IJ study archive

Gately's dreams: Mrs. Waite and Death (p. 847)

quote

Gately supine with his side on fire while newcomer Joelle v.D. raises her veil slightly to lick the sweat off his lids and temples, whispering so the veil flutters around and fans him, promising him a P.M. of near-terminal pleasures

Context

The first pain-and-fever dream after the wraith-night: veiled Joelle licking sweat from Gately's lids in a Southern EAT-motel. Lid-licking is Lyle's signature move, which Gately has no way of knowing — Carlisle catalogued it first, asking whether the wraith is dressing Gately's dreams in Lyle-associations; the archive's motif catalog carries it as the Lyle-wraith case, with 175's LISLE ghostword as the payoff. "Near-terminal pleasures" is the Entertainment's product description, planted in a man who's never seen it.

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