|
Post by The Traveler on Jul 17, 2021 17:53:12 GMT -6
Miranda blinked and frowned.
Well.
She figured there was a chance she would run into them, hence the rehearsed speech, but not that they would notice her without any visual or audio feedback to clue them in to her presence. She certainly couldn't see them, and she could've sworn she had been quiet.
How?
That question would have to wait, or go unspoken.
Miranda stood up straight and went down the stairs. She didn't get off the steps however, and stopped when she caught sight of the both of them.
"Hey," Miranda said, raising a hand in greeting. "Didn't mean to interrupt. Been having nightmares as of late and wanted to get a decent night's sleep, so, that's why I'm here. Figured it was worth a try. I meant to talk to you about it earlier, but we had more pressing matters at the time. I'll just be, um-"
She faltered a little, staring at Ben and Emma. It was like what she had heard them talking about had just caught up with her. She folded her lips inward, before releasing them into a small closed-mouth smile, and pointed back up the stairs.
"-I'll just be up there, either in your room or a different room, door shut. Carry on, please."
Miranda turned around and placed her hand on the railing, intent on heading back upstairs.
|
|
|
Post by e on Jul 17, 2021 20:01:01 GMT -6
However, it wasn’t the two of them there.
It was just Emma.
She was seated on the edge of the pool table, legs crossed, looking down and over at Miranda.
“I didn’t realize Ben’s head had become your own personal hotel.” She responded.
|
|
|
Post by The Traveler on Jul 17, 2021 20:26:04 GMT -6
Miranda turned back around, a confused look crossing her face.
But he was...just here.
The confusion turned into wariness.
"That's a bit like the pot calling the kettle black, isn't it?" Miranda slowly came down onto the ground floor. She gave a quick scan of the room, before gazing at Emma, the gears turning in her head as she tried to understand what happened. "Where did he go?"
|
|
|
Post by e on Jul 18, 2021 8:37:11 GMT -6
“I know it’s been a long day for you, but if you’re going to continue considering yourself rather clever you’re going to need to do better.” Emma set a hand down next to her, supporting her weight with her arm as she lazily leaned over. “No, it’s not quite as you say, as a hotel is something you can check in to and leave as you please. For me, it’s more like a prison. I don’t really have a choice, now do I? And this is at least the third time I’ve had to explain to you that Ben appears and disappears as he moves through different sleep stages.”
|
|
|
Post by The Traveler on Jul 18, 2021 8:48:37 GMT -6
((Just blame it on me, don't blame it on her, Miranda's not as forgetful as me.))
"...Right."
Miranda brought her hand up to cover and pinch her eyes, as if the action could quell the embarrassment now welling up inside of her.
"You're right on all accounts," she agreed. She let out a long sigh and lowered her hand. "It has been a long day."
|
|
|
Post by e on Jul 18, 2021 9:01:43 GMT -6
((But it’s such a great way for Emma to feel superior.))
“Though apparently not long enough to keep you from trying to eavesdrop on us.” Emma said matter-of-factly. She didn’t seem like she was offended by the fact that Miranda had tried to listen in. She seemed more bored if anything. “Is that really easier than just asking what you want to know?”
|
|
|
Post by The Traveler on Jul 18, 2021 9:16:10 GMT -6
"If I had a specific question, then no, but I wanted to know what you were talking about without interrupting," Miranda explained, feeling her freckled cheeks burn. "The... conversation tends to stop when I walk in."
Of course it stops, it's a private conversation! Her inner voice shouted at her. You're a horrible person who doesn't respect anyone's privacy!
Miranda cleared her throat.
"Now that you mention asking things I want to know though, how did you know I was here? Did you hear me, uh- " Miranda thought for a moment for the correct word " -arrive?"
|
|
|
Post by e on Jul 18, 2021 9:51:50 GMT -6
“When you spend a lot of time in one place, you notice even the smallest changes in your environment.” Emma gave an answer. “And you have a very loud heartbeat.”
|
|
|
Post by The Traveler on Jul 18, 2021 10:12:37 GMT -6
Ah. For a brief moment, a look of understanding and realization crossed Miranda's face, temporarily overriding the embarrassment. I didn't think about supernatural senses.
That, and Emma had merit in saying she could notice the smallest changes in her environment, having spent so long inside Ben's head. So it's also viable she could have just heard Miranda's heartbeat too.
She suspected there would be little chance of her sneaking up on either Ben and Emma in the future, whether inside the dreamscape or not. Though this time it had been deliberate, most of the time it was unintentional - sometimes Miranda just moved so silently and unobtrusively that she had even startled her family and friends in the past, or they'd wonder where she'd gone off to until she spoke up from a room they did not expect her to be in.
"I can see how heartbeats can be a dead give-away then," Miranda said, nodding slowly. The embarrassment started to creep back in after her acknowledgement, and she quickly followed up with another question. "I take it you're starting to get sick of being in here?"
|
|
|
Post by e on Jul 18, 2021 10:45:31 GMT -6
“Probably not as much as you think. It’s not nearly as fun as being alive, but I suppose it beats being dead dead.” Emma shrugged. “I have a feeling those aren’t the questions you were hoping to overhear answers to, though.”
|
|
|
Post by The Traveler on Jul 18, 2021 10:55:56 GMT -6
Miranda's hands came together, and her fingers searched for a ring to twist, but finding none, switched to rubbing the inside of her palm with the opposite thumb.
"No," she confirmed, looking away. "How is he?"
|
|
|
Post by e on Jul 18, 2021 11:09:45 GMT -6
“An innocuous sounding question on the surface.” Emma tilted her head, looking up at the ceiling fan slowly circling. “But you already asked him that, and he told you he was fine. So by asking me, you’re not only assuming that he’s lying, but that I know something you don’t. But I get it. ‘How is he?’ sounds a lot more caring and less investigative than ‘What is he telling you that he’s not telling me?’”
|
|
|
Post by The Traveler on Jul 18, 2021 11:23:34 GMT -6
"More like it's a question that casts a large net for possible answers," Miranda muttered. "And he certainly didn't seem fine to me. If you mean he's going to 'be fine' though, then, okay, I suppose I'll leave it at that."
She swallowed. Maybe she should ask the more pointed question.
"I get the sense that Ben is ready to move forward." Again, she didn't meet Emma's gaze. "And that it also means leaving me behind. Is that true?"
|
|
|
Post by e on Jul 18, 2021 11:39:07 GMT -6
“Hopefully.” Emma’s answer came wrapped in cruel honesty. “Unless he gets knocked out again and feels like he has another obligation to drag you through another one of your problems.”
|
|
|
Post by The Traveler on Jul 18, 2021 11:53:11 GMT -6
And there it was.
It was almost a relief to hear the answer, rather than worry in uncertainty.
It didn't stave off everything else that came with the answer though.
Miranda swallowed again and lowered her hands to her sides. "Why hasn't he said anything?" She asked in a soft voice. "Was he just...waiting until all of this was finished?"
Her mind pulled up the memory of Ben telling her she was on her own and to sort everything out herself. She thought that fight had been resolved amicably, but...maybe not. Maybe other things had simply interfered.
|
|