Day 151, public channel

[tacosgay]

[Taako sounds... tired. He's obviously trying his best to sound like he's fine, though, despite how clear it is that he hasn't been resting well.]

Hey, so, uh... weird question. Has anybody else been having, uh... dreams lately? Like, weird ones, you know, with people you know and things like that, but... they feel super real?

[More like a memory.

He sighs.]

Uh. I know I don't usually ask about this sort of thing-- or, uh, anything at all-- but it's getting kind of hard to function, and, like... I've got a job I'm supposed to be doing, I guess, so if anybody knows what's going on, it'd be pretty chill if you could give me a hand with clearing my head over here. I figure this is definitely some kind of weird magic bullshit or something, right?

Comments

[whattaprick]

No dreams here. Pissed anyone off lately or touched anything you shouldn't have?

[tacosgay]

... well... I mean, I've definitely touched some things recently, but I doubt seriously they were cursed.

[whattaprick]

Just ruling out possibilities. 'It's probably magic' is as good an explanation as any, but if it's not that ...

Maybe you ate something bad for you.

[tacosgay]

Uh. Yeah, maybe...

[yeah no he's a chef, food is his area of expertise, he definitely did not eat anything bad recently. Nice try.]

I mean. I don't know, this place has all kinds of weird magic shit going on, right? Just sort of floating around in the air and what have you. Maybe I just caught sort of... a magic summer cold or something.

[whattaprick]

Could be.

[ Lambert sounds skeptical about that but he's also immune to most diseases so he hasn't had a cold in decades and can't remember what that's like, whoops. ]

When'd this start?

[tacosgay]

... well.

[Does he really want to fess up to just how long he's been dealing with this quietly, and refusing to talk about it because he's Taako and talking about what you're going through is for emotionally well-adjusted people?]

... a little while! Maaaybe a week, or, uh... two, or so. It wasn't this bad at first, though, honestly, it's just... you know. I sort of figured it would just go away if I ignored it really hard.

[whattaprick]

If it's been that long, there's definitely something fucked going on. [ That's captain sunshine for you! He can't exactly criticize that coping strategy, so he's not going to bother with that. ]

You said you were a wizard. You ever go into any trances? Dabble in oneiromancy?

[tacosgay]

Gee, thanks, I appreciate that confirmation.

Uh, yeah, I mean... I'm an elf, that's how we do. I do that every night, homie. That's when most of the more, uh, vivid stuff happens, when I'm trying to get my beauty rest.

[whattaprick]

Where you come from, maybe. Elves back home aren't exactly known for peace and quiet.

[ He doesn't say it with much rancor, just a statement of fact. ]

Still sounds like a curse to me. A curse or visions, anyway.

[tacosgay]

Visions? What, like, from the future or something?

[That... doesn't make any sense, either. The people he sees in his visions, the familiar faces, seem a lot younger than the versions he knows now... but humans age weird, so who knows.

But there's one certain person in these visions that he knows, for a fact, is dead. So that's kind of damning.]

Nnno, I don't... think it's that. So I guess it's got to be a curse.

[whattaprick]

Not necessarily. You could have visions of the past, or things that never happened. Usually when a ghost's trying to tell you something ... or drive you crazy.

[tacosgay]

... okay, so I'm getting the "never happened" variety, then. Cool, that's fantastic.

Little do the ghosts know, I've always been crazy, so they got here way too late.

[whattaprick]

What have you tried to get rid of it?

[tacosgay]

Well, uh, I did try a round of good ol' Detect Magic, which did nothing, but lit the fuck up because, well, basically, everything here is magic as hell. Other than that, I pretty much just... uh. Try not to go to bed. Which hasn't worked out great for me.

[whattaprick]

Hah. I know the feeling. My medallion buzzes so much around here it's weirder when it goes quiet.

Has anything else changed?

[tacosgay]

Nnnnno...? Just... the weird head-pictures and headaches. And I guess my face glows now, and I have horns, but I'm pretty sure we can call that definitely the carnival's fault.