bakerstreet | ( under the night sky )

( under the night sky )

ＳＴＡＲＧＡＺＩＮＧ - whether you're on a picnic blanket in a field, laying on the beach, or in the bed of a truck, you're with someone you care about and you're looking at the stars.

ＣＡＭＰＦＩＲＥ - camping is the most fun when you're with someone else. roasting marshmallows, telling stories. nature's got it goin' on.

ＰＡＲＫＩＮＧ - you're at the lover's lane, parked at the peak overlooking the city, it's just you and someone else in the car. maybe it's time to steam up the glass or hey, you guys can just talk if you want.

ＦＩＲＥＷＯＲＫＳ - may it is the fourth of july, the new year, or just because, but there's fireworks shooting off and they're magical. or scary. it depends on what floats your boat.

ＬＡＴＥＮＩＧＨＴＳＷＩＭ - maybe you're at the beach or in the backyard pool or at the lake, maybe you're going to skinny dip or maybe you'll 'fall' in with all your clothes. either way, swimming at night is pretty much always fun.

ＳＫＹＬＡＮＴＥＲＮＳ - perhaps you've lost someone dear and you want to do something to remember them by, maybe you're making a wish for the future.

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[ ooc: Okay I'm doin' the thing! And I like doing prose too, so I'll go with that. Let me know if you want me to change anything! ]

'There are a lot of stars out,' was the first thing to cross Wolfram's mind, even before he noticed something that was a lot more odd: the fact that he was laying on top of water in his nightgown. It was unusual, yet somehow peaceful. So much so, he didn't really feel the need to question it like he normally would.

However, staring up at the sky this way with a moon so full, surrounded by shimmering stars, was almost blinding. He decided to break the serenity of just floating there by moving, half-sinking underwater before swimming towards what he imagined was probably the shore. Sure enough, as he got closer a line of trees, still in the lack of breeze, came into sight.

He didn't recognize where he was, though it was similar enough to places he'd been before when out on different border patrols with his men. Though, that usually happened in uniform rather than in the nightgown he went to bed in while at Blood Pledge Castle. If he really thought about it, it would be clear that this must have been a dream. He was pulled from his thoughts though at the realization he wasn't alone.

"...Who's there?"

It was an unusual dream. That was Ritsuki's first thought as he opened his eyes to the night sky. His dreams seemed to be more normal, usually related to his every day life so it wasn't often he found himself laying on his back, knees bent against some kind of shore, his feet in the warm water.

At least his pajama bottoms had been rolled up.

For a bit, he lay there, spreading his arms out at his side. He wasn't the kind to take the time out of his day to enjoy nature but hey, he'd been plopped here for a reason. It's the sound of someone walking nearby that causes him to stand, ripples appearing when he withdrew his feet.

"That was my question." The boy...did not look familiar at all, he was sure of that. As someone with blonde hair, he knew how much said color stood out at his school. Maybe he was a boy that was trying to be a host? He looked too young to make it in but when he was older, he was definitely handsome enough to make it in. Maybe he'd seen him during an interview... Ritsuki did often stay behind to finish the cleaning.

"I'm Kujou Ritsuki," he finally offered with a smile. So, what was he doing dreaming of some wannabe Host? "Weird place, huh?"

"Lord Wolfram von Bielefeld," he returned at the offer of the other boy's name. Which he thought sounded an awful lot like the sort of name Yuuri and Murata had. Kujou Ritsuki. Japanese, wasn't it? Yet he wasn't a double-black, like most of the people Wolfram had met on his visits to Yuuri's home. Instead he had blonde hair, much like Wolfram's own. Hair which, at the moment, was rather damp and causing the smaller boy some amount of annoyance. He pushed his wet bangs away from his face before looking around at the area once more, in response to Ritsuki's question. "It's unusual in that it seems so peaceful. I can't even hear any insects or animals."

And it was a dream. Obviously it was a dream, there were so many signs, but the definitive one for Wolfram was the fact that, despite his hair being damp, the pink nightgown he had on was not, even though he'd just left the water. It didn't make any sense, but not all things in dreams did. Though... he doesn't remember ever dreaming of someone he'd never met before, so that was another odd thing about it.

He gave his head a small shake to rid some of the water from it before lifting his chin to look up at the sky again. "And the sky is awfully... radiant." He couldn't really find any other word for it.

With blonde hair AND blue eyes, he really doesn't look like the typical Japanese boy. The confusion he gets at hearing the name in all internal. Lord? The rest of that name didn't sound Japanese either. Then, not someone he knew. Well, now he was making up boys to bring into his dreams? Maybe he was working too hard.

To see better, he's forced out from under the canopy of the trees, just a bit closer to Wolfram himself. "Yeah, it's something, huh? This whole forest is. Do places like this even exist outside of manga?"

Not that Ritsuki was a fan of them but their contents were pretty well known. More than that, it was bugging him that he didn't know this guy. Why would a foreigner be in his dreams?

"Do I know you?"

At the mention of manga, another word familiar to him only from its usage by Yuuri and Murata, Wolfram looked over at him again. Now that Ritsuki was closer, he could see him a little better, and could say with certainty that he'd never met him before.

"I don't think so. You're not from my world, of that I'm sure. Are you from Japan?" That would be the only thing that made sense, though having only been there once, Wolfram wasn't sure why he'd be dreaming of someone from there.

"This is definitely a dream," he finally voiced the conclusion aloud, though he wasn't really sure why he was telling someone in the dream that it was a dream, nor can he remember ever having done that before. All in all, the entire thing was becoming more confusing the more he actually thought about it.

"Yeah, it's definitely a dream. I don't even think a Lord could exist anymore." But why was his dream telling him it was a dream? He already knew it was a dream. There was no way he was in some random forest with some random blonde haired man.

...Better yet, why was he bothering with the same polite routine if he was dreaming? His mind knew that while he was hardly a cruel man, the excessive niceness wasn't really all that real either.

So, his shoulders suddenly seemed to slump, and the smile came off of his face. "Is it suppose to mean something? These kinds of dreams usually do, right? You look a little bit like me...the coloring, anyway. Is my mind telling me I'm going to grow up to be rich?"

"In your world, they probably don't." He found it strange himself that he was talking to Ritsuki as if he actually existed, rather than being someone in his dream, either coaxed from his subconscious for one reason or another, or perhaps even random.

What was weirder still was that this guy was talking to Wolfram as if he was the one who didn't really exist. "I don't think your mind is telling you anything." That sounded like more of an insult than he'd really intended. He'd just meant that it was his own mind that was causing all of this.

...Wait, but was it? Certainly it was a dream, he'd figured that out from the nonsensical way his nightgown had stayed dry, but what if Ritsuki wasn't someone his mind had come up with, but was real? Was that even possible? Maybe... Though if there was any sort of magic that would cause this to happen, he'd never heard of it before.

He sighed, crossing his arms over his chest. "Look, I'm not you. Our eyes are a different color, for one thing. Besides that, you're obviously a teenage human, and I'm an eighty-two-year-old Mazoku. I can prove this, if you think it's necessary."

He didn't wait to hear whether it would be or not. After murmuring a couple of words, a flame lit at the top of his fingers. He curled his hand in toward his chest before tossing the ember out across the surface of the lake, the flame sizzling with each bounce against the water, getting smaller and smaller before eventually dying out. He looked back at Ritsuki with a look that clearly said 'I told you.'

His dream was using words he didn't know. Was Mazoku even a real thing? He would look it up when he woke back up.

As his world didn't have things like magic and old men that looked like teenagers, didn't that just prove that it was a dream? Magic was real in a dream; everything was.

But when Wolfram looked back at Ritsuki, the other boy doesn't really look impressed. He wondered if he could do it, too.

"I hope I look as good when I'm your age. They say you usually start going downhill at thirty but that sounds really young, huh? I'm hoping to at least have it last until I'm forty. Is that part of your magic, too?"

At the lack of any reaction to what he'd just done, Wolfram momentarily pouted, looking away from the other boy again. It wasn't the biggest display of his magic he could have done, obviously, but even such a small one should have impressed a human from Earth, he would have thought. He could do something more, but the fact that Ritsuki hadn't even been impressed with that was a little depressing. Especially if it turned out that he was someone his mind had made up.

He crossed his arms once again before finally lowering himself to sit on the ground, trying to fight back another sigh. "Thirty would still be quite young for a demon. And no, it's not magic. Full-blooded Mazoku just age more slowly than you humans do."

It was difficult even for him to stay depressed in the atmosphere the dream had created, though. Almost instinctively, he stood right back up again to begin walking into the lake. He stopped when the water hit his shins and lifted his head to look up at the stars again. There was something strange about them. Were they the same stars he saw when he looked up into the night sky of Shin Makoku? He can't really tell.

Hey, wait!

[If he's in his dream, then the blonde haired boy must be important so Ritsuki has to keep him in sight. So, he follows, moving in the water after him, his eyes following his as if Wolfram was seeing something he wasn't.]

Demon, huh? Is that what a Mazoku is? [This really was a weird one. Demons, a forest he'd never been to, fire magic. Wouldn't one of those dream analyst people have fun with this one.

He doesn't even realize that he mumbles his next words, even as he waits for the other man to answer.] Guess this is kind of nice.

Yes, Mazoku means Demon Tribe.

[Normally he'd be a little irritated about having to repeat himself (even though he hadn't actually clarified that yet), but as it is he's a little distracted as he answers, and his tone shows it. He's still staring up at the sky, even as Ritsuki follows him into the water. That is, until he feels wetness on his cheek. Odd, considering he hadn't been underwater. Lowering his gaze from the stars, he brings a hand up to touch his cheek.

Tears. He's crying. This is ridiculous, he doesn't cry for no reason! And he definitely doesn't enjoy crying in front of other people! Quickly, he turns his back to the other boy, attempting to wipe quickly falling tears away from his face. It's the dream, it has to be, he can't think of any other explanation.]

Hey, hey, wait now.

[Why was he crying? Ritsuki was fairly certain that he hadn't done anything to make him want to cry. He'd just asked a question, one he really hadn't known the answer to.

He'd check his nonexistent pockets for a tissue he obviously didn't carry to bed. Frustrated, he retracts his arm back into the long sleeve and holds it out.

...It was all he had.]

Why are you crying?

I'm not!

[It's said with a certain amount of indignation and is also quite obviously a lie. Instinctively he flinches away from the offered sleeve, attempting to turn away from the other boy anytime he looks at him, clearly embarrassed.

His anger ebbs slightly though and he lets out a frustrated sigh, still wiping the tears from his flushed cheeks with his hand.]

...I don't know why, it just happened.

[Part of him is sorely tempted to just dunk himself underwater and swim away.]

[He at least gets the hint after that first flinch, bringing his hands behind his head and turning his back, his gaze going to the sky. He gets it, Wolfram wanted his dignity; Ritsuki could understand that.]

People don't cry for no reason so, if there's something up, why don't you just say it? It's just a dream so it's not like there's anything for you to be embarrassed about, y'know.

[But he's still not looking, not until he could sense he was finished or needed...comforted or something.]

I said I don't know why.

[Now that Ritsuki's turned around, he relaxes somewhat, though he's still mildly irritated at himself and everything around him for putting him in this situation. He uses the collar of his nightgown to finish wiping away the rest of the tears, which have thankfully stopped. For now.]

Yes, it is a dream. So maybe that's the reason why!

Isn't that just what people say when they don't want to tell? Besides, tt's not such a bad dream that you have to cry. [He felt like he should be disturbed that his dream was crying but somewhere, it stopped being his dream and started being Wolfram. It didn't explain why the boy who now had a name would just start crying though.]

It's not that bad at all. The forest is kind of cool, huh? It's not scary but there's definitely something weird about it.

Maybe I wasn't crying, maybe my eyes were just watering...

[It's murmured. He's still trying to find something to explain that, but as Ritsuki continues talking, he's grateful for something else to talk about other than the fact he'd just randomly started crying. He glances back at him over his shoulder, a slight frown still on his lips, then looks over to the forest as it's mentioned. He's not really sure what's 'cool' about it.]

It's just a forest.

[A quiet and almost eerily still one, but still just a forest. He's right on the 'weird' part, though. Almost all of it seems weird, really, but not in a way that's blatantly obvious. It was just... a bit off.

Honestly, he's more entranced by the lake. It's just as still as the forest, until he moves, casting ripples across the surface. He lowers himself into the water, swimming just a little further out, cautiously. But he doesn't stray too far from Ritsuki.] ...How deep do you think this goes, anyway?

[He takes the time to wonder if he should at least take off his top but that quickly leaves his head; it was a dream, they both established that, so his clothes would likely dry as soon as he got out. Even in the worst case scenario, it wasn't like he would catch a cold.

So, he begins to swim, catching up with Wolfram before stopping a moment.] We can find out.

[Having decided that himself, he began to swim again. It should be deeper near the middle, right? All things considered, he really couldn't have told you why it mattered how deep it was but it suddenly felt like it did.]

[Why not? There doesn't seem to be much else to do in the dream, unless they felt like exploring that forest or something. And Wolfram also feels the pull to find out how deep the lake is, now that the question was out in the open.

He follows Ritsuki, swimming further and further toward the middle of the lake, although still cautious. At some point he finds he can't touch the bottom anymore, so it must be at least deeper than five feet five inches, since that's exactly how tall he is.

There's a bit of fear here, since he can no longer stand or walk along the bottom if he needs to. Though obviously he knows how to swim, it's not something he practices a whole lot. Hesitating, and feeling embarrassed about it, he calls Ritsuki back.] Wait...

[Once he's near enough to do so, he latches on to the other boy's shirt with one hand, cheeks pink with embarrassment as he's not used to relying on someone he'd just met. But finding out about this lake feels important, for some reason, so he doesn't want to be left behind. He's hoping Ritsuki won't ask for an explanation and will just keep swimming.]

Huh?

[He can't help but reply as he was initially grabbed, surprise overcoming any rational thought; but not for long. He was good at reading people, if not perfect. Or maybe Wolfram is just an easy read. Either way it doesn't take a genius to know how prideful the other guy is. That doesn't mean he gets why he suddenly needs his help - if he couldn't swim, surely he would have spoken up - but he'll accept it.

With barely a hesitation after that one spoken word, he begins to swim again, stopping when they're as close to the middle as he can guess.]

This is it. Probably.

[It's not that he can't swim, which he demonstrates by swimming himself once Ritsuki starts up again. He just wanted something to hold on to, alright? Besides, there's still just... something a little bit off about everything, the lake included. He doesn't entirely trust it. Of course, he doesn't have an explanation for why he trusts Ritsuki more than the lake, but... He's not going to dwell on it. It's a dream.

He looks around once they're in about the middle, taking note of how far away the shore is.] Probably.

[...Now the question was to find out how deep it is, right? Wolfram looks warily down at the water, letting go of the other boy's shirt and treading water to stay afloat. He looks back up at Ritsuki and raises an eyebrow.] Now what?

I'll dive so wait here and keep a watch.

[Still unsure of what made him want to stay close, he's unsure if Wolfram was able to dive that deeply - if it were too deep, Ritsuki himself couldn't - so it seemed best to assume he couldn't than ask and make him either risk his pride to admit he couldn't or attempt it and end up drowning.

...No, he couldn't drown, he wasn't real. Still, it seemed best to protect this dream partner of his.]

[He feels a little annoyed that Ritsuki pretty much just gave him an order, even if it was in his best interest. He's also not sure what it is he's supposed to watch. The water, maybe? To make sure he came back up again?]

Fine, I'll watch, just... Don't dawdle. [Or disappear. He's not really sure why he's so worried that's going to happen, but. He's actually tempted to go underwater with him, if only to make absolutely sure that he does come back up.]

[The more he began to think of Wolfram as a real entity - which was crazy - the more he seemed to fall back into his nice and pleasing routine. Maybe by now, it was natural. Either way, he holds up a finger, a smile coming across his face.]

Of course not, since it would be rude to keep you waiting. I'll be right back!

[Sucking in a deep breath, he turns himself over, orientating his head from the sky to the bottom of the lake floor. In theory, as it was too dark to see. That probably wasn't a very good sign.

Down, down, down, and nothing. Eventually, he knew he had to retrace all of the distance he'd already covered and he was reaching his limit. It was over three minutes when he finally emerged, lungs burning, causing him to immediately take in a large grasp.]

It's... too deep.

[Wolfram just grows more and more restless with each second. He doesn't exactly have a timepiece on him, so he's not sure how long it is, precisely, but it feels like forever. He even braves the depths, very, very briefly, before realizing it's way too dark down there for him to navigate and quickly resurfacing. But by the third minute, he's seriously pondering trying again.

Finally Ritsuki appears though, and Wolfram's just about red in the face with trying not to yell at him or strangle him for making him think he'd drowned or something.

Wait... This is a dream. Could someone drown in a dream? Well, he might have disappeared, and Wolfram really hadn't wanted that, either.]

Why were you down there so long?! I thought you were gone!

( under the night sky )

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wow so tsun much dere

very Wolfram

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doing some assuming here re: height, lmk if I need to fix