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[starseedling]

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sometime post-dream

[topslug]

[ Almost as soon as she wakes up from that strange dream, Yako's already reaching for her watch, blearily tapping out a text message to Steven. ]

Same dream again?

[starseedling]

[It takes a little while for him to wake up, but he responds soon after.]

Yeah D:

I guess this is happening every month now...
Poor Nymphs :(

[topslug]

I wonder if this was like that dream about Dewaint Forest again ... if this was something that really happened, if those people were real.

[starseedling]

I think so
All of it seems like real stuff. And the one that didn't seemed like it was supposed to be the future?

I've seen memories of things like this through dreams before... but whose memory is it?

[topslug]

I don’t know, but I almost wonder if someone might be trying to show us something and this is the only way they can do it.

[starseedling]

If it's someone trying to show us... then who would know about all these things? If it's memories... I don't know who would have been to all these places.

What about the Faerie Queen? Wasn't she supposed to be asleep most of the time?

[topslug]

I don’t really know much about the fae, but a Faerie Queen might have enough power to pull something like that off.

The other possibility I thought of is that it might involve dragons. After the nightmare, someone told me they were able to speak with a leviathan in the sea...

[starseedling]

Oh yeah!!

I tried to talk to them but one of the other mirror people kept trying to kill it.

[topslug]

Trying to kill it? Did they say why?

return 2 aefenglom – voice

[freeing]

[ A day or two was all they had, really. To adjust, to help others adjust – it was nearing a late enough hour where Dany feels as if she can settle in at home without guilt gnawing at her. They did something – they all helped make true change. It was not her end goal, no – but would she be a Queen worth following if she allowed these people to suffer as hers once did before she freed them?

There was someone who once challenged her ideals a bit, but supported her claim and desires as well. With all the chaos of the past few weeks, Steven was one of the people she wished to check up on.

So.

Ring ring. ]

Hello? I hope I am not bothering you too late in the evening.

[starseedling]

[Steven is in bed doing some pre-sleep reading when she calls, so while he's not asleep, it is a bit of a surprise. He's quick to answer, though.]

Hey! Daenerys? When did you get back? You were on the boat, right?

[He went home via the secret teleport group so he missed out on that.]

[freeing]

Good evening, Steven. [ Cordial, kind — her voice was very much relaxed for the evening. ] Not too long ago. We found safety through transport from the docks. A modest cargo ship with some other refugees.

[ Softly: ]

How are you after... everything?

[starseedling]

I'm okay...

[Maybe said a little too quickly, uncomplicating what is in fact very complex emotions.]

You were still with the dignitaries, right? I don't know how much you saw, but we rescued a bunch of monsters from... um... orphanages, I guess. There was so much going on... I'm not sure what everyone else was doing.

That's what I wanted to do most, so... I'm happy? I just wish I knew how the ones that stayed in Dorchacht are doing.

[freeing]

I was. We remained until the end – some of the Coven felt in the best interest, we be allowed to return for safety. [ Some, not all. She believed them to be sympathizers, at the very lease. ] Fortunately, there were no injured among our charge. I heard any casualties were minuscule and – nothing further...

[ How the others were doing and how the city stood now that chains were being broken? It is something that weighs on her heart. ]

As am I. It feels ... unfinished, but that may simply be because I believe in seeing things through from a position of ruling. I am not that here, admittedly, but –

[ It's tough!!! ]

[starseedling]

[Well, that would make Daenerys a significantly more responsible monarch than his mom, he thinks as he lays back onto his pillow.]

Maybe we can try going back, sometime soon, or... I don't know. The resistance was really passionate. Maybe they can do it without any more help. I just... don't want to start something and not finish it.

...I guess we can focus on the guys that decided to come back to Aefenglom. We've been setting up housing for them, so that's really fun. They're not...

[He considers it for a few moments and then sighs.]

...Not all of them are doing well. Mentally.

[freeing]

I would hope this is not simple a closed chapter. Ensuring the city is not re-taken and enslaved once more once we leave is something Aefenglom's Coven should be prepared for.

[ However, despite how her heart bleeds for the chained monsters... she can not force the Coven's hand to get involved. ]

... We give them time to recover. Same as any soldier wounded in war.

[starseedling]

They aren't really soldiers, though...

[His voice takes on a more wavering tone, here. He's obviously disturbed by it.]

I know violence can really mess you up, but this was... worse than that. I saw them when they were in the prisons and it was... it was really bad.

[voice]

[horkbajir]

[This is probably going to come completely out of the blue but]

Steven, do you know how to teach people to read?

[starseedling]

[Steven has been a little distant recently, but this catches him off guard.

What]

Um, well, I know how to read English... and I guess whatever Aefenglom talks in? But I've never tried to teach somehow before.

[horkbajir]

[She holds herself back from snapping, because he doesn't deserve that. Toby's annoyed with different people.]

I'm not asking you to. Sorry. I'm just wondering how it's normally done. When I learned, it was through watching Tobias as he read to me. I started to recognize words and the individual... the symbols that correlate with sounds. Is that how it's usually managed?

[starseedling]

The letters? Yeah! My dad read to me all the time, and that's how I learned originally, and then Pearl tried to teach me all this stuff about grammar.

So I guess you just kind of learn through experience? I think that's easier when you're little, though.

[horkbajir]

Ah. Grammar was harder. My people use different patterns of sentence construction. I had to ask my father and others to recite many conversations between aliens before I felt I understood how they speak.

For humans, I suppose. Perhaps that's why they grow so slowly. Dak learned more than I did, long after he grew out of being kawatnoj.

[starseedling]

Oh, yeah... I guess humans are probably different from Hork Bajir just like they are from Gems.

I didn't learn to read until I was like... five or six? I think? So like... way older than you even are now! But even stuff like walking is hard for humans, at first. We take way longer to do stuff than most animals on Earth.

[horkbajir]

"I" as a pronoun exists in some of our languages, but they were usually reserved for Seers, heroes, and Elders, and for... important things, you could say. I think it was that calling yourself "I" and not your name was seen as prideful or arrogant, it's pre-assuming that people already know who you are. We haven't really kept to that in the valley. It's a mix of different languages, and everyone has their own usages.

[She huffs amusement.] Very old, yes. I can't imagine being a human parent. The ones here tend to look very troubled when they have young.

[starseedling]

Haha, yeah, it pretty hard, I guess... my dad raised me alone and he did okay, though.

[Steven likes to think that if he ever has a kid, he'll also do okay. He definitely has a long list of things to not do.]

I don't actually know if my mom gave birth the normal way...