Down the rabbit hole and back again

[unwittingleader]

Who: +1 Alice Liddell and Somarium!
Where: A cafe in espoir
Style: Any!
Status: O p e n !

[A strange new world made of dreams?

Been there, done that. Which is why Alice isn't too surprised to find herself in yet another dreamworld she's been forced to inhabit.

Whelp. Might as well try to make the best of it. So after a bit of exploring Alice stumbles

Comments

[godofclocks]

[This is a man who leaves his home infrequently and yet manages to know the locations of all the cafes worth noting in this world.

For once, however, it is not the cafe that he happens to really notice.

It's the girl sitting in it, quite... normally. And for a moment it's as if she never left. But he remembers it too well. It's not that she never left though. He remembers.

And yet she has returned.

For a moment he stares, and then, enters silently, walking over to her table, and staring at her for a moment, as if discerning whether or not she is the real Alice.]

...so you've come back to us.

[He's... truly very happy. He wants it to be true so very much.]

[unwittingleader]

[Now there's a familiar voice, she thought as she took a sip of her tea before glancing up to him.]

Oh, Julius! It's not as though I left willingly, I honestly don't know how I ended up here and I couldn't find my way back to the clock tower...

[Waaaaaaait a minute. Julius. What you doin outside? 8|a ]

Were you worried? Did you come to bring me back?

[godofclocks]

[Ah. She seems quite puzzled about her current predicament. However, if she had truly come and gone, as many seem to do, it really isn't so strange that she had forgotten.

Though it's truly troublesome to have to repeat the basics. However, she had done so for him when he first arrived so it was his duty to return the favor, he supposed.

However. There is one important thing he must do first.

It's slightly awkward, when he kneels down and hugs her tightly -- probably far too tightly. However, after having lost her once... it was important. There was a flood of relief that came with her return to this world... to his side.]

You've done nothing wrong.

[unwittingleader]

[She's still wondering about why he had left his tower, and if he had done so for her. The thought brings a light tint of pink to her cheeks-- but that blush only darkens when she feels the mans arms suddenly wrap around her.

WHEN HAD HE GOTTEN IN THE KNEELING POSITION??]

Ah J-Julius...?

[She was... lacking oxygen, but confused more than anything else as she awkwardly patted the other on the back.]

I-It's okay now right? You found me, so... can you... please.. let go..!?

[DON'T KILL HER WHEN SHE'S ONLY JUST ARRIVED OKOK.]

[godofclocks]

[...it's a bad habit he has. A bad habit of going overboard. Affection is a difficult thing for him. Either he fails at showing it completely, or when he tries, he ends up getting carried away. Unfortunately this is one of the latter moments.

But at least he's quick to note his error and pull back, a little flustered over his silly actions.]

Ah...

[Saying sorry meant talking about it and he'd really just pretend that didn't happen. So he brushes himself off, blushing slightly and clears his throat. All to draw away from that.]

You were gone for some time. Why now of all times did you return?

[It's not aimed so much at her... because she really can't answer that. But he really wished it had been just a bit sooner.]

Nonetheless, here you are again.

[unwittingleader]

[It's not that she minded his big bear hugs, underneath all that overbearing strength there was a warmth Alice had come to enjoy feeling. What she minded was the inability to breath during those times.

As he was straightening himself she took the time to catch her breath.]

I didn't think I was gone for that long, I--...

[Something wasn't making sense.]

Here again? Returned? Julius, just where are we exactly?

[godofclocks]

[Of course, she doesn't remember. Very well here goes.]

Somarium. Quite literally a world of dreams. The object you were given can record them.

Of course. When they are, anyone can see them, not just you.

[Might as well get the impossible out of the way first.]

[unwittingleader]

So my assumptions that this isn't a part of Heartland were correct after all.

[She seems to be taking this rather well. Then again, moving from one world of dreams to the next, isn't too big of a deal. Since the initial surprise of being stranded in a dream had been long past when she was first brought to Wonderland.]

I'm starting to wonder if I'll ever wake up from these dream worlds once and for all.

[Oh wait, He's said something new.]

Object...?

[godofclocks]

That is correct.

[They are very different, really, in Julius' eyes, though he wonders what it is that she will think of it.]

This.

[To show her what he means, he pulls his own out of his coat pocket. It's something he does not use as much as any other person might, but he does keep it. He's adverse to using it but sometimes it does come in handy and there might be a time when he really needs it...]

[unwittingleader]

[She waits anxiously with large, curious eyes as he retrieves his dreamberry. It doesn't look at all familiar, though.]

You mean to say I have one of those strange little gadgets too...?

[She sits up straight in her seat glancing around herself before patting down her lap. Ah! She reaches a hand into her pocket, pulling out a dreamberry of her own.]

Wow... how did I not notice this sooner?

[She's just going to be inspecting it from all angles now.]

How does it work? You said it records dreams..?

[godofclocks]

[He knows she'll find it. That is how it works. So he simply waits and nods.]

Dreams are broadcast over the network. There is really no telling when. And anyone here with one of those devices can see it as well.

[He motions to the Dreamberry she's inspecting.]

But you can also use it to call others, or broadcast messages when necessary.

[unwittingleader]

[Her dreams going public? That's nothing new, is it? Since she's been living in a dream for quite some time now and had to share her time with all the people of Heartland.]

No privacy?

[She doesn't look happy about it, but really what can she do to change it?]

So this little gadget functions as a telephone too? That seems pretty advanced for something in such a small package to do so many different things.

[godofclocks]

Yes, something like that.

[Unfortunately. He wasn't there to see anything particularly private when she had been here before; and the idea of it wasn't a very nice one. He'd rather not pry and learn things when he's told purposefully. But the chance that it will continue as such if she stays here long enough are... slim.]

It's more advanced than anything from our world at least.

[It's convenient. Nothing more. Although... it is fascinating, when you think about it. But then again, he would be more interested in taking it apart and studying the mechanism. But it's probably beyond his scope of abilities.]