( open ) i'm looking up my symptoms

[reluctants]

⭐ Who: Illya and you!
⭐ When: The first half of April
⭐ Where: In the Dream Sphere
⭐ What: Of course powers go wild just when Illya decides to practice..

[ Illya knows she has to get stronger. Considering the sheer amount of those wild Disturbances they've had lately, the girl knows she has to try and practice more, especially when she knows she still isn't very strong at all compared to other Dreamers.

Hence why you might come across the young girl if you're out in the Dream Sphere. Dreamer Prisma seems to at least have moved on from the zones that are for utter beginners, but she's still sticking to anything that doesn't rise above a medium level of risk for now.

.. though Prisma might not be the first thing you'd notice if you encounter her. No, rather than the young Dreamer, there's a ball of energy - which you might recognize as her standard attack, if you've seen it - heading your way. Not flying through the air as it always does, though. No, it's.. bouncing across the ground like a kangaroo, weirdly enough..?

It hasn't reached you yet, so there's time to dodge or otherwise avoid it, but there is a shriek of: ]

W-Watch out, they bounce!

[ That's definitely Illya's voice. And she sounds so alarmed, even though it's not like this bouncing ball is super threatening or anything.. It's like the world's most anticlimactic horror movie. ]

Comments

[predecir]

Oh, well. The rats can take care of that.

[He flicks his wrist to - you know, summon a swarm of rats made out of crystal to chase after and try to intercept the ball, as you do.]

[reluctants]

[ Ah, yes.

Indeed.

The rats.

Thankfully it's slightly less surprising when the girl has already seen them before. She still apparently forgot about them for long enough that Prisma can't help but blink as the rats suddenly appear like that, but she doesn't startle once she realises they're familiar. ]

Ah, right.. Your powers are super useful. [ She seems to now recall, giving him a polite little smile.

If there's still something kind of awkward in it, it's mostly because she feels bad, considering-- ] Sorry for causing trouble that you now have to clean up, sir..

[predecir]

Heh. I mean, they're just rats.

[The whole Dreamer Omen mystique is, he thinks, maybe not that necessary here. Anyway, it's sort of hard to have a real conversation like that?]

Oh, that? That's not a big deal. I've seen way bigger messes from new Dreamers! [his sister controlled the weather! or, didn't! it was a lot sometimes!]

[reluctants]

[ The girl frowns. Not about her little power problem though - even if that's still a problem, the worst of it seems to be covered by the rats right now. No, instead Prisma is thinking about both of the things the other Dreamer says, wondering which one to address first. They both feel important..

But considering she can't help but want to make sure everyone knows how amazing they are, she knows she has to address the first part first. She can always ask about that other thing later. ]

No way..! They're not just rats!

[ She shakes her head. It's easy to say this, considering she was already so surprised and amazed by them last time around. ]

You're able to summon all sorts of little helpers! Don't you think that's a really cool thing to do..? It makes you seem really powerful! [ To her, anyway. Even though she might be a very impressionable child. ]

[predecir]

Uh, heh -

[Bruno chuckles a little, plainly sort of flustered. People don't usually compliment his powers: one of them was admittedly hated more, but the rat thing was never too great for publicity either.]

- well, thanks. It's, um - they're pretty small, but I'm really more of a Sentry than a Striker. Saw a kid once who could summon, like, panthers.

[Antonio did it once, but it's pretty noticeable even when you're a dream spy!]

[reluctants]

.. well, all I can make are balls of energy.

[ Rats feel way cooler in comparison. At least they're like.. cute little animal companions. She would love to have some cute animal companions. Isn't that what makes you a true magical girl?

That statement seems to remind her of her current problem, since her facial expression drops even further as she adds: ]

And they won't even listen to me right now. They're bouncing all over the place, even though they never did that before..

[predecir]

Huh! Well, that's something - means you're developing your powers, right? Did you, um...do something different?

[reluctants]

[ She shakes her head. Obediently, but also still very much looking like a kicked puppy.

(Kicked by the universe, that is, clearly not by Omen. If anything, she's relieved to be talking to a Reliable Adult Figure..) ]

I don't think so.

[ Unless you can change your powers by doing something so small that you wouldn't even notice it.. ]

But if this is just my powers.. um, just them developing.. Then my powers might just be bad. [ The kicked puppy aura is just increasing over here.. It's like the young girl is shrinking in on herself. ] If I can't even control my powers, then I won't be able to help anyone at all..

[predecir]

[Bruno winces, though it's not visible beneath the all-shadowing hood of Omen.]

No! No way! Energy balls - that's not a bad power at all!

[He knows what a bad power looks like.]

You just need a little more practice, you know? A lot about Dreamer powers, it's kinda more...mind over matter, I guess. This is all just mind, right? [He gestures around with a bit of a sheepish chuckle, and then compounds his hypocrisy:] Maybe you should try and stress out about it a little less.

[reluctants]

[ ...

Something about that last suggestion seems to make her even more miserable, despite everything that came before it. ]

But.. [ There's one big problem here, after all. ] .. how do you stress out a little less about it..?

[ That's the part that feels impossible to her. This entire Dreamer business has been so tense ever since she started it - and it's always been a little while since then by now. ]

[predecir]

[Hm...]

You could make a game of it? That might be good for other Dreamers, too! Get some dodging practice in, or just work on their tennis skills.

[Could he whack that energy ball with a giant rat-swarm bat...?]

[reluctants]

A game..

[ It sounds like she's considering the suggestion, at the very least! It helps that she's got a big enough impression of Omen as this wise adult that she doesn't think he could be wrong about that one.. There has to be at least some merit to the suggestion if he's the one making it.

So she slowly nods. ]

I-- I guess I could do that. Do you think other people would like a game like that..?

[ You'd imagine Prisma would have more recent hands-on experience with that, being younger and all, but.. well, she's also kind of friendless on top of it, so she isn't really used to playing games with other kids. ]

[predecir]

Sure, could be fun! When I was a kid, we'd usually train together by...I guess play-fighting, a little. It's sort of like that. Do people still do that?

[The last is blurted out, as Bruno realizes he said "we" and doesn't really want to talk about that.]

[reluctants]

[ The girl frowns. ]

I'm-- I'm not sure. I haven't..

[ .. She's clearly struggling with something.

Which might be a good thing for him, considering she seems so distracted by it that she isn't bothering to question his little we there. For now, anyway. ]

I haven't had friends to do that with.. [ She definitely looks ashamed to admit it, but she also doesn't want to just outright lie to an adult, which would be the only other way out of this. ] So I wouldn't know.

[predecir]

Ay, yeah. I don't really hang out with anyone anymore either...

[Shrug. It is what it is. But it shouldn't be that way for her, she's just a kid!]

Well, you wanna come up with a game, then?

[reluctants]

[ There's a soft, kind of surprised sound at that first part. It leaves Prisma to stare at the older Dreamer, even after he's already moved on to ask that question. He doesn't hang out with anyone anymore? .. Is it because he's an adult..?

Fortunately for him, there's no time for her to ask that question when Prisma realises there's another question waiting for her instead. ]

Oh! Um.. [ ... ] Are you saying you'd like to play a game together, sir..?

[ He seems like he might think he's a little bit too old for it, since he does seem like a Proper Old Adult and all.. But there's something a little hopeful in the girl's tone too, like she'd really like it if he'd agree to it, but also like, at the same time, she doesn't dare to show that too much. ]

[predecir]

[Thank GOD tbh]

Yeah, sure, that sounds fun!

[Bruno knows he's probably a little too old for it, but that's more about his knees than anything else. He's got mad Uncle Energy.]

[reluctants]

Okay, then.. maybe we can play! And if other people see it and think it's fun, then maybe we'll have solved the problem..!

[ .. hopefully, anyway?

She sure hopes they can solve it that way. She's terrified about causing some sort of problem here, just because she can't get her powers under control.. But maybe they can find a way to make the big balls of energy look a little bit less terrifying.

Even if it's hard. Because Illya - a particularly small girl - definitely thinks they're terrifying. That ball is absolutely dwarfing Prisma at the moment. ]

I wonder what sort of game we could play with them though.. [ Especially when she has so little experience with games. Especially games that involve multiple people. It means she has to frown, trying real hard to think of what people might do with a big bouncing ball like this. ]

[predecir]

Huh...

[Yeah, that is a thought...]

Bowling? Dodgeball? Those are two, uh, totally opposite games...

[reluctants]

[ Well, dodgeball with something like this seems terribly scary to Prisma. So that's likely why it takes absolutely not even a moment of hesitance before the girl already says: ]

Let'sgoforbowling!

[ Like she's trying to exorcise the thought of dodgeball from the other's head entirely.. Please, words cannot describe how little she wants to play dodgeball with a giant ball of magical energy. Throwing the ball away sounds much better than seeing it head for you. That seems like a nightmare! ]

We just need to find something big enough for a big ball like this to knock over..! [ Because that's the other half of bowling, right. They may have a ball ready, but no pegs.. ]

[predecir]

Oh, well...we could just do this.

[He gestures vaguely, and a bunch of crystal rats pop out of the ground again. This time, they scramble up on top of one another to form a tall, thin pillar. They're made out of rocks, they can do that a lot easier than a bunch of real rats could.]

[reluctants]

.. oh!

[ His little rat buddies again!

Somehow them appearing like this keeps being impressive to her, even though she's seen it plenty of times by now.. Her eyes go wide just watching the rats climb into a pillar. Or, you know, the rock rats.

But despite knowing that they clearly look like they're just made out of crystal-- ]

Are you sure it won't hurt them? [ Yes, she's very concerned about his magically constructed rats. Sue her. Call it youthful innocence. ]

[predecir]

Oh, yeah.

[His tone is comforting. He gets it; of course he does, the whole reason his power is like this is because he keeps pet rats! Well, at least, he assumes that's why. Bruno creates just one rat at his feet, stooping to let it climb into his hand and hold it out to her.]

I used to worry about that too. But they're just rock, see? Or whatever I make them from. They aren't really alive or anything. [He touches it lightly, like he's petting it on the head regardless of his own words.] I've, uh, known other Dreamers who can make constructs like that before. Other animals, or plants. It's all pretty much the same, we can't make anything really alive.

[reluctants]

[ The girl moves closer, holding out her own hands - like she wants to try and take the rat on her own hand if it'll let her, apparently not afraid of the little rock creatures at all. ]

But they seem so alive!

[ She is taking his words for it, though. It's just that her observation also feels really true. ]

I kind of wonder where the line is between these and actually alive rats then.. [ It's enough to make a young girl like her pretty curious. Especially since she isn't that familiar with Dreamer powers yet, considering how straightforward and simple her own still are at this age. ]

[predecir]

Yeah, they do. You wanna hold it?

[Bruno will transfer it to her hands if she wants! And...well, she's certainly not wrong. He did used to worry about that. Just...well, he doesn't really think he has the ability to create things with souls, just out of nothing like that. That'd be kinda obnoxious, right?]

I've thought maybe...they're based on memories of actual rats. Things I, uh, know about them and stuff already. [He's maybe brushing up against a line here, people know he owns rats - ] But, uh, it's not like I've personally known...hundreds and hundreds of them...I can make a lot when I need to.