[Combined consciousnesses are cool indeed, Dera. Granted, Val can’t imagine what she’d have to contribute to the void-spanning conscious creativity pool, but she’ll cede the point nonetheless. The voids she’s used to are a lot more one-sided with these things.]
Ah, so it’s your childhood home after all! [Val glances around for a house anyway.] There’s no void to fill here, but I bet you could make the rest of it! Memory permitting, and all.
Well, yes! I figured that, anyway. [Familiarity, and all.] But now that you mention it…
[A pause. Sky’s still that brilliant blue.]
Y’know, here we both were, figuring we were in some offshoot of our own… dreamscapes, voidscapes, some-sortsa-scape. But a place like this would never happen in the void I’m used to, and you don’t seem to be asleep at all.
[This might be vaguely troubling. Val, however, is not particularly bothered for the moment. How could she be, with grass like this?]
[Ah. We return our attention to The Horrors(TM). But...they don't much feel like horrors right now; not compared to real life. Not that he enjoyed seeing Jeremy's eyes on the freezer doors, nor hearing his voice like an echo down the aisles. It's just that...compared to what he usually sees of Jeremy, it's actually a bit tame...
[If he starts freaking out, he's going to freak out.
[Don't freak out...]
It seems possible, yeah. Probable, even...
[Don't freak out...!]
Does that...freak you out a little bit, or...? No? Just me?
[Hmm. Typically, Val only picks up on mood shifts when she’s in interrogation mode; otherwise, she’s usually busy steamrolling them. Maybe it’s this lovely weather, which sure is weather-ing, that gives her pause.
[Maybe… Dera is starting to freak out…?]
[Val frowns, mildly concerned. Not so much with what he’s talking about, though.] I mean, I never freak out— Well, no. I do. I do freak out. [Like she very well could have, in Void-Mart!] But getting zapped somewhere new for no reason? Kind of exciting, I think!
[She flicks a hand.] I get why you’d be concerned, though. If that helps.
[At this, he sort of...shrugs and nods at the same time. He is freaking out a little bit, but to his credit, he's keeping his emotions in check just fine.]
It kinda helps, yeah.
You're right, though. Like...I'm still not convinced I'm not dreaming. That's how...insane this is.
[Fuck. It's better than sitting at home and staring at the wall every night. He feels himself frown, lips quirking slightly to the side.
[Val’s not sure what to say after that; Dera’s mood seems to do another couple little flips of its own accord. She is reminded, again, that dealing with Real Flesh-and-Blood People™ is a strange experience. (Is it, though? Is Dera’s upset, here and before, really that foreign to her?)]
[All that aside, his request hits like a block to the face.]
[Oof. Rejected? His anxiety is outmatched only by his need to not appear like a complete loser; that need is being neglected, because he really, really does not want to be alone in this place - even if this particular corner of it does look like Home.
[It feels polite to argue and say something along the lines of, "No way, Val. I would still totally think you were cool no matter what world we were in." It feels disingenuous. Maybe she's insane. Maybe she's trying to destroy her world. Maybe she's a super scary villain who just happens to be kind of nice. Better than a super scary villain who's also really mean.
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[Combined consciousnesses are cool indeed, Dera. Granted, Val can’t imagine what she’d have to contribute to the void-spanning conscious creativity pool, but she’ll cede the point nonetheless. The voids she’s used to are a lot more one-sided with these things.]
Ah, so it’s your childhood home after all! [Val glances around for a house anyway.] There’s no void to fill here, but I bet you could make the rest of it! Memory permitting, and all.
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[He didn't quite connect those dots before if that is the case..]
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Well, yes! I figured that, anyway. [Familiarity, and all.] But now that you mention it…
[A pause. Sky’s still that brilliant blue.]
Y’know, here we both were, figuring we were in some offshoot of our own… dreamscapes, voidscapes, some-sortsa-scape. But a place like this would never happen in the void I’m used to, and you don’t seem to be asleep at all.
[This might be vaguely troubling. Val, however, is not particularly bothered for the moment. How could she be, with grass like this?]
Think we landed somewhere else entirely…?
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[If he starts freaking out, he's going to freak out.
[Don't freak out...]
It seems possible, yeah. Probable, even...
[Don't freak out...!]
Does that...freak you out a little bit, or...? No? Just me?
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[Hmm. Typically, Val only picks up on mood shifts when she’s in interrogation mode; otherwise, she’s usually busy steamrolling them. Maybe it’s this lovely weather, which sure is weather-ing, that gives her pause.
[Maybe… Dera is starting to freak out…?]
[Val frowns, mildly concerned. Not so much with what he’s talking about, though.] I mean, I never freak out— Well, no. I do. I do freak out. [Like she very well could have, in Void-Mart!] But getting zapped somewhere new for no reason? Kind of exciting, I think!
[She flicks a hand.] I get why you’d be concerned, though. If that helps.
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It kinda helps, yeah.
You're right, though. Like...I'm still not convinced I'm not dreaming. That's how...insane this is.
[Fuck. It's better than sitting at home and staring at the wall every night. He feels himself frown, lips quirking slightly to the side.
[He should enjoy this place while he can...
I'm chill. I'm good.
[Pause.]
Stick around and hang out a while though, okay?
[Please don't leave him alone like this...]
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[Huh, that actually worked. Kind of.
[Val’s not sure what to say after that; Dera’s mood seems to do another couple little flips of its own accord. She is reminded, again, that dealing with Real Flesh-and-Blood People™ is a strange experience. (Is it, though? Is Dera’s upset, here and before, really that foreign to her?)]
[All that aside, his request hits like a block to the face.]
…What?
[Baffled. Dumbfounded, even.]
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Would you stay with me? For a while?
Please?
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[Valerie blinks. Jabs a thumb at herself.]
Me?
[Points at the sky, waves around.]
Here?
[And finally, at Dera.]
With you?
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[Besides. He likes Val.]
You know. If you want, yeah. We could hang.
I'd like you to.
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[Val stares at him for a moment longer.]
[Promptly, flicks herself in the side of the head.]
[It does not wake her up.] You’re not kidding!
Wow, I’m sorry! [Sounds more stunned than apologetic, but it’s not false.] You know, no one’s ever asked me to stick around before!
[Is this actually happening?]
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Hmmm. [She glances aside for a moment.] If you were in my world you would not think that!
However… seeing as we are not in that world… [Probably, anyway....]
[Val folds a hand behind her back, and she dips her head in a little bow.]
I would be honored to keep your acquaintance, Dera~!
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[The bow is very charming. Evil super villains don't do cute little bows like that-- although, maybe.]
Sweet deal. We're buds, then.
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[Why not any/all of the above? That Dera is not fake-polite only endears Val to him more, frankly.]
[She goes for a firm, affirmative handshake.]
And so we are buds.