staysilent | But now your dreams are catching my eye

But now your dreams are catching my eye

Who: Teo & Faust (to start)
Where: Dream man in the Dream land
When: Mid September
What: Dream crashing

Early morning sunlight breaks through in beams that warm every spot they touch. He feels that warmth on him, drawing out a shiver as he blinks his eyes open the faintest bit. He watches the dust dance in the air, glitter like the golden twin of fine silver snow. Voices fill the air, faint but as warm as the sunlight. There's clinking dishes and pouring coffee. He can smell it, heady and strong, and the lighter scents of fresh baking and frying food, the sweet and savory intermingling. Makes him hungry.

The thought startles him into sitting straight up, his arms unfolding off the table and bracing there. His pulse gives a stutter and his breath kicks up faster. There are people. They yawn and they smile and chatter and sit in quiet company or work around and behind the counter. Nobody looks at him. His hands slap up to his face and he feels skin. He feels it on both sides.

Jolting, he scrambles up, drawing looks and complaints from guests he pays no mind to. He looks for the first reflective thing, some metallic saucer that warps his reflection, but even still... even still...

He draws back. He stares around at the diner in wonder, each new little thing outside and within himself inspiring awe. He moves for the door, the light so bright he can't even see through it, but it doesn't hurt. He pushes through.

And then, just like that, he plunges into water.

He surfaces with a gasp and a shiver, clambering up onto some sort of rock that doesn't even fully break the water's surface. There are more stretching out before him into a world all sea and night. He glances back, then to the world before him, before starting outwards. Hop to one rock, hop to another, his poor boots suffer so mu--

He smacks hard into something solid, thought glancing up he can't tell entirely what it is. It doesn't look like anything save for the fog. But then, the fog thins. He sees a figure and he feels his heart give another jump.

"FAUST!" He shouts it and doesn't even cough. His hand goes up, waving rapidly. "FAUST, OVER HERE! FAUST!"

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Faust doesn't often have lucid dreams; it would save him a lot of trouble if he did. Though at first it's just an underlying awareness that this isn't entirely real, while outwardly he plays out the memory (is it a memory? Or just something that feels close to one? It was so long ago...) of sitting around the campfire in the woods after dark, voices and laughter carrying through the night as humans and wizards drink and celebrate together after another battle won, another night survived. He looks from the fire to Alec beside him, locking onto blue eyes and a smile that inspired an army.

There are calls for music, and Alec complies, taking up a lute and singing a tune that still sticks in his head but the words have faded. He brushes off the more drunken and boisterous calls for him to dance; it's Lennox's less direct suggestion that has him getting to his feet, moving to stand across the fire from Alec in the light of the moon and the flames, smiling and lifting his arms-

Shouting that doesn't fit the scene at all startles him and he quickly drops out of the stance, though the dream continues around him as if nothing happened. He looks toward- he's not sure what, but that voice...

"...Teo?"

He allows him in without fully realizing what's going on, but once he sees Teo- or, is that Teo...? Either way, at that point he's much more aware this is his dream and he just let someone else in.

Which surely is just a part of the dream itself- right? But that means it's fine if he stalks over to where Teo stumbled in, takes him by the arm, and tries to direct him right back Out-

"You're not supposed to be here-"

There is every chance that they both go sprawling right into the fog and water outside his dream.

He stumbles through the wall that isn't there and just like that, he sees not just Faust but a whole world within. There's a campfire, even more people, there's laughter and dancing.

He climbs up from the dirt with a wild grin and light in his eyes.

"Faust!" He blurts in delight. "Look at this! Look--"

And then just like that he's being gripped, turned around, and shoved back out.

"Whoa!" He grasps for the first thing he can, which, unfortunately for Faust, does happen to be him. Into the water they go, which only middle softens the blow of the stone pathway. "Hahah... ow."

Down they go, sploosh. At least he's not wearing any of his usual extraneous attire, no hat or glasses or layers to fall off or weigh him down- though he has much more hair to make up for it- not that any of that particularly matters in a dreamscape.

He manages to right himself onto his knees on the submerged stone, blinking around him at the disorienting change in landscape. Is this also part of his dream...? No, something feels off...

And then he focuses on Teo, and he's sure now it must be him, even if he looks far too whole and alive to be him as he knows him.

"...Is that you? Teo?"

He sits back on his haunches, (he's soaked anyway, after all) and he beams at Faust. His smile goes so wide it hurts but even that feels good and right and amazing.

"It's me!! The real me! I mean, mostly." He climbs up to his feet and spreads his hands out. "I still don't remember a lot but look! And! And listen! Do you hear that? I can talk! Normal straight forward talking!"

He spins around in place, laughing joyously. He drops back down. He puts his fingers to his neck, just under his jaw.

"I even have a pulse."

The circumstances of this are so strange, he's not sure what to make of it at first. He's not sure why his dreams would conjure an image of what Teo looked like when he was alive, but the more he thinks about it and what's around him, the more it seems likely this really is Teo, somehow crashing in on his dreams.

But if that's the case... he watches his cheerful antics, more lively than he's ever seen him before- quite literally.

Faust himself may at least look less gloomy, in his simple light tunic tucked into high-waisted pants, no hat or tinted shades to hide the violet of his eyes... Teo will have seen him look similar to this once before, though he was engulfed in flames at the time. Despite the somewhat younger and less weighed down look, he doesn't share in Teo's obvious excitement, more reticent and wary as usual in the face of something new.

He at least climbs to his feet so he's not sitting in the water, his long (now damp) ponytail hanging partially over his shoulder as he offers a hand up to Teo.

"...Have you never had dreams of yourself like this before?"

Of being alive again, that is. The rest is more obviously unusual.

His hand drops away from his neck. He looks up Faust, how different he is here, how different he was in that glimpse of a dream he saw. He feels, more than ever, that they're a clash of two different worlds and times. But, even more so, he feels a lift in his heart to know he can reach out to that offered hand and take it.

He lets himself be drawn up to his feet. He struggles and largely fails not to look giddy with the small point of contact, the lack of consequences for it mainly.

"Me? Like this?" He looks and then quickly shakes his head. "My dreams are all foggy. Flickers, instinct, how things feel. Nightmares or nothing11. Maybe there are memories but it's never this... clear." Clear in thought, in feeling, in the way he looks. "This feels real."

It hadn't even occurred to him it was a dream up until he found Faust. He glances around and his gaze settles on another bit of fog none too far away. And just like that, he's pulling Faust along.

"Come on, come on! I gotta show you!"

Teo really is enjoying this... which he probably should, seeing as whatever sort of magic may have bled their dreams together this way, it is still only a dream. It will only last for as long as it takes him to wake. Mauri's words drift back to him, about the three souls and how the Itse can wander when dreaming... he hadn't thought too much about anything other than the Luonto at the time, due to the more pressing troll issue. Did he mean that this literally?

But Teo's pulling him along before he can say anything else on the matter. He doesn't fall into the water again at least, hopping along over the stones with him.

"-All right, I'm coming, you don't have to drag me along..."

His only alternative seems to be to retreat back to the dream he'd been having, which he'd rather not do when Teo is sure to try and follow, so going along with him it is. Teo is obviously thrilled to have his old body back, though... even if it doesn't last, it's nice to see him get to enjoy it for a little while.

He doesn't have to, but he will. He wants to soak up every last bit of this. His boots splash through the water as he goes from stone to stone, right up until the end.

"There's a bit of a gap here so watch out!" He calls back. It's only then that he lets go so he can hop forward into fog...

...and somehow transition into pushing a door open. He holds it for Faust who he figures will follow in just a moment.

"It's a coffee shop!" He declares with a grin. His excitement is probably disproportionate to the surroundings. A few people look up and then back down. A woman in an apron flashes a smile and says she'll be right with them, not even blinking an eye at Faust's get-up.

He's lucky Faust is used to him being like this by now, if less in the grabby sense, considering his usual body's problems. He brushes himself off a bit when Teo finally lets him go before following him through the door and into...

Is this Teo's dream? He's definitely a bit out of place, but really, he'd likely be even more so in his normal outfit. The shop itself is both strange and a little familiar in some ways, as his own world has cafes. The modernities of it are alien to him, but the atmosphere isn't entirely so.

He's briefly uncomfortable as the people look up, but they don't pay much attention. He reminds himself they're not real anyway, and focuses on taking in his surroundings instead. So this is what a snippet of Teo's world is like...

"...This is a place from your memories?"

"I... I think so! It feels familiar. Like I've been here..."

He trails off, wandering again past the tables and the counter. He takes in all the sights and sounds anew, everything painted with the thought that he's been here. He finds himself at the table he was at, setting in place and looking about from there.

His gaze lingers on the window where the sunlight pours through, the golden light catching the warm brown of his eyes but not drawing the same sought of wince that it would. He looks back to Faust and reaches across the table, patting it so Faust will take the chair there. Should he do so, it's then that he finally tilts his head at Faust.

"You look different too," He notes with curiosity.

He vaguely trails after Teo without following right behind him, curious but still a little uncomfortable as he looks around. Even if the people aren't real, this is still something of Teo's, something that could be personal. It's only because Teo literally dragged him here that he even feels like it's okay for him to be here...

We watches Teo a moment when he sits down, the way the light illuminates his eyes- a lively warm brown, not a faded yellow that reflects light in the dark. The gesture inviting him to sit draws him away from his staring, at least for now. He should do his best to remember his face as it is now, if he can still remember any of this as clearly when he awakes.

He sits, clasping his hands on the table for all of a moment before Teo makes that comment. He scowls faintly and instead crosses his arms in the way he often does, vaguely reaching up to adjust glasses that aren't there before he realizes that.

"...Yes, because you trespassed on a memory of my own... this was how I looked when I was young, some four hundred years ago."

Not that there's a huge physical difference considering how much time passed. And even if he says trespassed, he did technically willingly let him in...

His shoulders hike. He grins sheepishly.

"Sorry. I was just, you know, excited to see you there."

And he wanted to show himself to someone who understood why it was a big deal to be himself. He leans forward, his arms resting on the table and his head resting on them.

"I always forget how old you are," He says. "Four hundred feels long to me. Especially since it hasn't even been years since I woke up." He pauses a moment, considering, then says, "Your hair looks pretty, long like that."

The woman from before walks up just in time, speaking with a smile, "Good morning. Anything I can get you?"

Automatically, Teo sits straighter and says, "Coffee? And Conchas?"

The waitress turns a wry grin on him, lightly swatting his shoulder with her notepad.

"What are you even doing here? Your shift's not 'til later."

"The coffee and concha, duh," Teo answers without missing a beat. The waitress scoffs and shakes her head. She doesn't notice the way Teo blinks, eyes widening with the revelation of his automatic words. He looks to Faust with even more delight.

"...I don't know how you managed to find me like this in the first place..."

It's more a grumbly complaint than anything. He can only make reasonable guesses about that as it is, much less expect Teo to know if it was more than sheer luck. He was going to make a comment about how time can lose its meaning when you live alone, but instead blinks and narrows his eyes at compliment(?).

"Hah?"

But then the waitress is there and he more or less clams up, just watching the two of them interact... as if they're familiar with each other, which makes sense, with this being Teo's dream... though it seems Teo is only just realizing this as well.

"...You worked here?"

"I-I guess so!" He answers, lifting his hands in a helpless shrug. The waitress lifts a brow and puts her hand on her hip.

"Worked? You better not have quit on me, Teo Garcia, or I swear no one's going to find your body." She lifts the notepad again, lightly swatting Teo's arm for emphasis on every word of; "Show. Up. To. Your. Shift."

He yelps and laughs, leaning away further and further with each impact. The waitress huffs and shakes her head.

"I'll be back with the Coffee," She says lightly and Teo watches her go with a nervous crooked grin.

"Um... ah... anyway... I guess... I must have? This is the dream I woke up in," He says to Faust. "I woke up here and I went to go outside when I fell in the water. I just walked a little bit and there you were, kind of in the fog. I didn't see the dream until it just opened."

Teo Garcia... he pushes aside the pang of unrelated annoyance. This is clearly someone Teo knew though, and while it's a dream it feels a little off-putting to be a spectator to their familiarity. He's not part of this memory, or this place...

Once she's gone he feels like he can relax a little more, though presumably she'll return soon...

"...So our dreams are separated by that fog and water outside..." The space between dreams, huh... he glances to the side. "It opened because I let you in... I think. That's how it felt, at least... though I didn't realize I was doing it at the time, or I'd have tried to keep you out."

In theory, at least. Maybe he'd have gone outside to him instead.

"I spend enough time trying to keep my dreams contained without someone wandering right into them like this.."

"Sorry," He says again, even more sheepish. "I know you don't like that. It looked like a nice dream. But, I won't ask about it."

He'd add promise but it seems kinder to avoid the word around Faust. He doesn't seem bothered by Faust saying he'd have locked him out though. But on that note...

"Do you think this is a mage thing? Like what happened before?"

Maybe the others are out there too.

"...It wasn't the worst dream you could have stumbled into, but it's... it was a long time ago. It's personal."

Not that he needs to defend anything when Teo already said he won't ask about it...

"It seems likely... I didn't think much of it at the time, but Mauri said the Itse- the soul with our personality- can wander when we're dreaming. Learning about the Luonto at the time was more important or I might have asked him more about it..."

He nods his head. Personal. He imagines it would be, given that it was a happy party full of people, something Faust would never be caught in these days.

"It's alright," He assures. "The other thing was more important. We had to take care of it sooner rather than later. It would've wasted time to worry about dreams and things."

He leans back, looking up at the hanging cafe lights. Worrying about dreams gets him thinking.

"I'm really glad," He says softly, though his smile has slipped. "If this had been a different kind of memory... if it was something from- from before I woke up but after I was bit... I wouldn't want anyone to see that." Not the least because it would get him killed. "I'm glad yours wasn't bad either."

He can only hope that no one else will suddenly discover they can wander into his dreams... though it did seem like they wouldn't be able to get in without him allowing it, at least.

He watches Teo's face, now without so much of the giddy happiness he's had since discovering where he is. He can connect it a little better in his mind, overlaying it with the waxier complexion and torn flesh. So this is what he's lost...

He shakes himself out of those thoughts and breaks his staring to glance away.

"...I suppose we were both fortunate, then." Even if there's still an underlying tragedy to his own dream. He doesn't know how clearly Teo was able to see his old nightmare that one night in the windmill, but to have him wander into that like this would have felt like an even worse violation...

...Though it's not like Teo has any connection to his world in the first place. He wouldn't even know to ask questions about the founder of today's Central Country or if he's really that Holy Wizard Faust. So really, the worst part of him seeing his dream tonight is just having it exposed that there was a time in his life when he could be happy...

"...This is a peaceful dream. But if this is your dream, and we're both aware of that, I wonder if you could change it to suit what you want to see."

It doesn't seem like it would be difficult, like altering an illusion of your own making. But of course, Teo doesn't have the experience of creating illusions.

He smiles wanly. Neither of them are saying it but he knows they're both thinking of the fire. He can't grasp the tragedy as clearly as Faust knows it, but he can understand easily enough that Faust can no more get that time back than he can get this.

Or, they couldn't, until these dreams. The thought cheers him a little more, thinking he could visit this place again and again... will he get sick of it? Or will he get tired of waking up from it?

He blinks at Faust's suggestion, his head tilting the way it does when he's normally masked.

"Changing it?" He repeats. "Like... to someplace different?" His eyes squeeze shut a moment. When he opens them, absolutely nothing has changed. He frowns. "Well that didn't work." He huffs and slumps forward onto the table. He whines, "Magic stuff is hard."

He still can't quite believe he's magic now. What cosmic entity thought that was a good idea?

He glances about when Teo seems to concentrate... but no, nothing. Either it's not that easy or Teo just doesn't have the feel for how to do something like that. At least this is already a nice enough dream...

"...Not everything comes naturally, even for wizards. It takes training and discipline to unlock our full potential. And you weren't even born with it..."

He sure is magic now. He's not about to lump him into the same category as a wizard, and he's not sure how much he might or might not even be capable of with this world's magic... but it doesn't feel like a bad thing.

"Probably doesn't help that I can't remember old places well," He admits. "I keep picturing the woods and I don't actually want to go there."

Not that he doesn't like the woods, but he doesn't like them as much as all this. He sees the woods every week. He wants to see more like this, with people and the time before. He brightens suddenly, sitting up tall again.

"Maybe I can start smaller," He says. "What do you want? Like, for breakfast! What's your favorite thing? Describe it to me."

His hands brace on the table edge in anticipation.

"...I suppose I can see why."

Even if he'd be just fine going back to the old forest where he lived for centuries. But Teo likes people. He'd have only been out in the woods to hunt or hide. So of course he'd have difficulty trying to make his dream go somewhere else if his heart isn't in it...

Teo's eagerness makes him automatically lean back slightly.

"Me-?"

He nearly refuses, but Teo looks so excited... he sighs.

"Well... does your world have galettes? It's a crepe with the edges folded over savory fillings, like thinly sliced meat, cheese, and an egg..."

He should reign it in given that Faust looks so startled. But he can't. He's excited. He wants to do this right.

When Faust starts to describe it, he closes his eyes again, brows furrowing in concentration. His fingers dance upon the table's edge. His one foot taps at the floor. He hums a little.

And the waitress returns.

"Coffee, Conchas" There's a pause. "Aaaand here you are." A plate is slid in front of Faust hosting a square pastry and an egg settled in like its a nest, with bits of bacon and cheddar and a sprinkling of cilantro. "Let me know if you need anything."

As the waitress hurries off, Teo cracks an eye open, one at a time. The faint beginnings of a smile form.

"Did I get it?"

He watches him concentrate, and he wonders if describing the steps to make it would help, since Teo seems to enjoy cooking as it is... but then the waitress comes back, and... it's a galette.

"Huh... it looks right." Seeing as this is a dream, he can imagine it might taste the way he expects it to regardless... though this is technically Teo's dream...

While he's tempted to cut into it right away, he refrains from looking so eager and looks to the conchas instead.

"What are those, exactly...?"

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