"The...other one?" Lumi felt her lungs empty of air. It felt like a heavy pressure was building in her head. She felt as if something had tightened her nasal passages and had made it harder for her to breathe. Why did those words affect her so much? What was it--
"Yeah," Iris continued, her skin still a dark grey though less clammy. As she paused to remember the contents of her dream, she lost whatever color she gained. In fact it seemed like she lost more color. It was obvious that she was also suffering negatively from her nightmare.
Lorna looked back and forth between the two girls, becoming more and more disturbed by how deeply affected they were by their dreams. This was something that has never happened before. It was not like they've never had bad dreams before. Everyone went through bad dreams. But to the point of being scared and spazzy? No, that had never happened before.
Lorna pushed Lumi's drink towards her before asking their more perturbed friend to go on about her dream. "Can you tell us what happened?"
Iris stared at the wicker table, watching as the condensation formed from their cold rinks dripped through the holes. Crossing her arms,she dug her nails into her flesh. She looked away from her friends. Not because she wanted to get lost in her memories, it was obvious that she never wanted to get lost in that dream ever again. She was having difficulty dredging up the courage to talk about it.
"I was being accused of hurting somebody," Iris began, continuing the account from earlier. "Someone named--well I don't remember her name. It started with an M, I think?"
Lumi felt her stomach drop as more details came out. She felt the incessant urge to cover her ears; to keep from hearing anymore. She instinctively felt her eyes scan her surroundings, certain that she was in danger. She had to grip her seat to keep from fleeing into the street. Somehow getting hit by a car was more preferable than whatever Iris was going to say.
"Lumi!" Hearing both girls call her name brought her back into herself.
"Seriously?" Iris glared at her. She was not the type who allowed herself to be vulnerable, making it rare for her to act soft around her friends. Having Lumi act so erratic made her feel more agitated and guarded than usual, eyeing her friend with suspicion.
Lumi realized that she was hyperventilating when her quick panicky panting echoed in her ears.
"I'm sorry," the pale blond apologized. "I have to go!"
She knocked over her water in her rush to get up, most of the liquid getting into her bag. She cursed grabbing a pile of napkins from the dispenser in the center of the table and just throwing it into the purse.
"I'll Venmo you," she called over her shoulder as she rushed to get away. She grabbed Perseus as he came out of the cafe, cutting him off when he told them the ETA on their drinks. She blindly moved past the people in the crowds, muttering 'excuse mes' and weak apologies. They made it halfway down the boardwalk before Perseus forced her to stop. Taking the lead, he detoured them into a park and forced her to lean against a tree.
"Put your head between your legs," he ordered her.
"I don't want anyone to see up my skirt," she grumbled. She could feel him roll his eyes more than see it. Ever the lady even when she felt like crap.
"Let me just check on the girls," he reassured her. "I'll be back in a minute."
Lumi wanted to keep her from leaving her side, for some reason scared that he would not come back. Afraid that he would...leave her? Be taken from her? Her fears were not making sense. This brought her back to the time she would be anxious in her childhood. When she would flinch at the shadows in her bedroom, skittering behind her brother afraid of being too far from him.
But she came too far to revert back to that state. Instead of giving in to her hysteria, Lumi waved off her worried brother.
Heeding his advice, she place her head between her thighs and gulped down deep breaths.
It took a minute to calm down. The dark shadows that were creeping in from the corner of her eyes began to recede. They were completely gone by the time Perseus returned.
"Are you alright?" He asked again.
Lumi gave a shaky smile. "Y-yeah." She tried to get up. "I'm good."
Perseus rush to sit down, laying his head in his sister's lap forcing her to stay down. Lumi blink uncomprehendingly at him not able to understand his intentions. Her brother smiled up at her.
"I mean it's a nice day," he explained to her. "We may as well just enjoy it for a little bit."
Lumi hesitated, partly because she didn't want to deal with ants and partly because she still felt the inkling of worry that would not stop needling at her nerves. Instead, she collapsed and figured that they could rest for a few minutes. Just until her legs were steady.
"I'll enjoy this reprieve then," she said haughtily, a tone she would normally take on as a joke.
This caused Perseus to laugh. "Anything for you, princess."
Usually, whenever he would say this she would giggle.
This time, she felt as if the word was an insult. Something was changing, something bad.