Hey! It's really been long time no see, though I guess that's all right because I've been having writer's block anyway. But my block is over, so I'm posting this fic(let?) to celebrate that (in addition to working on another big project! [shameless advertising]). Be prepared for tons of OOCness and bad writing, is all I can tell you.

Thanks and please go ahead!

"Where am I?" Immediately, echoes rang throughout the darkness; her voice rebounded back to her in desperate, trailing bursts. The sounds of her confusion unbalanced and blinded her senses. Before her, the silver man answered, as if she hadn't asked the same question all of the previous times that she had met him,

"This is the Remscape." His voice did not echo but resonated instead.

"How did I get here?" Again, her words were deafening and again, the silver man replied patiently,

"Through your dreams."

She tried to walk closer to him. With each step, a circle of light sprang up underneath her foot. Many circles dotted the darkness, yet she did not seem to be getting any closer to the mysterious silver man who stood but a few feet away. Walking became running and running became dashing until she finally stopped and cried out in frustration,

"Who are you?"

The silver man only smiled sadly.

"It's time to wake up."

And she felt the blackness underneath her give way to oblivion.

"But I keep having this dream," Mei explained exasperatedly, throwing the pad of sticky notes onto her desk. "It's not normal!"

"Well, it's not abnormal either," her coworker Lien countered. "A lot of people have reported having the same dream many times."

"But for six days in a row?"

To Mei's distress, Lien only offered an amused grin.

"You keep track?"

"That's not the point!" She clasped and unclasped her hands. "Should I go see a psychiatrist?"

The other woman snorted.

"You'd be better off seeing the fortune teller in the shack down the street. What do psychiatrists know?"

"Well, what should I do then?" Mei nearly hissed. Lien shrugged.

"What's your dream again?"

Mei thought for a while before replying,

"Every time, I'm in the middle of an endless black space. When I speak, there are deafening echoes. And…" She stopped, trying to remember. "There's always a man who glows silver. And he's always far enough so I can't reach him no matter how much I try. He said that we were in the Remscape."

"The Remscape?" Lien snorted. Mei scowled.

"The Remscape. And he says that I get there through my dreams. But whenever I ask him who he is, he just says that it's time to wake up." Looking at her coworker upon finishing her description, Mei was chagrined to see only Lien's blank stare. "Well?"

"…It sounds like nonsense," Lien concluded bluntly. Mei sighed in defeat.

"I know." It was almost the end of the break period; she probably wouldn't be able to convince Lien that this was a serious matter in the few minutes that they had left. "But I still have no idea what to do."

"Why is this so significant?" Lien questioned. When she saw Mei's troubled face, however, she sighed. "Maybe you should ask Kiku."

Mei paused, then nodded.

"Maybe that's the best thing to do."

Before she left the break room, she heard Lien call out a last piece of advice.

"And if I were you, I'd ask the man in your dream some different questions."

Mei stopped in front of the door, her fingers resting on the knob. Then she turned it and exited the room.

"I'm home!" Mei slipped off her shoes and sneaked into the apartment. The kitchen light was on; she peeked into the room and saw someone at the counter. She smiled mischievously. Then she ran into the person with a flying tackle, hugging him around the waist. He gave a long-suffering sigh but smiled.

"Welcome home, Mei."

"When did you get off from work?" she asked, craning her neck to see what he was doing. "And are you making tonkatsu?"

"Just an hour ago. And yes, I am; I know it's your favorite."

Mei gave him a kiss on the cheek before releasing him.

"Thank you, Kiku!"

He smiled in that charming, shy way only he could execute to perfection.

"No problem. You can go get changed; I'll set everything up."

She nodded gratefully and rushed to their room. Putting her things down, she readied herself for a shower, then stepped into the glass cubicle. There was still a trace of steam on the walls, showing that Kiku had been there not too long ago. Mei hummed as she washed.

Soon, she was able to dry off and join her partner at the dinner table. Halfway through the meal, she remembered something.

Ah, Kiku," She began, balancing a piece of breaded cutlet between her chopsticks. "Can I … ask you something?"

He nodded at her over his bowl of rice.

"Anything."

"Well…" How should she start? "I've been having dreams lately, and they always involve a silver man and something called the Remscape. It's been happening for six days now. Do you think I should see someone about that?"

Sensing Mei's worry, Kiku put his bowl and chopsticks down. He scrutinized her.

"Are you having any problems? Insomnia, hallucinations, those kinds of things?"

She shook her head. Kiku tilted her chin up, looking into her eyes.

"And does this really bother you?"

She thought hard.

"I guess not. To any significant degree, anyway."

He nodded slowly.

"Then maybe you should wait before going to see someone. If this ever gets serious, I know a psychiatrist. I can arrange an appointment with him."

Mei smiled at Kiku gratefully.

"Thank you. I'll do as you say, Doctor."

He grinned at her.

"Now the Doctor suggests that you prepare to go to bed. Though he would appreciate it very much if you helped wash the dishes."

She jumped up and carried their bowls to the sink.

"Anything for the number one physician!"

As she and Kiku cleaned the bowls and utensils, Mei reflected on their discussion. He and Lien were right, perhaps; the dreams were probably meaningless. Maybe work was getting to her head. She dried the last dish and went off to bed. Mei was feeling a lot more confident now. Maybe she wouldn't even have the dream tonight! With that thought in mind, she curled up next to her bedmate and closed her eyes, waiting for sleep to overtake her.

"Where am I?" Echoing.

"The Remscape." A cool, guiding voice.

"How did I get here?" A black sheet all around.

"Through your dreams."

Testing out her surroundings, she stomped on the darkness that she was suspended on; it caused a burst of light. How wrong she had been, for here she was, back with the silver man in the vacuum of black space. He was as unreachable as ever.

"Who—" Distantly, she remembered someone suggesting her to ask different questions. So instead of following her usual loop of inquiries, she asked instead,

"Why am I here?"

She thought she saw the silver man blink in surprise.

"So you've finally thought of something else to ask." Was that a smirk? "Well, that's a good question. But there's something else you need to ask before that."

She frowned in confusion, then tried,

"What is this place?"

"That will be answered eventually."

"Um… how can we be doing this?"

"Not quite."

She wracked her brain. What was she supposed to ask? She'd always been taught that all questions were correct, so how could there be a "right" question? Anyway, she'd never been good under pressure…

Suddenly, the silver man made a movement. She, thinking that he was going to leave, cried out in a last act of desperation,

"Why are you here?"

He smiled, much to her relief and astonishment.

"Good. Unfortunately, we'll have to save the answer for next time."

Next time? she wanted to cry out, but the darknesss swallowed her before she could do so.

I know I always ask, and I know my chapters are always so short, but how was it? (Thank you for even reading this far!)