Crossing the Divide (Mina/Cecil)

Cecil found himself thinking back to Mina. How she was faring. She had said that he would likely be the one to contact her next time unless there was something wrong...but he'd struggled to find it in himself to actually go through with it. Always something, some neurosis of his that controlled his actions and dominated his time.
And he'd ended up leaving her in the lurch because of it too.
That wasn't right. Not after their last interaction.

He looks through his phone...and some more...
"Shit."
He never actually got her number, did he?


It was a bit of a walk, but Cecil found himself in the wooded area where he first came to interact with the Velvet Room and its inhabitants...or rather, when he'd managed to hit one of its inhabitants with a rock while taking out his frustrations on the door.
Best not to repeat that incident.

For all he was here to meet with one of the people that resided there, he wasn't exactly eager to go in. The feeling of chains was an uncomfortable one, and if he ended up where he usually did, he didn't quite know how to get back out.
So, next best thing. He checked for anyone in the area - nobody around, there never was - walked up to the door...and knocked.

Sitting in the chamber of blue, Mina was flicking through the pages of her book, a serene look upon her face. Recalling her previous encounters, she realised that she had overstepped her bounds, mistakes that she intended never to repeat. It was funny to her that even those that presided over power could be faulted. Did that mean power itself was not perfect? Perhaps, but regardless, this was not the time for needless philosophical musings.

Knock knock.

At the sound of knocking that seemed to originate from nowhere and everywhere at once within the cell, Mina stood, slamming her book shut. To Cecil on the outside, the door slowly swung open, yet as soon as he stepped within, he'd instead find himself back into the cell, with no door from where he'd come in sight. And there, Mina sat, offering a completely neutral expression.

"It's been a while, Cecil Erinforth. Welcome back to the Velvet Room. Ordinarily, I would simply ask for what you need, however before that, I believe an apology is in order. My previous actions were unbefitting of me, and so, I offer an apology as genuinely as I can offer. That being said, what may I do to aid you today?"

Waking up in the Velvet Room had already been a strange experience, but entering it from the waking world was even stranger. No transition. No blending from one place or another. Not even a flash of light or surge of darkness to blind his eyes. Suddenly he was just there from where he was, chains on his body in blue surroundings, and the change made his head spin. He stumbled and hit the ground, not getting up for a moment as he closed his eyes and took deep breaths.
He shook his head, and opened his eyes slowly.

"That was...far, far worse than I'd imagined it would be." He looked in the direction of the voice to find Mina again...apologising? He looks at her confusedly. "Uh...what...specifically, are you apologising about?"

At Cecil's expression of discomfort and his question regarding her apology, the woman shrugged. "My mannerisms the first two times we met were what I believe is considered to be socially unacceptable, or, rude. Upon reflecting for however long one could consider time, as immaterial as it is, I concluded that perhaps we had begun on the wrong foot, and so, I awaited for your return so as to offer that apology. So, what is it I may help you with, given that you arrived here of your own volition? And, a bit further, might I inquire as to how you are feeling? Has it been days? Weeks? Years? Time is, as said, immaterial, and so I'm curious how the passing has been for yourself."

Cecil closes his eyes and sighs, smiling wryly. "Mina...you had my number. If you needed to apologise, you could have done it that way instead of waiting what might be several years for me to show up." His eyes open, and his face scrunches up in thought. "...I'm starting to wonder how time goes by here compared to outside here, now."

Eventually, he shrugs. "...nevermind. Anyway...it's been a couple months, I think, since we last talked. I was actually wondering what was going on with you since we last talked. If you'd done any thinking." He chuckles awkwardly, and glances away. "I, ah...also didn't have any other way to get in contact since I forgot to get your number. So...here I am?"

At the mention that he had forgotten to get her number, the woman allowed herself to nod in thought, before reaching into her pocket, producing a paper and pen, and writing out a number which, to literally anyone with knowledge of phone numbers, would seemingly not be a real number, before handing it over to the young man. "There. That phone number should suffice I do believe. If not, then feel free to simply re-enter via the door or your dreams, and I will simply call you in order to have it added to your contact history. That is how they work, no? Regardless..."

Looking down at the boy on the floor, the woman raised a brow in surprise, and simply crossed her arms. "If I had done any thinking? With reference to what? How you may help me to become accustomed to the world of the outside, beyond the Velvet Room? How I may provide better assistance to yourself? I regret that you will have to be more specific on what you were wondering. As to your curiosity, I had thought I had explained, but, perhaps not. The Velvet Room lies beyond time. Between dream and reality. Mind and matter. You could count seconds within here, yet they would not be seconds. In truth, trying to understand the flows of time within the Velvet Room are, I'm afraid, not something that can be explained or understood easily. Just know that you do not need to be concerned for the well being of us residents. Your gesture of such worry is however, appreciated."

The explanation as to the nature of time in the velvet room...wasn't helpful. It was essentially a case of 'Don't bother trying to understand it' - which really didn't help when that's exactly what you were aiming to do. He takes the number, rubbing at his forehead with his other hand as he struggles to think it over. "I, just - ughhhh. What you were going to do if I didn't show up again so you could apologise? If I died or something? I...this is really hard to wrap your head around without any sort of timescale. I don't know if it's been 2 years or 2 decades for you..." As a thought strikes, he groans, and looks up at Mina. "Not, not literally, I mean - aghhh!"
He slumps forward.
"This place is never going to make sense."

Letting out a long sigh, he picks himself up off the ground. "Ok. Ignoring the headache-y time nonsense...we made an agreement last time, didn't we? Giving yourself a chance. And seeing what you might be able to do or take an interest in that isn't..." He shakes his head, pulling a pained face. "Here stuff. I was supposed to be helping you, so...I was wondering if you'd found any place to start."

Nodding her head, Mina recalled that aspect of their prior meeting, waiting for Cecil to finish speaking. "Yes, I recall. In that regard, how about we go for a walk?"

Not even waiting for Cecil to respond, Mina opened her book, then slammed it shut, the two appearing outside of the Velvet Room door, where Cecil had opened it to enter prior. Humming to herself, Mina nodded and looked around at the wooded area, before turning once more to face Cecil, ignoring any potential dizziness he may have, and spoke up once more. All would appear the same with her, although where he golden sword was, instead a single leather satchel was. "So, this is where your door is situated? Hm... Is there a place where you would prefer your Velvet Door to go? Or, is the secrecy of this wooded area more to your liking? I could always talk to my master to see about a more convenient placement if you would desire."

It was even worse this time. For all it was jarring when he went through the door, he at least had that much to signal the transition.
But this time? The book snaps shut, and suddenly he was back.

Cecil retched.

And then, his legs gave way, and it all came flowing out.

The blond would be stuck like that for a bit.

As the boy crumpled like paper, Mina just stood there, looking down at the boy, then to her sword, tempted to poke him with it to see if he was going to move at all, although that was not a current possibility due to its current baginess. But, she supposed perhaps he was just not used to it enough yet. Scratching her head for a moment, she just stared down at him, before shrugging. "My bad. Still, if that's how much you struggle with sudden changes, then perhaps retiring before you get too far into your nightlife would be an advisable notion."

Holding up a hand to gesture for her to hold on, Cecil takes a few breaths as he waits for the world around him to make sense again to his brain. Slowly, he gets up on shaky legs, and gives Mina an unimpressed look. "I'm pretty sure 'sudden changes' is putting things lightly...at least when I was sleeping I had that to ease me back into the world after. Pretty sure anyone would be messed with by this..." He staggers over to a tree to lean on it, groaning and just focusing on pushing down the nausea. "Please, for the love of all that is good, never do that again."

Shrugging, Mina just accepted Cecil's rather grouchy critiques, watching as he regained his bearings. "Very well. Although, I dread to wonder how you will cope with your supernatural endeavours if such a transition is so defeating. It would probably be unpleasant, but, I advise training up your stamina, or perhaps just general adaptability. After all, reality in the unreal is malleable, something I believe you have experienced before, no?"

Sighing, she shook her head, taking another look around the wooded area. "Regardless, in future, simply lie down on the bed in your cell, and you shall return to the point at which you entered the Velvet Room. I will not forcibly eject you again... That being said, this is quite an odd spot to find a Velvet door, although I imagine the seclusion aids in your secrecy somewhat. If there is a location you would prefer the door be at, however, do inform me, and I shall arrange for it to be in a more convenient spot."

"Yeah, ye-urk!" The blond lurches forward again, clamping a hand over his mouth as he does his best to stop anything else coming up. After a tense few moments for him, he takes his hand from his mouth and straightens up, letting out a long breath. "Ugh...yeah, I...I know. Things get weird. But god, those TVs weren't nearly this bad..."

With one sharp breath out, he looks over at Mina and shakes his head. "It's...it's fine here. I can find a different one if I have to, anyway. I'm sure it looks weird using it where there are people around anyway...at the minimum."

At this, Mina simply watched, before nodding her head. "Understood. No such adjustments shall be made to your arrangements with regards to where we may meet. So then, now that I am aware of your... Constitution... How about we resume our prior conversation. Unless you require more time to recover. Apologies for my error in that, such shifts are I suppose much less jarring when one experiences irregularity as a regularity."

If indeed Cecil was ready to talk, Mina would pose her next question. "So, what exactly is it that you tend to do to pass the time? Or perhaps, are there any things of which you would suggest I attempt?" She queried. If he wasn't ready to talk, Mina would simply stand there, doing nothing.

"I'm - I'm fine." He thought so, at least. He felt secure in where he was, and he didn't have a thousand different conflicting signals in his head, so...yeah. Didn't feel the need to hurl any more.

For a second, Cecil doesn't respond to the question, and a thoughtful look develops. He hadn't quite given it that much thought...hmm. "...I think just something casual would be good right now." He nods slowly, shrugging. "We can just walk and talk for a bit, right now. Head over to the Backlight and find something to do there. He takes a couple of steps, and feeling confident on his feet, turns to move in the general direction of their next destination. "Alright. You good to go? It's a bit of a walk."