Chapter Text
"Enter the chamber, doctor." A voice instructed over the intercom.
The doctor adjusted his lab coat and cleared his throat, his eyebrows furrowed and lower lip slightly drawn between his teeth, showing a glimmer of fangs. He held his clearance card up to the scanner and watched as the door slid open, revealing a room with a blue wooden door in the middle and a well made bed beside it.
"I just touch the door, right, like the doorknob?" The doctor asked.
Static came from overhead, "yes."
The doctor approached the door, mentally reassuring himself that this SCP was very much safe to handle. He’d read the file many times, he’d seen the door in several pictures, and pictures of what sometimes emerged from the door. This was fine, he wouldn’t fuck this up. At least, he hoped very much that he wouldn’t.
He was Seth “Timeless”, a roughly 29 year old, if he remembered correctly, man with teal skin and red patches, had a pet axolotl and a pet cat waiting for him in his office, and had managed to conquer top surgery either 2 years ago or 2 months ago.
Seth took another deep breath. SCP-14812 is only able to cause harm in dreams, they are peaceful and friendly when they emerge from the door.
“Hurry up, doctor.”
“I’m doing it, I’m doing it, fucking hell.” Seth responded.
He reached for the door, tracing his fingers over the carvings on the blue wood. He wondered if they represented a real star system somewhere out there, if it was in the solar system he called home or if it was some far off system somewhere he could never hope to reach. Could this SCP be another alien of some sort? That would certainly be cool.
Finally, he made contact with the golden doorknob and twisted it, feeling a sudden pain in his shoulder and hip as if he’d fallen. He looked down and saw his own body, sprawled out in a position he knew would hurt so fucking much later.
“Well shit, that’s just weird,” Seth thought aloud, blinking a few times. He knelt down, poking at his body’s cheek and watching his finger go through it.
“You are unable to interact with the physical when in my realm, dear doctor. I owe you many an apology for not appearing the moment you touched my door.”
Seth startled, falling down and through his own body. He looked up at where the voice had come from, seeing a humanoid with planets orbiting where a head should be, one looking very similar to Earth.
They extended a hand towards Seth, towering over him with their segmented floating legs of gold and pink.
“Sorry, I was just, uh, in my own little world as people say?”
“You sound unsure, but I understand being in one’s own world, although mine is far from little.”
Seth let out a huff of a laugh, grabbing their hand and standing up, smiling at them.
“I’m Seth, some call me Doctor Timeless, but please just call me Seth.”
Their planet head began to rotate diagonally, as if they were tilting their head somehow. They pulled Seth closer to theirself, the planets staring down at him.
“Seth, I am Aspira in this form, Delusi in another, and Drema in your world. It is a pleasure to meet such an adorably silly little doctor.”
Seth felt his face heat up, worrying about how Aspira made him feel so warm so quickly.
“I,” his voice cracked and he cleared his throat, “I came here as a professional," he stepped away from Aspira, "so, I have some questions for you first, then I'd like to explore your abilities. May I enter your door?"
"Oh my, yes of course, Doctor Seth, I can't deny such a polite professional," Aspira giggled, taking Seth's hand and pulling him through the door, into their true realm.
Seth looked back at where the door had been and saw nothing but endless, infinite space. His eyes widened then glanced at the floor, seeing rosey tiles beneath his feet.
"Be not afraid."
"I'm not afraid, this is just… an amazing realm you have. Can you control everything here?"
Aspira released their hold on Seth's hand and extended their golden arms out, hands waving and changing their surroundings. What was a galaxy with rose tiles became a lush, vibrant garden, a white gazebo with a table and chairs in the center, and hedge mazes with colorful flowers surrounding everything. The sky became a cotton candy sunset, coating all in a golden hue.
"Holy shit– I mean, I'm professional, uh, let's go sit under the gazebo?"
The planets of Aspira's head nodded, another giggle emitting from them.
The two sat across from each other, Seth using this chance to study Aspira's appearance further.
Aspira had no stomach area, blue ribbons floating in a spiral where it should be. Their arms were golden and constantly flowed as if they were liquid, yet they had been warm when he held their hand. Their legs had two separate skirt-like pieces with golden thighs visible between the pieces and they had clouds that connected lava lamp heels to the rest of their body.
"See anything intriguing, Doctor Seth?"
"You, you're not like anything I've seen before. You've got like this… otherworldly beauty to you. Are you an alien?"
Aspira snorted and laughed, the planets turning side to side as a headshake. They leaned forward, placing their hand over Seth's cheek.
"I am purely of this world, but not fully of this plane. Many humans think of me as magic and they are correct. I once protected and granted dreams to fairies, as humans call them, I was born of oak wishes and blessed by the stars."
Seth imagined what Aspira's words could mean, thinking of it as a post childhood dream come true in a reality where said dreams no longer had such hold over anything. He focused on the warmth of Aspira's hand and grounded himself. He needed to continue with the questions.
"Did you have any parents?"
"They do not fall into the typical definition of parents, but yes. The winged folk of the forest, the graspers of the stars, the souls and life of the fauna all brought me to adulthood. They are long gone, yet I remain," Aspira let out a sigh, "I always remain, don't I?"
Seth patted Aspira's hand, feeling the liquid gold morph under his touch. He knew how it felt to be lost and alone.
"Want a happier question?" He offered.
Aspira hummed in confirmation, rotating and altering their hand to lace their fingers together with Seth's.
"Alright. What's your…" he paused to remember, "favorite thing to create?"
"My favorite thing to create? Oh, I could not simply choose a favorite, dear doctor."
"Then show me a top 10?"
"Why of course!"
Aspira retracted their hand and stood, still very much towering, the planets orbiting. They stretched their fingers outward then closed them into a fist, opening their palm and producing a migration of butterflies. Around their feet appeared glowing mushrooms, at their side, a floating mountain with a waterfall.
A deer appeared to walk out from the endless hedge maze, a cat sat atop its back.
Seth gasped, his eyes locked onto the fluffy cat. He got up from his seat, smiling as he pet it.
"A love for cats?"
"I've got a cat waiting for me in my dorm… her name's Kevin and she's a little chaos machine, but she's the best lab assistant next to Eclipse."
Aspira scratched under the cat's chin lightly. "And who is Eclipse?"
"My axolotl! I gave him a mech suit and taught him basic communication!"
"A… mech suit?"
Seth thought about the best way to explain it in a way Aspira would understand, yet his mind came up blank.
Feeling a hand suddenly loosen his ponytail and fingers combing through his hair, he looked up at Aspira. He was thankful they were so kind, hoping to work with them more in the future.
"I can see your thoughts when I make contact with you, I understand what this mech suit is now and I am glad you're having an enjoyable dream," they spoke, one of their fingers nudging against his horn ever so slightly, "I hope to see you again as well, Seth, you are wonderful company."
"Um, my horns–"
"I'm aware of their sensitivity, would you like for me to stop?" Aspira interrupted.
"I don't know you well enough yet… sorry."
"No apologies needed."
He felt Aspira remove their hand, watching his loose hair move with it and fall down into his face. He reminded himself of the questions he hadn't asked.
"Um, what's the hardest thing for you to create?"
“The hardest in what way, dear doctor?” Aspira’s planets tilted once again. “There’s many a way for something to be hard.”
Seth’s ears warmed first this time, cheeks following close behind, he cleared his throat, eyes darting away from the dream entity.
“I jest, I know what you mean. The hardest to create is a face that does not exist and a city, a modern city, with all the details it has. You humans and your sky scratchers and your horny transportation, why must it be that way?”
“Yeah, I don’t get it either.”
Seth’s time with Aspira continued with further questioning, no longer using the script that had been drilled into his head, instead learning about them on his own, occasionally chiming in with his own thoughts and experiences. The two talked as if they’d always known each other and it felt as if they truly did with the mental connection Aspira had established. It was a shame that Seth had to wake up eventually.
“Aspira?” He stopped walking.
They had been walking through an old village Aspira had conjured at Seth’s request, each villager that walked by had real faces, something that had shocked Seth. Aspira had memorized everyone they’d happened upon, no detail was lost to them or to time.
“What is it, Seth?” Aspira looked down and Seth felt as if they stared into his soul even with the lack of visible eyes.
“You were flirting with me earlier, right? I wasn’t dreaming that part?”
“Of course I was. Why do you ask?”
“Maybe sometime,” he suddenly felt nervous and faint, chest heavy, “we could possibly go on a date? I think you’re kind and you’ve made this time together… really nice. I want to see you again, if that’s okay, and try to flirt back.”
Aspira gasped, their planets bouncing up and down rapidly and their fingers shaking with what Seth hoped was excitement. They suddenly swept him off his feet, forcing Seth to wrap his arms around them so he wouldn’t fall.
“Yes yes yes yes! I would love to! I will make sure to have a venue ready for us! I can not promise anything of real nutrition, but I can promise to do my best!”
The planets leaned closer to Seth, the Earth just a centimeter from his lips and warm breath on his face.
That was when he unfortunately awoke, the white room blinding him. He covered his eyes and rubbed them, noting how hot his face was.
“Doctor Timeless, are you awake?” Some doctor he didn’t remember the name of asked.
“I’ve… got a date.” He whispered to himself.
“Pardon?”
“I’ve got a date!” He exclaimed.