Record: 33

[esoteric_rose]

*there's a tiny inkblot before writing appears*

...I've been asleep for four days. How...is that possible?

Was all of that a dream? Some huge, insanely complex lucid dream? But then why were they there?

Miss Inara, Sailormoon, I deeply apologize for missing work. I'll be in tomorrow.

*pentaps* Fred, are you around?

Comments

[burnt_orangesky]

Yes, I am [pen taps] awake.

[esoteric_rose.livejournal.com]

Awake?

[burnt_orangesky]

They tell me I was asleep as well.

Does a city by the name of 'Veles' mean anything to you?

[esoteric_rose.livejournal.com]

That was in my dream...a Russian city. Very cold and snowy.

[burnt_orangesky]

That sounds right.

I [pause] do not believe it was a dream, despite all evidence showing that it must have been.

[esoteric_rose.livejournal.com]

[inkblot]

Interesting. But why were we in comas here?

...What I said then still holds true. All of it.

[burnt_orangesky]

To answer that question, I would have to first understand why the Tree does anything.

[Slight pause] I remember. My response also holds true. [More pause] We should probably meet in person, just to confirm that our experiences match up.

[esoteric_rose.livejournal.com]

Where are you? Currently I'm in Wellspring.

[burnt_orangesky]

I am as well, though I am currently plotting an escape plan should they try to keep me here for much longer.

quicklog/handwave?

[esoteric_rose.livejournal.com]

Don't escape without me. ♥

Let's see if we can convince them to let us meet. It's not like we can't walk.

I'm good for a quicklog <3

[burnt_orangesky]

But of course not.

That sounds like a fine idea to me.

Here we go!

[esoteric_rose.livejournal.com]

[After a short while, Juliet shows up at her room, walking slowly.]

Romana is a lovely name, by the way.

[burnt_orangesky]

[Fred/Romana has spent the time since persuading the nurse that she's well enough to have visitors staring at her journal, a troubled expression on her face. She's sitting on the edge of her bed, legs crossed, reading through past entries in her journal to fill herself in on the past few days.

Her expression is a bit troubled, but she looks up with a smile when she hears Juliet's voice.]

Thank you. I'm... not quite sure whether I should use it or not. While I know it is my true name... I have been Fred for so long now.

Would you like to sit? [A gesture at the empty space on the bed beside her.]

[esoteric_rose.livejournal.com]

I've always been jealous of those with their true names. Ah, thank you. [He sits]

[burnt_orangesky]

[A half-shrug, and she adjusts how she is sitting in order to look at him more comfortably.]

Names have power of a sort, even I realise that. I hope you recover yours someday as well.

Juliet ...what do you remember about the past... [she almost says 'two days,' because that's what it's seemed like to her] ...four days?

[esoteric_rose.livejournal.com]

[He looks away]

A month and it'll make a year. For me, him, and her. I wish I'll learn it soon.

[He pauses, and then begins a summarized account of what happened to him in Veles. From his Midgard roommates to dealing with the soliders, everything was touched on briefly.]

...And my panic attack and subsequent confession.

[burnt_orangesky]

[Her mouth twists a little, in sympathy, but she says nothing.]

[She listens quietly as Juliet speaks, nodding from time to time.]

Midgard, yes... so you truly are... who you said you are?

[She'll be happy to tell her side of the experience in just a moment, but she wants this confirmed, first.]

[esoteric_rose.livejournal.com]

Yes. If you would like, ask Handmaiden. She also saw it...

[He remembers the agony it caused him to know that, the way it broke his mind enough that he had to be persuaded into psychiatric help. Juliet relied on that time to explain why he could now face tragedy of moderate scale without breaking completely. Things like the fire were different.]

[burnt_orangesky]

[A nod] You said Rabbit had as well, and. Erm. Well.

[She should probably just drop it, now. Or change the subject...]

Did you meet anyone you recognized? I did.

[esoteric_rose.livejournal.com]

Handmaiden is the only eyewitness. The others were told.

[He folds his hands]

Someone who had been in the sphere, yes. King. And I could have sworn I saw Dani.

[burnt_orangesky]

Ah, I see.

[Fred shuts her journal, which has been open in her hands this whole time, and sets it down on the bed.]

I never met Dani, I don't think, so I couldn't say one way or the other. However, someone who looked exactly like Lea was one of my roommates, though he said his name was Axel... and.

[She fiddles with the hem of her shirt a little, smoothing a crease.]

I don't suppose you remember Storm? He disappeared back in October, during... that. [Softly] He was there.

[esoteric_rose.livejournal.com]

What extraordinary luck! I remember him! It's simply amazing you got to see him again.

[Smiles-he truly is happy for her and her fortune. He's a touch envious, that she'd meet former friends and gain her name, but only natural.]

[burnt_orangesky]

Yes... he looked so different. I barely recognized him. And he seemed rather upset that I could not remember much of anything about my past...

[Fred smiles back, though she has to force it a little. She realises she's probably being selfish about this, and feels a little guilty about that.]

I'm sorry, Juliet.

[esoteric_rose.livejournal.com]

Then you know he cares for you. If he's upset on your behalf, it speaks volumes.

[He pauses]

For what, Fred? I admit I'm a little envious, but really, meeting anyone...could have triggered another panic attack. I think.

[burnt_orangesky]

Yes...

[She looks away a little, unable to look him quite in the eye.]

I wanted... if I had been given the choice to stay there... [she sighs a little] I'm being selfish, and unfair to my friends here, I think.