[Dream | Week 29, Day 1] (backdated)

[nec_metu]

There was no sound as she padded along the earthen floor, feet dirty and bleeding from stumbling over sharp stones- but set in a slow rhythm that Lenalee dared not break. Climbing vines covered either side of the maze, strong enough to impede her path where they had become overgrown but not thick enough to climb. Lenalee trailed her hand against

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[nec_metu]

There was a time when Lenalee would have recognized Kanda in an instant. When seeing him would have filled her with hope, and strength. When she would have run to him without giving the action a second thought, embraced him and cried, apologizing all the while but filled with relief by his presence.

Lenalee turned to face him. She couldn't say how it was that she knew he was there-- it was not battle reflexes, those had long since faded away. It felt odd to call it familiarity-- seeing him, she might as well have been staring at a stranger. But perhaps family ties were not so easy to break, even if Lenalee felt nothing. Maybe they were still there under the surface, waiting to be warmed, just like the rest of her.

"K..."

Kanda.

Her voice was so horse from disuse that Lenalee couldn't even finish the name, letting the one syllable hang uncomfortably in the air. There was not supposed to be any sound here. It felt wrong, clammy and smothering. But at least it was something. Lenalee remained still, waiting for Kanda to move. He was someone. Even if she did not feel him, he could make her exist again.

Or maybe they were both too lost and broken for that.

[infiniillusion]

Kanda almost flinches a little at the sound. It's dry and lonely in the all-swallowing silence, like a snap of a twig or a cough of a dying human. And there's some sort of creepy air about it, as well. Almost as if the quiet gets disrupted, someone or something would wake up within the maze...

He wants to say something, but no sound comes out, even though he's quite certain what he's trying to pull at are the vocal chords and it should definitely make a sound, sounds fall together to make a name - but there's nothing.

He frowns and, quite unsurely, steps towards Lenalee, reaching a hand out but then lowering it back down. His movements are almost a little staggering as the smell of dried out vegetation is practically stiffling for him. Why does it feel like there's something bad happening in the distance of this dying world?

[nec_metu]

Lenalee remained still, feeling a surge of anticipation when Kanda reached for her and a swell of disappointment when his hand fell. It was fascinating-- more than she had felt in a long time. Slowly, Lenalee took a step toward Kanda. She was a little more graceful in her movements, but all the more lifeless for it. Almost like a living doll, but not a pretty thing to be showcased as Road had made her. A doll that had been loved too much, and then not at all for too long to remember.

Lenalee continued forward until she was too close. It was uncomfortable being this near to Kanda, not saying or doing anything except existing in such stifling proximity. Lenalee leaned into it. Somehow, she had a vague idea that if she could just get far enough, she would reach the other side, and all of the heavy air would be gone.

[infiniillusion]

Is it really her? She looks and feels almost as if she is a ghost, even though she's now so close Kanda can practically sense her presence on his skin. Few more moments pass in blank, lifeless hesitation and then he raises his hand again, slowly reaching out to touch Lenalee's arm somewhere around the elbow.

She feels solid, and without really intending to, he presses his fingertips a little harder against her arm, almost if expecting her to disintegrate, but she's still there and still in a material form, and now he suddenly feels so very relieved he almost wants to sit down on the dried, spiky hay and sigh, but he doesn't.

[nec_metu]

Lenalee lets out a slow breath, not caring how hard he grasps her so long as his hand remains there. The touch feels so much more than it should. Lenalee wraps her arms around his torso, craving more of it if only to see what will happen. It isn't quite an embrace, but her hold on him is secure. She is suddenly unwilling to let him leave.

[infiniillusion]

He flinches, barely visibly, however remains where he is, letting the girl sneak her arms around him. It feels strange and much more real than he would expect. It almost reminds him of something he should have forgotten, distinctly, but it's not this girl. But this girl is here now, and it's alright. The heavy air suddenly feels a little lighter.

He decides to try talking again. "Where is this?" he mouths, however the words drain into the silence like water into a dry rug, almost as if the silence all around swallows it before it ever has a chance to ring.

[nec_metu]

Lenalee marvels at the ghost words. Even though the world seems to swallow them up as soon as they leave Kanda's lips, they are real. She holds the memory of them in her ears, and clings to Kanda all the tighter.

"I don't know," she whispers back, unsure of whether or not the words will reach him. They are only partially true. She doesn't have a name to give this place, or a location to pinpoint. But on some level she knows where she is.

[infiniillusion]

He doesn't know what to answer to that, and even if he did, he's not sure he could find the strength to. Everything about the place is just suffocating, and now that he considers it, knowing anything wouldn't change anything.

But what are they supposed to do?

And so he just stands there, feeling like some kind of a dead tree among all those dead vines, the little bit of life only present in the one wrapped around him.