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There is a mystery that's currently unsolved. It's in Avedan's head. It's not like he's going insane (he's quite sure that he's not) but lately his sleep's been pretty eventful. He'd always had dreams (didn't everyone?) but lately, they've been getting more vivid. More lifelike. And, most interestingly of all, more internally consistent.
It's really, really confusing. Avedan is somewhere between wanting to learn more about the internal history present in the dreams, and wanting to understand why they're being so - insistent. He suspects it has something to do with malfunctioning servants, but all of his are working just fine. He checked. Twice. So - maybe someone else's aren't working properly? Or something? He doesn't know, there's zero precedent for eerily vivid and consistent dreams. Avedan tries talking to someone about it, exactly once. They immediately think he's having reoccurring nightmares.
But they're not nightmares. Well. Okay, some of them are, one of the more memorable ones included desperately clutching a woman's hand, begging her to stay with him, just keep breathing, to stay alive. She didn't. If it'd been with someone he knew, he might have thought it was just a simple nightmare. But, no. He's never seen her before in his life. Only his dreams, and not all that often, either. Because there are others, with - happier memories attached to them.
He's started to notice patterns. In - consistent people, consistent places, and most interestingly, consistent personalities. He's pretty sure it's not his subconscious being uncreative (if it were that, he would be naked at work or something) but the bizarre internal consistency his dreams are exhibiting.
It's hard, to figure out if there's a timeline to it all. But there is one thing that's consistent: a city. He does a quick bit of research, finds the city's name (Lapis), and after a bit more research is confronted with the dream's reasonable level of fidelity. As in, it's nearly the same, with exception to what he suspects is construction. And he's never been to Lapis in his life. Just what is going on? He can only think of one way to find out, and that way involves packing up his bags, handing them off to a well-maintained servant, and then heading off to Lapis.
do_over
secondchance
"Does it listen to you enough that you can take it back when you want it, or do you need help...? I don't want to, like, steal your wife's pet."
secondchance
"Aww." The kid keeps petting the bird. "I'm Kib, by the way." The bird keeps nibbling on his hair. "Leave my hair alone." The bird stops nibbling on his hair.
do_over
"Aydanci. Nice to meet you."
And then he frowns. "... I can't get him to stop nibbling on my hair. I gave up trying."
And then he frowns. "... I can't get him to stop nibbling on my hair. I gave up trying."
secondchance
"...I guess he just... really likes me? I don't know. How friendly is he told to be to you and to people in general?"
do_over
"Just the basics - no biting or inappropriate bowel movements. He comes when called and will follow my instructions, but I had to win his everlasting love and affection through bribery. Also a long-suffering role as his perch."
secondchance
"Yes, I'm really feeling the suffering," says Kib dryly. "He's not supposed to obey anybody else? ...Hey bird, sit on my knee instead."
The bird sits on his knee instead.
"...Left wing out."
The bird extends his left wing. And preens it.
"Fold up -"
The wing folds.
"I doooon't think you know all the instructions this bird got, although what contingency has him stuck on me in particular I can't begin to tell you."
The bird sits on his knee instead.
"...Left wing out."
The bird extends his left wing. And preens it.
"Fold up -"
The wing folds.
"I doooon't think you know all the instructions this bird got, although what contingency has him stuck on me in particular I can't begin to tell you."
do_over
"I was present when it was mastered," he says, raising an eyebrow. "And I am reasonably confident that she never gave it contingencies like that."
secondchance
"Then why is it sitting on me and doing what I say? I promise, I didn't co-opt the bird, go ahead and check if you know how."
secondchance
"I've been having weird dreams about a woman named Alymbel who goes by Aly. They're - well, weird."
secondchance
"...This is more than I usually would tell a stranger about my weird dreams, but, uh, in the dreams I am her? And they're - consistent, she's always the same dream-character, just at different times, out of order."
do_over
"That - is very weird. If you don't mind my asking - what do you do in the dreams where - you are her?"
secondchance
"All kinds of - stuff. Learn servantmaking, like my teacher isn't on my case about that enough while I'm awake - I like hers better, it's always the same lady, just in one dream Aly's seven and in another she's twelve and then she's eight, you know. Read books, which oddly enough don't collapse like a handful of wet sand when I wake up - I mean, I haven't found copies of the books in real life, but I can still more or less remember them as having plots and content, at least whatever part I dream through. Puppet a little scooter to get around. That's how I got the idea for the chair, actually, although it's a golem."
do_over
"I would never. I have left my wife's alone, even if she's been gone for - what, almost eighteen years now," he says, sort of testily and vaguely insulted. "So no. That is not the sort of thing I do. Ever. Are you in the chair because you're clumsy?"
secondchance
"Your wife's one thing, a stranger is another, for some people - and - yeah? I mean, it's also faster and less tiring than walking, but - yeah."