thirdtenkaistar | Welcome to Budehuc (Open)

The Castle next to the Lake had obviously seen better days - the walls around it are crumbling in place, and the castle itself is swathed in ivy, but it was the charm of a well-worn manor with the rich red brick, and fluted white columns.

Budehuc was by no means empty - if one enters by the main steps, they would see that several shops had formed a half-circle around an old fountain, as small groups of people milled about, chatting, bartering, and sight-seeing. There are white-feathered Duck folks, tall scaly yellow and green lizardmen, people of various skin tones and costumes, it looked almost like some place out of a children's story. The whole place gave off a very welcoming, open-arms feeling to anyone passing through, or looking for a place to get off their feet.

At the gate is a young girl in plate armor, hefting a spear, carefully watching for signs of trouble, with several bundle-carrying dogs resting by her feet.

The air has the fresh clean scent of the lake, a whiff of horses, vegetables ripening in the sun, and flowers blooming on the summer day.

((Budehuc is open to all visitors, but mind your manners. If anyone acts hostile in here without good cause, Thomas will try to evict you.))

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Right. We could run with that. I'm not sure how people around here would respond to someone like me being an interdimensional traveler anyway, and it's not like I could defend myself if it wasn't a good reaction.

...why do I have to be the slider again?

I looked towards the bathhouse, then back to Thomas. "Oh? It certainly is calming out here," I admitted, looking out. And then, because might as well while we're out here: "So, uh, you don't look like you've been sleeping well. Is everything okay?"

Thomas glanced about wearily, and once a woman came up to collect her child and left, he visibly slumps - letting his exhaustion seep through his body.

He nervously pushed his bangs from his face. "Nnnhn...not really, the nightmares wouldn't go."

Nightmares? A little knot sat in the bottom of my stomach. Well, I mean, nightmares would be expected after what he went through, right? Certainly it wouldn't be a sign of an ongoing curse. Of course not. "What sort of nightmares?" I asked anyway, not really sure I was going to like the answer.

He rested his face in his hand, ignoring a brief wave of being lightheaded. "I was in the co-courtyard, but it was all monochrome, something was really weird about the buildings, li-like they were flat and not. Everyone I knew was there, even you."

Thomas swallow. "With that ring - wanting it, te-telling me what I missed out, even my Mother...." He shook, from anger of all things.

Okay, this was looking increasingly bad on the "curse not lingering" front. But what was a dream, really? ...okay, maybe on occasion it was in reality the last stand for everything you know not being drastically rewritten by a bored and self-centered teenage girl, but that was different, right?

"Well, I'm sure it was just a dream, right? The ring's buried now. It's not like it can do anything anymore," I said reassuringly, even though I wasn't really sure I believed it. Not after what I was told...

But let's not panic Thomas here, okay?

He swallowed - okay, calm down, Thomas - don't let the bad dreams get you down.

Thomas quickly seem to perk up - but it's just very good fakery. "Ye-yeah... I mean having yo...your memories uhm, tinkered with is pretty disturbing."

In a way, I could sympathize with Thomas. How many times was it that we had relived those two weeks of summer? Hadn't Nagato said it had been nearly 500 years worth of days, of which we only had a scant memory of each iteration? I suppose it wasn't quite the same, but memory is still a precious thing.

"I'll bet. No wonder you're having nightmares. That would've given ME nightmares. Hopefully, they'll fade soon enough."

I need to do something about this lying habit.

He frowned, "Hopefully - I'm... not sure how long I can do this." Thomas had let it slipped out before he even realized it.

"Uhm! I'll be fine, really. Thanks for the concern."

I paused. Was he having doubts about his ability to lead this castle? It seemed like he was doing a fairly decent job, but maybe I was missing something? "Do what?" I asked anyway.

I shook my head. "Hey, you're the first guy I could relate to in the craziness of the Nexus. I think that warrants a little concern for your welfare," I said, grinning.

"Keep maintaining things despite not sleeping well." He leaned back.

"Well... guess that comes with being relatively 'normal' in that place... for weird definition of normal."

Oh, so he wasn't having second thoughts about running the place in and of itself. That was something of a relief, as it was good for me to see someone like him handling this sort of responsibility. It was certainly a pleasant change of pace, at any rate! "Don't worry, I'm sure this will clear up soon enough," I said.

I shook my head. "In the Nexus? I take normal where I can get it." I chuckled. "And if it happens to come from a guy running a castle full of lizardmen and ducks, I'm not about to say no."

Welcome to Budehuc (Open)

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