azume | Sixth.

NIGHTMARE.

Riley has been largely absent for the past day; he's needed the time, he's said, to try to sort out what should be done about Darkrai and Cresselia. Whether they can be contacted from a safe distance; whether there's something he can do to ensure that there's no risk to the rest of you.

You fall asleep on Friday night.

You don't remember deciding to fall asleep on Friday night; perhaps you were in the middle of doing something. Perhaps you were keeping watch over the rest of the group, perhaps you were talking to someone, perhaps you were unable to drift off and sitting up poring over notes or books by flashlight. Perhaps you were already well asleep by the time it happens. Either way, Friday night begins to slip into what's technically Saturday, and that's when you drop off.

And you are, quite literally, falling.

The sensation is a strong one, somehing that disorients you almost immediately, the sort of thing that happens in dreams only to be accompanied by a hypnic jerk that wakes you up safely in your bed, only that moment of awakening never comes. The landing isn't a hard one, however, wherever you've ended up; it's one you're aware of, but not one that hurts you in any way, there's no physical pain. There's only you, and the ground, and the absolute darkness surrounding you.

You should get up. Get your bearings. The darkness won't last long, but what it reveals to you when it breaks might not be as welcome as you might think it is...

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[So those three have returned back to normal... For now, at any rate.]

Their nightmares would differ greatly from ours, I imagine. They're partially responsible for why everyone else went away, to start. I'm not sure they even remember how many times they've been through this, beyond that.

[Well, they were normal the last time Darkrai...experienced them, anyway.]

Yes. Their nightmares are different.

Yours are good.

[...darkrai please]

[Oh my god.]

Watching the people you love die?

[Rin snorts lightly, a breath of morbid humor. Just beat back those inconvenient emotions with a stick if you gotta.]

Some would call that clichéd, but you just can't beat the classics. You have cultured taste.

Your nightmares are for other people. Not for yourselves.

[You don't wallow in your own misery, you wallow in the misery of others! Or...something... okay look gods have weird priorities- ]

[THAT IS ACTUALLY THE ONE THING SHE TOTALLY GETS. All those years studying epic fantasies and mythology teach you really quick that gods don't give a flying spork what about human suffering, but the quality of it. And also who's on the hot list, and which nerd said their poetry sucked—look, gods are just perpetually stuck in high school, and half are in the drama club.]

I suspected as much. Like I said, their nightmares would be different. Different priorities, and different fears.

What kind of star rating would you give us?

Star rating...?

You know. 3 out of 5, 4 out of 5.

The higher the number, the more you like it. The same logic applies to the reverse.

[What's our yelp score, buddy.]

Are you kidding, that's so uncreative...

[michael now is not the time]

[dude it doesn't choose what your brain spits out at you]

[oh god don't put those nightmares on him or this'll be Mesprit Round 2]

[wouldn't dream of it]

I'll skin you with a potato peeler.

[IS THAT BETTER?]

You could. They get fiddly around the joints.

[don't do this with him]

You should increase your daily intake of Vitamin C. Try some moisturizer while you're at it, it'll help both that and the wrinkles.

I haven't actually tried them on me, I'm speaking as the flayer.

[.......]

I don't think my wrinkles can get worse, I don't age... [should he be taking vitamins?]

So those glasses are all for show?

No, just means my eyes started off like this. It's actually very inconvenient, I didn't do as well in the body assignments as I could have.

Geez, no kidding. Just look at you.

[You were ASSIGNED? Old, noodle thin, bad eyesight; talk about rotten luck.]

Whoever was in charge of that must have really had it out for you. At least you still have some hair left...

[is this turning into a roast? Michael reaches up to touch his hair a little.]

I think my hair is fine...there's plenty of it.

You look fine, stop bickering.

Oh. Thank you, Ignis.

[He sounds surprised and touched!]

[listen he may usually be blind but he's got taste, c'mon.]

[...besides, you complimented his eyes and now we're even, michael.]

Like I said, you have that going for you. It'd kind of white, so it doesn't make you look any younger, but white's not... A bad color. You look distinguished.

Oh - yes, that's what I go for.

[He preens slightly.]

Better than being an immortal demon who looks like a twelve-year-old.

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discutio - 2018-09-16 00:52 (UTC) - Expand

eudaimonikos - 2018-09-16 01:02 (UTC) - Expand