The few moments that passed felt like an eternity. The redhead couldn't feel his body, nor could he think about anything. All he knew was that the man from his dreams was standing in front of him, and this was not a dream.

Or was this a dream? He didn't know. He didn't know anything; he didn't feel anything. He didn't even notice that the folder and the paper bag had slipped from his hand and fallen back to the floor, and that Marco had gotten up and taken a few steps towards the door.

Then suddenly, he could feel his heart again. It was beating fast, so fast that it hurt. He tried to breathe, only to find that he wasn't able to. His head hurt...

And then he broke the eye contact and turned. He stared away, shaking. He felt so frightened...

This... is... a dream. You're... imagining... things. It's not... him. Maybe... it's someone... who looks like him, but... it's not him...

He took a few steps. His feet refused to move at first, but he took another forced step, then another...

Oh gods, I'm crazy. I've lost it. I'm crazy... Culgan...

His eyes burned. He felt dizzy, and he wanted to run away. Somewhere where he would be safe. Somewhere where his dreams wouldn't haunt him like this. Somewhere where...

And then someone wrapped his arms around him.

The silver-haired man blinked, realizing that the other had turned away. He shook his head, trying to get his thoughts cleared. Not sure if he was hallucinating, he glanced to his side - and saw the redhead standing in the middle of the street.

"Seed! Seed... wait..."

He took a few steps after the young man, forgetting the folder he'd been carrying. He also forgot about his breakfast and his briefcase which he had dropped where he had been standing earlier.

He didn't see Marco stopping at the door to pick up the items in question and call after him. He also didn't see how the guard sighed and moved the things inside, since being the guard on duty he couldn't leave the building and follow the owner of those items. Culgan wasn't obviously listening, either.

He saw only Seed, and he saw that the redhead was scared. He did the only thing that felt natural; he stepped next to him and gently wrapped his arms around him.

"It's okay... everything's all right... I'm here... Seed..."

This was no dream; this was way too real to be a dream. Besides, the redhead had a vague memory of speaking to Marco just a short while ago, and that had not been a dream. He could actually hear the other guard's voice calling for someone, but he was too confused to know what was going on.

He was standing there, and that was the place he had been looking for just a few seconds earlier. It was the place where no dreams would ever haunt him. He took a deep breath, still shaken by all this. Then his weakened control broke, and he started sobbing against the other man's shoulder, not knowing what else to do. He felt so lost... and at the same time, safer than ever in his life.

Culgan just held the redhead, whispering comforting words into the younger man's ear. His self-control was also shattered; all he could do was to stand there and hold the other man. He closed his eyes, wanting the moment to go on forever.

He woke back to the reality soon enough. A car coming down the street stopped near them, and the driver opened his window and yelled something angrily. Then the car moved past them, but it was enough to return his calm control.

"Seed... We're in the middle of the street... Come."

Culgan quickly assessed the situation, then took the redhead's hand and led him to the cafe across the street. The young man followed; that was the only thing he could do, anyway. He just couldn't get control over himself, despite his weak efforts.

Jeffrey gave the silver-haired man a smirk as he stepped in with the younger man. "Back already? Oh my... Who's the cutie?"

"Seed. Do me a favor, will you? I need two cups of coffee, some sandwiches and privacy."

Jeffrey stared at him like he'd seen a ghost as Culgan led the redhead to a table in the back of the cafe. He got the young man to sit down, then sat on the opposite side of the table.

"Seed. It's you, isn't it? Your face... your voice... everything..."

The redhead stared at the older man for a few more seconds, and then the spell broke. He swallowed slowly and looked at the man sitting on the other side of the table. Some feeling returned to his body, and he stopped shaking now that he was sitting. He took another look, and then he blurted out the first words he had said after apologizing to the other man for the dropped folder.

"Oh... gods... I've... gone... mad."

"No, you have not. It's me, Culgan," the other man replied. "You know me, don't you?"

Seed shook his head, disbelieving look on his face. Not only did the other man look like Culgan, but he also had the same voice. It was Culgan, down to every little detail. Everything from his dreams...

"C-could you..." He mumbled. "Could you... do something for me?"

"Anything."

The redhead buried his face into his hands, leaning his elbows on the table. "Go... call an ambulance or something. I think I'm about to go nuts. I'm hallucinating. Seeing things, you know?"

"If you're hallucinating, so am I. And I'm not. You're here, sitting next to me, and I'm very much awake." The ice-blue-eyed man leaned a little closer, reaching out to touch the redhead's hand gently. What he would have wanted to do was to hold the younger man and never let go, but he realized that that might not be the best idea right now.

"Don't touch me!" Seed snapped. He leaned back, glaring at the other man. "First of all, I have no idea who the hell you think you are! And second, I know what you're like, so hands off me! I'm not..."

"If you don't know who I am, how do you know what I'm like?" The other man answered calmly. "All right, I won't touch you if you don't want me to. But please, listen to what I have to say. It may sound a bit weird, but..."

The redhead looked away, biting his lip. This was getting out of hand. He was in a cafe with a stranger who looked like Culgan, and the man seemed to know him. He stared at his feet, afraid to look at the older man.

"All... right," he said slowly. "But... only if you give me one good reason why I should. If you can't do that... I'm out of here."

"I've had dreams about you all my life. Or, not about you... about a redhead who looks exactly like you... His name is also Seed. That's your name, isn't it?"

The silver-haired man watched the expression on the younger man's face turn surprised. "We... In my dreams, we were lovers... No, I don't expect anything like that, I just..."

Seed blinked a few times, trying to clear his thoughts. "You... what?"

"I just told you. I've dreamed of you all my life."

"Yeah, right." The younger man stared at the other, shaking his head. "Do you have any idea what you're talking about? Those are my dreams. I..."

Culgan stared at the red-haired man. "Your dreams? Are you saying that...?"

"Wait a minute..." Seed glared at Culgan. "Okay, now this is a funny joke. Ha ha ha. Now, start talking. Who sent you? Lawson? Hope she finds this funny, because I sure don't."

The young man got up from his chair, still looking at the older man. There was an angry fire burning in his wine-red eyes. "Well, I'm going now. Do me a favor and tell whoever sent you here to go to hell! Good day."

Culgan got up as well, grabbing the redhead's arm and forcing him to sit. "Listen to me now, Seed. I didn't even know you knew Lawson! I've only met her once... And this sure isn't a joke! I'm here, Seed! This is not a dream!"

He was about to continue, but was interrupted as someone placed a tray on the table, containing two coffee cups and sandwiches.

"Everything okay?" Jeffrey asked. He sounded a bit worried.

"No," Seed replied. "Will you do me a favor and get this gray-haired freak away from me?"

The cafe owner smiled faintly. "I don't think so. I know Culgan, and he's not a freak. I'll be over there if you need anything..."

The silver-haired man glanced at Jeffrey, then concentrated back on the redhead. "Seed, please believe me. Did I ever lie to you in those dreams? Did I?"

Seed sagged into his chair, staring at his hands. "Will... you... stop acting like... you were... him?"

"I am him."

"No..." The redhead buried his face into his hands again. His head was pounding. "Please... Go away. I think this is a dream, after all. I probably hit my head again... Hope Marco called some help. Dammit... this is even worse than the last one."

"Seed... Seed, why won't you believe me?"

The younger man swallowed his tears, trying to stop his hands from shaking. "Because... you... are a dream." The words came out as a whisper, and he didn't know - or care - if the other man heard him.

The best dream I've ever had, he added in his mind. Oh gods... Culgan...

"Calm down... Please, Seed?" The other man said. "All right, maybe we're doing this the wrong way... Let's start from the beginning, properly this time. Are you willing to do that much?"

Seed didn't comment. After a while, he nodded slightly. He didn't know what to do, anyway.

"I'm not a dream, but a real person," the silver-haired man continued when he was sure that the other man was listening. "My name is Culgan Black. I'm an attorney. I work for Daviaux, Caswell and Associates... Which leads me to a question - what were you doing there at this hour?"

The redhead took a deep breath, then lifted his face a little and glanced at the other man. No, he couldn't be hallucinating - the other still looked like Culgan. Refusing to stare, he looked down at the table, suddenly finding the sandwiches quite interesting.

"Seed?"

"Mind if I ask something?" The younger man said quietly. "You keep calling me 'Seed', not even knowing if that really is my name. You're a total stranger to me. Seems that you know something about my dreams, but... that's all. What do you want from me? Who are you?"

Culgan gave the other man an amused smile. "I did ask about that earlier. You didn't answer... But you haven't said that it isn't your name, so... It is, isn't it?"

"So what?"

"Thought so. Now, there's nothing I want from you... Only an answer or two. As for who I am... I just told you."

"...Right." The red-haired man bit his tongue, still staring at the sandwiches. Slowly, he reached out, took one of the coffee mugs and took a sip. "Er..."

The ice-blue-eyed man looked at him. "You didn't answer my question yet. Why were you at Daviaux & Caswell? And now that you mentioned it... What is your full name?"

"Well, since it seems that you really want to know..." Seed replied, looking down at his coffee mug. "I... I'm a security guard there. My shift just ended. That answer your question? And you already know my name is Seed. Isn't that enough?"

The silver-haired man nodded and took the other coffee mug. A security guard? He thought. I wonder why we haven't met before... No wait, we have.

He looked at the other man, shaking his head. You're the one I saw on the street... I'm not crazy after all. It was you...

He noticed that the younger man was looking at the sandwiches again. "You could just eat instead of staring at those, you know."

"Huh? Oh... er... I guess." Seed took a sandwich and started eating it.

"The dreams..." The older man said. "You said you see dreams... Are those like the ones I have?"

The redhead took a bite of his sandwich and glanced at the other man. He wasn't sure if he should answer the question or not; he didn't trust this stranger called Culgan. Or did he?

"How the hell should I know? I don't know what you dream about."

Culgan sighed. "I told you earlier. And you said that those were your dreams..."

"Hrm." The younger man drank some more coffee, not knowing what to say. He felt somewhat confused... Or maybe it was just because he was tired. "All right... Maybe I do dream about something like that. So... What are you trying to say?"

"Can't you see the connection here? We're... The only explanation is that I'm that same Culgan, and you're Seed." The silver-haired man stared at the redhead, knowing that it was rude, but he just couldn't help it. "I've seen those dreams since I was ten... And ever since I found out the dreams were about something that has actually happened, I have been wondering if you were out there somewhere..."

Seed looked away. "I... Okay, let's... pretend that I believe you. So what now? Am I... now supposed to cling to you or something? I'm sorry, but I... I'm not like that other Seed."

The older man shook his head slightly. "No... I don't expect you to act like him. I just..."

I can't expect you to be like what you were back when we... But I can't let you go, either. Oh, Seed...

Some time passed, then the red-haired man yawned and glanced at the clock on the wall. Normally, he'd be home around this time. He was feeling quite tired and wanted to go home and sleep.

"Er, you know... I've been awake for the whole night. I'm tired and want to go home... I know you probably don't want me to go yet, but..." Seed paused for a second.

Why on earth do I feel like this? I want to trust him. I just can't. He's... This is too unreal...

"Well, I..." he finally continued. "I could... give you my phone number or something... I don't know if I should trust you or not, but... Maybe... we could... talk sometime... or something."

The ice-blue-eyed man didn't say anything for a while. He could tell that the younger man was uncertain, and didn't want to force him to do anything. "...All right then. How are you going to get home?"

The redhead searched his coat pocket for the bus timetable. "I'll... take the bus. Next one goes in... about ten minutes, so... I'd better go..."

"I could drive you home," Culgan offered hastily.

The younger man shook his head. "You don't have to..."

"Please. My car is just outside... It's the least I can do."

Seed finished his coffee and forced himself to look at the other man again. Every time he saw the silver-haired man, he felt so strange... He closed his eyes for a second, and felt how sleep threatened to take over.

"I... well, if you insist..." The redhead stood up slowly. He had to close his eyes again as he suddenly felt somewhat dizzy.

The older man sighed and got up as well. "Well, as I said... my car is..."

He noticed that the cafe owner was staring at them. He gave Jeffrey a half-smile, led the younger man out of the cafe and across the street to where he had left his car earlier. He opened the door for Seed, who just mumbled something and got inside the car.

The silver-haired man took his seat, fastened the seatbelt and turned to look at the redhead... only to find that Seed had fallen asleep.

How am I supposed to take you home when you didn't tell me the address... Should I wake you up and ask?

Culgan smiled to himself and sighed again. No. It doesn't matter, anyway; I don't think I could just let you go now that I found you...

He started the car and started driving towards home.