[attr="class","illeana"]

[attr="class","illeana b"]

[attr="class","illeana i"]truthfully, she's grateful for his presence here. the expertise of a ranger captain is second to none when navigating foreign terrain.

and with the interdream zone bleeding through fissures of this realm, the prospect of company brings a false sense of security.

they depart from additional league personnel until swirling pink mist greets them. it licks at their ankles and she feels a creeping disdain for the mist. it's not the familiarity of her own. it's wrong in ways she can't comprehend, different and invasive and strangling.

"yes, i believe so."

her eyes sweep across the deep sea. as far as they can see, pink mist persists in overwriting the landscape.

"it might be realms merging together, but there's no way to know for sure."

not yet, anyway. a porygon-z beeps rhythmically at her side as they continue into the mist. no abnormal readings just yet.

"are you familiar with this place?"

boruta maher
interdream mission - postdorm

[attr="class","icon"]

“ah.”[break][break]

no way to know for sure. he hated that. he wanted real answers, just like everyone else in the region.[break][break]

“nah, most of the time i’ve spent in these rifts has been in the one near petalburg.” a pause, as he thought back to the vivid dream he’d had there. “that desert’ll mess with your head.”[break][break]

”bo…”

he looked off in the direction of nothing all of the sudden. the eyes of his pheromosa followed his gaze, ultimately finding nothing of interest.[break][break]

at least for now, she remained a whisper in his head only he could hear.[break][break]

”and you?” he asked the professor, still clearly looking for something through the curling mist as he walked at pace beside her. ”you been studying the area before today?”[break][break]

+10 MP ic post[break]
TOTAL: 20 MP[break][break]

postdormitum: interdream zone

[attr="class","bottom"]illeana reyes [break]

[attr="class","illeana"]

[attr="class","illeana b"]

[attr="class","illeana i"]a soft hum escapes.

the desert... she has not yet had the chance to experience it for herself. she looks to his own experiences to fill in the blanks, to scribble across pages until she can see it all unfolding in her mind's eye.

"if you don't mind me asking, what was the desert like?"

her eyes are curious when they drift toward him. they hold for a moment before returning to the mist around them. and the steady beeping of her porygon is a false sense of security, blanketing her in the calm before the storm.

he seems distracted, she notices, but she doesn't think much of it. not yet, anyway. for now, it looks like proactive reactions to the mysterious world around them as the interdream mist continues to creep in.

"a bit, yes. the deep sea is as terrifying as it is interesting."

a small smile rises. it falters after a moment, after the mist floods and she swears she hears a familiar giggle.

"it almost seems like an entire world inside of a giant creature, but that's just a guess at the moment."

boruta maher
interdream mission - postdorm

[attr="class","icon"]

”it wasn’t fun,” he recalled. ”lots of ultra beasts, and lots of sand and heat. and i almost got eaten by a giant worm. there were hundreds of ‘em.”[break][break]

he shook his head. ”plus, i think it gave me really weird dreams. at first i didn’t think there was anything to it, but… now i’m starting to question that.”[break][break]

’bo… my sweet boy…’ the voice in his head lamented.[break][break]

he whipped around on his heel abruptly, stopping to look around. he kept talking, as though he wasn’t acting weird.[break][break]

”no shit? a giant creature?” it would explain some things. he looked up towards the glow above. ”i take it that’s not the sun, then, huh?”[break][break]

he looked over, wondering if the head professor knew more than he did about it. what was up there? would she tell him if she knew?

+10 MP ic post[break]
TOTAL: 30 MP[break][break]

postdormitum: interdream zone

[attr="class","bottom"]illeana reyes [break]

[attr="class","illeana"]

[attr="class","illeana b"]

[attr="class","illeana i"]she blinks surprise slowly out of her eyes the way one does sleep.

"giant worms? that's horrifying."

even more so than ultra beasts, somehow... she feels her skin crawl at the thought.

the sensation increases as he talks of weird dreams, of the reality of such an occurrence becoming more tangible.

"may i ask why you're questioning that now?"

what changed to cause a shift in perspective? new information or... new instances of the same phenomena?

the concept, paired with the sharp turn of his body, leaves a budding sense of unease in the scientist's stomach. she lets it simmer on low, temperature slowly increasing until it could reach a roaring boil.

"it could be, but the odd heartbeat-like rhythm to this realm makes me think otherwise."

she lets the concept settle for a moment before tentatively, softly, asking a sudden question.

"is there something behind us? you, um, turned suddenly."

boruta maher
interdream mission - postdorm

[attr="class","icon"]

having been launched several stories into the air by one of those giant worms, he nodded in agreement, ”that it was.”[break][break]

why was he questioning it? he hesitated a moment, and then reasoned that everyone was having weird experiences, so he wouldn’t seem that crazy.[break][break]

”because i’m seeing things.” there was a momentary pause before he added, ”in the mist.”[break][break]

her description of this place was unsettling, but like her, he was able to shrug the surprise rather easily. nothing was normal anymore. ”somehow, that's weirder than i imagined.”

when she asked what it was he was seeing, there was another pause. this time, it was due to the lump in his throat.[break][break]

”i see my mom.” he was unable to tear his eyes away. pain was there, with a redness he was too aware of and hoped would go unnoticed. ”but i know she’s not real.”

bo looked over at the head scientist, finally. there was something pleading in his gaze, as though she possessed some ability to make his dream come true, or perhaps as though he wanted her to lie to him.[break][break]

”she’s not, right?”[break][break]

adding mp later[break]
postdormitum: interdream zone

[attr="class","bottom"]illeana reyes [break]

[attr="class","illeana"]

[attr="class","illeana b"]

[attr="class","illeana i"]silence persists from her side of their conversation.

he explains, she listens... breathing through a nagging sense of dread.

and as he turns to look at her, as reality and fantasy mix together until lines blur, they're both lost in the aftermath. her expression falters with a quickness. first, there's surprise and then an understanding softness.

"unfortunately, i don't believe so."

she almost wishes his visions were reality, if only to alleviate the pleading with the answers he's looking for... but she cannot make dreams into reality. she cannot give him a remedy for what plagues him. no amount of healing mist can mend this.

a step is taken toward him, tentative as if she's trying to approach the way one would a terrified companion.

"this realm it -- the interdream zone mist combined with this realm has overwhelming effects on our psyche."

explaining doesn't ease the concept out of his mind, though. that much she knows... but she doesn't quite know how to help him fight off something she cannot see.

"is she... with us now?"

step one, perhaps, is identifying the severity. from there, she hopes a way to overcome this will present itself.

boruta maher
interdream mission - postdorm

[attr="class","icon"]

his gaze fell. ”yeah, i figured.”[break][break]

when asked if she was there, he nodded to confirm, but the lump in his throat prevented him from speaking it. because, no, actually, she wasn’t really.[break][break]

a memory occurred to him of a day when willow atkins had cried with him in his vandalized home, and then left on her horse to go be with ugly, when feelings had become too much.[break][break]

there was a voice that he’d heard that day, while assessing the damage, and he’d quietly questioned his sanity since.[break][break]

”what about the border?”[break][break]

his mother’s spirit could tell him what to do to fix the family, because even at thirty, bo believed she still had all the answers. plus, he could apologize for not protecting his brothers. [break][break]

”how many ghosts have come out of that rift, you think? like into our world?”[break][break]

adding pd later[break]
postdormitum: interdream zone

[attr="class","bottom"]illeana reyes [break]

[attr="class","illeana"]

[attr="class","illeana b"]

[attr="class","illeana i"]the border...

the mention of it makes her stiffen. memories rush back into the mind's eye like a sickening film reel. they highlight a trip beyond this plane's veil: a gargantuan golurk reeking of the blood of its victims, a small hope continuing to blossom into full fledged belief, and the familiar face of ALEXANDER STONE being so tangible it crushed her heart.

she remembers the sensation of that trip ending, the realization settling down into her bones like ivy.

"i know of one that i ended up bringing back."

a former ghost. he still haunts her all the same.

"it's possible you could retrieve her in the border if she's still there."

anything is possible within these odd pockets of space. so much possibility it almost feels wrong.

regardless, she flashes a small, reassuring smile in his direction.

"if you'd like, i would be happy to help any way i could."

around them, the world pulses with life. and as it ripples, the mist increases in pools at their feet. she tries to ignore the paranoia, the voices, the faces... all clawing at her ankles for a space to occupy in the mind.

boruta maher
interdream mission - postdorm