I was kind of hoping I'd dreamt all that... [Completed]

[sparkplasma]

Characters: Ivan & Syaoran
Content: Wait... it's morning and we're still here? OHSHI-
Setting: a room in Actua Are [N9]
Time: morning, prior to this. (I hope the weather loops around again by then)
Warnings: you mean besides a kind of lame first post?

Comments

[feuerwolf]

Something about this place really bothered him. The problem was that Syaoran just couldn't put his finger on it. This city, Paixao... it couldn't be like other worlds. And even if it was, something was amiss. The people all were mindless and it felt so confined. That was something the boy hadn't felt since he "received" Mokona from the Space-Time Witch. Without Mokona here, he wouldn't be able to get out of here

[sparkplasma]

Ivan glanced up from staring at nothing as Syaoran woke up, then at the halfway-shut curtains over the window. "I don't know," he said. The question had piqued his curiosity, though, and a second later he abandoned the sheets and got up to check.

Sure enough, the windows were frosted over on the outside and fogged up on the inside. He tried rubbing the fog off with his sleeve, which didn't really make it any easier to see; it looked like everything outside was white, though. "I-I think so," he corrected himself, uncertainly. "But... how's that possible? The roof's not open to the sky."

Now that he was awake again, his brain had gone back to trying to make sense of things. It was a doomed effort, but he had to try.

[feuerwolf]

That's right, wasn't it? Paixao was a domed city. It had a roof. So if that's true, why would there be weather in the first place? Syaoran didn't question it when he was outside since it was such a pleasant temperature and there was not precipitation. But if this was so, why was this happening? Why was it so cold too?

The boy also rose from his bed, joining Ivan at the window and bringing his arms close to his body to keep himself warm. Everything was frosted over. The buildings, windows, streets... everything. Would they even be able to get outside?

"I don't know if we'll be able to leave the hotel for awhile," Syaoran murmured. With a frown, the boy returned to his bed and sat down. "So what do we do now?" he asked Ivan.

[sparkplasma]

"I don't know," Ivan replied quielty, not taking his eyes off the window. What could they do? They couldn't very well go out in that, not that there was anywhere else to go. Even if they left the domes, which way was home? And that was assuming he was still in Weyard. He wasn't even sure of that now.

Eventually, he turned from the window to look at Syaoran. "Um.. l-last night, you said something about... about other worlds. Right?" he asked tentatively. "Are you from....?"

He trailed off and bit his lip. He couldn't even believe he was asking something like that, but he had to know.

[feuerwolf]

Hmm. The situation was becoming increasingly difficult. If Syaoran couldn't even leave his hotel, then what? What if his friends were out there lost in the snow? It was freezing! At least the hotel was heated, or to a certain point. The room was chilled but it was not anywhere near as bad as the weather outside the window.

Syaoran nodded in response to Ivan's question. "Yeah, my friends and I traveled a lot... to other worlds. But that was different and..."

He paused, giving Ivan a curious look. "Am I from where?"

Did Ivan know about Clow? Or had he seen him in a world before Paixao? There had been so many and so many people. Syaoran was sure that he'd remember all the friends he had made but what was Ivan trying to ask?

[sparkplasma]

"From another world," Ivan finished. It wasn't really a question anymore; Syaoran had just answered it anyway. "I guess you are, then, huh?" he added, with a bit of a nervous chuckle. "Just curious."

It didn't really surprise him as much as he'd thought it would, oddly enough. Especially not when he himself wasn't from this world, either. Actually, a lot of people had said they weren't, hadn't they? Flonne, Laharl... Karst...

Oh, yeah, Karst. He'd agreed to a truce with her over the network, but fully expected her to break it the second Isaac showed up. If not sooner. For his part, Ivan didn't want to fight her by himself - he'd lose. But he'd been here a full day and there was still no sign of his friends...

And he wasn't the only one in a situation like that, he remembered suddenly. "Your friends - you were separated?" he asked Syaoran after a moment.

[feuerwolf]

Syaoran gave a nervous laugh. "Yeah, my friend Sakura and I are from Clow, but Fai and Kurogane are both from other worlds. They... I don't know where they are now. They--"

It was then that the journal on the side table whirred, processing some data or another. Syaoran glanced back at Ivan before clamoring over to the small device. The screen blinked with a reply.

It was him! He replied!

"This is great!" Syaoran exclaimed, typing a reply or two. Excitedly, he turned back to Ivan. "Fai is here! And he's coming soon!"

[sparkplasma]

Ivan blinked at the buzzing journal. Were they supposed to do that? Apparently so - Syaoran didn't seem to have a problem with it.

"Your friend?" he exclaimed, then grinned awkwardly. "That's great!" At least one of them had found some good luck in the finding-your-friends department. "How - how did he find you?" he asked quickly, coming over to try and look at Syaoran's journal screen. Maybe there was still a chance Ivan could find his friends here, too!

[feuerwolf]

Syaoran smiled back to the blonde, though there was a touch of sympathy on his face. Ivan probably had his own friends to find, right? It was only human nature to miss the ones you love and Syoaran doubted Ivan was exempt from the norm.

"Yeah," the boy replied, glancing back at the screen. "He said he's coming here shortly and we can meet him in the lobby."

Brown eyes turned back to Ivan with a flash of sincerity. "Once we catch up to Fai, will look for your friends too, Ivan."

[sparkplasma]

Ivan jumped a little. "Wha- n-no, that's all right, I couldn't ask you to do that for me," he exclaimed quickly. "I mean, I appreciate it, but..."

But what? He really did want to find his friends, and he needed all the help he could get right now. "That is - if it's not too much trouble," he corrected himself. He didn't want to make Syaoran or his friends go out of their way just for him, that was for sure.

... Gahh, what was he doing? They had to meet Syaoran's friend first, in any event. "Uh, how soon is Fai supposed to be here?" he asked, wanting a little to change the subject.

[feuerwolf]

Considering Ivan's reaction and position, Syaoran would have probably done the exact same thing. It was difficult to accept help that was given so suddenly. When that happened, pride stepped in and tried to make it hard to say yes. And of course Ivan seemed to be a truly nice guy. Putting a burden like finding missing people was a large thing to ask for. But then how could Syaoran not offer? He and Ivan were stuck in Paixao together. There was no use to be all alone.

"Your a friend Ivan. I'll do whatever I can to help, especially since I found Fai." He glanced back at the journal screen, taking note of Kurogane's presence on the message board now. 'There's two of them... but what about Sakura?'

"It looks like Kurogane is here too. He'll try and show up as well. I really wish I knew when though." Syaoran looked through the window. "I hope the weather isn't too big of a problem."

[sparkplasma]

You shouldn't refuse twice, Ivan had learned. Syaoran clearly wanted to help him, so it'd be kind of silly to try talking him out of it. That kind of generosity was rare. It... sort of reminded him of Isaac.

Okay, none of that now. Stay focused. He relaxed a little and smiled. "Thank you."

At the comment about the weather, he turned to the window. Even through the frost over it, it looked like the sun was shining again. "I think it might be clearing up," he said. "Maybe it'd be better to meet your friends halfway or something? I mean, this city's enormous."

He still needed to talk with Laharl - he'd said he would - but it was pretty early yet, so there'd still be time as long as he didn't wander off too far.