[Li-Na feels an odd frisson at the name. Her hand hovers over the plastic cup, sharpie half-dangling from her fingers. She looks at Myca with a slightly distant expression, as if her thoughts are suddenly far from the coffee shop. She still sees the shop in front of her and the customer whose name somehow seems important, but it's like she has suddenly taken a step back. Myca. They have something to do with the odd dream she's been having recently. She doesn't know how she knows this, but she knows she needs to talk to them.
It only lasts a brief moment, and then Li-Na blinks and smiles again. She quickly finishes writing on the cup and passes it to the barista next to her.]
[Myca is briefly lost in thought themself, that strange sense tugging at them again: after a moment, they're aware enough again to notice the barista's blank, distant stare. A similar expression to what they were probably wearing, to be perfectly honest. And then the barista blinks and smiles, back to herself again, the moment broken.
One slender eyebrow lifts at the barista's request. It is strange, yes, but everything about this situation with Retrospec is strange and defies logic, not a feeling that they like at all. Especially not with...the ill-fitting vision.] About something we may have in common? [a guess in the dark, really, but 'strange' and private...
Myca retrieves their cell phone off the counter at just the right angle that the button for the app would be visible to the barista.] When you're on break, then. [and going to get their money out to pay for said drink.]
[Li-Na's eyes flick down at Myca's cellphone, and she spots the blue
icon of the app. She nods. Yes, something in common indeed.]
I have one in about fifteen minutes.
[She quickly processes the payment and hands Myca their receipt.
Sure enough, about fifteen minutes later, the rush has trickled off and
Li-Na is able to escape the register for a short break. A small latte for
herself in hand she quickly scans Expressive for the person she'd spoken to
earlier.]
[Myca had found themselves a seat in a less populated area of the coffee shop and settled down to work a little while they waited, head bent over their binder as they read through their notes.
they're fairly easy to pick out, sitting with perfect posture as they read and nurse their coffee.]
[they're going to close their binder and face her, calmly, taking a sip of their coffee before they speak.] Go on. [they pull out a slip of paper and set it down in front of her. it's the fortune from the glowing blue cookie they had found in their bag just before all of this had started. the fortune says 'learn to walk a mile in someone else's shoes.' it's a guess, but it's the best that they have.] A dream that is somehow wrong, as if it doesn't fit?
[Li-Na looks at the 'fortune,' identical to the one she'd found. She hadn't been sure what to do with the bright blue cookie at all, but considering how few things are blue, it had seemed strange. However, after a day it had crumbled on its own, revealing the slip of paper inside.]
Every time I think about the dream, I feel like there's a name on the tip of my tongue. But I couldn't quite grasp it, until you came in today and said your name, Myca.
[Li-Na thinks for a minute, sipping her latte as she mulls over their predicament. She somehow has a memory related to Myca and Myca has one related to her. And somehow Retrospec had done this intentionally, though why exactly is not clear.
Finally she settles on one course of action, though whether or not it is the correct course, they have no way of knowing yet.]
Maybe if we tell each other the memory we have, they will switch back to the right person. Sort of a... verbal processing.
[Li-Na blinks in confusion for a moment, then realizes what Myca is asking.]
Oh! I am sorry! My name is Li-Na.
[On the one hand, it is kind of nice she does not have to wear a name tag. Because it is a little weird to hear people pronounce her name not quite right. But then there are situations like these.]
As for the memory... It starts off in a study. They are sitting at a desk, trying to write a letter. It must be an important letter, because they are quite frustrated. They have been trying to write this letter for hours, but it just is not right. They become so annoyed they throw down the quill and leave the room.
[they're going to listen as Li-Na describes the memory, frowning to themself.]
I see. [pause, as they consider it. a quill: if it wasn't for that detail, it almost sounds like something they would do now.] A quill...that definitely isn't a memory from modern times. [probably.]
I think you are right. The room was lit by candles and--
[Li-Na grasps for a word she doesn't know in English]
--fo pun--fire pan? Anyway, not electricity. And the study has bookshelves filled with heavy, old fashioned books and scrolls.
There is more of the house in the memory, but it is rather vague. I can say it is a rather large house. They walk through several halls and down several flights of stairs before they find the room they're looking for.
[no windows? that's unusual. like they would have expected no glass, but no windows at all...] I see. [they're going to take another sip of their coffee as they ponder this.] What was in the room?
Less a what and more a whom. There were two people playing draughts. Men, one young and extremely handsome, the other middle age and...
[she pauses]
... I do not really recall much about the second man's appearance. He was... rather plain I suppose. Anyway, the young man was losing terribly at the game.
...companions, I guess. Friends? [but even as they say the words, they don't feel right in their mouth. And they tap their fingers on the table, trying to work out how they'll describe to Li-Na her memory.] Was that all to the memory?
[Myca keeps a straight face but they're turning pink around the edges, too.] Oh. [going to cover their embarrassment with more coffee, but that's starting to sound right.]
If that's all for that memory...[which it seems to be, coming together inside their head] Give me a moment to gather my thoughts and I'll describe yours.
Yes, pretty much. Someone knocks on the door, but the memory ends there, so I don't know who interrupted.
[Sure, she could try to relate the entire conversation, but she can feel the memory slipping away from her. That last bit about someone knocking on the door starts going the moment she says it.]
As for yours...[they're going to tap their fingers against the table as they think.] It takes place in an apartment: the girl from your memory, plus a young man, is trying to help a woman named Miranda, who is...using supernatural powers? in a dangerous way. Dangerous to her health.
[they're going to pause for a moment, to consider how they're going to describe this. She's surrounded by spectral clocks, so her power seems to have to do with time - temporarily reversing it and whatever happened while doing so, based on how she protests when the two initially try to talk her out of doing what she's doing.
[they're going to have to think a bit more on how to describe the rest of it.]
[Li-Na is quite surprised, to say the least. She's not really talked with many people about the content of their memories, but she knows Noah has his arm and Emil's contain an environment where he encountered dead people. But this is the first time something supernatural has come up.
Other than the mention of people getting shrunk? Li-Na is still not sure how to digest that.]
So, she can reverse time... but it strains her health to use the power?
The girl told her to 'stop using your power. If you keep this up, you'll strain your body's limits.' So it's either the use of it strains her health or it's overuse.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
MYCA
[Li-Na feels an odd frisson at the name. Her hand hovers over the plastic cup, sharpie half-dangling from her fingers. She looks at Myca with a slightly distant expression, as if her thoughts are suddenly far from the coffee shop. She still sees the shop in front of her and the customer whose name somehow seems important, but it's like she has suddenly taken a step back. Myca. They have something to do with the odd dream she's been having recently. She doesn't know how she knows this, but she knows she needs to talk to them.
It only lasts a brief moment, and then Li-Na blinks and smiles again. She quickly finishes writing on the cup and passes it to the barista next to her.]
We will have that right out for you.
[She lowers her voice.]
This may seem strange. May we speak?
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One slender eyebrow lifts at the barista's request. It is strange, yes, but everything about this situation with Retrospec is strange and defies logic, not a feeling that they like at all. Especially not with...the ill-fitting vision.] About something we may have in common? [a guess in the dark, really, but 'strange' and private...
Myca retrieves their cell phone off the counter at just the right angle that the button for the app would be visible to the barista.] When you're on break, then. [and going to get their money out to pay for said drink.]
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[Li-Na's eyes flick down at Myca's cellphone, and she spots the blue icon of the app. She nods. Yes, something in common indeed.]
I have one in about fifteen minutes.
[She quickly processes the payment and hands Myca their receipt.
Sure enough, about fifteen minutes later, the rush has trickled off and Li-Na is able to escape the register for a short break. A small latte for herself in hand she quickly scans Expressive for the person she'd spoken to earlier.]
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they're fairly easy to pick out, sitting with perfect posture as they read and nurse their coffee.]
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Pardon me.
[She struggles to find a way to broach the subject, even knowing Myca is a Retrospec user as well.]
I can see you are busy, but I think you are connected to a dream I have had recently.
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[Li-Na looks at the 'fortune,' identical to the one she'd found. She hadn't been sure what to do with the bright blue cookie at all, but considering how few things are blue, it had seemed strange. However, after a day it had crumbled on its own, revealing the slip of paper inside.]
Every time I think about the dream, I feel like there's a name on the tip of my tongue. But I couldn't quite grasp it, until you came in today and said your name, Myca.
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[they're going to pause while they take another sip of coffee.]
So. We are connected somehow by these dreams that don't belong to us. The question is now 'how do we resolve it'?
[if they can. if. the possibility of not being able to is not a thrilling one.]
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Finally she settles on one course of action, though whether or not it is the correct course, they have no way of knowing yet.]
Maybe if we tell each other the memory we have, they will switch back to the right person. Sort of a... verbal processing.
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[they're going to take another sip of their coffee.]
Perhaps you first, miss...?
[they trail off meaningfully and one slim eyebrow raises meaningfully. they don't know her name: Expressive doesn't really do nametags.]
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Oh! I am sorry! My name is Li-Na.
[On the one hand, it is kind of nice she does not have to wear a name tag. Because it is a little weird to hear people pronounce her name not quite right. But then there are situations like these.]
As for the memory... It starts off in a study. They are sitting at a desk, trying to write a letter. It must be an important letter, because they are quite frustrated. They have been trying to write this letter for hours, but it just is not right. They become so annoyed they throw down the quill and leave the room.
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I see. [pause, as they consider it. a quill: if it wasn't for that detail, it almost sounds like something they would do now.] A quill...that definitely isn't a memory from modern times. [probably.]
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[Li-Na grasps for a word she doesn't know in English]
--fo pun--fire pan? Anyway, not electricity. And the study has bookshelves filled with heavy, old fashioned books and scrolls.
There is more of the house in the memory, but it is rather vague. I can say it is a rather large house. They walk through several halls and down several flights of stairs before they find the room they're looking for.
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...wait.] Did you get the sense whether this was above ground or underground?
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Ah... now that you mention it... there did not seem to be any windows, neither in the study nor in the room they finally entered.
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[she pauses]
... I do not really recall much about the second man's appearance. He was... rather plain I suppose. Anyway, the young man was losing terribly at the game.
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There is a little more. The person in the memory, they tease the handsome one, but when they sit next to him, they hold his hand under the table.
[Li-Na blushes slightly]
I think the two of them were lovers.
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If that's all for that memory...[which it seems to be, coming together inside their head] Give me a moment to gather my thoughts and I'll describe yours.
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Yes, pretty much. Someone knocks on the door, but the memory ends there, so I don't know who interrupted.
[Sure, she could try to relate the entire conversation, but she can feel the memory slipping away from her. That last bit about someone knocking on the door starts going the moment she says it.]
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[they're going to pause for a moment, to consider how they're going to describe this. She's surrounded by spectral clocks, so her power seems to have to do with time - temporarily reversing it and whatever happened while doing so, based on how she protests when the two initially try to talk her out of doing what she's doing.
[they're going to have to think a bit more on how to describe the rest of it.]
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[Li-Na is quite surprised, to say the least. She's not really talked with many people about the content of their memories, but she knows Noah has his arm and Emil's contain an environment where he encountered dead people. But this is the first time something supernatural has come up.
Other than the mention of people getting shrunk? Li-Na is still not sure how to digest that.]
So, she can reverse time... but it strains her health to use the power?
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The girl told her to 'stop using your power. If you keep this up, you'll strain your body's limits.' So it's either the use of it strains her health or it's overuse.
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Maybe time doesn't like to be held back. At some point, she might have to let time flow naturally again. But why would she keep holding it back?
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