( 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

[reluctants]

[ There's a slight nod, followed by a sniff coming from the girl. ]

A-- A minute, yeah.

[ Because she's pretty sure that trying to use her powers here will only end up even more of a disaster if she tries it while she's all emotional.. Especially when it's already bad enough right now when she tries to use them while perfectly calm. ]

If that's okay. [ Something about the way she says it - so meekly - almost implies that she figures it might not be okay.

Despite her not even having a strict impression of the other present here or anything like that, mind you. ]

[i_peace]

[he reaches over to gently pet the top of Prisma's head, soothing]

It's fine. Take as long as you need to.

[there's a moment where he just shifts to a more comfortable position next to Prisma while keeping an eye on his and her magic, still being held stationary. The orb of light that belonged to Prisma was a little misshapen from the pressure of the two Hakujoudai sandwiching it from both sides, so that means... What? Maybe Tycoon could cut it and have it pop like a balloon?

... As a last resort, maybe. It would probably be better if Prisma could figure out her own powers on her own]

The last time I lost control of my own magic, it took me a while before I could change back. But once I figured out how... [he laughs a little] It's still a bit difficult, but it's been getting easier over time. So don't be too worried, you'll be able to figure it out.

[reluctants]

.. but..

[ The girl starts speaking slowly, but then her voice trails off without her saying anything else for a moment or two. It's almost as if she's reluctant to speak, despite trusting Tycoon. Or maybe it's exactly because she trusts and likes him that the next part feels way harder to say.

She never talks about the truth, after all. She's learned to keep her problems to herself, to try and solve them herself. But.. at this point, she's not sure she knows how to do that anymore. Not when she keeps running into walls like these.

So she keeps her eyes tightly shut, not daring to look at him as she says: ]

It kind of feels like I haven't been doing anything right ever since I became a Dreamer, actually..

[ Like this is just the natural accumulation of all of it. A giant ball of her troubles. ]

[i_peace]

[Tycoon sits there and waits quietly, letting Prisma work it out. He looks over at her once finally finds her voice. There's no hiding the surprise and confusion on his face]

Prisma-chan... [for better or for worse, there's no judgement in his tone. He sounds rather sympathetic actually, because he does understand where she's coming from. It's a little rough, when all you hear are the dramatic exploits of the older Dreamers or more experienced Dreamers and compare yourself to them... Keiwa gets it, he really does]

I'm sure if we asked Ai-san or Zeke-san, they'd say something along the lines of 'there's no right or wrong way to learn!' or something... [probably with a great deal more charisma than Tycoon here] But it's still sort of hard to believe, right? Especially when they seem so confident...

[it's kind of like night and day, these two compared with those two]

... It's never too late to start though. Maybe you just needed the opportunity to improve? [a pause, then brightly;] Prisma-chan is really good at arcade games, right? Didn't that take you some time to get used to?

[reluctants]

[ Dang, Tycoon. That is a very impressive impression of both Ai and Zeke at the same time! They'd definitely say something like that, and Illya knows it. They have said similar things to her in the past, in fact. But he's also right about another thing. Even if you're told that, it doesn't always mean that you can actually believe it. Especially when it feels way easier for them to say it when they're so impressive already..

Truthfully, she thinks that Tycoon is also a lot more impressive than her. But at least he kind of seems to understand her struggle. At least a little bit. ]

Yeah, but.. It's like..

[ She seems like she's trying really hard to look for the right words here. ]

You know when you're in P.E. class, and you're having to run laps.. [ She opens her eyes again, actually looking over at him. ] And you watch as all the other people start at the same starting line as you, but before you know it, they're way ahead of you, you know..? And then you-- you don't know how to catch up, since you can't run harder, no matter how you try.

[ Maybe that's the best way to put it. It does kind of sum up her feelings, anyway. Sometimes it feels like people who starter on this entire Dreamer thing later than her are way ahead of her already by now.. Stuff like that is the discouraging part. ]

[i_peace]

[Prisma has his full attention, Tycoon just nodding his head occasionally to let her know he's listening. He hums thoughtfully as she finishes talking]

Does it feel like a competition? [the question is sincere, because he's never gotten the impression that there was any sort of timeline for how to improve. He stops a moment though, then shakes his head] No, that's probably not quite what you mean, huh? Hmm...

Maybe you aren't the fastest but instead of just giving up, you're still running. [a smile] That's why you were here practising, right? You'll be able to reach that finish line as long as you keep at it. Think of it... Like a marathon, instead of a race. What matters is that you made it to the end.

[A natural optimist, he just approaches life at his own pace... A little like the real world tanuki his Dreamer form borrows from. Whether it's cheering on other people's success or commiserating their failures, he just wants people around him to be happy. After a moment, he quietly asks;]

... Do you think you're ready to try again?

[reluctants]

...

[ She doesn't say anything to Tycoon's story.

Mostly because it's so difficult for the girl to put herself into that sort of mindset. She's always been terrible at taking things at her own pace when comparing herself to others comes so naturally to her. But she knows that when someone older than you tells you something like this, you're just supposed to agree. And since she can't find it in her heart to truly feel soothed by these words, she'll just.. have to act like she's silently accepting it. Like she's grateful for his words, because she doesn't want to make him feel worried about her, or like he bothered her with his words.

She has to be good. And unobtrusive. ]

Hmm. I'll try again.

[ So she has to do the good thing here. Just be quiet. Suck it up. Try her best, even if that doesn't feel good enough. Not bother other people with it. ]

I think it might take a while though, so.. it's fine, Tycoon-san. You-- You can go do something else. I'll work on this here by myself.

[i_peace]

[maybe it's because he's similar in a way but he picks up on Prisma's discomfort. A bit, at least. The general sense that something wasn't quite right but not quite being able to pick up on why. There's a slight frown when she puts forth the suggestion for him to leave again]

... Will that make it easier for you?

[he looks concerned but not particularly offended. Some people worked better on their own after all and Keiwa is nothing if not accommodating. But Prisma looks unhappy and he wants to make sure that's she'll be okay]

[reluctants]

Yeah. I think so.

[ She doesn't think so at all.

But it feels better than keeping him here forever. Not that she doesn't appreciate his kindness, but.. to a girl like Illya, there's definitely a kind of pressure that comes with it too. Maybe that pressure is part of what's making it harder, even if trying to solve this on her own seems scary too. ]

I mean-- [ She seems to realise she might still come across as a little concerning, so she sucks in a breath, doing her best to give him a slight smile. ] You already helped me so much. I'm sure I'll be able to do it because of that..!

[ There. It feels less ungrateful. And she wants to properly show her gratitude towards him anyway. ]

[i_peace]

[were Tycoon a more forceful sort of person, he would probably insist on staying. She seemed uncomfortable and this whole runaway magic was still an issue, but...]

... If you're sure.

[he frowns a little, worried about the state of her magic once he takes his leave]

I'm going to try and lower your magic to the ground. Maybe it won't bounce around so much that way... [trying to be reassuring, he gives Prisma a small smile] I can't do much more, but not having to chase it down again would probably help, right?

[if she says it'll be easier for her, then he's not about to try and muscle his way in. But he'll still try and do what he can for her. They're supposed to help each other after all]

[reluctants]

[ She nods a little bit. ]

If it's just sitting there, I can try a few things.. [ Though mostly things that don't run the risk of knocking into the ball hard enough that it'll make it bounce all over the place again. She's not dumb enough to try that! And she's too tired by now to chase it all the way across the Dream Sphere all over anyway! ]

.. thank you for all your help, Tycoon-san.

[i_peace]

... [he kneels down before reaching over to gently tousle Prisma's hair] Sorry I couldn't be of more help.

[standing up again, Tycoon focuses again on the Hakujoudai to get them to ever-so-gently set the magic onto the ground. Once he's (mostly) sure that it's stable, he brings the two Hakujoudai back to him]

If you really can't figure something out, just wake up, okay? You can always contact the DU about this when you're awake.

[he'll be waking up once he's sure she'll be... Well, maybe not 'okay' but once he knows she won't spend too much time trying to puzzle this out on her own]