[ it doesn't take long to find him, considering they're the only people daynapping in the lobby. something clicks, an association, even before he notices the way kaworu is sleeping.
even if those outward signs of dreaming aren't there, chrono is very familiar with the signs of a nightmare - he'd woken from one similarly just the night before. it can be dangerous, to rouse someone mid-terror like this, and for kaworu, it's as if there's another layer to it, somehow.
he'll crouch down, lay a hand on kaworu's arm, and... well, he hasn't tried this yet. but during the emotionsharing, those could be projected. maybe their thoughts could, to?
[Kaworu doesn't stir but he twitches slightly at the touch.
Its hard to say if the call is heard... it definitely reaches somewhere but is swallowed up into a greater void, drowned out by crashing waves and ocean wind.]
[ another attempt to call him - kaworu, can you hear me? - but there's that incomprehensible scale, again. simple words were nothing in the face of whatever that was.
so chrono sits down beside the bench, lays his head against the wall, and tries to find the dreamscape again. he has no idea if proximity or actually being asleep will do anything, but he'd shared a waking dream yesterday, so... maybe? something that unfathomably deep had to have some pull to it, surely. and he was well-versed in mentally reaching out.
[He's right. The pull is like that of a black hole. Consuming and trapping everything around it, so powerful that not even light can escape. But that doesn't mean the light is gone.
Something crosses a precipice. Chrono can feel it. It's small and it's frail but its there, even in the face of unfathomable depth.]
[ well that was easier than expected. so much easier, in fact, that the pull almost catches him - but he holds, protected by his own strength of image. the one thing he could do better than most.
the feeling catches him, that glimmer of-- something. he starts to search, a beach an audience a demon, the void grasping at the edges of his mind. c'mon, kaworu, try again.
But when are things ever easy? The void will start to drown him out. It's not even consciously doing so. It's a void and all it knows is how to consume everything unto its own emptiness. It will keep taking from Chrono, feeding off his image, as though if it takes enough, it will be satiated and find some kind peaceful ending.]
[ unfortunately, he's not a being of endless image to give - that fell to another, though she suffered as a result. as such, it begins to hurt, after a while - the pull becoming too great to resist, the all-consuming roar of it filling his ears, head, chest, body.
but he still feels that tiny, fragile presence. a weak but present anchor that means he won't retreat. can't retreat.
[Something breaks. A crack in the glass. The cracks twist and expand from the smallest point of impact.
You're on the beach now, Chrono. You're closer but you're not quite there. You stand behind the barrier to the shore. Your eyes were amongst those watching.
Something pushes him back. Away from the barrier from everything. It asks him to give up. To just let it be.]
[ yeah, no chance. if he's learned anything about kaworu these past weeks, seen him interact with others, with himself... there's another gap, somewhere. this barrier is no longer complete. a tiny chip, a pinhole, a seam. something to catch and break through.
he stays against the barrier. his hands run along the edges, feeling for that tiniest flaw. the undiscovered error in the plan that made this place. ]
[He walks for so long on the endless beach along the wall. There's a massive shadow in the distance. As he walks, he can find no trace of chips or cracks. Though eventually, it is his foot that hits something, not his hand.
[ that shadow looms, unbearably present. chrono watches it approach, as he resists the push of surrender and traces this barrier for what feels like hours. time is always weird in dreams, isn't it?
then - a sound, a sensation. he looks down in confusion, then realisation, as he dips to pick it up. an invitation, then. if there's not a break he can find, there's a break he can make.
the edge is sharp in his palm as he grips the stone, and takes the first swing against the invisible wall. ]
[At first nothing gives. Just another fruitless endeavor. Nothing here matters... except the smallest action. An attempt to break through and to change.
Then suddenly cracks appear, spiderwebbing in all directions, distorting both Chrono's reflection and the sea behind the barrier. A small chip of glass falls away leaving a small hole. Light flows between the two spaces.]
[ attempt to break through and change. find and forge ahead with a new possibility, a goal, a future to look forward to. the sand shifts beneath his feet as the cracks appear and he takes a step back, watching the beam of light cross the threshold.
chrono throws the rock aside. instead, his fist meets the now-visible glass, uncaring about the cuts he might sustain as he strikes it. ]
[At first it holds, seemingly resistant to Chrono's blows, then suddenly... the entire part of the wall caves in and shatters completely. The ocean air flows around him, warm and pleasant with the sound of gentle waves crashing onto the shore.
It's a pleasant place, all things considered. But it's so empty. It's the feeling of the void again. What is beauty if there's no one to help you understand it?]
[ the barrier breaking has him stumbling through, the follow-through of his punches carrying him past the line. it's... not bad, on this side, now that there's a way in and out - no matter how jagged the edges or littered the ground is around it.
but he looks up, feels that pull still. the unbearable yawning depth. his brow creases, and he looks out to the shoreline ahead, extending a hand again.
The thought is timid and surprised, almost incredulous, to hear another voice reaching for him. There's a pull towards a small tide pool, one completely that would be completely submerged at night during high-tide. Inside, a small, pale-haired boy is curled up inside, half submerged in the clear water.]
[ for some reason, it feels necessary to tread the beach carefully, no matter how badly he wants to run when that quiet response finally comes through. as if despite the pressure of the void, what was contained within it was easily breakable. frail, like that first hint of presence.
he makes his way to the little pool, and crouches down beside it. with careful hands, raw and stinging at the knuckles from where they'd struck the barrier, he reaches in to pull the boy upright and out of the seawater. ]
[Kaworu blinks up at him, confused, like he can't believe this is happening. This beach had been on his mind since he was a child and it was always the same: infinite and lonely, forever trapped between two places he cannot enter.
Still, without even thinking or waiting for a prompt, he reaches up and takes Chrono's extended hand.]
[ we're all still confused here, really. but chrono's expression is exhausted, steely and determined as he pulls kaworu up. he's strong, and kaworu is small, even drenched in saltwater in this heavy dreamscape - it doesn't take much effort to hoist him free.
which is good, because he has very little energy left. chrono falls back on his hands, breathing out a shaky exhale. then, a smile, a little drawn in the corners. ]
[Kaworu steadies himself on Chrono's knee, the salt water running down the back of his neck and dripping off his hair. He notices Chrono's exhaustion and the red on his hands and immediately feels guilty. For bringing Chrono here. And then for being selfish enough to be glad to see him.]
[ it doesn't matter how tired he is now, because before finding him he'd have kept going for however long was needed. he'll lift a hand to support kaworu, steadying on his shoulder, and lean forward to be more of a solid presence. ]
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even if those outward signs of dreaming aren't there, chrono is very familiar with the signs of a nightmare - he'd woken from one similarly just the night before. it can be dangerous, to rouse someone mid-terror like this, and for kaworu, it's as if there's another layer to it, somehow.
he'll crouch down, lay a hand on kaworu's arm, and... well, he hasn't tried this yet. but during the emotionsharing, those could be projected. maybe their thoughts could, to?
kaworu? ]
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Its hard to say if the call is heard... it definitely reaches somewhere but is swallowed up into a greater void, drowned out by crashing waves and ocean wind.]
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so chrono sits down beside the bench, lays his head against the wall, and tries to find the dreamscape again. he has no idea if proximity or actually being asleep will do anything, but he'd shared a waking dream yesterday, so... maybe? something that unfathomably deep had to have some pull to it, surely. and he was well-versed in mentally reaching out.
a beach, an audience, and a massive demon. ]
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Something crosses a precipice. Chrono can feel it. It's small and it's frail but its there, even in the face of unfathomable depth.]
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the feeling catches him, that glimmer of-- something. he starts to search, a beach an audience a demon, the void grasping at the edges of his mind. c'mon, kaworu, try again.
he reaches, hand open. ]
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But when are things ever easy? The void will start to drown him out. It's not even consciously doing so. It's a void and all it knows is how to consume everything unto its own emptiness. It will keep taking from Chrono, feeding off his image, as though if it takes enough, it will be satiated and find some kind peaceful ending.]
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but he still feels that tiny, fragile presence. a weak but present anchor that means he won't retreat. can't retreat.
you're there. reach out. you can do it. ]
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You're on the beach now, Chrono. You're closer but you're not quite there. You stand behind the barrier to the shore. Your eyes were amongst those watching.
Something pushes him back. Away from the barrier from everything. It asks him to give up. To just let it be.]
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he stays against the barrier. his hands run along the edges, feeling for that tiniest flaw. the undiscovered error in the plan that made this place. ]
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A small rock with a jagged edge.]
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then - a sound, a sensation. he looks down in confusion, then realisation, as he dips to pick it up. an invitation, then. if there's not a break he can find, there's a break he can make.
the edge is sharp in his palm as he grips the stone, and takes the first swing against the invisible wall. ]
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Then suddenly cracks appear, spiderwebbing in all directions, distorting both Chrono's reflection and the sea behind the barrier. A small chip of glass falls away leaving a small hole. Light flows between the two spaces.]
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chrono throws the rock aside. instead, his fist meets the now-visible glass, uncaring about the cuts he might sustain as he strikes it. ]
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It's a pleasant place, all things considered. But it's so empty. It's the feeling of the void again. What is beauty if there's no one to help you understand it?]
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but he looks up, feels that pull still. the unbearable yawning depth. his brow creases, and he looks out to the shoreline ahead, extending a hand again.
...kaworu? ]
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The thought is timid and surprised, almost incredulous, to hear another voice reaching for him. There's a pull towards a small tide pool, one completely that would be completely submerged at night during high-tide. Inside, a small, pale-haired boy is curled up inside, half submerged in the clear water.]
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he makes his way to the little pool, and crouches down beside it. with careful hands, raw and stinging at the knuckles from where they'd struck the barrier, he reaches in to pull the boy upright and out of the seawater. ]
There you are.
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Still, without even thinking or waiting for a prompt, he reaches up and takes Chrono's extended hand.]
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which is good, because he has very little energy left. chrono falls back on his hands, breathing out a shaky exhale. then, a smile, a little drawn in the corners. ]
Hey. Sorry it took so long to find you.
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I'm sorry. I didn't mean to bring you here.
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What? You didn't. I came looking.