Sweet Dreams Are Made Of This // Logan

[Briar-Rose Fontaine]

seems i'm lost in my reflection find a star for my direction
for the little girl inside who won't just hide don't let me see mistakes and lies

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A yelp echoed through the room as Briar bolted up in bed, running a hand through her tangled locks. Her breathes were short and shallow and the woman was covered in a cold sweat. Reaching a shaky hand to her forehead, she wiped the sweat from it, taking a deep breath in to try and calm herself. The images from her nightmare were fading fast and slowly her heartbeat returned to normal. Reaching out, she switched her bedside lamp on and peered at the clock. Midnight. The blonde frowned and gave another sigh, falling back into bed and staring at the ceiling.

The Crawler had haunted her dreams tonight, making her relive the Battle of Albion all over again. Her dreams had been filled with incessant gunfire, screams of Albion's citizens dying, the smell of burning houses and sizzling flesh. Terrifying was putting it lightly. She'd tried to run, but her feet wouldn't cooperate, rooting her to the spot as those around her rushed into battle, only to be killed. Ben Finn ran past her, yelling for her to move. Stella had been next, tugging at her arm before giving up and rushing forward to stop the Crawler's invasion of Albion. Briar had frantically looked around, hoping to see Logan, just to make sure he hadn't been one of the casualties. But the ex-king was nowhere to be found. Expression creasing into a frown, she tried to wrench herself from her spot. She had to find Logan. What if he were injured? Or dying? She couldn't leave him in such a moment.

Her frantic thoughts were interrupted as something burning struck her in her side, the searing pain causing her to cry out. And then she'd woken. It was a shock to realize it had all been nothing but a horrible nightmare, and it scared her just how realistic it had been. The real battle had her see enough carnage to last her a lifetime; she didn't want to see even more in her dreams. Finally, after what to her seemed like hours but in reality was only ten minutes, Briar let out a long sigh and swung her legs over the edge of her bed. For a long moment she sat there, staring at the floor before finally sliding her feet into her slippers, pulling on her dressing gown, and leaving her room. Quiet as a mouse, she padded through the familiar maze of corridors. She'd roamed this castle enough times to know where every suit of armour was, where the creaky spots were, how to get through the castle at midnight without being heard or noticed.

The kitchen was still and eerily skeletal when she came in. Turning on one of the gas lamps, she set about making herself some cocoa, and several minutes later she sat down by the window and stared out at the watlzing snowflakes outside, her steaming mug warming her hands. She took a sip of the chocolately goodness and smiled to herself, already feeling calmer. She leaned her forehead against the cool glass, watching the snowflakes create random patterns against it. They were safe now; the Crawler wasn't going to try and launch another attack, not in a million years. Albion was safe once again.

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let me keep my faith in innocent eyes

OUTFIT: victorian nightgown and dressing gown; haven't decided on specifics
NOTES: i am freaking excited about these two x3 also pretty excited about my new posting template x3
CREDIT: this template was made by miss calypso; song "innocent eyes" by delta goodrem

[Prince Logan Black]

- - - - - - - - - -
well, i won't give up on us
EVEN WHEN THE SKIES GET ROUGH
- - - - - - - - - -

He hadn't been able to sleep tonight. If he had, it hadn't been much. He'd spent most of the night pacing the room, thinking. He wasn't completely heartless, even with everything he had done while he was on the throne. The pressing need to save the kingdom had left him with no other options. And tonight had just been a haunt of his trip to Aurora. Watching all of his men die... Logan hadn't taken it well. It was only thanks to Kalin and her people that he'd survived, after all. And then hearing Theresa warn him that the Crawler and the Darkness were coming for Albion? He'd felt like he'd had no choice.

The small amount of sleep he'd gotten had been plagued with a nightmare, which lead to his currently sitting by the window staring unseeingly out at whatever might be outside of the castle to see at such an hour. He didn't dare look at the clock. Just the thought of what hour it might be made him want to grimace and hide in the darkest corner of the castle he could find, not that he was all that fond of darkness as of late. It was a cursing thing that reminded him all too well of the battle against the Crawler and everything before that. All of it was way too much to recall all at once for the simple fact that it was simply so much... darkness.

He hadn't wanted to break what promises he had made. He had nothing against Aurora, and he'd wanted to help. He just couldn't stand the idea of keeping his promises and leading the the kingdom to certain annihilation. Even on his way back he'd been trying to think of alternatives to breaking his former ways. There had been no way he'd be able to pull it off though. If there had, he had been unable to see it. Theresa was right about one thing without dispute: he hadn't been the right one to lead that battle. A hero needed to be on the throne to take on the Crawler, and thank everything that was still good in this world that it had been his sister. He didn't want to think about what might've happened if his sister hadn't led the revolution and then taken on the enormous task of building an army to defend Albion against the darkness. To say the least and put it lightly, the kingdom would be in a much worse shape than it was as it stood now.

Finally, he had enough of sitting in the pressing silence alone. He had the pressing urge to move. Maybe he'd even slip out. Whatever he ended up doing, he knew he needed to do something or else he feared he'd drive himself mad with his reflections. Pulling on the first thing he could find that didn't scream royalty and royal duties, he prepared to slip out. There was no way he could take staying in his room for even a second longer. The castle was way too quite, and, even though it was bound to be cold outside, at least he'd know he was still alive if he could recognize the sting of the cold air and the snow. Something had to give, he was certain of it.

As he slipped silently through the castle halls, he took notice of one of the lamps on in the kitchen, casting its faint glow and catching his attention. Surely no one would really be up and preparing in the kitchen yet. It was way too early for that. Deciding it was worth checking out, he slipped into the kitchen, his gaze finding Briar by the window with a warm mug of cocoa. "Couldn't you sleep?" he asked as he took a few more steps into the kitchen to bring him close enough to her that he could see out the window himself. What he hadn't realized back in his room was that it was snowing peacefully. There would probably be a healthy coat of the flurries on the ground by morning's light.

Shaking that thought off, he looked back to Briar. "I couldn't sleep much myself," he admitted, frowning ever so slightly as he took a seat nearby. At least he wasn't the only one up. That was some relief. Maybe a light conversation would help him calm his thoughts. He was certainly hoping it would. He was starting to get tired of staring out the window with the battle scenes playing through his mind on repeat. It was nothing too short of torture for him, and he'd had enough of it the first time he'd seen it. He really didn't need to relive all of it again tonight or ever, for that matter.

- - - - - - - - - -
'cause even the stars, they burn
SOME EVEN FALL TO EARTH
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TAGGED``: Briar-Rose Fontaine
OUTFIT``: something simple that he'd wear during the daytime. i don't think he's anything fancy at the moment, yet i'm too lazy to go hunting for specifics. xD
NOTES``: i figured it was time for a little change in color. xD so excited to finally get these two going!! can't wait to get some actual posts done with logan. :3 he's such a complex character that i can't help but love him.
LYRICS``: i won't give up by jason mraz
CREDIT``: made by TAYLYNOSAURUS REX! of caution 2.0. with a zillion and one edits by CALYPSO

[Briar-Rose Fontaine]

seems i'm lost in my reflection find a star for my direction
for the little girl inside who won't just hide don't let me see mistakes and lies

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Humming a soft tune to herself to keep the silence away, Briar took another sip of her drink, shifting her grip so as not to burn herself. The dancing snowflakes were mesmerizing her and making her sleepy, and slowly as she watched them her eyes began to close. For months after the Crawler's attack she hadn't been able to sleep with the lights off in her room. The blonde had kept all the lamps burning all through the night, only turning them off when the rooster crowed at dawn. But she placated herself by telling herself that at least she wasn't the only one who couldn't sleep with the lights off; she knew that Queen Stella had also been unable to sleep in complete darkness for many months after the invasion. Briar was actually surprised the whole castle hadn't slept with all the lamps burning each night, given what each of them had experienced that wretched night.

The voice addressing her startled the woman, making her jump and spill cocoa on herself in the process. She frowned at the wet spot on her nightgown for a brief second, before looking up at the newcomer. Not that she need have bothered - she knew exactly who it was by the voice without any need to look. Briar couldn't help the small smile that came to rest on her lips as she looked at Logan, though self-consciously she pulled her dressing gown tighter around her. It was, after all, bad form for him to be seeing her in such a state of undress, though Briar didn't exactly mind. "I kept dreaming of the invasion," she explained, wrinkling her nose. "It was horrid. All that death and destruction." She gave an involuntary shiver as the images of the nightmare came back to her, pulling her dressing gown even tighter around her, even though she wasn't actually cold; the mere thought of the Crawler put her at unease and made her skin creep. Even this long after the battle, she still couldn't quite get over it.  

Cocking her head to the side, she studied Logan for a long minute. He'd had it the worst out of everyone. No one understood that all he had done, he'd done to save his beloved country. She'd heard down the castle grapevine that he'd told his sister exactly why he'd done what he had, and Briar often wondered whether Stella understood just how difficult a choice he'd had to make. She made it look so easy, keeping all the promises she made to the people and making everyone love her. But where had that gotten her? In a mountain of debt with no way of paying the army that were supposed to protect the people. She had, of course, managed to get the needed money to pay the guards, but it had left the country seriously in debt to Reaver, and in Briar's mind that was not much better. Reaver was bound to turn it all to his advantage and end up making more money out of the transaction than he should.

"Would you like me to make you some cocoa? Chocolate does wonders for troubled minds," she offered with a smile, pushing all thoughts of Reaver, Stella, and the Crawler out of her mind. Something was troubling Logan and whatever it was, she wanted to help. She knew that cocoa alone wouldn't do the trick, but when she'd been little and was upset or couldn't sleep, her grandmas had always made her cocoa and it had always soothed her. Maybe it could help the prince too. "It won't chase all your problems away, but it might help clear your mind a bit." She paused, chewing the inside of her lip.  "May I ask what's troubling you, Logan?" she asked finally, looking intently at him. "You do not have to tell me if you wish not to, but my mama always said a problem shared is a problem halved..."

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let me keep my faith in innocent eyes

OUTFIT: victorian nightgown and dressing gown; haven't decided on specifics
NOTES: ---
CREDIT: this template was made by miss calypso; song "innocent eyes" by delta goodrem

[Prince Logan Black]

- - - - - - - - - -
well, i won't give up on us
EVEN WHEN THE SKIES GET ROUGH
- - - - - - - - - -

Pulled from his thoughts again as Briar confided about having a nightmare of the invasion, Logan nodded in understanding. "I'm sorry to have startled you," he said, quietly apologetic. In all reasoning, he hadn't planned on meeting her here, after all, but he still didn't like to frighten anyone. He'd grown tired of such practices quickly and the choices he'd had to make, along with the terrible encounter in Aurora, had left him rather exhausted even though he attempted to push it off when he was still ruler. On another hand, he saw the pros and cons of not having to worry about the kingdom as much as he used to. The practices had taken up time, leaving him with little room to worry about much else than the fate of Albion that hung precariously in the balance with the Darkness and its cursed leader the Crawler fast approaching. Five years had not been as long as he had wished it would be. They had been too terribly short for him to feel fully confident that anyone would be ready. That fear had even been for his sister. Hero or not, the Darkness was an infectious thing. No one was safe, ever. That was the terrifying part of it.

He did, however, manage a small smile at the offer of cocoa, and he nodded his thanks and acceptance of the offer. There was no way he was getting out of the castle now, and he was also doubting that it had been a good idea in the first place. It was anyone's guess as to what may lie beyond the sheltered gates of a civilized town, and, although he knew many wouldn't mind if he happened to be shot by mercenaries or carried off by balverines or something of the sort, he didn't fancy taking his chances. It wasn't like he'd stopped to consider grabbing anything to arm himself with, and that would've more than likely brought some less than pleasant consequences.

Mindlessly, he allowed his gaze to travel back to the window to watch the swirling snowflakes outside. If only things were as simple as they were. Maybe they wouldn't have had such problems. He wouldn't have had to make all those decisions that had so much to do with life or death and many things that had happened might not have.

Then came Briar's question, making him look up again and reminding him too well of his past few hours. With a soft sigh, he shook his head slightly, wondering how much he should explain to her. She was probably the only one that would understand, but he did have to wonder if he'd already told her too much. It wasn't exactly standard for him to tell her everything that haunted him. But with ninety-nine percent of the kingdom hating him and his own sister still not fully understanding the reasons for his doing what he did, he knew the only reason he was so driven to get out at that exact moment was the feeling of being caged by knowing too much. This was something he was unable to carry on his shoulders alone. It was the same reason he'd ever told Briar anything about what he'd learned. Someone had to know besides him, or else there was no doubting that he would definitely drive himself to a place he didn't want to be.

"Everything, to be short," he said finally, standing with another soft sigh and wandering over to the window, gazing out at the dusted landscape that made up the land that he called home. "I've barely slept at all tonight because I can't get everything out of my head. Aurora and then the invasion... And all the choices I never had wanted to make," he went on after a few moments, starting to give her details as it came back to him. "To be quite honest with you, I've lost a lot of sleep over everything... Especially tonight. For some reason..., tonight, it's not leaving me alone. I tried so hard to find another way to prepare them all for what was coming, but there was just no such thing. I've spent the past few hours pacing with all of it just running through my mind. I feared I'd drive myself mad with the memories if I didn't get out," he explained, turning back to face her as he finished. "I just hate it. If I could ever explain to them properly why I did all of those things and express just how much I'm upset with it all myself, believe me, I would." Another stressed and defeated sigh left him as he shook his head, unable to keep up the eye contact he'd been meaning to hold. "I'd especially love to explain it to my sister. I know I already have, but I hardly think that satisfied the story. She's managed the rule much better than I could've ever managed, but the only thing that troubles me is that I fear I've lost her full trust for good, and that is not something I'm proud of."

- - - - - - - - - -
'cause even the stars, they burn
SOME EVEN FALL TO EARTH
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TAGGED``: Briar-Rose Fontaine
OUTFIT``: something simple that he'd wear during the daytime. i don't think he's anything fancy at the moment, yet i'm too lazy to go hunting for specifics. xD
NOTES``: ---
LYRICS``: i won't give up by jason mraz
CREDIT``: made by TAYLYNOSAURUS REX! of caution 2.0. with a zillion and one edits by CALYPSO

[Briar-Rose Fontaine]

seems i'm lost in my reflection find a star for my direction
for the little girl inside who won't just hide don't let me see mistakes and lies

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Briar waved a dismissive hand at his apology for startling her, getting up from her perch and heading over to the stove, starting to make Logan's cocoa. "You need not apologize for startling me. It's what I get for sneaking around the castle at night," she replied, throwing a smile over her shoulder to show that she wasn't in the least bit upset at him. Starting up the stove again, she poured some milk into a small saucepan and began to boil it, making sure to not burn it.  After a few minutes, she spooned a couple of heaped spoonfuls of cocoa into the pale liquid and stirred it around until it all combined. Finally she switched the stove off and poured the steaming cocoa into a mug and padded over to Logan, placing a comforting hand on his upper arm as she offered the hot drink to him. "Here. Made with the finest cocoa beans Albion has to offer," she added with a small smile.

She listened as he talked, not moving her hand away and just looking out the window. When he finished, Briar gave a sigh of her own. "Albionites are a selfish lot. They won't care about your reasons because all they care about is that it inconvenienced them," she remarked wryly, wrinkling her nose in anger. Usually she kept her mouth firmly shut about how she felt about the behaviour of the kingdom's citizens, but it was midnight, and if Logan was spilling his heart to her, she felt like she could spill her heart too. Personally she hadn't been thrilled with how Logan had run the kingdom herself, but she understood why he did what he had, and unlike the majority of the population, she didn't judge him for it. Granted that was mostly due to the fact that he'd told her why he was doing such things to the kingdom, but what frustrated her was even after he'd told his story and explained, people still judged him. It was unfair and it was cruel, like rubbing salt onto his already open wounds.

Another sigh escaped her lips as Logan stated that Stella had done a better job at ruling. "As for your sister ruling better than you, that is highly debatable," she said, giving an affronted sniff and taking a sip of her cocoa. "Yes, she kept all her promises to the people, and yes, she did manage to keep the Crawler from taking over Albion, but at what cost?" She took her hand away, tucking a lock of hair that had fallen into her eyes behind her ear. "Bowerstone was almost destroyed and the whole kingdom is now in debt to Reaver. I fail to see how that is really any better in the grand scheme of matters." She gave a shrug and moved a few paces away from him, staring into her mug. She didn't particularly enjoy discussing Stella or her ruling methods with Logan. He cared for his sister, probably still quite deeply, whereas she could never forgive the queen for her treatment of her brother.

She could remember her fight with the then-princess like it was only yesterday. Stella kept pestering Briar about why Logan was acting like he was because according to her, the King's personal butler should know, but the blonde refused to say. Finally, the young ruler had angrily questioned how Briar could keep his secrets, nor even stand looking at him after what he was doing to Albion, saying how much Briar had changed since their friendship days if she could turn a blind eye at such tyranny. Furious, Briar had thrown a few very unladylike words into Stella's face before storming off, yelling over her shoulder that she shouldn't judge people before she knew the full story. Since that day she'd refused to speak to Stella unless it was absolutely necessary and even then she was only civil, nothing more.

At the memory she shivered, swallowing the lump that had formed in her throat at the memory. "Forgive me. I should not speak ill of the queen," she said, looking away away from Logan and sitting down at the long wooden table. "And though it is not my place to tell you what to do, I feel like you should talk to her. Properly talk to her and explain to her exactly why you had no choice and couldn't rule like everyone wanted you to. She might not trust you completely after all that has happened, but it is a bridge that you can mend, I am sure." She fell silent, as thoughts of her taking her own advise flitted through her mind. They had been friends once upon a time, close friends at that. The blonde gave an imperceptible shake of her head, pushing the thought far from her mind. She had been in the right; if Stella wasn't going to come and apologize to her, then she wasn't about to grovel at her feet just to mend a past friendship.

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let me keep my faith in innocent eyes

OUTFIT: victorian nightgown and dressing gown; haven't decided on specifics
NOTES: so leda and i decided that the only reasonable way stella could have saved the kingdom without selling ten trillion blueberry pies was that she auctioned off valuables like that aurora diamond, that balverine statue, and others, and the rest of the money she borrowed from reaver because that totally was the smartest thing to do and now the kingdom is in a tonne of debt. but hey, at least they defeated the damn crawler. and as usual i was all like "imma not ramble" and then bam, this reply happened.
CREDIT: this template was made by miss calypso; song "innocent eyes" by delta goodrem

[Prince Logan Black]

- - - - - - - - - -
well, i won't give up on us
EVEN WHEN THE SKIES GET ROUGH
- - - - - - - - - -

Logan frowned slightly at her words about the people of Albion. It was rather true, in all honesty. "I don't know if I'd use selfish, but for the lack of a better term to describe their need for everything to be sunshine, rainbows and no more problems, I guess we must," he told her, looking over his shoulder at her with a small half-smile. "Because all of us in this castle do understand that the only right choice in the mind of the people is to make them happy and keep them alive, and we all know that that's no easy task."

That brought him up to the matter of his sister and he sighed softly as he listened to Briar, leaning heavily against the wall by the window as he did. "In the great scheme of things, no, it's no better," he admitted, letting her have that much. "But at least she's not facing unrest in the streets on top of the debt. That's one thing that's in her favor. How she'll pay off to Reaver is a whole other problem." With that, he frowned slightly. "Quite frankly, it's the one thing I hated about being ruler and don't miss at all," he said, looking back up and over at Briar, "I don't miss having to make all the hard decisions between running the kingdom into the ground either financially or population wise. That paired with the trip to Aurora and I find myself lucky to have been able to stay on my feet as long as I did."

That's when he paused to sigh softly, taking a few moments to gaze out at the dusted kingdom before turning back to face Briar. "Please," he said finally, "don't apologize. I can see both sides, after all. They have reason to be upset with me, and I understand that you have reason to be upset with my sister." He walked over to her, carefully resting an understanding hand on her shoulder. After a brief moment of hesitation, he offered her a slight smile. "I'll do my best to talk with her, although I have my doubts on if she'll even allow me to speak with her or hear me like I want her to. And promise me something," he told her, "Promise me you won't hold it against her, no matter what she says of me. I've done my best to move on, and I won't say that anyone has made it easy for me, because they haven't, but that doesn't mean we have to give up. The kingdom has had it's second chance." He paused to offer her another small smile. "I think it's about time some of us give ourselves a second chance. I know I need to, and I think you might need to as well. Just promise me that you won't turn your back on it when it might be the thing you're looking for."

- - - - - - - - - -
'cause even the stars, they burn
SOME EVEN FALL TO EARTH
- - - - - - - - - -

TAGGED``: Briar-Rose Fontaine
OUTFIT``: something simple that he'd wear during the daytime. i don't think he's anything fancy at the moment, yet i'm too lazy to go hunting for specifics. xD
NOTES``: D'awwww.... And before you ask, I have no idea where that came from. Cocoa solves major problems quite well, it seems. x3
LYRICS``: i won't give up by jason mraz
CREDIT``: made by TAYLYNOSAURUS REX! of caution 2.0. with a zillion and one edits by CALYPSO

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