[ voice ]

[ilda]

[ Minutes ago, there had been a scream as Ilda jolted awake. And in the dark of the night she'd panicked, the sight of the not-quite-familiar room making her think that she was still in the jungle, with the inky mass of... something trailing menacingly right behind her.

She'd stumbled out of bed and out of the room, her new roommates momentarily forgotten.

When she'd finally sent out a message, she was up on the roof, hugging her knees, tears streaming down her face. ]

H-Help.

Comments

[corundrum]

[That name is unfortunately familiar to Padparadscha as well, and they nod slightly, looking out into the night. So whatever this bizarre vision is that they're getting impressions of, it's not just them.

Though it only makes them wonder more what it means and where it came from.]

Was that who you were in the vision? [Padparadscha saw Meoni, but they were someone else. Maybe the same person as Ilda, or maybe another.]

[ilda]

A vision? [ She stares up at Padparadscha, realizing that they'd seen something, too.

Then she shakes her head, answering their question. ] N-No. I was... someone else. I think he was close to Meoni, because he was crying.

[ She purses her lips together as she tries to recall his name, as well as the other things she'd seen. She's usually good with names and faces and details, but the vision had been so terrifying, so real, that it had left her shaken. ]

[corundrum]

[So it's like that, then. Padparadscha tilts their head for a moment, as if considering the possibilities before them, and only speaks after a few moments of thought have passed.]

Was his name Faias? [It was the name of the man Padparadscha had embodied in the vision, and he had reacted the same way. Their recollection of the vision is fairly clear - it had been unusual, but when someone's been alive as long as Padparadscha has, it takes more than just a strange thing to rattle them.]

[ilda]

Faias! [ She looks back up at them, the expression on her face a mix of confusion and realization. ] Yes. That's... that's his name. How did you know that?

[corundrum]

Because I saw through that person's eyes as well, just now. [Padparadscha is much calmer about it than Ilda, but they still seem deep in thought. Have others seen the same sorts of visions? Were they exactly the same, or did people see different things?] His friend was consumed by the strange darkness, and when he leaked from his eyes, I woke up. I heard you wake up at a similar time.

[Padparadscha's species doesn't have the concept of "crying" - to them, it's a long-lost and bizarre defect of humans.]

[ilda]

Yes, he... leaked from his eyes.

[ Despite the gravity of their situation, Ilda manages a small smile. Leaked from his eyes! That’s a fun way of saying it. ]

So we had the same dream? That’s... so weird.

[ She pauses, a previous conversation coming to mind. ] You know, when I first met Alice, she was wondering why we’re being called Dreamfolk. You don’t think...?

[corundrum]

It seems so. [Gems can dream, at least, though it's not exactly something that tends to come up much unless they're extremely bizarre dreams anyway. And considering their "minds", as they are, aren't anything like a human's, it's still a different experience to this sort of vivid vision.

Padparadscha's mood lightens somewhat at the suggestion, a faint, low laugh coming from deep in their throat.] I think it's because we come from the Dreaming, as they say here, but who says the Dreaming isn't somehow responsible for this too?

[ilda]

[ Ilda still has trouble wrapping her head around the 'come from the Dreaming' idea, even though there could really be no other explanation for the bizarre world she's found herself in, and the equally bizarre collection of people and creatures that have been taken from other worlds into this one. So she's decided to just not really think about it. ]

To be honest, I thought all the stuff about the Dreaming is just like one of those stories people tell children so they eat their greens or sleep early or not kill other people.

[ Then, belatedly: ] Um, thank you, by the way. For coming up to check on me. I'd say I hope I didn't wake you, but obviously I did.

[corundrum]

So it might be. But then, little one, what reason would we have to be here? [Padparadscha doesn't believe so strongly in it that it would shake them to see it proven false, but believing in it saves the vast number of questions it solves in its convenience. If there comes a time it's proven false, then they may have enough information to work a better alternative answer.

That said, a slight look of amusement tugs at Padparadscha's mouth at the thanks.] I was already awake. My kind doesn't sleep in quite the same way as you soft creatures seem to.

[There's no judgement in the term "soft creatures", it's merely a term they've become used to using for living things since they got here.]

[ilda]

I have no idea. I haven't been really spending a lot of time trying to figure out the answer to that question. [ She's been busy, Padparadscha. Taking selfies, chasing after bibirus, being a digital menace, that sort of thing.

At being called a soft creature, she actually giggles. ] Still, thank you. First night as new roommates... what a way to bond.

[corundrum]

I doubt you're alone in that. [Padparadscha has, but quickly set it aside in favour of the easy answer for now. If they see evidence to the contrary, then they'll consider that as it comes.

While gems do tend to do things like bonding exercises, it usually takes them much longer to amount to anything meaningful, so Padparadscha can't help a small, deep laugh at the remark.] It's the way of the world. Unpredictable in good and bad ways.