Cedric looked up at the skies of Andie’s mindscape, full of curiosity toward what might change now that she had awoken as a fully fledged dreamwalker. Piece by piece, the rubble began to put itself back together, slowly but surely… returning to pretty much how it was when Cedric and Dyllan had first arrived - minus the initial damage.
Well, there were a few subtle changes. The chaotic rhythm of all the constant coming and going, although still quite chaotic, now actually had a rhythm to it. A rhythm Cedric could somehow manage to follow, but despite his best efforts, just could not seem to predict. The way all of Andie’s favorite things had posters and signboards everywhere had changed slightly, too. It had gone from completely unashamed, to utterly shameless - from simply not experiencing any shame, to being outright incapable of experiencing it.
Dyllan’s voice came from beside Cedric, startling him. “I was kind of expecting a bigger change.”
“So was I.” Cedric sighed. “Though in retrospect, I haven’t the slightest idea why.”
“Basic pattern recognition, I guess.”
“Once is only chance, twice is only coincidence.” Cedric shook his head. “There was never a pattern.” A nostalgic glint flashed in his eyes and his tone of voice shifted ever so slightly, though his expression remained largely blank. “Besides, Andie’s always been unusual this way. Personal growth usually comes bundled with personal change, but Andie’s growth always seems to lead to her un-changing.”
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“Are we really that different? Our awakenings made us closer to how we used to be, same as Andie’s. We just had more change to undo.” Dyllan paused. “Maybe that’s how this all works. When we’re little we understand how everything is, but not how anything works. As we get older, we start to learn how things work, but we get overwhelmed and confused along the way - so we lose track of how things are. Then not understanding how things are, gets tangled up with our understanding of how things work, and we don’t really understand anything anymore.” Another pause. “Maybe that’s what maturity is? Realizing that you don’t really know what’s what anymore, then just… starting over - going back and untangling everything you’ve learned, finally beginning to actually understand that… that… uh…” One more pause, this one longer than the other two put together. “…I think I’ve stopped understanding what I was saying. I’m just confused now.” He turned to Cedric, expectations poorly concealed behind his eyes, as though he was asking Cedric to understand his own words for him.
“I think you need to read about zen. I can recommend some books, if you’d like? You might not agree with everything, but you’ll definitely learn something interesting.”
“Aw, c’mon Cedric.” Dyllan grinned sheepishly. “You know I’m no good with philosophical stuff.”