breakfast of champions

this scene comes about a day or two after they arrive at Marc’s house. a lot of introductory conversation occurs in between, but i decided to skip most of it and move on to this scene. Peter makes himself at home knowing that the shadow people can’t come near them, Haylee immediately starts mothering the worn out Marc, and Dakota attempts to ignore their awkward tension. that, however, can only last so long, as you will see from this scene. what you need to know: the reference to Marc’s scent comes from a previous scene where Dakota sleeps on his pillow and finds herself comforted by his smell (grass and strawberries). enjoy!

As soon as I was asleep, we dreamed.
The light reflecting off the sand was blinding. We were walking in a desert. Though I had never been here before, somehow I knew that we were in the northern tip of the Mojave. I couldn't see any of the others, but I could feel them beside me. The heat was sweltering, sweat rolled down the small of my back and I could see heat waves rising from the ground everywhere. I stopped walking, panting with the effort of breathing in the thick, hot air. I couldn't go forward, I couldn't take another breath. I had to sit down, I needed water and cool air in my lungs. I was going to die in this suffocating air, I was going to choke on the heat waves and drown. Suddenly, the sand darkened. Unbelievably, I heard a peel of thunder and raised my head to feel the first big drops of rain falling against my face. I breathed in the cooling air and looked into the distance. Over the rise of a sand dune, Peter stood with his arms lifted in the air as if in worship. He tilted his head up to the rain and laughed, the water swirling around him and obscuring him in a funnel of crystals. We laughed too, and filled our lungs with the fresh, cold air of his storm.
I awoke with a start, the gray dawn light creeping across the living room carpet. I rose from the couch, stretching my muscles. The joyful face of Peter laughing as rain swirled around him filled my mind. I felt uneasy but also extremely hungry, so I made my way into the little kitchen to see what food was left to eat. If nothing else, I could think over the dream while I ate. I went straight to the fridge and pulled a half empty box of cereal from the counter. The milk was only one day past its sell by date, so I figured it would still be safe. I grabbed a ceramic bowl from the sink and turned toward the table. Peter was sitting in a chair in the shadows, staring at a glass of water. I gasped and dropped my bowl, which broke into two neat pieces on the floor. The air rushed from my lungs in a groan and I clutched my heart. Peter raised his head and observed me with distracted eyes.
"Wow, Pete, thanks so much," I said, tossing the bowl pieces into the trash and taking a new one, "I love a nice heart attack in the morning." I sat down across from him and poured some cereal.
"Did you see me, Dakota?" he whispered with a gleam in his eyes, "It was incredible, wasn't it? All that water..." he trailed off, looking back at the glass.
"What do you think it means?" I asked despite the unease in my stomach.
"It means we have to go there. To the desert. If we go there, I'll be able to figure out why I can do this and what it is." There was no doubt in his voice.
"What if it's just..." I swallowed, not wanting to upset him, "I mean... what if it's like you said before? Just a side effect of whatever has happened?" He shook his head, unwavering.
"It's not like that. It feels... different. Deliberate. I don't know," he lowered his voice and leaned toward me, "I think Marc can do something, too. I think there's something he's not telling us." A floorboard creaked upstairs and Peter looked suddenly excited. "Haylee!" he cried and jumped from the table.
I poured milk into the bowl slowly, thinking through the images from the dream and what Peter had said. I looked down into my cereal and realized that I had forgotten a spoon. “Great,“ I sighed. I stood, pushing my chair out and turning around. I saw Marc approaching from behind me one second too late. "Good morn- OW!" I pushed my chair right into his shins. He fell forward, knocking me into the table and pinning the small of my back against it. He put his hands flat against the tabletop on either side of me, steadying himself. His face was inches from mine, his body heavy against my chest, my head swam with the scent of grass and strawberries. We stared at each other for a long moment, breathing heavily. "Marc?" I whispered. His eyes burned into mine, "Yes?" he breathed back, his breath warm on my cheek, his hands tightening on the edge of the table. I closed my eyes and leaned my face toward his. Suddenly, the floor slid beneath me. My back hit the tile, knocking the breath out of me, and I felt ceramic crunch against my right shoulder. I sat up slowly, squinting against the pain. Marc stared down at me with wide, terrified eyes. The cereal was splattered across the floor and chairs, my broken bowl laying in pieces. We stared at each other across the now empty space where the table had stood only seconds before. Predictably, Peter arrived seconds later, looking for the source of the noise, Haylee following behind him. They stopped in the doorway, looking around the room and between Marc and I.
"Marc?" Haylee asked hesitantly, "what happened to the table?" We continued to stare at each other.
"He... vanished it," I choked in a whisper.
"That," Peter said after a moment, "is awesome."