Work Text:
“Don’t stop walking.”
“I know, I know.”
“Don’t stop walking.”
“You know I won’t.”
“Do I?”
“I’d do whatever you told me to, Dream.”
“Call me by my name.”
“ExDee.”
“That’s it.”
“I’m following you, ExDee.”
“Say my name just like that. Say it like it’s the only name you can think of. Listen to me like I’m the only one keeping you awake.”
“You are. I’m following you.”
“How are you following me if you can’t even see me?”
“You don’t have enough faith in me.”
“How so?”
“I know the way.”
“So confident, so confident.”
“I am.”
“How can you be sure of yourself?”
“I don’t know.”
“Why do you carry yourself like you’re lighter than air?”
“Maybe I am.”
“Why do you push the forest apart to make way for you? Why do you stomp upon the ants and bugs trying to crawl around in the underbrush? Why do you stare down the horizon like it’s a personal slight against you that it is so far away?”
“Because…”
“Why? Are you so egotistical to think that every hardship is a personal insult? Do you believe that the poison ivy nipping at your heels is wrong for existing? Do you believe the mosquito should have nothing to eat? George, tell me, do you think that the sun is growing hotter just to make you break out into a sweat?”
“Yes.”
“Yes?”
“I think the forest is making it harder for me to get to you.”
“Why do you think that?”
“Because you’re too good for me.”
“Go on.”
“You’re a god, ExDee.”
“I am.”
“You’re a god, and I am a mortal. A mortal who lives in his dreams to escape A dream.”
“Is that why you walk to me?”
“I am a mortal who laughs a bit too loudly and doesn’t tell nearly enough sarcastic jokes, let me tell you. I wear a mushroom hat because my friends told me it looked dumb and I wear a thousand dollar shirt because my friends told me it was too expensive.”
“Is that why you talk to me?”
“It’s not why.”
“Why do you speak to me in that tone of voice?”
“What tone of voice?”
“I don’t understand it.”
“I don’t speak to you in any tone of voice but if I did I would be speaking that way because I definitely don’t employ sarcasm enough.”
“Oh.”
“Did I make a god lose his words? You’re taking so long to respond. I think I rendered a god speechless. Just with some ‘Tone of voice.’”
“Don’t stop walking.”
“Why am I walking, ExDee?”
“I don’t know, why are you?”
“Because I don’t deserve you.”
“You said that before, but you never explained.”
“I did, I said that I was a mortal.”
“Why do you face the forest to get to me?”
“Why do you think?”
“I think you face it because of that word you keep mentioning.”
“Which one?”
“You know which one.”
“I’m afraid I don’t have a clue what you mean.”
“I think you say you’re mortal.”
“Mm-hmm?”
“I think you speak like a mortal.”
“Well I don’t have that echo that you do.”
“But I think you think yourself above a mortal.”
“I would never think such a thing.”
“Then what do you think?”
“I think my dream should bring me closer to you.”
“Well, you’ve gotten your wish. The forest is behind you, the road up ahead is clear.”
“I still don’t see you.”
“I am all around you.”
“That’s not satisfying to hear.”
“What’s more satisfying than the truth?”
“It would be more satisfying to see you.”
“Then don’t stop walking.”
“Fine.”
“Don’t stop walking.”
“You ask me all these questions, but you already know, don’t you?”
“What do you think I know?”
“I think you know everything I think.”
“Oh really?”
“I think you know it before I think it.”
“How would I know such a thing?”
“ExDee, I think you’ve picked something up from me.”
“And what is that?”
“I think you’ve learned to be sarcastic.”
“Do you believe that it is an insult that I am sarcastic to you?”
“Yes, I do, actually.”
“Ah, you are funny, George.”
“I see you.”
“And what do I look like?”
“You look like somebody familiar.”
“I do, now?”
“You do.”
“Am I wearing green robes? Have I donned a porcelain mask, engraved with a cartoonish smile, to hide my true intentions?”
“You haven’t.”
“You say that with a different tone from your so-called sarcasm, yet it must fall into that category.”
“You don’t look like him.”
“Then who do I look like?”
“You look like the face in my mirror.
After all, this is my dream.”