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@e-n-leonard

You absolutely nailed Frey, I laughed out loud reading that because it’s exactly the kind of cryptic nonsense he’d find amusing!

Frey

”Mara Gobey-Hanad.” She tosses her head back, the frown still between her brows. She throws the next question at me, “Is this not a dream?”

I mostly said the dream part to start the conversation, but now I’ve started it, I can finish it.

I lean back again, absently fiddling with the cuff of my shirt. It isn’t as cold here, and I’m eternally grateful for that. I can’t stand the cold. I shrug, regretting it as the ache in my shoulder sharpens.

“Maybe it is, maybe it isn’t,” I say, with as little idea of what I’ll say next as she does. “Maybe we’re both dreaming the same dream, or maybe corridors in the realm of dreams connect, and we’re simply meeting each other in two separate dreams.”

I raise my eyebrows at myself. I’m starting to sound like a philosophy student. The practice I’ve gotten from pretending every part of an art piece has some deep meaning instead of ‘I just liked it’ is paying off.

Mara smiles and nods, though her gaze is absent and unfocused. Oh, good, I spouted so much nonsense she hadn’t really registered any of that. Good thing, it will probably sound ridiculous in hindsight.

“It’s an interesting idea,” she says. I can barely hide a smile. She doesn’t have any more idea of what I mean than I do, she just doesn’t want to contradict me and seem foolish.

It’s ridiculous, I know it is, but I can’t help trying to push my luck a little further. How much nonsense can I talk before she figures out I’m just making it all up?

I steeple my fingers, frowning as though considering some deep dilemma. It’s all I can do not to break out laughing.

”Or maybe…a malignant force has kidnapped random people and holds us hostage here.”

The next most plausible thing is just saying alien abduction. I might go for that next if she proves gullible enough. I love interacting with gullible people, nothing is funnier than seeing just how far I can go before they start doubting me.

Mara laughs, a warm, sweet laugh. Despite that, my heart drops. Has she figured it out? If she has, will she just leave me to find someone else to talk with? Will all the interest have drained out of the conversation, and me by proxy?

She sobers, the frown returning. She tilts her head, dark eyes boring into me as though to find the truth there. I straighten out my expression. I’m nothing if not masterful at hiding my true intentions.

“Wait, do you really mean that?” she asks.

I hesitate, just a breath. I can say it was all a joke, make her laugh again. But then it’ll be over, and once it’s over, there’s no guarantee anyone else will talk to me. Will I be left all alone in a corner while everyone else talks and laughs? I have to stretch it out just a bit longer.

I smile, as genuinely as I can manage, the slightest edge of satire tinting the words, just enough that it can be interpreted as a joke.

“Of course I do, I mean everything I say. I mean, look at the situation we’re in, what’s the use of lying?”

She frowns again, and I add.

“Did you notice anything odd in the way you came here?”

Anything to delay being left out.

~~~~

Well there we go I made it sad again XD