Video| In all my dreams, it's never quite as it seems

[ushahin]

[When the video opens up, Ushahin is lying once again inside his bathtub. It's about five o' clock in the morning, so at least he's only waking up the resident of Hadriel up at the crack of dawn instead of the middle of the night this time. He's considerate that way.]

Does anyone else hear it? The music? It's so lovely.

[There is, of course, no music. What he's hearing is the tune he's caught from passing through someone's mind while they sleep. It's had quite the effect on him.]

Music makes everything quiet inside.

[He starts humming to himself, tapping his fingers to keep rhythm. If that tune sounds somewhat familiar, well, it might have been your mind he was tapping into.]

Comments

voice.

[bekommen]

There isn't any music here.

[It's the thing she misses the most from home.]

[wormintheglass]

No, dearheart, but keep humming and I'll try and sing it for you.

[ushahin]

[Ushahin stops his humming long enough to answer her.]

Yes, there is. It's all held within.

[bekommen]

You sound just like my ex.

[ushahin]

[He obliges, humming the tune a little louder.]

Dee da da dum, da da dum, da da dee...

[It should soon become apparent just what it is he's heard while skimming the minds of Hadriel.]

[ushahin]

No. I brought a blanket. And it's safe in here. Do you know how many people get murdered in their beds? It rarely happens in a bathtub.

[Sorry, Shadow, your friend is showing his crazy side this morning.]

[ushahin]

I'm going to assume that's not a compliment.

[He's beginning to wonder if this girl is ever happy or if her permanent state is one of sarcastic anger.]

[bekommen]

[Pretty much the latter.]

It's not like it's the worst thing. We were in a band together for a while, and she used to say dippy shit like that all the time. Just reminds me, that's all.

[ushahin]

[Quite possibly it is true. One can never tell with Ushahin.]

I expect to either live forever or have a horribly bloody end as everyone else I loved has died.

[ushahin]

[Dippy? Hmph, he is not dippy!]

Why did it end?

[Yes, let's delve into what makes up Nick's past.]

[bekommen]

What, the band? Same reason bands usually break up, everyone got sick of everyone else's bullshit. "Creative differences" is the technical term.

[ushahin]

[Ushahin shifts around in the bathtub, settling in more securely. Hmmm, next time, he's taking an extra pillow with him.]

And your relationship with the girl? Creative differences there as well?

[bekommen]

[There's a bit of a pause while Nick breathes through the pain of that question. Her words take a harder edge when she speaks again.]

No. She decided she wanted to marry this guy she was hung up on and move back to England.

[ushahin]

[He laughs, though the sound is not meant to be mocking and isn't directed at Nick. It's just the sight of old patterns again that leaves him amused. What can he say? After more than a thousand years, there's not much to humanity that surprises him anymore.]

Did you love her? Or was it merely infatuation and lust?

[bekommen]

That's a stupid fucking question.

[One that cuts entirely too close, is what she means.]

[ushahin]

[He blinks slowly and sighs. She'll need a better way to avoid his questions than that.]

If you don't answer, I shall simply have to draw my own conclusions.

[ushahin]

It is a distinct possibility. I have lived through everything that has ever tried to kill me.

[And trust him, there has been a lot that has tried to kill him over twelve-hundred years.]

Where are you going?

text;

[valiantabsurdity]

From Lir to the lone gentleman, with greetings:

I hope you may read this against the music you accuse, and I hope the words match your rhythm. Perhaps I shall write slower, if you listen to a soft instrument, like the lyre? Please advise. I fear I cannot keep my own counsel in this, as I hear nothing of your music and must envy you each note.

But, please forgive me, I come with a request: there are those of delicate sight who might find the mere suggestion of a man's doings in a bathtub disturbing to their frail eyes. Please, think of their modesty. I know you would surely wish nothing so dire as to unsettle them.

With gratitude,

Lir

Voice

[solvethepuzzle]

[Meh, he's awake anyway. Near does not have a regular sleep schedule.]

No, I'm afraid the music is beyond my hearing. [And because he simply must comment:] That doesn't look very comfortable.

[bekommen]

Draw whatever you want, man. Love's a big cosmic joke. Everything's all just hormones and shit anyway.

[fearlessherosheart]

... Are you quite well?

[Because this seems rather odd to Tazendra; people can act strange because they feel off, or because they are strange people. Tazendra knows she is a bit strange to people who are not Dzurlords.]

Text

[somuchlove]

I hear nothing.

[It had been very quiet since they discovered they could not gain EXP from the monsters in this place. Quiet and strange.]

What does it sound like?

[ushahin]

Such a shame. It sounds so very nice. There's instruments playing that I've never heard before.

[He gives a shrug. If there's any sort of discomfort, he hasn't noticed yet.]

I slept on the forest floor for most of my childhood. This is far better in comparison.

[ushahin]

That's a matter of perspective. Some would say I am and others that I am not.

[He's plenty strange to the people here and knows himself to not be within the realm of sanity as most people know it. Still, is it truly madness if he's merely seeing (or hearing, in this case) what's inside people's heads?]

[ushahin]

Really? I hear it plainly.

[He hasn't quite yet realized that the song is coming from inside a mind.]

Instruments that I have never heard before and a voice that soothes my mind.