(no subject)

[lastgunslinger]

In his room in the Dreaming, Roland sits, smoking a cigar and thinking.

Colored light from the stained glass window washes over his face.

As he exhales, the smoke catches the colored light and swirls; there is an airiness, an etherealness, to the room that one would likely never associate with the gunslinger...but it suits him.

Comments

[blue_ajah]

*There is a soft knock at the door.*

[lastgunslinger]

"It's open."

[blue_ajah]

*And then his statement is truth, as Moiraine pushes the door open.*

Good evening, Roland.

I thought I would visit. How are matters with you?

[lastgunslinger]

"Well enough, say thankya -- and you are well, I hope?"

Roland rests the cigar in an ashtray that may or may not have been there a moment before.

[blue_ajah]

I am well enough, thank you. *Her tone is calm as she repeats his words back to him, although a hint of wry amusement may be clear in her eyes.*

[lastgunslinger]

There's an unoccupied chair in front of the window; indeed, that chair and Roland's chair seem to have been placed in such a way as to look at the window. Or to look out past the window, if you're so inclined, and into wherever thought might lead you.

"Would you sit, lady-sai?"

Roland has been contemplating something, the last few days.

[blue_ajah]

*She nods acceptance, then glides across the room and takes the unoccupied seat.*

*Moiraine glances out the window, and then turns back to Roland with a serene smile.*

[lastgunslinger]

The light plays over the gunslinger's face.

"I'd not told you, I think, that I saw my father in this place."

[blue_ajah]

*Her expression does not change, but there is a sudden intensity about her. She tilts her head, studying him.*

No; you had not mentioned it, that I recall.

[lastgunslinger]

"The last time I was here, I walked out of this room -- I'd been thinking of how much the Dreaming looks like Gilead -- and I saw him."

A long pause.

"We held palaver, for a time, as we used to do."

[blue_ajah]

*She knows how the power of thought can shape the Dreaming. Moiraine listens silently, with a small nod when he pauses.*

[lastgunslinger]

Quietly: "I'd know -- did I dream him, and what he said?"

[blue_ajah]

*A long, long pause.*

You are in the Dreaming.

Am I a dream?

[lastgunslinger]

"You could be." Roland sounds almost unsure.

[blue_ajah]

*She inclines her head to him.*

The nature of Tel'aran'rhiod is complex. Here I am no more a dream than you, Roland. *Yet, she thinks, and then puses that aside for now.* We have entered the Dreaming in physical form.

But there are those who may enter it in a different fashion, through their dreams. Some of these have a talent-- the ability to walk the World of Dreams while asleep.

Even ordinary persons may enter the World of Dreams, upon occasion.

[lastgunslinger]

She's not giving him a straight answer, he knows -- and yet he feels lighter, somehow.

So the gunslinger nods, and turns his face to the window.

Maybe it's not for him to know.

A dust-roughened voice: The only things that matter are what a man can do an' a man can't do.

"Held palaver with another the other day."

[blue_ajah]

*There was more that she might have explained, and so her eyes narrow slightly as he turns away to the window, but Moiraine does not pursue it at present.*

Did you, then?

*Calmly inquisitive.*

[lastgunslinger]

"I was reading in the Garden," Roland says, "when it turned into a desert around the edges."

He's smiling, a little.

[blue_ajah]

*She tilts her head, watching him. His smile intrigues her, and she waits silently to hear what he has to say.*

[lastgunslinger]

The smile doesn't disappear.

"Joe."

[blue_ajah]

*And now the Aes Sedai smiles, also.*

Did he look well?

[lastgunslinger]

"He did. He'd been on the trail." Pause. "He was not what you or I would call happy, but he was himself, if that does ya."

[blue_ajah]

*Moiraine nods slowly, and understanding is clear in her glance.*

I see.

It is -- I would not have thought of it for him before, but perhaps it is not entirely an unexpected thing. I will consider it further.

[lastgunslinger]

"The desert, you mean?"

Roland understands the desert.

[blue_ajah]

Not precisely.

*She looks thoughtful.*

What did he say, would you tell me?