[Closed to musicien]

[fortesattentes]

— for musicien — [In camp, it feels like she has nothing but time. Time to think. To ponder. To wonder. To discover. Time to do everything except to stop herself from thinking. Lune suspects that she would not be able to stop that from happening even if she had want to. Those thoughts keep her up late at night. Every thought about where they're going to. How they're getting there. The nature of all that's happened. The loss of Gustave. Verso's presence, filling a void that most definitely would have been without him. And every time she can't sleep at night, she believes she is one step closer to watching him sleep instead. Objectively, it would be a strange thing to do. But there is still so much unanswered. Especially about Verso. Who he is. How he came to be here. How he's survived for so long. It is impossible Lune not to be interested. Curious. If she has nothing better to do, why not use it to understand Verso better? On a late night, or a night that feels especially late, daunting, and heavy with darkness, that's her intention. She'll do nothing more, she decides. No prying questions. No obnoxious noises. No plethora of writing of her observations. Just a quiet curiosity about this man they have come to travel with. And how he sleeps.]

Comments

[musicien]

[It's not everyday that Verso attempts sleep, but when he does he's greeted with a black abyss, a sea of nothingness extending seemingly forever. Looking downward, he realizes time and time again that even his body doesn't seem to be present, intangible in the darkness that surrounds him. And yet he can feel himself being suspended, floating in a space between consciousness and unconsciousness.

For the briefest of moments, it is freeing and, in some ways, cathartic. But that feeling very quickly shifts.

Suddenly he feels the full weight of his incorporeal form falling, falling, falling. Panic sets in and he tries to grasp at something, anything, finding no purchase in the dark. Eventually he understands that there is nothing he can do to stop it, but before he can accept his fate, suddenly he wakes.

Verso is drenched in a cold sweat, tossing and turning as the dream continues, only stopping when the oppressive void leaves his mind and he is brought back to consciousness. But before he even opens his eyes, he could already feel someone's presence close by, watching him closely, eager and curious.

Lune.]

Didn't we talk about how this would be creepy before?

[fortesattentes]

[Ah. Caught. Although it is not as though Lune was attempting to be particularly stealthy. Quiet as to not disturb him, yes. Malicious in her intent, no. Sometimes, however, intention means little, and even good intention may be met with adverse repercussions.

She does get a chance to watch him. For a bit. Whatever that sleep is, if one wants to be generous enough to call it that, it appears restless. Lune, perhaps, expects this. D any of them obtain peaceful rest? She certainly has not. Every night it feels the same. But she imagines for all her slumbering issues, the things that plague her are not the same things that plague Sciel or anyone else in their fair camp. Each one of them is likely facing their own battles.

What kinds of battles does Verso have locked away inside of himself?

When he wakes, it is with a start. Enough that even she is startled. It is so abrupt and even so, she cannot help the bitter ache of sympathy she feels upon seeing it.]

Ah. I believe it was decided it would be creepy for you to watch me sleep. [Okay. Only she decided that.] Watching you sleep is science.

[After a moment's pause, she continues.] Is it always like that? [Lune is quiet, not wanting to disturb the others. Not even wanting to disturb him more than he likely already is at the discovery of her seemingly looking after him.]

[musicien]

[Slowly he opens his eyes, taking a moment before pushing himself from a sitting position. Any trace of sleep or drowsiness is long gone, immediately thrust into consciousness after his bout with sleep. If he could even call it that.]

Well, I believe it was a mutual agreement between the both of us.

[A chuckle escapes him as he tries to keep the things light. But he's learned in their time traveling together that was seldom the case with Lune, he mind always at work, always inquisitive.

He responds to her, speaking in a low whisper.]

Most nights, yes. I often wonder if it's worth attempting sleep.

[fortesattentes]

[Her smile is present. Light. He chuckles and she considers the possibility that it's forced. That perhaps he's had to do that many a time in order to get through a sleepless night.

Is there something any of them can do to help him? If they can, would he even want them to, or is that too brazen of them? Sometimes, even with good intention, that kind of help isn't even wanted. Lune wouldn't say she knows him well enough to make that determination just yet.

But in these moments, they have some quiet to themselves. She has the opportunity to look him over. She has the opportunity to just be a presence for him. Maybe he benefits from that.]

It might not always be that way. [Her head tilts as she eyes him, studies him in that way like he's both a person and a research subject. That's probably not far from the truth.] Maybe we'll find something here to help with that. Lack of sleep won't help us in what's to come. We need to be in good form.

[Not just for themselves, but for those around them. If they had been, could they, perhaps, have saved Gustave? She'll forever wonder and replay the scene over and over, looking for every manoeuvre that could have been executed differently. And maybe, it'll all end the same way.

She'd prefer not to think of ideas like fate. An academic mind can't rely on ideas of that nature.]