A simple room at the
Silver Rose Inn, the hallway outside the door leads back to the
main room. There is one somewhat large window, fringed by curtains, across from the door, and it looks out to the
inner yard, and the forest beyond. The room is furnished with a four-poster bed, a desk with a quill pen and an inkwell sitting atop it. In one of the drawers are a few scraps of parchment. Near the desk is a wardrobe, with some empty hangers hanging within it, and a couple of shelves off to one side. Near the bed is another, smaller desk with a mirror above it. The floor is wood, but there is a handwoven rug to the side of the bed. On the walls are some paintings of the mountains.
Yue enters her room from the bar at something between a trudge and a stomp, pin heels tapping the floor in angry little cadences.
"The nerve of that hick boy! How dare he? He just... and..." Before he can gather himself the feminine incubus tumbles onto his bed, sobbing quietly and clutching the pillow Ting had made for him. The silly, slightly off balance purple pillow has been his best friend since leaving his 'family' to reacquaint himself with people in general, an expedition that has so far returned nothing but pain for him. Men either want to rape him or want nothing to do with him. They think that just because he is forward and candid, that makes him an uneducated whore. Women hiss and spit and bare their claws just as soon as he turns his back to them, or also want nothing to do with him - he attributes it to jealousy, generally, but he could be wrong.
Either way, this boy's irritated disinterest has broken the last of his resolve to try.
"Orrin was right," Yue whimpers, his makeup running plenty by now, "I should have known better."
Not too terribly long later, a soft, slightly timid knock sounds upon the door
Yue looks up, heart freezing at the sound of entreating entry. He can't hide that he's been bawling, his makeup is a mess. He considers the possibility that it is Ander come to apologize... but he knows better. Besides, Ander's energy signature is different than this.
"C-come in..." She sniffles, dabs at her face with a cloth to try and save her makeup.
There's a slight pause at this, and then the door opens a little to allow a tentative young foreigner to slip part of the way in. "I think..." pause. "You are okay, Yue...?" Her eyes, though quite unsure of herself, soften with sympathy when she realizes that she was right.
The incubus turns his eyes from her, furiously wiping at his face with the poor cloth. "Fine," he lies, voice still shaking, "you could hear me...?"
Rey shakes her head a little. How to explain, with such limited words...? Just because Yue is named from her own language doesn't mean that she speaks it. "I feel you...very bad. Very sad..."
"It's nothing. Just social incompetence." He gets his face dry, finally, though his makeup is still awful, and looks at her. "I don't know how to be with people very well."
Rey tilts her head. Almost has to smile a little. Does she even know who she's talking to? "I am...over the ocean from my home. I can not speak my...head. I do not understand what these people say. I do not understand how they think. I do not understand why they think I say what I do." Connotative meaning is a bitch. Her eyes soften again. "I do not think you are alone in your...trouble
." She wants to give him a hug in the worst way, but...that same ignorance of social custom makes her terrified of offending Yue when she least needs the trouble.
The incubus looks at her quietly, pondering her, trying to decide if the best thing for her would be to act like a jerk and send her away. Can't bring himself to do it, though. "Deyono'rey. Do you know what an in... a succubus is?"
She thinks...shakes her head slowly. "Maybe. But I do not know the word."
Yue's eyebrows arch a little. "Do you know 'demon'?"
Rey's eyes spark with familiarity. "I do not know what the word means, but...the crew of the ship I came here on said that of me, every talk we had."
Yue's lips twitch a little. Idiots. "If I told you that I could speak to you in your dreams, and we could better understand each other, would you be willing to do that?"
A semi-prodigy of a dreamwalker? Absolutely. Her eyes light at this a bit. "Yes, of course."
He nods a little bit. "Thank you. Just... go to sleep, if you can, and I'll be there shortly." Actually, he's quite prepared for this. "Unless you want me to help you to sleep now, which would ask for a lot of trust on your part."
"I can sleep," she assures. She doesn't want to rebuff the offer, but this is the first thing that pops into her head. She almost certainly can. Pause. Isn't sure if she's been dismissed or not, and hesitates on leaving.
Yue isn't sure he'd dismissed her, either. "In a few minutes, then. Thank you again..." and he moves to open the door for her.
Rey smiles a bit...nods a little, bows to him, and heads back towards her own room. She does hope that she wasn't just brushed off...but she'll find out soon. and she doesn't think so.
Yue closes the door and just lies down on his bed. Cuts off a quiet sob, and just closes his eyes to sleep, and do some dreamwalking.
Rey doesn't knock this time. Just runs right into the room as steadily as her garments allow, failing to consider what she'll do when she gets there.
The room is quite empty when Rey arrives. The bed is mussed, as though someone was thrashing in it only just now. The scent of Yue's perfume is still lingering.
Rey's eyes widen. After a second, on connecting that the door hadn't been open, she runs to the window.
Nothing. Not a trace.
Hey... where am I? Her voice floats around the room, or so it sounds. Are you awake? I can't leave your dream.
Rey's eyes widen. Where is that...don't tell her he's still in her mindscape...? "Yes..." she ventures, gingerly, sticking to her native tongue. "I am awake, and in your room. But...your body isn't here."
Oh gods! This is not in the handbook...! Something must have happened to me. Someone did something while I was sleeping. Check the sheets. Look for blood or stains of any kind.
They've been turned over, but an inspection would certainly find the wide, dark splotches on the underside of the blanket.
And these she quickly uncovers, and bites her lip. "On the underside of the blanket. I didn't see anyone outside or in the hall, or a blood trail anyhere..." thinks. Succubus. Must have connections. "Is there anyone I can call? Or summon? Or something?"
I don't know... I don't know! This has never happened before.
"Calm down...calm down," Rey tries to sooth, although it's a silly statement. "Is there anyone you know I could dreamwalk to for help, or could get ahold of with a summoning circle? else...could Savera help, do you think...?"
"I don't know..." Yue sobs. He can't help it. He's losing it. All the stress of earlier, and now this...
"Yue? Calm down. You'll be okay." Rey bites her lip...this is weird, and hard, moving this to her dream plane when she's awake, but...she begins to wrap some powerful calming auras into her dream plane. "Okay? There's precedent, it happens to dreamwalkers. You'll remain intact in my dreamplane no problem and we'll find your body as soon as we can. If you're still here, it means it's still alive, and if it's still alive, that means someone wants it alive. Yes? I'm going to go grab Savera. Is that okay?" Him having and giving input means feeling a little more in control. Without waiting for further reponse, she lifts her elaborate skirts just a little to run for the main room.
Savera looks around the room from her perch on Rey's shoulder. She hops down onto the bed and examines the blanket, then looks out the window, which is open She flutters up onto the window sill and issues a shrill whistle, then, turning back towards Rey, she asks, "Will you come, or do you wish to remain here? And do you still have contact with Yue?"
"I am certainly willing to come if I am able. It helps that, yes, I do still have contact with Yue. She's safe in my dreamscape, unless something drastic happens to her body."
"You are welcome, of course. I have called a wolf-friend. Do you think yourself able to ride a large wolf? Or should I call also something less frightening?" Savera's tone is kind. She knows how others may react to large animals, especially a wolf the size of a small horse.
Rey blinks slowly. "Assured of my safety," she notes carefully, "I would be fine riding with your friend. If he would permit, of course."
"He will not harm you, and he says that it would be alright for him to carry you." She hops to the bed and tears off a piece of the fabric with Yue's blood on it, then turns back towards the window, saying, "Come, follow me." She hops out of the window, spreading her wings, and gliding out towards the forest
Rey blinks. Her clothes are so not meant for this. She climbs carefully over the sill and then, skirts still gathered, runs silently after Savera. Are you still with me, Yue...?
Stumble!