[OPEN] oh, the king

[sunderings]

Who: Sion & You!
Where: The Meshwork.
When: The duration of Chapter 4!
Summary: Dream catch all! From casting spells and engaging in shenanigans to escape match-meetings, to talking to your "other self", Sion's dreams are sporadic???
Restrictions/Warnings: Violence, spoopy imagery, possible (literal) self-sacrifice...!!

❶ You are running for the love of it.
❷ You sink and you cannot breathe, air catching in the throat and refusing to reach the lungs.
❸ You are happy.
❹ You tread upon a pathway comprised entirely of dango.

( all dreams are OTA and written in second person, Sion's POV. tags will be returned in regular third person! feel free to PM or contact me here if you'd like something specific. o9 )

Comments

what is this I don't even??? | (high on a hilltop and touching the sky)

[sunderings]

[ You tread upon a pathway comprised entirely of dango, some colored traditionally for the upcoming season of flower-viewing, others more plain in their red-bean flavoring, and so long as you refrain from stepping atop any dango laden in sugar-sweetened, syrupy shouyu, you'll be just fine. You have to be, in order to make it to the dango palace, its structure so too (and none too predictably) comprised of treats which will (somehow??) support the weight of both yourself and others.

There is a pilgrimage to made in the here and now, after all! For no sooner than you enter the palace, you will be greeted by a peerless beauty who is none other than the avatar of the all-powerful (and not to worry, completely benevolent!!) Dango God, and she will hear your wish.

So it is said: if she imparts a blessing upon a mortal after hearing their most truehearted desire, their wish will be granted within a fortnight.

This, of course, begs the question to fall from your lips— ]

Might I ask what you are here to wish for...? As for myself, I haven't decided just yet.

Seriously Sion what is your subconscious? ...wait don't answer that

[somnusrex]

"For this to go back to something even close to normal. That's all I want."

Because streets and palaces made of dango - and yes, Ryner had stepped in the shouyu. More than once, in fact! - were just too much. This whole place was weird and he was too tired of all this idiocy to care much for it or for the idiot currently talking to him like these wishes were somehow a valid thing.

But that peerless beauty - and really, this whole place made of dango, with this loud and annoying moron included - made his heart hurt for reasons he couldn't understand. It was almost familiar, as if he'd heard someone tell him about this place before...

But it was gone before it could really become a thought, so he just grumbled when the remaining syrup on his boot happened to catch on the floor made of dango and cause him to trip a little. But even if he fell, it would be into dango. That only increased his grumpiness, though.

"You could wish to be less annoying."

[sunderings]

"Ah?" Head canting to the side, Sion first considers Ryner, then the state of the man's boots, with a featherweight laugh, airy and bright and truly at ease in a way which might mollify even the most dour of temperaments. For the first time in what seems like an eternity, Sion is at peace as he travels to the dango palace, his footfalls light and unhindered by either syrup or care—the dango support his weight, and he is happy, even if the path to the castle should be proving somewhat treacherous for his companion.

"But if I were less annoying, would I still be me?" Tucking an errant strand of hair back, behind the shell of his ear with an easy grace, Sion looks to the sky above—blue and and without a cloud in sight. "And is this not normal...? If today is a day which is 'unusual', I should hate to awaken to what normalcy is."

Who's an idiot, Ryner? This place isn't weird at all!

"Today... is definitely perfect."

[somnusrex]

"I'd be fine with it if you weren't you."

But it wasn't true, of course. He was just grumbly because of the syrup still covering his boots. The dango was supporting him, but the syrup, as was its entire purpose, adhered to it happily and he fount himself needing to reach down and pull his foot up every few steps.

And Sion was happy, seemingly about all of it. Why wouldn't he be? This place was perfect for him. But it was nice to see the guy walking along with a bounce in his step for once in his life.

"You'd hate to awaken to what normalcy is, huh? Yeah, that seems about right."

Still grumpy, but with an underlying affection. Because yeah, this place really was perfect for Sion, and Ryner didn't dislike it half as much as he was acting like he did. Even with the syrup.

"I don't know if I'd go that far, but at least it's nice out. Can we eat this stuff?"

[sunderings]

"Certainly." Ryner could, in fact, sample whichever dumpling—colorful, chewy, and sweet!—caught his eye, however...! "Though in doing so, you would surely inspire the ire of the avatar herself, and if she did not choose to smite you where you stood, she would surely deny you your wish." For dango are sacred, the keystone to a happy kingdom and all bonds in life, and if one were to consume them--... wouldn't that be much too sad a thing to bear? It would be akin to devouring a friend and infringing upon the realm of the Dango God in turn.

With a shake of his head and another breezy laugh, Sion comes to a stop beside the other man, golden eyes seeking out brown as he leans in close, equal parts inquisitive and playfully accusatory when he speaks again, "But... if I did not know better, Ryner, I'd say that you haven't the slightest clue what to wish for, either."

Why else avoid the question, after all?

"Until you make up your mind, shall I carry you along the path? If you weren't preoccupied with being a stick in the mud, I've no doubt that you'd be able to ascertain your heart's desire."

[somnusrex]

And he sputtered. The idea was so ridiculous - as if the entirety of this place wasn't! - that he wound up grumbling down at his poor, syrup-covered boots atop the dango surface of the path.

"Nevermind, I lost my appetite."

No, not really. He was actually pretty hungry, but Sion was going to be weird at him so he figured he might as well just deal with it until he could find something better to eat than the ground he was walking on. The ramifications of doing so upon this place and the happiness of life and all else mattered not one whit to Ryner. But if countless people were treading this path, that'd be pretty gross to put in his mouth anyway.

"I'd like to take a nap. Wading through this stuff is tiring and troublesome. I don't have a wish, though. I didn't come here with the intention of making one. That seems rude, anyway. Just show up to a place and demand favors? From a Dango God? Besides, what wish can she grant that isn't just more dango?"

Always one for philosophical questions, Ryner smirked.

"Is that your heart's desire? To carry me down the path like a damsel in distress? I'm pretty tired, if you want to so badly I'll let you."

[sunderings]

"You are not the only one who is tired," Sion's riposte is swift, every bit as nimble as the way he gathers Ryner into his arms, holding the other man captive not as a princess—no, such a demon would surely escape the confines of a bassinet carry—but as a sack of potatoes. Over Sion's shoulder, Ryner goes, lifted effortlessly and held securely in place as pretty, gilded heels continue to tread forward.

One should be careful what they consent to, Ryner.

"I have long since grown weary of your bemoaning, and if this should quiet you, so be it then." Huffing in play, Sion jostles Ryner with a purposeful shift of weight, wondering if the other man would squawk in his surprise and malcontent. "Take a nap up there, if you should like, but do not discredit the avatar. If she did not wish to hear the pleas and prayers of others, she would surely see the gates of the castle closed, though I wonder..."

Giving pause as they pass through the gates and into the palace courtyard, Sion is greeted by the sight of topiary—endless and sculpted from even more dumplings.

"...if she is not searching for someone, or waiting for a particular wish which might align with her own."

[somnusrex]

"What the - !"

Yep, he was flailing, hands scrabbling for any sort of purchase on Sion's robes to try to get his center of gravity back. Not that it mattered, because Sion had barely paused, and kicking the guy to make him fall down would be more trouble for him than it would for Sion. As usually happened.

"Yeah? I didn't force you to do this, so don't bitch about how tired you are when you made the choice to carry me, you asshole."

And yes, he did indeed squawk at the shift, once again hoping the idiot currently holding him over his shoulder wouldn't somehow see fit to drop him unceremoniously to prove whatever point he thought he was making.

"You're the guy who came up to me and started the conversation, so if you're weary of my bemoaning I'd say that's your own damn fault!"

But he did stop vocalizing his thoughts on this Dango Avatar, since Sion seemed incredibly invested in the whole thing and who was he to destroy a fantasy? He also didn't really care, for the most part. But since he was stuck up here whether he liked it or not, he just sighed. Grumpily.

"I guess, but we can't find that out until we talk to her, right?"

May as well let the guy have his beliefs. Whatever they were.

[sunderings]

This time, Sion offers no swift return for Ryner's words, his only response a laugh—a sound brimming with warmth, with such a pervasive sense of belonging to the here and now that the simple thought of the moment ever coming to an end is somehow sad—because this is the truest form of camaraderie, this is being (in perhaps a too-literal sense) close to someone: relishing in the yelps, the whining and the abrasive intonations, of a companion who knows you better than anyone.

This is--...

Fun, isn't it?

Smiling, Sion crosses the courtyard and ventures up, into the castle's keep, guided along by exquisite dango detailing, the colors and patterns leading the eye to a chamber where, atop a throne of dumplings, sits—

"Ferris Eris."

—the name, somehow, falls from Sion's lips, voiced not from memory but a simple, innate sense of knowing that the Dango Avatar is so, so much more than a figure of mystique, hailed for her generosity and noble pursuit to unearth the most spectacular dumpling recipe in all the reams.

Ferris Eris, she is his friend. Their friend. Someone who had been lost to Sion without him knowing it.

Setting Ryner down, sticky boots once again touching to dango flooring, Sion's voice is quiet, reverent when he pronounces: "I know what my wish is."

And then you went and made this feelsy

[somnusrex]

At any other time, he'd probably have at least grumbled about the stickiness of his boots and the flooring. But he found himself unable to care, when he heard the tone of Sion's voice.

Sure, seeing the guy having fun was a good thing, although it could be annoying. But this was decidedly different, and Ryner understood as soon as he turned toward the Dango Avatar.

The sense of familiarity was overwhelming, and for a fleeting second, something like hope bloomed in his chest. That they could stay like this, in this ridiculous place, being idiots if they wanted to be. It felt very far away, but he thought he might be able to see it up close someday, if he worked hard enough.

And so, with nary a complaint, he promptly sat on his ass on the floor. It made the boot situation a lot easier, at least.

"Yeah, me too."

His voice wasn't quite as reverent as that of his dear friend's, but it was certainly close. Ryner himself felt as if he'd somehow been smacked over the head with the knowledge of who she was, who Sion was, and he was afraid that if he breathed just a bit too hard, it would all disappear.