action/text | a few days before the party

[imsorey]

i. action (locked to alisha/rose)

[Sorey and Mikleo have pretty much been sleeping like the dead for the past couple of weeks, following their accidental fight with the Dragon; their breathing is steadily, and they don't seem too debilitated by the long nap, but they also, worryingly, won't stir out of it.

until now -- both of them start to come awake at the same time, turning onto their sides, one of them letting out a queasy sort of groan. this is not an entirely pleasant revival.]

ii. text (open)

hey sorey and mikleo here

sorry if we worried anyone we accidentally got in an argument with the dragon again

we don't recommend doing that by the way. it looks like we were out of it for a couple of weeks. did we miss anything important?

iii. action (open)

[...or if you'd rather talk to them in person a little later in the day, they'll emerge from their room eventually, though probably nowhere too far -- kitchens, library, that sort of thing. they're kind of wobbly and look unwell, though not too terribly so.]

Comments

[imsorey]

[at first he tries to sit up, and then he flops back down onto the mattress, trying to stave off nausea and vertigo. but he opens his eyes at Alisha's voice, trying to figure out if he's actually awake or not.]

Alisha? What...?

[aspearing]

--Please, try to take it easy. [ She shifts to help ease him back down if needed, but stops herself. ]

You and Mikleo both have been sleeping for some time now.

[imsorey]

[he looks like he wants to sit up again, a sort of plaintive frown on his face, but he wisely decides against it.]

We have? It didn't feel like that long. We didn't mean to worry you, I'm sorry.

[aspearing]

[ She shakes her head. ]

No, it's alright. I'm just glad you and Mikleo both are alright. [ But... ] Did something happen beforehand?I assume that sleeping for solong here isn't usual.

[imsorey]

It is a little unusual. Sometimes people just fall asleep for a while, but in this case we found the Dragon in the dreamscape and tried to convince it to stop giving everyone nightmares. It went about as well as you'd expect.

[there's a tinge of guilt in his voice; it wasn't their original intention to get into a fight with the Dragon, but it was the end result.]

[aspearing]

[ Her mouth presses together into a thin line at the thought, but she looks relieved only moments. after. ]

Thank goodness that the two of you are alright. Failure or no, I'm glad that sleep is the worst the two of you had to worry about after all of that.

[imsorey]

We got off pretty lucky, all things considered. Or...

[frowning--it wasn't exactly all luck.]

The Dragon was pretty sick too, which gave us a little more room to talk.

[aspearing]

The dragon was--

And how is it now?

[ She can't help but ask. ]

[imsorey]

Still sick, as far as I know. It was pretty tired when we saw it last.

[They're not exactly on the best terms with the Dragon, but he certainly doesn't want it dead either.]

It's hard to say if it'll get better when we don't know the cause of the illness.

[aspearing]

I see. Do we know of any way that we'll be able to help it?

[ She feels the same. It'd be a true shame to just let that dragon die... ]

Either way, the two of you are fortunate to come out of that unwounded.

[imsorey]

[his eyes slide upwards guiltily. they're technically unwounded, but they can't die in the dreamscape and injuries don't carry over. he's grateful that they can't worry anyone any worse than they already have.]

I don't think it wants us to help. But if it's sick, we could find a way to cure it, ideally.

[aspearing]

I'd... like to find a way, as well. Though, is there a reason why it doesn't want us to help it?

[ That's really strange. Is there perhaps no way to help it? Though, Alisha doesn't want to come to that conclusion. ]

[imsorey]

Probably just stubbornness.

[If they've learned anything about the Dragon in their encounters, it's that it has pride in spades.]

I don't think it could bear it if some humans helped it out. It's that sort of thing. But that doesn't mean I don't want to try. We could do some research on it, ask the local sea creatures what they know about it.

[aspearing]

I think it's a rather good idea, but...

Perhaps this should be taken with as much caution as we can manage, too. It sounds as though it may not react well if it realizes that humans are the ones who'll help it.

[imsorey]

Agreed. The last thing I want is for someone to get hurt because it lashes out. We'll take it slow until we figure out a safe way to help. I don't think it listens to fish gossip, so that's in our favor.

1/2. actually

[aspearing]

... Fish gossip? Do fish... do things such as that?

[aspearing]

But, I agree that that's a sound plan. Do you think it's possible to do research on what it may be sick with?

[imsorey]

They can communicate, so they might gossip. --But, yeah, I definitely think we can look into what's wrong with it as long as we get some kind of sample.

[The sample is obviously the hard, dangerous part, but the research would involve just sitting in a lab pouring over medical books. Maybe boring, but doable with enough dedication to the task.]

[aspearing]

A sample. So-- you'd have to confront it again.

[ She's already wanting to go, not only because it sounds like it could be dangerous -- all things considering -- but because the dragon needs help. ]

[imsorey]

[While he's reluctant to drag more people into something dangerous, he wouldn't hesitate to have Alisha help; he knows she has a good heart and can hold her own in a fight to boot.]

I'm hoping it doesn't come to that. At least, not a fight. If we can catch it while it's asleep, or get a sample from afar, then we won't need a direct confrontation.

[aspearing]

That's a rather good idea. Is there any way to observe it from a distance without a chance of us being caught?

[ That way, they can somehow have a better chance to approach it while it's sleeping. ]

[imsorey]

Hmm...probably the drones.

[He knows that they've used them to explore before, with varying success.]

As long as they don't attract any attention they work pretty well.

[aspearing]

[ She can't help but smile at that. She already knew, but this just reminded her that Sorey has a rather good head on his shoulders. ]

It sounds as though it's just a matter of trying to finish this, then.

[imsorey]

I'll take a look into it and let you know. We might have to tinker with a few things before we send a drone out, but it's our best bet right now.