Welcome to Gaia! ::

"Yeah, I'm sure there's a symbiosis there. If we help it, it'll help us more. Grow stronger, all of that stuff. I'm assuming you're the only one who can commune with it directly, right? If it's not prying, is it much of a sentience, or is it more of vague empathic vibes?"

His head tilted in consideration of the question, eyes briefly glancing to the corner as he drifted in a thought. His usual smile that had stayed for the duration of the meeting shifted for a moment, but snapped back to the usual after. His eyes fixed back over Jett, eyebrow raising in an opening for another question.

"The guy who got frustrated over the game and got into the spat with the two young lads. Have you checked in on him at all? I mean, talking about people not saying what they need, that's someone who is clearly lashing out and alone."

He let the question hang for a moment before taking another sip of his drink, offering the more serious question a more respectful silence as he imagined he had opened a larger can of worms than most of his questions.

"Hm, okay," Alex said with a small nod. Vague empathic vibes weren't the easiest to go off of, but he also knew he preferred that to a more rational super being. Much less chance of someone getting mad and causing a cataclysm if they were just sort of barely there. "Maybe we can get it a mood ring."

He nodded to the portion about the letter and meeting up. "I hope that goes well. He had some bravery in him, a willingness to question things. That's good to have around."

"So, search mirrorspace, the alternate plane.... I'm guessing it'd be sort of weird if we had a map, right?"

Alex hummed at Jett explained, head nodding in understanding or tilting to the side in thought. A lack of a map didn't feel great, but then he began to think of it a bit differently.

"Mostly to help explore it, but something you said has me thinking...." He mused, a small grin spreading across his lips.

He grabbed a napkin from the table and took out a pen, starting to sketch on it. He wasn't an artist by any means, but it was a rough enough sketch that anyone could really got it. Three squares, one big and central, and two others off elsewhere on the napkin.

"So, like you said, the Common Room, Throne Room, Realm Mirror is always present at the opening. That's this big central one," he said with a pen tap over that center block. "And then I think you're right, it would make sense for there to be other rooms, but they'd follow suit. These three rooms all serve a purpose, so there must be other purposeful rooms."

"You're right, a map wouldn't be because of directions, directions don't exist there. It's just where something is or isn't.... So maybe the guide isn't how we get there, but what we're looking for?"

He started to draw multiple lines, stretching from the central square to one of the other two, multiple paths being made. Some lines curving and winding, others jagged and direct. "Maybe there isn't one path to any of these rooms, but rather it's about figuring out what the rooms just are, wanting those. Like an armory, or a library."

He sat back, sliding the napkin over to Jett, pen beside it in case he had additions to make. The longer he looked at the napkin though, the more his head tilted, eyes squinting as a question formed in his mind.

Alex rubbed his chin, humming to himself for a moment as he thought about the question. What would've been a simple answer before all of this, even if an odd question at that time, was now much more complex. His mind, the life experience of Alex, would've easily leaned towards something to relax in, social gatherings. Telesto though, they wanted more in war, the armory or a training room drew their mind, the vague emotions and sensations that was their bundle in the person they were now. What had been a potentially quick answer turned into a few moments of silence as Alex tried to reconcile an answer itself.

"A training room," he answered. "I usually like to use the gym as a place to destress, work through any problems I'm having, that sort of thing. If we want to connect better with mirrorspace, finding rooms that make it a safe place for those of us there would be good.... Or somewhere with animals."

"I know the wraiths are around, but they're not really animals. And the place is kind of... Not desolate, but it can appear cold, you know? Some life beyond us wouldn't hurt its appearance, I bet."

"I'm telling you, the place is like the fractured husk of something it used to have been," Alex said with a wiseguy smirk at Jett. "It's going to wake up one day and freak us all out."

He wasn't actually sold on the idea of Mirrorspace being the shattered remnants of some great being from beyond that they all had somehow become bonded to, but the idea had crossed his mind enough. He couldn't make much sense of it, but it was more so vague impressions he got from the Telesto side of things. There was definitely something there, and they wanted to bond with it more.

"But, we could do some initial tests with it. Potted plants in the common room could be easy to watch and a little color. Might be best if we bring someone else in on the experiment rather than just the two of us; I can't get there on my own yet, and you've got spelunking to do." He gestured between the two of them, fingers flicking back and forth. "Got anyone you'd recommend with a green thumb?"

Alex knew he hadn't ever been the best gardener, but where better to start trying than in an alternate reality space where physics might work different. Maybe start with plants that don't need a lot of sun...

"I'll reach out on the compact, see if anyone responds; maybe we can all put our heads together and come up with a trick. And I'd like that, seeing your space. I've heard about them some and I sort of get the gist, I think. But seeing one would help." He laughed, smiling at Jett.

"Thanks for being... cool with everything. I know usually the new guy coming in with ideas and weird parties isn't always seen as good, and I was worried you might think I was an upstart. Not based on anything you've done, just the general anxiety, you know?" He shrugged, scratching at the back of his neck briefly. "I hope I can help. I don't fully get the whole situation we're in, but I feel like this is the right thing to do. To make us all stronger and make the realm stronger. It just... makes sense to me."

"But, I think I've stolen enough of your time. Thanks for meeting me like this, and let me know if the boys or the angry one want are open to talking. If not, pass along my thanks to them all, for their honesty."

Alex nodded, rising as Jett did. "Yeah, I'm glad we did this. Your place next time sounds great to me."

"And thank you, for putting up with... Well, all of it, I guess. I look forward to what we can do together, and what we can become."

He took his leave along with Jett, heading in the opposite direction out of the cafe. He still had a lot to do and more to do going forward, but he felt better knowing there was someone to match his enthusiasm and not shy from progression.