private psl

[foundfate]

["I want to be free of the ghosts to see. That is my wish: to not be burdened by them anymore."

"Unfortunately, I cannot grant that wish. But I can send you to someone who can grant it."

That answer gave Watanuki jack-all to go off of, though, and he was left standing in a field of pink flowers looking absolutely befuddled. How had he gotten there? Where was he in the first place? The flowers seemed to go on forever, and all that was around besides them was a floating tower in the sky.

Well, that seemed like Watanuki's best chance at getting an answer, so he tried to step in that direction, but found that his legs were tangled up in the flowers. He fount this out by tripping, somehow, and ending up face-first in the flowers with a yelp.]

What- why are they-

[Oh, to be tangled up in the Garden of Avalon. His sins weighed him down, and he didn't even know it.]

Comments

[myrdd]

I'm fated to stay here and watch until the end of the world.

[He speaks simply. He's had a long time to get used to this.]

It's not as bad as it sounds, you know? For as long as humanity exists and flourishes, I'll have something beautiful to watch.

[foundfate]

[Merlin can say it's not as bad as it sounds, but.]

Do people know you're watching them?

[myrdd]

Not usually, and I don't bother with lucid dreamers.

[Eating continues.]

[foundfate]

[Wow what a garbage man.]

Stay out of my dreams, got it?

[Not that anything unusual happens in his dreams, but it's the principle of the thing!]

[myrdd]

Are you sure?

[Not that the reaction comes as a surprise, and that's one of the reasons why he so rarely mentions what he actually subsists on even if having mixed blood should make it obvious.]

Half my work's done through a dream state. Besides, I make sure to leave happier dreams in exchange for my passing through.

[foundfate]

Even if they're happier, they're not my dreams.

[Watanuki, the stubborn one who would insist on doing his own work. Or dreaming, in this case.]

[myrdd]

Oh, fine. Someone else's.

[Funny how this works out. Given how talismans aren't Merlin's forte, he had been contemplating on visiting the dream of someone with that specialty, with Watanuki in tow.]

Although I'll say this: I expect you to tell me if you're experiencing nightmares. Exhaustion will only affect your training.

skipping ahead slightly

[foundfate]

[Interestingly, when they did go looking for a dreamer who could make talismans, Watanuki would be able to move from dream to dream easily. Far too easily to be normal.

But for now, Watanuki huffed as he returned to his noodles.]

I'm not bothered by nightmares usually, but sure. I'll let you know.

[When that night arrived, though, Watanuki's dreams would be stronger than usual. Being in a land of such dense magic made it easier for the dreams to come to him, and it made his pull on other people stronger. Be careful, Merlin! It's easy to get sucked in unintentionally.]

o>

[myrdd]

[The mystery deepens.

His surprise aside, Merlin wonders if this pull has to do with just the state of Watanuki's existence, or his talent in general, for what is a person-shaped Singularity but the fulfillment of a dream? He lets himself get pulled in without fuss or meddling, curious to see what he'll find this time.

If anything goes south, he's confident that he can see himself out on his own. It's not his first rodeo in dream world!

Now, to find his errant student. Is he anywhere nearby?]

[foundfate]

[Fortunately the space is small, as Watanuki's dream world is small. It's just him cooking in a kitchen. The kitchen in his new quarters, to be exact. He's basically dreaming about how he cooked dinner for Merlin earlier.

Except the kitchen is more like a set for a tv show in that the only wall is the wall behind the stove, and the other areas just fade to darkness. It's like one small spot of life in a sea of black nothingness.]

I could make Sukiyaki...but I should probably make something simple, there's no telling what food he likes.

[It looks like he hasn't noticed Merlin there yet.]

[myrdd]

[...oh.

Seeing someone in the process of actually cooking for him hits differently. This is going to be inconvenient in the long run, isn't it?

Merlin's an expert at Not Feeling, though, and he raises his staff to conjure a spotlight. That's what's missing from this cooking show, isn't it?]

I'm sure he'll enjoy whatever you end up making, Chef Watanuki.

[foundfate]

You think?

[Watanuki seems to not have realized who was talking to him. And because of that, he was more willing to talk about things he would normally keep to himself. After all, he wanted to talk to people, even if he could be grumpy sometimes.]

I guess I'll figure out more about what he likes as I cook more things for him too. But if he's from England he'll probably like a dish with a lot of meat in it, yeah?

[myrdd]

[Meat, eh?

All the innuendo he can think of aside - you bet he'll go along with dream logic.]

Sure.

Why not toss in flower salad as a siding? He might say it's a bit on the nose, but there's no problem if it's palatable.

[foundfate]

A flower salad? Now there's an idea. I'm pretty good at using paring knives too, I bet I could carve radishes to look like flowers.

[Guess what Merlin would be getting for lunch tomorrow. Watanuki wouldn't remember his inspiration, but he would remember the dish.]

[myrdd]

You do that.

[He'll be delighted, too, even if Watanuki doesn't remember.

Ah, but the hours tick away from where their bodies lie, and it's time for an actual lesson. Merlin will have to let the cooking show run its course another night, and he tips his staff to the right, where a door materializes.

There's a knock, only because that's what Merlin intends.

Will the force that so insistently pulled Merlin into this dream show up before they leave?]

By the way, someone's at the door.

[They will be pulled elsewhere, but only if Watanuki opens it.]

[foundfate]

Ah?

[Well! His food wasn't done cooking, because dream time cooking is Weird. But Watanuki left his dream food cooking as he walked over to the door and opened it. It would be rude to leave a guest outside, after all.

What magical world were they off to?]

[myrdd]

[Welcome, Watanuki, to the dream of a Daoist priest in Taiwan.

Even in sleep, the man continues the steady rhythm of masterful practice, seated at a low table as he works on intricate talismans, each stroke a deliberate motion.

Unlike real life, the man's thoughts can be sensed as ink is drawn on paper, for the mindful application of intention is but another form of spellcraft. Here, as he writes for protection, thought and energy coalesce into poetry. Anyone with the right sort of vision will be able to see the faint glimmer of the characters before they settle, and Merlin turns to Watanuki with a finger pressed to his mouth before tapping his ear and his chest, over the heart.

Stay silent, he bids, and listen.

Truly Listen, not just with sound.

Of course, he doesn't expect Watanuki to pick up just how right away, but immersion in the experience is the first step. Merlin will field in his questions in a while.]

[foundfate]

[Watanuki could understand those gestures, even if he didn't understand why they're there at first. So he raised an eyebrow in a silent question of "why?", but he ultimately did what Merlin showed him. He sat down nearby, trying to match the way the priest was sitting, and he listened.

...or, he tried to. But the only sound was the sound of the brush on paper, crafting talismans with precision and regularity. The pattern of brush, turn, brush, turn, it became a regular rhythm that flowed like a heartbeat. It was a bit dull, but he still persisted in listening, because he had been instructed to do so and it wasn't so dull that he couldn't handle it. Though if he had been awake, he may have fallen asleep again.

Watanuki would be patient and last for the rest of the night, until wakefulness dragged him back to consciousness.]

Huh. What a weird dream.

[Then he got dressed and went looking for Merlin, not even aware of the fact that he had already had a lesson.]

[myrdd]

[That's fine. The subconscious has its own ways of retaining information. Moreover, seeing Watanuki's difficulty does help in identifying what to focus on in the daytime.

Merlin, of course, is already awake. Watanuki will find him in the courtyard, already in the middle of constructing what looks like a glass box about the size of the back of a container van.

Except, well, the glass is just there as training wheels. It's the inside that matters - a Bounded Field that recreates the low mana density of the human world.

If Merlin hears Watanuki approaching, he doesn't give a sign.]

[foundfate]

[Yeah, that weird glass box was...well, weird. He walked over to Merlin and the box, watching it closely.]

What's this for?

[Even if Merlin hadn't spoken up yet or indicated that he knew Watanuki was there, but he was assuming Merlin was aware. Or if not, then Watanuki speaking up would let him know.

He reached out like he was going to touch the glass box, but he stopped himself at the last moment.]

[myrdd]

[Good call! It's only halfway done.]

You.

[Helpful, isn't he? The cheeky grin isn't helping.]

You'll find out later.

Now, why are you up so early?

[As if Merlin keeps track of the time in Avalon.]

[foundfate]

This better not be some metaphor about a glass prison.

[He may have gotten his metaphors wrong there.

Still, he inspected the cube as he answered Merlin's other question.]

It's not that early, is it? It feels like I slept the whole night away.

[myrdd]

Oh, please. Can't a glass box just be a glass box?

[He gives Watanuki a cursory look-over. Hmm. Funny, he expected Watanuki to attend to breakfast first - it's not as if he's been in Avalon long enough to forget old habits.]

Well, you certainly look more rested than you were yesterday. [He leaves the glass after one last tap of his staff - now, to wait for it to be stabilized.] Run five laps around this space, won't you? Helps build a proper appetite for breakfast.

[Don't look now, but the courtyard seems to have expanded. It's about the size of an Olympic race track.]

[foundfate]

[Merlin wasn't wrong, he probably should have made breakfast first. But Watanuki's curiosity had gotten the better of him, and here he was. Just in time for the courtyard to grow so large too.]

Ah?

[He's startled by the change, and at first he looked on in wonder. But then there was the instruction to run and he suddenly became aware of just how much larger the space had become.]

Right now? What is this, gym class?! I'm not even in my P.E. clothes!

[myrdd]

Don't you know? Even if emergencies were capable of thought, they still won't be polite enough to wait on you.

[He says this as if there will be more reason for Watanuki to approach this as an emergency, if he doesn't start running soon.

(Merlin's not the type who intentionally makes training from hell montages. It's just that he's seen all sorts of advancements in the span of 1500 years, he's prone to trying out more than a few things on a whim, and he has far more leeway in throwing together a "curriculum" now compared to the time he taught Arturia and Viviane.

Gl Watanuki.)]