[a heart.]

[antreegonist]

There's a moment of nothing but light and sensation. Someone's looking you over and the scrutiny prickles and burns – it's nearly a physical pain, like fine little hooks digging past your skin, into the very meat of you. I know who you are, it says, and I know what you are, and that you don't have any business here --

“But you do,” says Mithos behind you. He's a tired, steady voice in your ear, a light hand on your shoulder. “I don't know what Dream's thinking, but everyone is welcome here in my heart; just keep in mind it's a real mess right now.”

Your vision clears.

((assume your characters wandered in here through a dream. also join #ihateyouihateyouiwanttocuddle on irc if you can!))

Comments

Re: [center - truth]

[brotagonist]

[. . . pokes his head in the non-kitchen door on the left...?]

Re: [center - truth]

[antreegonist]

An herbroom.

It's fairly dim, and smells of many kinds of dried plants, faintly bitter and medicinal. You see leaves and roots, or whole plants, strung down in bunches from the ceiling. More plants are drying on a rack in the back. There's a window with the blinds pulled down, a table with a mortar and pestle and other various implements, and shelves holding labeled jars of powders and syrups.

Re: [center - truth]

[brotagonist]

[. . . I want to go see what's through the window. . .]

Re: [center - truth]

[antreegonist]

The blinds can be raised!

Re: [center - truth]

[brotagonist]

[raises them!!]

Re: [center - truth]

[antreegonist]

Sunlight fills the room, brightening it up. The outdoor view -- as it was in the kitchen -- is of the black tree.

The window is shut and secured, with a simple hook and eye latch.

Re: [center - truth]

[brotagonist]

[...opens it and leans out to look at the tree]

Re: [center - truth]

[antreegonist]

A light breeze pours in, riffling everything; the medicinal smell seems to clear, the room to freshen.

There's a box garden set outside the window, the soil turned and wet, but nothing's been planted there yet.

Re: [center - truth]

[brotagonist]

Is there supposed to be something planted here?

Re: [center - truth]

[antreegonist]

"Supposed? Well, kind of."

Re: [center - truth]

[brotagonist]

[inquiring noise...?]

Re: [center - truth]

[antreegonist]

"Check the table..."

Re: [center - truth]

[brotagonist]

[checks it? IS THERE SOMETHING THAT WASN'T VISIBLE WHEN I FIRST LOOKED AROUND THE ROOM]

Re: [center - truth]

[antreegonist]

There are dents in the workroom wall you might have missed before; oh Martel.

There's a little bag of woven fiber among the tools on the table.

Re: [center - truth]

[brotagonist]

[picks it up and looks inside.]

Re: [center - truth]

[antreegonist]

It's full of small and nondescript seeds, but when you touch it, you see a glimpse of memory: a vast mountain meadow covered with fandalias.

Re: [center - truth]

[brotagonist]

Do these go in the box?

Re: [center - truth]

[antreegonist]

"If you want to plant 'em for her."

Re: [center - truth]

[brotagonist]

Of course.

[starts putting them in the dirt, carefully.]

Re: [center - truth]

[antreegonist]

When you've planted the last one, after a minute, tiny pale sprouts poke themselves through the soil.

You feel . . . relieved, and like you've just shared something that was too heavy to carry well alone.

Re: [center - truth]

[brotagonist]

[. . . pets the little plants. . .]

Re: [center - truth]

[antreegonist]

Pppperk!

Re: [center - truth]

[brotagonist]

[ :]

heads out of the room and goes to poke his head in the cedar door.]

Re: [center - truth]

[antreegonist]

Beyond the cedar door is a room that's pretty easily identifiable as your and Mithos's room. It doesn't quite correspond to any of the real versions from the forest or the cove or Wonderland.

There's a heavy rug on the floor, and wide windows through which sunlight streams in. The view is of the ghostly tree. There are a couple of terrariums set on one sill, and a windowbox filled with growing plants on the other. You can see a shadowvine rope just outside that window as well, presumably for climbing onto the roof.

The walls are rather blurred and milky, though painted images shift over them as you watch: a variety of landscapes and seascapes -- some clearly Aather-inspired, some not -- and fantastical creatures. Unibunnasauruses, dragons, rockziles, robot whales, bee flats . . . you name it, it's there.

There's one big, comfortable bed with a small table beside it. The dreamcatcher, made of wood and beads and multicolored ribbons, hangs on the headboard; there's something strange about it. There are some wooden mobiles of animals hanging from the ceiling. Two heavy chests are pushed up against the foot of the bed. A green vine wreathes up one of the bedposts.

To the side are a comfortable-looking couch, a huge pile of pillows and some stuffed toys, and another small table.

There's also a work area: a large set of shelves combined with a long desk and a cabinet. There are a few books and knickknacks on the shelves, including a brightly painted handmade birdhouse. Small sewing and carving projects litter the desk, along with a couple of sketchbooks, a copper box worked with designs, and a handful of particular-looking materials -- thin wooden struts, sheets of thin paper, and a small candle.

Your jacket is hung up, and both your boots are by the door; it's like you've stepped out for just a moment. The sheets on the bed are slightly mussed. The whole place feels pretty homey and lived-in, welcoming.

Re: [center - truth]

[brotagonist]

[oh...

goes to sit on the bed.]