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[Oh. Okay.]

I... I...

[For a second, all she can do is stutter uselessly.]

I don't know. I'm sorry. I wasn't sure what was happening. I didn't even know if it was real.

[ It's fine, Royce waits. He's so angry he can barely speak. ]

It must have been, since you know what I'm talking about. What do you remember? [ His voice is icy, sharp - a little slower, clearly enunciated, and a little like he's talking through gritted teeth. ]

[Tifa exhales slowly, trying to keep herself from sounding so... frantic.]

I think... There was a woman. Gwen. And you were trying to protect her from someone named... Merrick? I'm sorry, I know I shouldn't have... have seen any of that.

[ Royce can't remember the last time he wanted to destroy something out of anger. It's been years, he thinks, probably since he was a child. He actually has to put the tablet down and walk away for a second so that he doesn't throw it across the room at full speed.

His reply is low and seething when he comes back after a minute. ] You had better thank Mar or - whoever it is you believe in that we're not still in the same building.

[Uggggh. If he can't handle being given a blanket, she can't imagine how upset this has made him. She rubs a hand over her face, trying to shove down the immediate incredulity she feels at being threatened. He's upset. She would be upset, too.]

I didn't mean to. It isn't like this is normal. I won't— I'm not going to say anything about it. I promise.

[ This would be so much more effective if he could be there, if he could threaten her somehow physically. But he think he does an okay job here, turning on his video so that she can see him staring at her from under his hood, tired and red-eyed and tense in the shoulders as he grabs at the dresser with one white-knuckled hand. ]

If you ever speak her name to anybody, I'll know. I'll know, and I'll find you, cut out your tongue and nail it to your chest. Do you understand me?

[Ah okay. Thinly veiled threat to actual real life threat, and Tifa's voice shifts, suddenly sharp and short. It's far from the frustration she had with him before. She's legitimately angry with him now.]

I wasn't going to say anything, and I'm still not. But you're not going to touch me, and you have no right to threaten me.

You were in my head. [ He practically snarls. Tifa doesn't understand. She couldn't, how could anybody understand how bad it would be if anybody knew --

But there were other people in his head, too. Someone... someone else, someone blonde. Spoiler. She was there, but not - it's confusing, and disorienting, and...

Royce takes a deep breath. He doesn't get this angry. He's not supposed to get so emotionally compromised like this, it's just that Gwen is such a touchy subject he can't help it. Royce won't apologize, but after a few moments of pacing, he finally croaks: ] She's important.

[ Like that explains it. ]

[She's silent for a long moment, chewing her lip as she considers just hanging up on him. What an asshole. But something about the tone in his voice, and the thought that Gwen—he had thanked her in his dream makes her finally let out an annoyed sigh. There's still an edge of anger to her voice.]

I understand. If a stranger had seen my dreams, I would be upset too, but you can't just threaten me that way. I didn't dig through your dreams on purpose. I was just there.

[ Royce doesn't think he's in the wrong for threatening her, and he'll probably do it again - the admonishment goes right over his head. He doesn't much care if she forgives him, either, but there's a small part of him that really doesn't want to lose the little bit of human contact he's got with her.

He curses under his breath - the words are distinctly not English. Maribor damn Hadrian Blackwater. Royce used to be better at this solo thing. ]

Fine. [ He's calming down, at least. He drops the tablet on the bed and lets the video film the ceiling as he heads to the dresser to rest his forehead against it. He mutters tired and then sighs heavily - he doesn't know how far the sound carries on these things. In a much more snarky tone: ] That was more than just a dream, so you'll forgive me if I'm a little irritated.

[ Grouch grouch. ] Is that sort of invasive magic common here?

[Tifa rolls her eyes, propping her cheek up on her hand as she listens. Her patience is stretched thin now. Now he's asking for information, and by his logic, doesn't that mean he'll owe her? She just barely stops herself from asking him what changed.]

That's never happened before. Hallucinations have, though. When I woke up, I thought maybe that's what it was.

[ To be fair, he's a little disoriented. And... like it or not, Royce realizes things have changed. She's been in his head, and he doesn't know what to do with that. As far as he's concerned, she has blackmail on him. The least she can do is answer a few questions. ]

So that means other people are probably experiencing this. It isn't just the two of us. [ Spoiler, and Alfie, he thinks. It was weird, all pressed together and separate at the same time, the way dreams always are. ] It'll probably happen again once I fall asleep.

Maybe. Probably. [She pauses, sitting up straight again and sighing.] Yes. This place messes with our heads. Or... Whoever is in charge does. You're going to stay awake, aren't you?

Yes. [ He says it flatly, quietly. Which will be great for him, really. Sleep is a thing he hasn't had much of at all. ] I don't want that to happen again.

[She's not going to argue with him, because she doesn't blame him, and she's guilty of intentionally avoiding sleep, too. Part of her mind is still stuck on that dream, though. It's hard to completely reconcile the Duster clinging to Gwen, crying into her hair, with the one that she's speaking to now.]

Did you... Were you in anyone else's dream?

[It wasn't just her, right?]

Not yet. [ He rubs at his face. There's this - weird feeling that's settling in that he can't explain. He's... happy? He shouldn't be, he knows logically. But he's pretty sure that's what this feeling is. Maybe it isn't. Royce doesn't have a lot of experience with the feeling, so maybe he's mistaking it for something else. ]

Seeing as I can't not sleep, I'm sure I'll end up somewhere I don't want.

I guess so.

[Tifa sighs. Her tone has shifted from irritated to simply tired.]

Whenever something like this happens we just... have to wait it out.

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