Video | un: traveler

[brilliantdiamond]

[Although the video quality on magi-comms isn't great, there's enough detail to show a young man with blonde hair and cat ears, looking a bit tired as he speaks into the device.]

Has anyone ever had a reoccurring dream? Or a dream that feels so real, you can't tell if it was just a dream or a memory?

Or maybe I should be asking... how do you make them stop?



[Note: Aether is experiencing a gradual canon update! Comments will include spoilers for the Genshin Impact 3.0 Archon quest!]

Comments

[brilliantdiamond]

...Dunyarzad. I feel like... I don't know who she really is. I still don't have any memories of even going to Sumeru, or meeting her the first time. How did we get there, and how did we get into a situation like this?

[And how are they going to stop it? Especially when they aren't even there at all. Even if they did know the resolution, they can't force it from this side.]

[...]

Do you think maybe we're both remembering it because we're living together? I don't know if time surges function like Kizuna, but if they do, it might be spreading from me to you. Because I know I've been dreaming about this every night for the past week.

[auraofstars]

I think she's just... someone we met? But she's sick... I don't know. And I don't know if it's just spreading. Maybe if we compared notes we could figure out if that's the case or not.

[ A whistling sound alerts her that the water is hot, so Lumine gets up and goes to get the kettle. ]

I wonder if the Fatui are behind it somehow? Seems like they've always got their hands in the mix whenever things start to go wrong.

[brilliantdiamond]

[Someone they met, who's sick-- that's about as far as Aether knows, though the feeling of knowing her is stronger than any solid memories he has of her.]

It wouldn't surprise me if they were behind it somehow. They really do seem to pop up everywhere there's trouble.

[His eyes follow her as she stands, feeling a bit like a touch-starved puppy as he fights the urge to stand with her.]

But before we get into that-- how are you feeling? Do you feel... tired at all?

[auraofstars]

Where there's smoke, there's fire--where there's trouble in Teyvat, there's a Fatui agent.

[ Or an Abyss agent, one of the two. Oh, or a treasure hoarder. It's always one of those three.

Lumine scoops a few hefty spoonsful of tea into a pot and pours the water in after, then brings that back to the table and settles back in with Aether. She knows that particular look when she sees it, and she slides her fingers against the back of his neck, up to gently scratch his scalp. It comforts her as much as it does him, honestly. ]

I'm... tired, but not physically; tired like I've been studying all night and my brain needs a break.

[brilliantdiamond]

[Aether relaxes the moment her fingers comb through his hair, eyes briefly fluttering closed. Like this, maybe he could actually fall asleep -- but the thought of experiencing that festival again has his eyes opening just as quickly.]

[...and of course, since he is a catboy, he even purrs for a second.]

That's-- well, it's not good. But it's better.

[...]

I'm... not feeling well at all. I feel the same things you described, but physically, too. It really does feel like I haven't slept in a few days, even though I know I'm not waking up in the middle of the night or anything.

I thought maybe it just wasn't a restful sleep because of the dreams, but... maybe there's a difference between how we're remembering things?