hypnagothic | [The City] IC Contact

[ Now extremely curious as she stretches to pull over the paper bag, she must wonder who his friends are. They would have to be intensely interesting people. ]

And who might 'he' be? Possibly anyone I know?

I do not know if you have made his acquaintance here. His name is Robert Gading.

[ The paper bag of clementines settles in front of him with the top rolled down. A most inelegant looking gift-wrap, really. Not something she would have delivered in the post to make an impression, but the offer had been spontaneous. ]

I haven't, no, but hopefully he will like them just as well when offered from a stranger.

[ Given by a friend, after all. ]

Did you meet him here?

[ he gives a small nod in thanks. ]

No. We have known each other for quite some time.

[ As old as Morpheus must be, 'quite some time' carries an implication that Vanessa doesn't miss. The thought warms her. ]

How sorry I am for someone you care for to suffer this city's curse...yet their presence must bring you a comfort that little else can.

[ She'll reach for another piece of clementine. ]

I am glad for you to have such a friend. To wonder at you carrying such burdens as our dreams for longer than I can imagine, I then worried for you being lonely.

[ he does not address the first statement. that would give too much away, perhaps. ]

He thought the same, at one point. I did not respond well to his drawing attention to it.

[ he speaks confidently as he usually does, as if the words were already written in the stars, though the last sentence is spoken a little slower, just short of actual hesitation. ]

[ With both hands now resting in her lap, she considers what it would mean for Morpheus to 'not respond well'. A cold shoulder? A demand for silence? Was the poor man punished?

Is he going to punish her?

Well, she'll lean into it. ]

Lonely souls often recognize one another...and it can be painful to be seen.

[ She looks to her hands while letting out the tiniest of shrugs, as though there can be no helping it. ]

Or else why would we remain lonely?

[ there's the faintest huff of breath through his nose with a slow blink of his eyes, gently scoffing. ]

I do not imagine him to be a lonely soul. Quite the opposite, in fact.

[ With a minute tilt of her head, she looks back to him and wonders again at how old his friend must be. She can still recall what had earlier been alluded to. If he is anything like Morpheus, then no matter the character, he must have known loneliness at some point. ]

For how long have you known him? Beyond 'quite some time', I mean.

For a number of years.

[ the barest smirk. ]

I will allow him to illuminate you on the details, if he wishes to provide them.

[ That only gets her to perk up a little. ]

Is that an invitation for me to meet your friend?

You would likely invite yourself to do so if I did not.

[ He isn't wrong. Once she had the name, it was only a matter of time. ]

How could I resist the opportunity to ask after the adventures you two must have had?

[ another soft little huff, almost the beginning of a chuckle. ]

I fear you may be disappointed on that front.

Disappointed in something that involves you?

[ A playful squint accompanies her gentle headshake. ]

Impossible.

We shall see.

An adventure is not always a mad dash through chaos.

[ Though, that type does have usually bring brilliant stories. ]

Sometimes it can be a quiet discovery.

I may be the Prince of Stories, but I will leave that story for his telling.

Then I must request a different story from you in the future.

[ Which does remind her, ]

I never did hear what happened to Yama and Yami. Did they manage to discover everything?

[ The journey they had set out on sounded so tantalizing. To experience everything the world had to offer was what she had always yearned for, from its sweetness to its most bitter—to swallow the night, crawl through the sand, and sink into the sea.

But of course, something must have gone wrong for them. It always does. ]

Would you like to hear the rest of the tale now?

[ She had been the one to bring it up, but now that he's offering, she thinks that one ought to wait for the future as well. ]

Mm... No, I am worried it will make me sad.

[ No doubt there will be plenty opportunity for sad things in the future. ]

Are there any stories that don't carry a sadness?

[ A question that isn't a question at all. ]

[ he nods to her decision to wait for the rest of the tale. ]

Oh yes, there are countless.

[ Scoff! ]

I don't believe it.

[ Perhaps there are many that sound nice, she muses, but there is always an element of something...else. ]

Even in the happiest of tales there must something sad, however miniscule. Some sort of...struggle. Perhaps only so small that few notice it where it hides, that forgotten sadness.

That is a very human outlook. Not all creatures and entities find hardship pleasing.

Well. I am human.

[ Or something that looks like it, but the disillusionment is all her own. ]

The day you can share a story that has never known sadness, I may kiss you for the delight of it.

[ Which should be nothing new by now, but in this case it's a gentle jest. She would be surprised if he could find her such a story, however. ]

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