3817/Six Impossible Things Before Breakfast

Six Impossible Things Before Breakfast
Date of Scene:	22 October 2019
Location:	Plot Room #1
Synopsis:	Lacrima and Ariel invinte Yasumi and Kotomi to talk about how they can help each other. Yasumi can hardly believe her good luck, but in the end, she has an offer for Kotomi.
Cast of Characters:	Norie Okana, Kotomi Kobana, Ariel Theodore

---

Norie Okana has posed:
Lacrima has been spending the last few weeks 'trying to get her act' together. It turns out that there isn't a lot of personal things she has to do. It's mostly delegating nightmares and making sure they don't cause too much trouble and go insane. She's been meeting with some. It's a strange split. Some nightmares are happy to have a 'ruler' that seems to give some semblance of 'care' about then while others see this as a hinderance. Who's this new girl without an opera mask telling them what to do!? This may cause problems later.

Regardless, Yasumi finds herself in a delivered by bat mail carrier. (A tiny shadow bat. It has a tiny postman's hat and bag. It's more adorable than it has a right to be.) inviting her to Lacrima's Dreamscape.

Lacrima's dreamscape is a large castle with a large central tower. It's a clear day on sunset just before dusk, always. There's a deep forest surrounding the castle. There's a twinkling of lights on the ground to the east suggestive of a village. The central tower is covered in rose-laden vines due to a recent encounter.

Lacrima has chosen what seems to be a strange small concert hall room in which to meet. It's dusty. Chairs are covered by dust laden sheets. There's a harpsichord and a harp and a cello--- old, worn but not quite looking in disrepair at the front.

Lacrima twangs a cello string curiously as she stands back up and looks back to Ariel. "Well. I sent her...the invitation. I'm hoping she accepts." she says. "I mean..."

"The bat I sent came back okay at least." she says. A pause, she rubs the back of her head. "I really need to get the courage to go back into the throne room in the main tower and clean it up..." she says. "But this room will do for now for a quiet discussion!" she says.

Kotomi Kobana has posed:
Slightly later than expected, Yasumi arrives at the manor. Accompanied by Kotomi.

"Goodness gracious me," Yasumi is saying. "This is rather ... well, impossible." She's wearing her usual red and black frills, and her thin-lipped smile actually looks genuine for once. "Chaperoned by a child who is younger than I was when I fell? One who I previously harmed?"

Kotomi looks nervous. She's wearing her usual pink and white striped dress. "W-well ... I mean. We gotta help you out ... right?"

Yasumi shrugs. "Well. Quite truthfully, I am grateful."

They both pause at the entrance. Neither of them is sure of the protocol for entering at this point.

Ariel Theodore has posed:
    "I'm not surprised the bat came back okay." Ariel replies from where she's settled on one of the various sheet-covered chairs. "Yasumi doesn't seem the type to just attack without justification or anything." She points out. "If anything she always seems so sad more than aggressive." The unicorn points out, hugging her knees to her chest.
    "Mn. Well this room works just fine." She does agree for the time being, "This is kind of weird, I didn't think you would actually have so much work dealing with Nightmares now, I guess I just didn't expect it." Murmured as she waits, before peeking out the nearby window. "Oh I think that's them now."

Norie Okana has posed:
Lacrima snorts as she gingerly walks over and gives Ariel a kiss on the forehead, all balled up as she is on the chair. "Well. Yes. But..." she says softly. "I don't think the Prince cared a whole lot and just let... whatever happened." she says. "I'd like to.. maybe. Make sure these other beings are okay? I mean...." she scratches her head. "Yeah..." she says sheepishly. "Still hard to explain things. As always." she says as she looks up and then to the side.

"You uh. Guys can just come in. It's fine!" a pause. "Is the door locked?" she walks over to the door and checks it.... the door doesn't even have a lock it's just a handle. "Oh."

Pause.

"Yeah just come in." she says softly, as she opens the door for them.

Kotomi Kobana has posed:
Kotomi giggles nervously, and gestures. "Well, uh, come on in, it's. It's just ... It's just Lacrima-san."

"Quite," murmurs Yasumi, following her inside. "Kobana-san sensed that I might have ... similar trouble to herself, in terms of visiting your manor on my own, although my understanding is that accepting an actual invitation is easier for her."

"We kind of have similar malfunctions, really," Kotomi says earnestly.

Yasumi shrugs. "Indeed." When she sees Ariel, she breaks into a wide grin, shakes her head disbelievingly, and moves to sit in a seat across from her. "Goodness gracious me ..."

Ariel Theodore has posed:
    Eyes cross up at the kiss, but Ariel doesn't shy away from it.
    "I' mcertain things were very different when he was in power over them. And I'm sure you'll change things for the better." Ariel does state her honest belief, but it looks like the guests are here now, and Lacrima lets them on in.
    "Hello Kotomi, Yasumi." She greets politely. Riiiight up until the old Nightmare puts on that grin and sits right across from her. Ariel looks like a deer caught in the headlights for a moment, bewildered and confused. "Wh-what? What is it?"

Norie Okana has posed:
Lacrima nods. "Guests are fine. But. This is an open place. If you can...." a pause. "...I dunno what the term is. 'Dream Hop'?... you're welcome here." she says quietly. "No fighting here. That's my rule. The rest goes without saying about... you know. General respect. Don't break things... ya know and all... that." she says with a nervous smile.

She takes notice of Yasumi's odd way of speaking, and her grin as she purses her lips. "I..." she says. "Wanted to speak to you. Actually. Yes." she says. "Ariel's here because... I have problems. With words. And I'm settling in. And I feel more comfortable when my unicorn is near!" she says with a smile.

"...and you already know her so..." she taps two fingers together. "That makes it easier and all." a pause. "Right. Talk. You." she says with a smile.

"Um... is there... anything... I.. can help with?" a pause. "...R-right. Prince of Nightmares. Passed that title onto me, along with the abilities. Things. Different. All that." she says trying to form coherent sentences out of concepts she barely still gets. "But basically." she says. "I'd like to try to give attempt at... help or... aid or... just... talk if you need to." she says. "-and---"

"I could use another viewpoint from a nightmare that's been around a little longer than I have..." she says a little meekly, honestly.

"Also.. yes is.. everything okay?" she asks after Ariel, even though she already spoke that in larger terms.

Kotomi Kobana has posed:
Yasumi smiles and shrugs. "I am still reeling from the sheer impossibility of your survival in the seal of the Eater of Dreams," she says.

Kotomi furrows her brow, but doesn't comment as she sits down in another chair.

Yasumi nods to Lacrima. "Indeed," she says. "Kobana-san was good enough to tell me about your ascension." She pauses, peers into Lacrima's eyes for a moment, and then sits back and smiles. "And I can see that you could only have gotten to this point with a great inner strength -- and, I venture, with the help of all your friends," she says. "Broadly speaking, I do believe we can help each other, although I'll be the first to admit that for my part, my perspective, as things stand, contains a rather obvious flaw."

She looks at Ariel. "Quite truthfully, Ariel-chan, I knew with one hundred percent certainty that after you made your temporary seal for the Eater of Dreams, I would never see you again. In my mind, there was no chance whatsoever that you would live long enough to be rescued." She looks back at Lacrima. "Just as I knew with one hundred percent certainty that creatures of darkness such as you and I, Princess, are doomed to an existence without hope, and that attempting to do anything but follow our dark nature was a fool's errand." She smiles. "It would certainly be impossible for us to make friends with the likes of, oh, Ariel-chan."

Kotomi just giggles at that.

Yasumi looks at each of them in turn. "So, then, my question to you is this," she says. "Is La Crima the exception that proves the rule? Or is she a role model, one who all creatures of darkness ought to follow however they are able?"

Ariel Theodore has posed:
    Right Ariel is here because Lacrima has problems articulating. Or so she says, but really, the unicorn thinks that her vampire can articulate just fine. Still, she's looking a little skittish for a moment as Lacrima gives her reason for calling Yasumi on over.
    The admission from the older nightmare, that she was so certain of Ariel's doom at the time makes her fall especially silent for a long few beats.
    "It wasn't my brightest idea at the time." She admits haltingly. "There was more than one time in there where I thought it was over, for certain, myself."
    But then her lips purse.
    "That's where I disagree." She says as the topic shifts. "I think even creatures of darkness can find hope. Whether it's by finding it on their own or with someone else's help." And in the face of Yasumi's question, she ponders for a beat.
    "There are almost always exceptions to every rule. Especially in a dream."

Norie Okana has posed:
Lacrima pauses. "I spoke to... Akashimaru." she says. "About nightmares. We both agreed nightmares are a requirement, a nessicity of... dreaming. It's when-- they get out of hand. Go wild. Become hideous balls of malice where it goes wrong. I'd like less of that-- while also understanding nightmares need to... make people feel uncomfortable and scare them and make them worry. Just..."

"Not forever. Like some Nightmares seem to want." she says.

"That's... also a good question. I guess." she says softly. "I think... we can make our own choices. And-- there are. Urges. Things. That come with... being a 'dark energy' being." she says. "But there's ways to deal with that. I found friends that... accepted I may sometimes brood or want to be alone or that I need to... eat things to keep myself." she says.

She gently reaches over to touch Ariel's hand though when Yasumi says that. She frowns. She knew Ariel was going to be okay. Even if Ariel or Yasumi thought otherwise, she gives that hand a squeeze as she looks back up.

"But in the end. You need to want the help, and company. And..." she says. "...accept it even if you think you don't sometimes. Because... as I said. Dark energy. Screws with your way of thinking. You can only gain by at least trying." she says softly.

"I..." she says. "I had to learn that the hard way." she says quietly.

Kotomi Kobana has posed:
Yasumi nods, considering the responses she's gotten. She's silent for a moment, before she finally looks up. "I think I do want it," she says. "I've always wanted it, really; I've been miserable as a Nightmare, as you've seen." She shrgs. "I tried to better myself, back in the Edo period, when I'd been a Nightmare for less time than I'd been a more pleasant dream." She frowns. "But I suppose I eventually gave up, both because of difficulties I couldn't see the end of, and ... well ..." She grimaces. "Peer pressure." She smiles thinly. "And yes. I understand the darkness ... reasonably well. But not, I believe, as well as I thought I did. Now, however ..."

She looks back at Ariel. "Well. Quite truthfully, I think I have found the hope I sought," she says. "For the past month, every time I've felt myself slipping, or feeling as though everything was hopeless ... I've remembered the sight of you returning from the lair of the Eater of Dreams."

Kotomi smiles at that. "Cool," she says, in a quiet voice.

Ariel Theodore has posed:
    "Nightmares are necessary." Even Ariel agrees it seems. "There has to be a balance." Stated firmly as fingers lace with Lacrima's when hands touch. But she lets Lacrima speak for the moment before Yasumi says something that makes floppy ears prick right up.
    For a moment, Ariel's mouth moves, but no sound comes out. She's stuck on what to say and it shows when Yasumi reveals what of all things has helped her to even find a sliver of hope. Awkwardly she rubs at the back of her neck, cheeks heating up. "A-ah... I'm glad, then."

Norie Okana has posed:
Lacrima smirks. "Ariel has a way to make things great. Even if she doesn't meant to. Sometimes. Just by existing~" she says with a little 'winnnnk' to Ariel. She nods. "Well." she says. "You're... welcome here. Anytime you want. Or if you need to hide." she says softly.

"-and that's even if you wanna just pester me. I mean." she says. "...making sure the people I'm supposed to be 'looking over' are happy should be part of my job... I feel like..."

"The Prince may not have had done that as much as he should had. But that's only conjecture." she says softly. "Maybe you can answer that for me when we talk more..." a pause.

"You uh."

"Don't know how to play a harp, do you?" she asks curiously. "I've been considering trying to play one of the instruments in here but I think the only one I'd be any good at is the Harpsichord because my mom made me take six months of piano lessons when I was younger." she says with wide eyes.

Kotomi Kobana has posed:
Yasumi shakes her head at Ariel, smiling. "It is as the Princess says," she says. "I'm afraid your hopeful nature has rubbed off on me."

She tilts her head. "Ah? I'm afraid I don't know how to play an instrument," she says. "I do hope to hear you play at some point, but I've been mostly ... wallowing for the past four centuries of my life."

Kotomi frowns. "Oh, jeez!"

Yasumi considers this a moment. "Ariel-chan, earlier this year, you offered to help me enter my house again," she says. "I believe that is specifically wrapped up in my Nightmarishness. But ... if I were to be ... restored to my former self ..." She taps her chin thoughtfully. "Or perhaps opening it is a prerequisite for such a restoration."

Kotomi raises her hand. "I could purify you!" she says. "I mean. I ... think I could?" She immediately starts looking nervous again.

Yasumi raises her eyebrows, ears perking up. "If you did that, Kobana-san," she says, "then quite truthfully, Kobana-san, I would be ..." She pauses. "... well, even more indebted to you than I am already, given the trouble I've caused you."

Kotomi smiles. "Okay!" she says. "It's settled, then ..."