For about a minute, Andie and Cedric simply stood in silence - or crouched in silence, in Andie’s case - on the two drones floating underneath the platforms of Dyllan’s mindscape. It was Andie that finally broke the silence. “…and?”
“And?” Cedric’s eyes narrowed. “What do you mean, and!?”
“Oh! No, I didn’t - I didn’t mean…” Andie waved her hands around frantically, Cedric’s strong response leaving her so flustered she nearly fell off the drone she was perched on top of. “I… it’s…” She took a deep breath. “I didn’t mean to sound dismissive. I totally get how traumatic this must have been… for both of you.” She pulled her sword in close and nervously rubbed its hilt. “It just felt like a weird place to end the story, is all. Lots of things left unresolved…”
“Well, if you’re looking for a complete three act structure to my traumatic back story, you won’t find one.” An annoyed sigh escaped through Cedric’s scowl. He’d mostly forgiven Andie now that he understood what she’d meant, but he was still a little irked. “I told you what you need to know to help resolve the situation - and we don’t exactly have all the time in the world, in case you forgot.”
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“Well, knowing how he recovered the first time would be helpful.”
“Recovered is… a strong word. He really just managed to shove it all down, and pretend it never happened. A ticking time bomb of a temporary solution.” Cedric cautiously lowered himself into a sitting position, trying to get more comfortable on his drone. “Even if it was a more permanent fix, we don’t have the months it took me to bring him back out of his shell.” He paused. “You, know it’s funny. For all his anger, he directs almost all of it at himself.”
“That's it!” Andie shot up with excitement, losing her footing as she did so. “Shit!” She slid off the drone, barely managing to catch hold of it again before she fell completely. It was an amusing sight: her arms wrapped around the drone and her legs dangling in the air, continuing to speak as she scrabbled her way back on top of the uncooperative device. “Cedric, your infuriating tendency to ramble off useless poetics in times of crisis has finally come in handy!”
“Excuse me?” Cedric blinked a few times. “My what?”
“I know what to do now, leave this to me!”
“My what!?” Cedric stared with silent offense as Andie leapt off her drone and grabbed hold of one of the platforms, climbing back onto the topside of the mindscape. “…rude.”