First ||| https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/1331674161/ Prev ||| https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/1332227121/ Next ||| https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/xxxxxxxxxx/ “And I just believe things would have been more advanced if religion hadn’t existed or hadn’t been followed with the intensity that people followed it with.” Rakhil stated as she picked at the meatless pasta, Jessi was restraining climbing over the table to get themself a bite. It was an odd statement for a literal god to make, but a few agreed, some disagreed. Penn looked on the fence about it. Jessi still had that stupidly warm trench coat wrapped around them, Penn hadn’t been bothered to ask for it back, and they didn’t want to be a nuisance. They rested their head against the table, letting their breath warm up their face. It wasn’t the cleanest way, but it worked. Eventually, they all went away for who knows what, and Jessi found themself half-awake on the table. Consciousness slipped in and out of their fingers eventually becoming like a breath. Jessi went into slumber right at the table, it was a bit of a day. Hell, after everything that Jessi had to digest, they probably wanted to sleep for a week. The woman fiddled with a pen, her gaze seemingly uninterested in the spinning object before she looked at Jessi right between the eyebrows. Her eyes narrowed slightly. “Who are you?” Was this another interview? Are they even awake? “I’m Jessi.” They took a seat in front of the Asian woman. “Nice to meet you, Miss…” “Jeong. Min-Ji Jeong. It’s a mouthful, I know.” She laughed at herself, the sharp eyes turning bright for a few moments before returning to their usual appearance. “How are you doing? Did you heal well?” “Uhm. I’m doing fine.” Jessi fiddled with the bolts on their mechanical hand as Min-Ji continued asking a bunch of meaningless questions. Questions that would never matter since they would forget about it when they woke up, just like all the dreams they had. Hell, this dream was probably going to devolve into madness, with the way a younger Penn basically ran in, holding a satchel and laughing his rear off over something stupid. “Mini! Miss Hocus! Ma’am!” He said in a thick French accent, looking as jolly as Santa. “Haven’t you heard?” “Heard what? Can’t you see I’m busy?” That was a mean thing to say, at least that’s what Jessi thought. The younger Penn’s expression shifted a bit, looking to Jessi then back to Min-ji. “Ah! Right! That’s what I was running to you about!” His feathers fluffed and the headwings started flapping with much joy and energy. He looked like he just robbed a candy store. “Hi, Jess!” He was clearly out of breath, the dark circles under his eyes disappeared, however. Penn started pacing about. “Aren’t they great?! Rakhil did such an amazing job, and even then, everything was—” “Penn, calm down please.” Min-Ji ordered, which led Penn to nod quietly. His headwings still flapped with excitement. “Apologies for him, he’s a lot. He’s worse with his friend.” “Who’s his friend?” Jessi found themself saying, just to support the plot of the dream, just to wake up sooner. Min-Ji just shook her head quietly. That was when the dream got all wonky and freaky. When Penn suddenly started speaking Japanese and Jessi couldn’t understand a single word. When Min-Ji suddenly led them off to rob a bank then fly away with fidget spinners. People usually say dreams have a meaning, but when the plot gets to be like this, you start to wonder what sort of person believes that baloney. Jessi woke up in their bed, in their clean room, not a speck of dirt in sight. It was like it cleared itself when a man died here. Because he did, likely. Not that Jessi knew the specifics in what’s his face’s death, but the fact that he likely spent a lot of time in this room rotting. Jessi swallowed a lump in their throat. They were still wearing that trench coat; the sleeves were warm, and the scent smelled of old books and coffee. There was a faint smell of smoke from the trench, likely a cause of someone who had quit. Congrats for them.
Jessi sat up, rubbing their eyes in the brisk early morning of December, however, the sunlight was distorted by whatever this limbo is. It was only an imitation of said sunlight, like the moon was an imitation of what they had on earth. They swallowed the lump that grew in their throat. Hopefully it was just a dream inside a dream, but it wasn’t. The reality was that they were dead. That they willingly died. They could have prevented that. They pulled themself to the floor, sleep still clawing at their feet like an unruly toddler. Two people sat there; faces cleared from the grip of the night. Jessi didn’t ask how. They then realized it was Penn and Orchid, just being people. Jessi didn’t think they were people. They had always been written up to this massive speculation, that they forgot they could have personalities outside of the strong, calm and brave norm. Penn’s headwings were beating just like in the dream, this time just an idle motion. Orchid’s fingers twirled in her hair. Both were quite ecstatic about whatever they were talking about. The haze of sleep still garnered near Jessi’s senses. “You believe so?” Penn said, the crows’ feet near his eyes becoming much more noticeable. “I would say you’re much more of an interesting person.” He was gently shoved by the satyr. “Uhm… hi.” Jessi waved awkwardly, they pushed the trench coat into Penn’s hands, who smiled warmly and chirped as a default response. “You gave it to me last night, I wanted to give it back.” Penn watched as the seemingly cold-hearted woman retreated. The trench coat was now with its correct owner, but at what cost did it come to? Jessi couldn’t speak near him; they couldn’t look at him the same way. Had he been something different? Maybe that would have worked, but following the exact route? It sent a shiver down their spine. There was no way Penn was just like them. The Penn in their dream, though, the happier, younger looking one, the one just like Jessi, was he like that too? Was he happy once? He looked happy now. Jessi shook the thought out of their head, they were going to leave this place soon anyways, so why even try getting close. They made their way back before someone gripped their arm with a surprisingly strong grip. “Hey, Jessica.” The voice spoke. Jessi hadn’t known them well enough to differentiate the voices, but it was light and airy. It resonated nicely. Jessi turned back to see Orchid’s smiling features. “Do you want some tea?” Jessi watched her for a moment, then looked back at the man standing not too far behind. Both looked quite excited. Hell, maybe they waited for them to wake up, as it seems an entire kettle was brewed, not just half of one. Jessi nodded and was led into the kitchen, where they were poured a steaming cup of tea. It smelled nice, just like how all tea smells. Jessi wasn’t really used to this; they were more of a coffee girl. Orchid smiled once more, like everyone had a problem with smiling around here, and sat them down near the coffee table. “I heard some really nice things about you. I can see why you were picked for the interview.” “What? Which interview?” Jessi raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean which interview?” Orchid asked, glancing over to Penn for a moment, who looked just as confused as she did. “Penny, did you interview her twice?” “No, only once, as per protocol.” Penn said simply. He trailed his fingers across his worry mug. “You know I follow those to the letter.” Jessi didn’t have time for this. They shouldn’t get close; they were going to leave anyhow. They just knew it. All they had to do was fall through the limbo and run, knowing that was all they had to do to get off their trail. They would be lost in the New York crowd if they ran fast enough, being able to live the rest of their life out as a human. But their thoughts snapped to their head when Orchid gently tapped their hand. “Huh? Oh yeah.” Orchid’s eyebrows turned into swans on her face, Penn following shortly after. “What do you mean? There was someone else who interviewed you?” “Oh, no, I mean no.” Jessi shook their head. “Sorry, I just tuned out for a moment.” That seemed to be a common occurrence with Jessi, but they didn’t mind one bit. Orchid and Penn probably minded though. Not like their opinions would matter when they leave.
