dormes-vous? dormes-vous?

[crittersheep]

WHO: Everyone
WHERE: Pastureland and the world of dreams alike
WHEN: Night 25

Well, that life sure has been slicing, except where it hasn't. It's been a long day. Why not take a night walk? Or lay down and... oh, oh, the dreams are mixing again.

Comments

[spinebuddyandme]

...Uh. Well. I used my coin the other day and remembered my mom asking where I went for an entire year, and then I started telling her about Batman taking me into space to meet the Justice League. I got as far as remembering that they needed me and the Scarab to find an evil AI spy satellite that was abducting people, and only Scarab was able to sense where it was.

So...something to do with that. Maybe the satellite captured us for a while.

[mykidisthebest]

[THAT DOESN'T SOUND LIKE AN INTERNSHIP]

A YEAR? And no one told your mom? What kind of superheroes don't even notify your parents if they're taking you somewhere?! That's just kidnapping!

[spinebuddyandme]

I didn't even tell my mom. I was too excited that The Actual Batman wanted my help.

It's not kidnapping if I agreed to go with him.

[mykidisthebest]

You're a minor, so technically in the eyes of the law it was kidnapping. I'm pretty sure. That's probably a law that even America has.

You at least remember explaining the situation to your mom you said, right? If she grounds you for a year then you had it coming for not even sending her a text.

[spinebuddyandme]

I don't think that law applies to superheroes, otherwise they wouldn't have sidekicks.

And yeah, I remember. It didn't feel like I was in trouble... She just wanted to understand.

[mykidisthebest]

...You're mom's a good person.

[reaches over to ruffle his hair]

I'd have grounded you for a year and gone to kick Batman's ass. I'm sure she was glad you were okay.

[spinebuddyandme]

[ Smiles weakly, ducking his head a bit ]

My mom's great...but there's no way I wouldn't have gotten in trouble at all. This had to have been after she grounded me out of existence.

...Anyway, it wasn't just Batman. There were like half a dozen Leaguers there who knew I was coming.

[mykidisthebest]

[huffs, clearly still frustrated with these darn superheroes]

...Where I'm from there are special rules in place to protect Awakened minors. Even if they're strong enough to fight in dungeons, there are strict rules and restrictions for how much they can do so they aren't taken advantage of. It's fine to help out! Especially if it's something important. You can't be grounded if the world is destroyed, after all. But these Leaguers should have a better system in place to at least notify your family if you're going to be gone for so long.

Obviously they looked out for you since you got back home fine. It sounds like they're capable enough to keep you from getting hurt even if they drag you along on a dangerous mission. But, jeez.

[spinebuddyandme]

[ Frowning uncertainly through Lethe's talk. There's something about it that twists in the pit of his stomach, but he can't pin it down yet. ]

Of course they did. They're heroes; that's what they do.

The government has meta-human outreach centers you can report to if you develop powers or get them from something weird, but no one I know trusts them. That's where you can end up taken advantage of. They just want to make sure anyone with power is on their side, or at least being tracked.

[mykidisthebest]

[nods in easy agreement]

Any government is going to be like that. They want to track everything and know where you are at all times, and know exactly what you can do. I'm not saying you should go along with that. On the contrary, it would be better to keep whatever abilities the scarab gives you hidden from public entities. Don't let anyone know what you can do unless you can trust them, and trust them not to spread it around.

[...sighs, and runs a hand through his hair]

I know I'm overthinking it. You're smart and sensible, and your beetle friend obviously doesn't want you to get hurt. I just hate to think that even when we're able to send you safely home, you're still going to be tangled up in some weird mess. You should be able to finish high school and go to college in peace, like anyone else.

[spinebuddyandme]

[ He shrugs stiffly ]

It's not bad that you are. It's nice to be worried about, but don't... Don't worry too much, okay? The scarab's really strong, and if the Justice League is who I'm working with then there's no one stronger on the whole planet.

Maybe I won't get to have a regular life, but I'll be okay.

[ The Justice League could never let anyone down!! ]

[mykidisthebest]

A regular life is preferable. At least I think so.

[spinebuddyandme]

[ Lets out a tired huff that he might've meant for a laugh ]

I agree! I wanted to be a dentist, ese.

Milagro's just gonna have to have the regular life for me.

[mykidisthebest]

Hey, you can still be a dentist. I bet the scarab would be great at cleaning teeth.

[spinebuddyandme]

[ That gets an actual laugh ]

I'd save so much on equipment.

[mykidisthebest]

Exactly! It's just good business sense to use the tools you've already got. And helping heroes can be your part-time consultant job on the weekends.

[spinebuddyandme]

Part-time consultant doesn't sound too bad.

[ A little unrealistic based on what he knows about heroes, but one can always dream ]

I'll talk to Scarab about it, but we'll have to see what my memories turn out like.

[mykidisthebest]

Oh, that actually reminds me. The next time we get fountain coins I wanted to see if giving you one of mine would give you more of your memories back.

[spinebuddyandme]

Uh — okay? What if it just gives me one of your memories?

[mykidisthebest]

[shrugs]

If it doesn't work then it won't give it to you, it'll just show the memory in the fountain. That's all it does when I toss a coin in. So it shouldn't hurt to try.

[spinebuddyandme]

[ Nods a little more confidently then ]

Sure, it sounds like a simple enough experiment.