For days he procrastinated and ignored his job. He hadn't spoken to Prismo in a few days either. Cosmic owl was completely out of it, he couldn't focus and some days he'd feel completely disconnected from reality. Sometimes he'd think about it again and start to shake. With sadness? Frustration? Anxiety? He didn't really know to be honest. The whole situation lumped him over. Thanks to that bird woman he had missed a ton of dreams he was supposed to enter and he even messed up so far as to make a nightmare come true. But it wasn't just that, it was her. She did it. He was sure as heck used to bad dreams and croak dreams but that was not supposed to happen. He brought in an outside source that mucked it all up. He mucked it all up. Him being there mucked it all up.
He stood in front of his dream screen, passing by hundreds of dreams. He didn't have any dreams to enter right now and even if he did he was dissociating too much to notice if any tokens had hit the floor. He sighed, a quiet 'hoo' trailed with it. Cosmic owl turned off the screen and just as he turned around, he noticed his TV flashing. It was Prismo. The sudden flash startled him though, his feathers ruffling in surprise. He shut it off without thinking and waited a few seconds. I should talk to Prismo. With slight hesitation he left and flew in the direction of Prismo's room. As he approached the yellow cube he could feel his chest tighten. Was this a good idea..? He gritted his teeth, sucking in a deep breath. Okay no, this is fine. I can do this. It's only been like.. a few days, or something.
Cosmic owl easily landed on the plain floor of one of the entrance hallways to his friend's place, talons ever so slightly scratching the surface. With nervousness clouding his mind, he walked on in, peeking his head into the large, mostly empty room. Prismo was there, with the hot tub and one wall projecting the calm ocean he had seen many times before. Immediately they made eye contact.
"...Hey." He started, hopping down from the ledge of the hallway.
"Hey dude, it's good to see you. I was getting worried to be honest. You haven't answered me in almost two weeks.." Prismo trailed off, a concerned look crossing his face.
Cosmic owl looked away for a moment, unsure how to respond.
"Come on, hop in the tub. We don't have to talk if you don't want to."
Wings fluttering, Cosmic owl willing went over to the hot tub, Prismo's pink silhouette following. There were minutes of silence, but eventually they got onto casual discussion. Prismo was good with talk and distraction, which was good for this time. He did feel Cosmic owl should talk about why he was gone for two weeks, but he wouldn't rush him. He had never seen his friend in such a way. Cosmic owl wasn't really a guy he knew to get into relationships. he had never seen him in a relationship. He had never seen him after a he had been dumped - be it friendship or romance. Whatever had happened, it wasn't good. It made him ache to see his friend's mental and emotional reaction to whatever happened. The conversation trailed off a little. They were losing the distraction, it was obvious. Cosmic owl didn't sound confident in his speech, he didn't show much of any positive enthusiasm. He felt disconnected from the conversation, like he was watching himself talk from a distance. It didn't feel right, it felt very off. He could hear his heart pounding, he could feel cold sweat under his feathers.
"Do.. do you want to talk about it?" Asking that question was tough. It came with hesitation. But Prismo knew he needed to ask.
The owl's feathers ruffled, he looked down, starting to shake. Every single thought was running through his mind all at once, but it felt so small. Everything that had happened all in that one day. It felt so small, so meaningless - the whole thing. And he felt ashamed, to be manipulated like that. Oh glob he messed that up so bad. Prismo started observed him when he didn't say anything. Maybe it was wrong to ask him. But it had been two weeks now, and that wasn't good at all.
"Yeah. Yeah.. I guess I should say something, hah…" The owl said, making eye contact with his friend. "I blew it man, I messed up." He took in a deep breath, reminding himself to breath. "I.. I just messed it up so bad. She manipulated me and I just… went with it. I could tell, but I didn't do anything to.. stop it..."
"Wait- what?" Prismo held an expression of shock for a moment, quickly covered by concern. "I mean, I had a feeling it had to do with that lady you met but.. I didn't know she ended up being like that! I'm so sorry dude, it sucks to hear you went through crap like that. I know you're not really a social guy…"
"It really was my fault though - I should've known better. I should've known that my job would mess it all up if I was hopping through dreams trying to find this lady I only thought was cute and knew nothing about." He paused. "She knew my power, I let her know. She knew if I was there her plan would go through. And thats the only reason I messed it up in the end - just me being there."