Dark Dreams and Lighter Hearts

* EARLIER THAT WEEK *

Falling.

Through a hellish landscape, full of undead blown around by a never ending storm of black and purple clouds; the monsters reach out to try and grab, try and devour Uta through a ceaseless icy, putrid rain.

The Spriggan flails, clenches her fists, curls up in a ball and attempts to spread her wings, but they just don't work. Flapping them explicitly does not help.

"Uta...", a voice without a clear source reverberates through the hellish landscape.

Uta looks around, frantic. She tries to scream something in response but the voice doesn't come. It remains trapped in the throat, an indistinct hoarse whisper is all that comes out.

"Uta...", the voice with unseen source echoes again.

*SPLASH*

Sounds are muffled through the swampy waters, and as Uta is dragged further downward through the lazy, filthy currents, the panic of drowning is renewed in her expression. She clenches her throat as bubbles leave her mouth and nostrils, her wings and limbs launching into a fit of spasms, while malignant eyes look from all around.

"UTA!"

Close up to Uta's face, clean, not covered in water, but sweat. "AH!", shrieks the spriggan. "What's going on!", she asks, as she looks around.

"Thank the goddesses you've awoken," the voice says again, this time clear, without reverberations. Zoom out to a regular party of adventurers, your massively built tank in armor, your caster witch, the hunter/archer melee DPS, and the leader, a sword-wielding DPS, who is addressing to Uta. "You fell asleep while -standing-. We need your full attention now. We're about to face the boss in that room..." he gestures. "...and we are -so- going to need those heals. Are you sure we can do this?"

Uta gulps. "S-sorry, I... I've been having a lot of nightmares of late."

"Well, stay awake now, okay? You can catch up on your sleep later."

"Yes!", exclaims Uta, with a nod and a few droplets of sweat on her temples. "Later!"

* * * Later * * *

Uta is falling, again. Through flames, through thick, fetid smoke, through a forest of gnarled trees where harpies swoop down to tear into the Spriggan's flesh with their claws, leaving glowing red marks.

"UTA!"

"AH!", exclaims Uta, sprinking droplets of sweat around as she's startled.

Uta looks around. She standing at the back of the boss room. Everyone is covered in luminous crimson wounds. The caster has climbed on the highes surface of the room and refusing to come down, and the tank is curled up and rocking in a corner, moaning. Everyone's HP is deep in the red.

The leader stares at Uta, expressionless, for a few seconds, as Uta shrinks into her shoulders, squeezing at the handle of her staff, and exhudes more sweat from her temples.

*Sigh* "Just go home, Uta... and rest properly."

"I really need to see someone about this problem," Uta mumbles, walking away with drooping shoulders and her wings flattened against her back, pulling up her menu, "Maybe Fuka can help..."

    Nightmares are nasty, especially these ones. Falling into a deep, dark chasm as the ground crumbles. Wings battered by the rocks that also fall. Wings rendered entirely useless, bodies crushed and crumpled even before they hit the ground. Long, pained, desperate screams.

    And the worst part, to Fukaziroh, is she's never the one who falls. No she's the sole survivor watching her dearest friends die, completely unable to save them.

    Still, she doesn't fear the nightmares themselves. Or rather she does, but she doesn't let that stop her from sleeping. It doesn't make her stay up until too exhausted to move. The nightmares wake her, but she's been doing a decent job of getting some sleep at least. Of functioning, if not quite at a hundred percent, then at least at some reasonable level. It takes a strange mood to truly drive her to the point of collapsing from exhaustion... which may have something to do with why someone might seek out her dubious wisdom on the subject. Or perhaps Uta just knows Fuka is a good listener and would do anything to help, even if she's no paragon of good sense.

    These days the little Sylph is hanging around relatively near the place where the nightmares took hold, determined to track down the Ash Wraith and put an end to the terror in that way. She's reachable by chim, of course, and will readily set up a meeting with Uta at an inn there where she's staying in the meantime.

Since that fateful day, Uta is no longer on the verge of collapse. But she is a bit distracted, and not entierely in a good mood.

Ok, it's Uta, it is perfectly normal for her to be a bit distracted.

She walks through the door, and without even looking around to see if Fuka might be sitting anywhere on her path, she heads straight for the main counter. "...Hello, I am supposed to meet someone at this inn...", she begins, and shares any contact details that Fukaziroh might have sent her way. "Where can I find my contact?"

    It's not normal for Fuka to be in a bad mood, but fortunately even now she doesn't get grumpy. A bit more easily annoyed perhaps, quick to anger or pique, but not unpleasant. "HEY!" she calls out, waving her hand in Uta's direction. "I'm not THAT small that you wouldn't be able to see me when you walk right by!" she cries out, perhaps a bit more snarkily than she might otherwise but only intending to mock herself rather than call out any misdeed on Uta's behalf. She's a bit tired though, with circles under her eyes plain enough to see, so her judgment on another's reaction might be a bit compromised right now.

Uta tunrs in surprise, "...Oh, sorry, it... I didn't mean to...", she stutters, rubs her eyes, and walks straight towards Fuka, completely forgetting the dialogue she was having with the Lander innkeeper seconds ago, leaving him hanging mid-sentence, while the Spriggan walks away. "You, see, I've been having horrible nightmares of lates, and... uh... I think I've reached out to you about... something... which..." She rubs her temples. "...can't quite remember. Probably because of the nightmares," she says, as she moves to sit at the same table as Fuka.

    Fuka catches that expression and it hits her pretty hard, so she just reaches out to take Uta's hand in earnest sympathy. Literal sympathy in this case, as well as the more common meaning of feeling bad. "You too, huh?" she asks quietly. "I've tried a few things to sleep myself, but they don't stop the bad dreams. Got a few more ideas to try, naturally, but some of them require another person with you and .... well..." she pauses, raises eyebrows suggestively and grins.

    Fuka absolutely does want to help Uta... but at the same time she's not going to pass off an opportunity to totally fluster her as well.

The kind gesture, does something to Uta. The sympathy seems to flow by, and blast the dams of sympathy within Uta herself, causing her own reserves to flood back at Fuka. There's a moment of tired connection, of having found a kindred spirit. Her eyes look up, into Fuka's, looking for deep understanding...

Until, of course, Fuka being Fuka, she has to make this weird. "Uuuuuuuuuh....", she squeals, going all red in the face. "No, no, no!", she exclaims, pulling away her hand and flailing, arms and wings alike. "I do not see how -that- could help at all!" She looks around in panic, then returns to address Fuka, "Let's try the -other- ones!"

    Fuka CACKLES at that, yes, quite literally. "That's not what I mean, shame on you~" she teases, thinking it hilarious that Uta's mind was aware enough to go right where she led it. Mission accomplished, or at least the opening salvo went as intended. A distraction, something to break through the misery. "I do have an idea though, and ... well, I think I could help you. And you'd help me." If it works, that is. It's just an idea, but it *feels* like it should work. Given Fuka both has experienced the nightmares and has experience in certain powers, she's well-positioned to guess what the true solution might be. But of course, it's still only a guess.

    "What matters here is that you trust me." Fuka claims. And her smirk slips away, leaving it clear she's being serious now. "What are your dreams like? You don't have to say, that's not important, but if you want to, I'll listen and I won't ever think less of you for what you might fear. That damn wraith hit me with memories of my son dying, but that's not what I'm having nightmares of. Is it the same with you?" she asks.

Uta looks down and blushes at the revelation, hands buried between her knees, back arched, wings flattened. Shaaaaaaaaaaaame indeed.

She looks up at the question on whether she trusts Fuka, and at this point, the look in her eyes is... hesitant, but receptive.

There is reflective silence after Fuka's explanation. She finally reaches out to take Fuka's hand again. "I am sorry for your son," she says. And after more silence, she continues, "Falling. The nightmares involve falling. Lots of falling. Through..." She stops to think, to consider her next move. "...a mish-mash of my past and present predicaments."

    Fuka nods at this, remaining solemn. She doesn't try to joke further, though she's inclined to try, because even she knows better than to mess around *sometimes*. "I mean Fukajiroh, of course. It's not like I'd... I mean, you *know*..." she says, just a little flustered by the thought that Uta might believe she had a literal child. Also fairly sure she'd mentioned her furry son to Uta before, but not absolutely certain.

    She nods then. "My nightmares are about falling too. But in them, it's you that falls." Fuka explains, her voice nearly a whisper. "You, Haru... other people too. Always different people who I'm close to, but some keep coming back night after night. I hope you trust me, and you know that if you fell like that, I'd catch you. Or jump in with you and trust we'd find a way to protect each other. That I'd never stand there helpless and watching like I do in my own dreams."

"...oh, of course. Of course," says Uta. A pause. "And if it was a literal child, hey, what would be wrong with that? I, for one, think that the world would be a better place with little Fukazirohs wandering around."

Silence.

Many thoughts run through Uta's head at this point. Considering the fears, the nightmares, explaining their symbolism and origin, how they play into and with one psyche, especially these borne out of a malignant entity.

But in the end, she goes with none of that.

"I trust that you would, Fuka," is what Uta says. She follows that with some silence. "I am willing to prove it right here, right now." A gloved finger is tapped on the wooden surface of the table at each of the final words of that sentence. "Do you want me to engage in a trust fall?"

    Little Fukazirohs. Well, fortunately there's only one little Fukaziroh, so the world is still more or less safe. From that doom, at least. It makes Fuka want to smile though, something she suppresses with some difficulty due to wanting to appear to take this as seriously as she actually does.

    She does smile, finally, at mention of Uta's trust and her willingness to prove it. "I'd dive off a cliff if it would help." she says. "Or wait at the bottom to catch you. But no, as much as that relieves me, I had a different sort of trust in mind. We're going to have a sleepover, and with luck it'll help ease both our souls!"

Uta frowns. "A... sleepover?", she asks, puzzled. "It's not like I've been invited to many social gatherings back in my day, so I am not an expert here, but... isn't that a social gathering for really really young people?" She's even scratching her head. "I would think that we have both outgrown that demographic?"

She puts her hands forward and adds, quickly, "I mean, I -do- trust you, we have already established this, I was just, you know... wondering aloud."

    Fuka laughs, genuinely, at that confused inquiry. "Well I was accused of being like seven years old recently." she confesses, happy enough to wear the badge with pride. "Honestly I never really had a friend before I was fourteen so I think I'm owed a little innocent childhood fun. And unless I miss my guess, you didn't have much of a sleepover phase yourself!" the sylph claims.

    "Still, the point isn't actually the sleepover." Fuka notes. "Though I think a little safe and silly fun can't hurt, and it might even help. I think we both need to feel secure, comforted. If that means brushing each other's hair and doing our nails, what's wrong with that? We're probably too old to be tucked into bed by our moms and sung lullabyes too, but I can't help but think that's exactly the sort of thing that's *supposed* to prevent nightmares. And in this world, with the actual power of Song, it'd probably work!"

"I had no sleepover phase, no." Uta mumbles. "You would be correct there. Social at school or work, but always the loner bookworm after hours."

There is an Eureka moment, "Wait, lullabies, of course!", she exclaims, slapping her forehead. She begins to rattle out, excitedly, "We can-"

We can just skip straight to the chase. Sing those songs. Get the job done. Skip all that nail brushing and hair doing nonsense. It's something Uta would be terrible at anyway.

Cut to soft focus flashback of Fukaziroh saying "I think I'm owed a little innocent childhood fun," with the obligatory slight flashback reverb.

Silence.

"I mean, I am not sure whether or how most of those things would help," she says, with hesitation, alternating between looking at Fuka and down at her fidgeting fingers, but then, calming down again, she adds, "...but... I suppose..." A pause, where she seems to reflect on something. "...they're at least worth a try?", she says, head still turned down and glancing upwards and sideways to Fuka.

    Fuka's fairly notorious for having that sort of fun anyways in spite of expectations. Fortunately not at the expense of others, but she doesn't need anyone else to GIVE her fun. When someone's willing to share fun though, that's just so much better!

    Watching Uta's reaction tells a bit of a story in itself however. Fuka beams with unfiltered delight at Uta agreeing. Hopefully they won't both end up regretting that! Fuka had noted the hesitation, naturally. She accepts it too, as part of her friend's reticence. Perhaps even shyness. It's not a question of trust, she's fairly sure, and she doesn't hold it against Uta in the slightest... remembering similar hesitations from Karen in the past and trusting a dear friend in turn.

    In a way it's even better that both Fuka and Uta realize that the power of song, the nightmare-cancelling power of a lullaby, is what is needed. Because there's a significant difference between what's needed and what's wanted! "All right!" she cheers. "Anyways I've got a room here and that should be fine, though maybe a bit crowded. And normally I'd say that for a sleepover we're not getting any rest tonight! But that seems counterproductive so I promise I'll restrain myself. A little anyways!" she grins.

"I mean, we certainly cannot have a sleepover in two separate rooms, can we?", Uta chuckles. "And crowded is not an issue. I've lived in very cramped houses, I'm used to there not being a lot of wiggle room. Heck, my current main residence is a traveller's wagon! And I've had guests-"

Far larger than you, is what Uta was about to say, but swiftly maneuvers into "-over there. I'm sure I'll be fine."

The Spriggan stands up and makes a sweeping gesture with her arms to mean, "please lead the way," while adding, still confused, "...restrain? Restrain about what?" Ok, that one flew completely over her head.

    "That would entirely defeat the point!" Fuka agrees, already planning on what sort of fun things she might do with Uta. Fun, of course, being the literal point. And in her mind this isn't about what she wants, it's about giving her friend an experience she's never had and making sure she enjoys it as much as possible! If Fuka realized Uta agreed to the whole idea purely for Fuka's sake, well, that would be touching. And also convince Fuka that Uta's an amazing friend and sister too.

    She wouldn't even notice a short joke right now... probably. Not if it wasn't made obviously as a joke anyways. She seems a bit puzzled at Uta's brief derailment but shrugs it off. "I grew up in a house with seven people!" she laughs. Crowded? Privacy? "We'll be fiiiine~ And don't worry about my restraint! I'll worry about that!" she promises vaguely. And she'll probably even mean it!