smash_logs | I'll have a cup of tea and tell you of my dreaming

I'll have a cup of tea and tell you of my dreaming

Who: Everyone
What: DREAMS
When: A whole 24 hours spanning from September 14th-15th
Warnings: Creepy nightmares? Innuendo? I don't know, the usual.

There had been so much buzz about those stupid lollipops for weeks now. Not only out loud, but in her head - thoughts ranging from what's the deal with those things? to gotta have more to pricy as fuck. Eventually, she confused the cravings of others for her own, and it just so happened that her very own roommate had a box right on her side of the room!

Casey wasn't supposed to touch it, but she didn't see why. Money issues, or something. She didn't get the big deal about money either. She wasn't a Meowth, so there was no reason for her to have any. Therefore, the rules about it didn't apply to her.

That was her logic, anyway.

When Ai was asleep, she opened up the box and put her telekinesis to good use. Five of the candies lifted into the air - two green, three yellow - and the wrappers tore off in perfect synchronization. Too bad nobody was watching. The Abra opened her mouth wide and crammed all of them in at once, because she had no concept of savouring anything.

Shortly after, she fell asleep, the sticks still poking out of her mouth. That had to be bad for her teeth.

Soon the dreaming began...

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After Eifie left, X didn't feel too surprised that he saw someone else in the library of his dream, wandering about and glancing at the books within. And considering that it was Shadow that was browsing his books, it was even less surprising.

But then he started stroking his back.

That...was surprising.

It wasn't as though X was wary of Shadow, despite the fact that their first meeting was...well. If X was a more experienced reploid to the ways of the world, he possibly would have been screaming "I need an adult" at least several times during that conversation.

But when they'd first met, he was rather, well. He wasn't the most gentle of sorts, with the way he yanked his arm about and poked him like a science project.

Still, the touch on his back was comforting, especially considering his own physical state, and X arched his back towards it.

If this was what a cat felt when being petted, then he understood exactly why they were always mewing for backpats and belly rubs.

A mewing sort of laugh escaped the cat's throat. "Nothing seems to get past you, does it?"

His ears visibly perked upward. X could talk in this form? Nothing was logical in this twisted world, huh? Shadow really shouldn't have been surprised, but the last thing he expected from a non-humanoid, domestic cat was English speech.

He frowned, sitting down at the desk and continuing to scratching at him, moving his hand further down to rub his lower back. Cats liked that, right? He couldn't say he was experienced. The only knowledge he had of cats was far more anatomical and basic, as well as the fact that Maria really wanted one.

Maybe the Ultimate Lifeform should have been a cat instead of a hedgehog. Hn. Oh well.

"Of course not," he grumbled, his gentle massages proving to be a small peek into his caramel center, one that his grumpy demeanor tried to cover up even now. "I am the Ultimate Life! You underestimate me... kitten."

Oh, yes. He wasn't going to just let that opportunity slip. For now, however, he was keen on finishing his petting soon enough. He wanted to delve into these books and see what he could gather from them. Maybe with X's help, he could discover more than he possibly could alone...

"Not at all." X mewed, rubbing his back against that hand. He couldn't help it; it was just...oh man, did that feel good.

Even through his words, it was clear that he was purring:

"If I was doing that, I would have been far more surprised, I'd think."

Still, X's eyes watched Shadow's face, as though studying his expression. For being a hedgehog, he really did have very human features in terms of expression. Whatever his species was, it really was unlike anything X had ever seen...

Though with the way he addressed himself, it brought forth doubts that there were others like him at all.

"Ultimate Life"...

That sounded like a phrase coined by a scientist to a beloved project...or something out of a Saturday Morning Cartoon Villain. Either way, those words alone, alongside that intense confidence (some would say 'arrogance') that he'd already shown him in their past interaction, at least showed that he was proud of the moniker, whatever it meant.

...though from Shadow's actions, X was pretty sure that he didn't have the attitude and alignment of the latter, regardless of arrogance.

Still, even the phrase 'Ultimate Life' was variable, and was too vague to be accurate by any stretch of the imagination except in the subjective perspective of Shadow's father / mother / creator (if he was, in fact, from a lab), or Shadow himself.

Regardless of whether or not they used a phrase like 'Ultimate', all things had their value, and not one creature was above the others. More powerful, maybe, and more intelligent.

But all things had equal value. No title could change that.

Of that he was sure.

"Valid."

That was as much as X was getting, in that regard. At least this Reploid recognized scientific marvels when he saw them. For that, Shadow might have just found him a touch more intelligent than he did before.

Right now, however, that did not matter. What did was getting to the bottom of this little library. These all still sounded like spontaneously woven memories, yet he was sure they had to be related somehow, some way. How they were related was beyond him, but he was more than prepared to find out.

"This place," he began, scooting the seat back and rising from it. His ears swiveled, trying to catch any other sounds in the library. There was no one else here, as far as he knew. "Does it mean anything to you?"

He doubted it, honestly, but he was going to grab for whatever straws he could.

Did it mean anything.

X sat on his haunches, tapping a paw to his face in thought. If he was in his more humanoid guise, it would have been the equivalent of touching his chin, or tapping his cheek; but paws were silly things, and not exactly the best for emoting, he found.

"I dream about this place a lot," X said after a moment. "Though most of the time, I can't get any books off the shelves, because...well."

All he needed to do was raise his paws to illustrate why.

"But the few times I have..."

A book discussing, in detail, an analysis of the Parable of the Cave.

Another book detailing someone's first experience with eating fish, and how they grabbed the nearest drink (which happened to be his caretaker's hot tea) to drown out the taste as fast and as efficiently as he could.

The philosophy, identical to his own. The experience, also identical, written even in a way that he would say it.

"It's like I'm reading my own thoughts and experiences."

Aha. That made plenty of sense. The way it all sounded like a bunch of children's firsts... These really were X's thoughts and experiences! That explained a whole lot for him.

On the same token, however, it was mildly disappointing. Shadow was hoping this was something more significant, less drab, less uninteresting. Unfortunately, it wasn't anything but.

He groaned, sitting back down and scooping little kitten-y X into his palms, noting how fragile he felt. He definitely was going to treat him with care. As much as he was a big fat grump, he didn't want to do harm to a seemingly innocent robot-turned-animal for no reason other than his own carelessness.

Shadow may have had his violent streaks at times, but it wasn't needless.

... Most of the time.

"This is even more evidence that the worlds we are experiencing are our dreams come to life." A pause before he added the question, "is there any way you can revert to your original form in your dreams?"

"Eifie mentioned that earlier; if I hadn't experienced it myself, I wouldn't have believed it."

Then again, when was anything he experienced in this place sane? Considering all he went through, it was further proof that there was much he needed to know or understand about the world.

Maybe it was through something like this, completely farfetched and fantastical, that he would one day find the answers that he sought? Not just for the Maverick Crisis, which always weighed heavily on his heart (Should he have stayed to fight? Maybe Dr. Cain's method was the right way? It was most certainly done with X's best interests at heart, but...still...), but for all those questions about himself that he had yet to answer.

"I don't know if I can change forms...I can try."

How did one go about it, anyway? Just wanting to change form? When he'd done that in past dreams it hadn't worked, though maybe with everything as it was...

Maybe thinking real hard would do it?

Clenching his eyes shut, X focused. The thoughts "I want to change back" ringing through his mind so fast and so repeated that it seemed to take over his mind.

...

Nope. It wasn't working.

With a frustrated hiss, X opened his eyes, shook his head, and flicked his tail with annoyance.

Eifie? Well, that name wasn't familiar, but at this point in time, it didn't matter to him. What did matter was this little bit of information that happened to leave him dismayed. Great. So he couldn't take on this form. This meant...

This meant if there was any way to get him out of here and get him to his normal form, it'd mean exiting the dream.

Well, at this point, Shadow was more alright with it. The fact that the information here wasn't anything special meant that he had no more reason to remain. Instead, he was going to have to get this little kitten back to his normal size.

With a grunt, he dipped down, grabbing him into his palms and scooping him up softly. He held him to his chest, notably a little ways below a certain fuzzy, white area.

"We're leaving. Now."

The more this scene seemed to play out for him, the more X was certain that he'd look back at it and comment on the surreality of it. It wasn't so much Shadow's actions, as the thought of being carried, treated like a fragile thing and held to one's chest...

It was simultaneously touching and horribly embarrassing.

"Leaving? To where?"

He supposed it wasn't surprising that they could exit a dream; if Eifie and Shadow had come into his, logically that meant that they were able to exit their own, didn't it?

But where would they go? And why did Shadow want to carry him with him?

Edited 2012-09-17 15:13 (UTC)

"To the area outside of your dream," stated Shadow, stepping towards the front of the building. Clearly leaving the dream meant leaving the library, right? If he left the general area, surely they'd wind up somewhere completely different.

He partially hoped it would be his dream, but after a run-in with a certain Ocelot, he was unsure how much he wanted to go back...

"If we leave, you may revert to your average form."

It made complete sense to him. Logically, that would happen, wouldn't it?

Of course! That made sense. If within X's own dream he couldn't change back, then, theoretically, he could change back outside the dream...

Though why was Shadow particularly interested in changing him back? Not that X was complaining (the more they conversed, the more X was certain that Shadow was a good person underneath his "Ultimate Lifeform" assertions and rough mannerisms), but it wasn't expected.

"Let's hope so. I don't mind being a cat, but it'd be nice to be...well, me again."

"Precisely."

To be frank, Shadow didn't even know why he was helping him. He could have just left him behind without a care, leaving him as this mewling kitten begging for some help. Instead, he was going out of his way for him. At this point, he preferred to blame it on using him for testing. He was gaining more of X's trust so he could examine him, use him further.

Yes, that was all it was. Nothing like a blooming friendship, no.

... Right.

He stepped through the doors, hoping that they led to the hub world instead of an outside world beyond the library.

...Well, much to X's relief, it was the hub world. He'd never succeeded in opening the doors (not that he hadn't tried in every dream, just to see the outside...but it always ended with his paws slipping or him unable to open it), a feat that possibly could have only been accomplished by someone with five working fingers.

But...

As for Shadow...well.

He didn't mind clutching a young man in a pair of blue pajamas and slippers, did he? X's knees sat on the floor, his head pressed against Shadow's chest.

His cheeks reddened a bit.

"...Um."

Well, for one, yes, he did mind. Secondly, X's face was planted in the worst area possible, at least for someone Shadow didn't trust. Thirdly, hopefully X didn't mind being shoved roughly into the ground, because that was what Shadow was doing.

If X thought his cheeks were red, Shadow's must be perfectly ripe tomatoes.

"Never touch me there," he sputtered, teeth grinding together. If it was someone he really loved touching him there, it would actually be a very pleasurable experience, but otherwise? Nope. Off-limits.

"Ouch!"

Considering Shadow's wording, X wasn't surprised that he was shoved off so roughly. It hurt a little, certainly, but it was nothing his body couldn't handle.

Even if he couldn't help it, X couldn't help but feel bad. It was obviously a private, sensitive thing for him, and...well. He would have been embarrassed, too, had he been in Shadow's place.

X stood, face still crimson.

"Sorry, I uh...I didn't know that was going to...happen. I'll be careful from now on."

Understatement of the year, but X would go with it.

"Nng... you better."

Shadow shakily inhaled, trying to regain his composure. Having someone's face planted straight into such a sensitive, tender area... Was this how that one lady at the pudding shop felt when custard slipped into her cleavage?

Yeah, he was not even going to think about that.

Hell, he was not even going to start wondering why he remembered that in the first place, let alone how he noticed it at all.

"Now," he breathed, eyeing him, "you may as well explore until you awaken. There does not seem to be any escape from here." Unfortunately.

"Don't worry; I always keep my promises."

Maybe Shadow's discomfort was akin to how X would have felt if someone had tried messing with his internal files without his permission, or perhaps walked in on him when he was changing out of his undersuit. Shadow didn't seem to be able to wear clothes, so...

Well. It was just another strange curiosity about him.

At Shadow's last statement, X nodded, smiling a bit.

"Thanks for the tip."

"Mm."

Thus, his job here was done, at least with this one. After having awakened from being shot by a certain soldier and then falling back to sleep, he had to wonder whether or not his own dream had changed, or whether or not she was still there. Shadow was more than ready to find out.

He stepped a small ways ahead before pausing, turning his head around to nod to X over his shoulder. He would at least grant him that much: a silent, subtle wishing of good luck.

Chances were that he was going to need it.

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I'll have a cup of tea and tell you of my dreaming

Mew!

MEWTWO.

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