able to feel her soul mixing with his. Now, he felt nothing from her.
"Nothing," Jim said, shaking his head, laughing even as more tears slipped free. "I guess... it's nothing. I just... I had a really vivid dream. I guess I didn't want to wake up."
"That good, huh?" Claire laughed, raising an eyebrow teasingly. "Some of your porn mag girls involved?"
Jim snorted a watery laugh, rolling his eyes. "Hardly. The only person I dream about like that is y— wait..." he frowned, eyeing Claire's laughing smile skeptically. "How did you know about my porn mags?"
"I found them, remember?" Claire replied, shrugging. "When I was looking for shorts to borrow?"
Jim shook his head, blinking dazedly. "But that was—"
Riiiiiiiing.
"Gah!" Claire gasped, jumping and grimacing as the late bell went off right above them. Dropping her hand from his face, Claire made a face and grabbed his hand, tugging him after her through the gymnasium doors. "C'mon! Coach Lawrence will kill us, if we're any later!"
"No offense, but I think Gunmar is scarier than Coach," Jim chuckled, allowing Claire to tug him along behind her. They separated at the locker rooms, Claire disappearing into the Girls' room, while he turned to the boys' room.
