011 // The weather outside is frightful!

[misterbluesky]

Justice...do you have any room?

Does anyone maybe a sleeping bag? A really warm one?

-Truth

((Truth's room has been changed into a small outdoor theater. Get it? Outdoor playhouse? OH I CRACK MYSELF UP.))

Comments

I don't know, dude. Where's your lighthouse?

[misterbluesky]

[It was a break. He sniffed wetly and made a soft noise of...yeah, just outright ugh. He still felt like shit, but it beat being out in the cold.

He had sat down heavily on the sofa and it took a few minutes of half-dozing, leaned back against the worn piece of furniture before he decided to lean over and grab his bag. He pried out his black and brown journal and flipped through the pages.

...wait. He stopped, turning back. His entry was there, but the replies he and Justice had made...]

Fuck.

[Okay, so maybe it came out a bit harsher than he intended. But he was sick and working and didn't have a home and now they were starting to black him out again...but why?]

Justice?

DUDE, where's my lighthouse?

[extantlaw]

[A brief glance up from the file he was copying and a slight nod as Truth entered, but that was the extent of his acknowledgement.

He didn't respond even to the curse, being accustomed to chatter from the medics who used the other half of the room for breaks and to rest.

It was the sound of his own name that pierced his concentration and he looked up with a frown, the pen still in hand and his left index finger marking his place on the page.]

What now?

[Yes, it was irritable, and no, he wasn't about to apologise for it. he'd never pretended to have as much patience as Iris, even if he'd tried his best to make amends for Truth's catching a chill while running to the clinic to check on him after the misadventure with Crow.]

Where's your lighthouse, dude?

[misterbluesky]

[He caught the tone and it half made him want to just throw the journal at Justice and let him see it that way.

Luckily, he was far too tired.

He pushed off of the sofa and held his journal out, his tone more serious than usual but blunted by a stuffed-up nose. One hand rested against the desk and he sniffed before starting.]

Look. They inked us over again.

I don't know dude, Where's my lighthouse?

[extantlaw]

[A deepening of the frown and he bit back a sarcastic remark about the undead when Truth leaned on the desk. He glanced down at the journal that was being thrust in his face and then back at Truth with distaste as he sniffed again.]

For Christ's sake. Do you even possess a handkerchief?

[The words were out before Truth's sank in. A moment in which their eyes met and then he put out a hand to take the journal, focussing on the page where large blotches of black ink obscured it in parts.]

What the hell for?

[His tone was an equal mix of disbelief and annoyance.]

Where's your lighthouse, dude?

[misterbluesky]

No idea.

[And as soon as he said it, he remembered.]

...weren't we talking about your lighthouse? We should check and see if it's still there.

[He dropped the journal and was already grabbing his bag. The patients were fine for now...and it would just be a quick run up to where they lived.]

Dude, Where's My Lighthouse?

[extantlaw]

My what?

[Confused for a moment, his mind was still half on the files, the rest occupied by the slowly rising anger at having his words in the journal obscured again by some unseen hand. He put down his pen, his brow furrowed as he considered the words. He paid no mind to Truth grabbing his belongings and agitatedly shoving them into a bag.

By the time he looked up, Truth already had his hand on the door handle and was looking at him expectantly.]

Wright- wait.

While you were ill. Do you remember if you dreamed about a lighthouse?

Where's your lighthouse, dude?

[misterbluesky]

[He stopped, looking back mostly over his shoulder. His hand slipped from the doorknob and he brought it to his chin, tapping in thought.]

A li- yeah? I was pretty feverish, though.

I don't know dude! Where's my lighthouse?

[extantlaw]

He leaned back in the chair, his expression serious as he watched Truth think the question over. His own fingers steepled against his lips and he nodded slightly at Truth's eventual response.]

I know you were. I remember it very clearly.

[And he dropped his hands to the arms of the chair, pushing himself up and out of it to face Truth across the desk. He was quiet for a few moments, his hands shoved into the pockets of the dress pants Shiro had made for him.]

I had a similar dream, at precisely the same time. Not the same, I think, but both featured a light house.

[A slight frown, and he tilted his head as he looked at Truth.]

Crow dreamed it too. And he wasn't the only one.

...did you dream it last night, dude?

[misterbluesky]

[He slipped away from the door, walking across the room and resting this hands against Justice's desk. Something about the gesture made him feel...right.]

So we all had dreams about lighthouses at the same time? ...was Crow's dream, too?

[First this place takes everything away from them, and now they all head dreams about lighthouses. Same night. Same time, even.

But why?]

Isn't there a lighthouse around here? ...do you think we could get to it?

...I can't remember, dude.

[extantlaw]

[He didn't respond to Truth's sudden proximity, his mind still occupied with the issue of the inking out and what it might possibly mean. He doubted greatly if the issue with his accommodation was related to the dream other than in a concidental manner, in which case this only served to draw attention to the situation. A slight shrug.]

It would seem so. Crow was staying with Drake, and there were other people present. They all had variations on the same dream.

[He looked down at the desk with a frown, then, remembering the view from the dojo and the information he had gleaned from chatter with stallholders in the marketplace.]

And I'm not sure that it was about "lighthouses" so much as about one particular lighthouse.

[And he nodded at the question.]

There is. You can see it clearly from some of the outlying islands. But it is on the other side of Crystala.

[Meeting Truth's eyes again he shrugged, quite aware that the man knew exactly what that meant - he had seen Truth's annotated map with crosses and ticks to indicate the

Where's your lighthouse, dude?

[misterbluesky]

[His fingers drummed against the desk, his mind racing. The one particular lighthouse. And they all had the same dream.

He stared in light disbelief when Justice spoke in an imitation of Crow and rubbed at his face with his left hand.]

What the hell does that mean? So we can't get there?

[He shook his head, turning toward the door again.]

We should at least check again. If the dream was widespread...other people might have made their way out there. Maybe it's easier to get to now.

Dude, where's my lighthouse?

[extantlaw]

[The look of disbelief didn't go unnoticed and he shrugged again, unwilling to talk about his own dream even to Truth, or explain the context of the comment.]

I believe that it is impassable unless one has wings or other means of negotiating the bridge to Crystala. Unfortunately we have neither.

[He wondered about the transformation of his room into a model lighthouse. Surely it was a coincidence, otherwise the entire Sphere would be full of them. He looked up when Truth shook his head, his lips pressed together in mild impatience.]

What makes you think that this place would suddenly make it easy to investigate? Or that I would have not already been there if I thought it possible?

[A light sigh and he looked at Truth seriously, any trace of the self-deprecating humour gone.]

I think your time would be better spent tracking down someone who has managed to find their way there, via flight or otherwise. I have so far not succeeded in doing so

Where's your lighthouse, dude? BAWWWWW MOAR, TRUTH.

[misterbluesky]

[He cursed again. So...there it was. Cursed because he was normal, because he couldn't find these things and he had to. He didn't have any powers or anything else he was just...an average guy. It meant he couldn't go these places or find the truth, and the feeling of being stifled tore at him.

He closed his eyes, taking a deep breath.

It was if at once the complete unfairness of it all bit at him. He sat down his bag, whatever had pushed to action smoldering to a slow-burning anger at this place.]

Yeah, I guess you've got a point there.

[A heavy breath.]

I'll check after I finish my rounds.

WEEPS UNCONTROLLABLY! Except, you know, Not.

[extantlaw]

[He watched the emotions pass over Truth's face in a few moments, the blue eyes reflecting the anger and frustration that he had felt himself more than once when confronted by the Sphere's dead ends and impossibilities. And when Truth took a breath he echoed it, the frown returning as he looked down at the surface of the desk. He could feel the anger returning as he thought about the inked over entries, both before and now and he shook his head.]

I hate this damned place.