...BUT TOMORROW IS JUST A DREAM AWAY

[worldofcolor]

[After such a long day, everyone must sleep. Whether it is because of the trial, or...something else, everyone will eventually find themselves with an overwhelming urge - no, need to sleep. There, someone is waiting for them.

Everyone will find themselves together in a room. It's...sleep-like, of course, but something about it feels real. There are eight rolling chairs set up, and another at the front of the room. But besides that, there are two important things to take note of. The first is that, everywhere, everyone seems to be depicted in...grayscale. It's a little weird, but nothing that odd.

The second is the pictures that line the wall, black-and-white sketches of so many familiar and unfamiliar characters. An Arabian thief, a curious girl in a blue dress, a ferocious dragon. All strikingly drawn and depicted in pencil. The walls seem practically lined with them.

Something interrupts your train of thought. A smoker's cough.

Man is in the Forest.]

My goal is to get you all out of here as soon as possible.

[A fatherly voice rings out, from seemingly everywhere at once.]

I'd like to discuss options with you all.

Comments

[aboyandhiscar]

[this guy looks like a lawyer. UNSURE...

But he's the best chance they've got. Mike sighs, offering a hand.]

Walt you said? Alright.

Why do you want to help us, Walt?

[worldofcolor]

...I prefer not to see people in suffering.

I'm not perfect, but I don't like to leave people in situations like this.

[kindaruledatit]

Dude, you're already a thousand times better then the guy we have as a host right now.

[toogoodforhim]

You said you stepped in as soon as you found out.

Then why wait until now to bring us all here? Does your dream magic have an occupancy limit or something, you had to wait until we were whittled down to less than ten?

[He asked, bitterly, with a bitter expression.]

[chainbroke]

[ She reaches over and takes his hand. She knows how it sounds. She... hopes Walt's got an explanation, and that it's a good one. ]

[toogoodforhim]

[Lefou holds onto her hand, and also puts himself between her and Walt.

He knows, from what he was told, that curses don't need line of sight. But it's an instinctive, protective gesture nonetheless.]

[chainbroke]

[ Her other hand rests on his back, and she looks up at him with a concerned look. ]

Papa...

[toogoodforhim]

...[Ohhh don't Papa him now]

It's okay, Nene. I'm here.

[chainbroke]

[ too late ]

I know. You've always been here for me. [ She squeezes his hand. ] And I know we'll get out of here.

With our friends and loved ones. Everyone.

[toogoodforhim]

[He thinks about Maurice, staring into the eyes of a madman and standing strong for his daughter's sake. Tries to summon that same feeling in himself, now.]

We will. If we have to find a way ourselves, I promise we will.

[aboyandhiscar]

[he puts a light hand on his shoulder.]

Easy there, bud. It sounds like he's been trying to reach out to folks--no one could have predicted what even happened. There wasn't even any incentive for stuff to go down this week.

Might be stepping in now to make sure it doesn't happen again.

[toogoodforhim]

I will not be "easy"! He comes to us with a "solution" when we're fresh from a loss.

There's always a price with magic! I want to know what his "help" is going to cost us.

[aboyandhiscar]

You're not wrong, man! But what other choice do we have, even if there is a cost?

I don't wanna jump outta the frying pan and into the fire, but. . .everything's already kinda on fire.

[toogoodforhim]

Even if we have no choice but to take it, I want to know what cost we'll have to pay.

[That even if is as close to an agreement as you'll get from him until Papa Walt sways him otherwise]

[aboyandhiscar]

[Mike slumps, leaning back in his chair. He lets out a long breath.]

That's fair, dude. But.

Just once in this place, after believing in so many folks, being so dang sure no one would hurt each other, telling you guys everything will work out in the end. . .and being wrong every time. . .

I wanna believe in something good. Something without a catch. Just, just this once.

[toogoodforhim]

...Then you can believe. But I trust everyone else in this room more than I trust him, and until he proves himself I would rather put my faith in Ford's science than in a stranger's magic.

[But his tone is gentler, at least.]

[worldofcolor]

You're hurting. I know.

I should have stepped in sooner. I told you - I'm not perfect, and maybe a lot less people could have been hurt if I had went out of my way to speak to you all directly from the beginning. You have every right to be angry at me, and I would not blame you for a second if you are.

But your anger is best spent being directed at the people responsible for this.

[toogoodforhim]

[He's not going to cry. This man doesn't know him well enough to see his tears.

But God, he wishes he had Maui there with him.]

What will your help cost us? Our lives? Or is this some kind of chess game for our souls, and you're just tired of losing pieces?

What price does your magic have?

[worldofcolor]

...What do you think I am, LeFou?

I want to know, honestly.

[toogoodforhim]

I don't know. A faerie? A sorcerer? Something like Agathe, something that only looks human to suit its own needs.

[worldofcolor]

Tell me what I can do to make you feel safer about this arrangement.

You have every right to be suspicious, but I want to assure you that...I'm not like that.

[toogoodforhim]

...

[Magic doesn't care about people. Even when it pretends to.]

Tell me one thing about everyone in this room. Show me you care about us, that we're more than just pawns to you.

[worldofcolor]

All of you? Well I suppose there’s no harm in that.

Julia, even if you claim you’re not strong, I sense a strength in you that’s powerful. Not in muscles, but in heart. You are a very good person, and a heart like yours is a powerful weapon against enemies you come up against, both external and internal.

Namine, you're a wonderful young lady, and you are much more than your life before this. You have kept kind throughout all of this and I can’t help but admire that. If we had more people like you in the world, it would be a much better place, and you deserve a good home.

Mike, it simply amazes me how you see the best in people, how you are kind to those who seem the most suspicious. I know it in my heart that it’s a strength that will get you far, and you deserve to share that strength without suffering like this

Anna, you’re a sweet child and didn’t deserve any of this. None of you do, of course, but the fact that anyone would want a child to suffer like that disgusts me. You deserve all the happiness in the world.

Elsa, you are a gentle, but powerful force, I wish I had known about this earlier so I could have tried to save your sister, but I promise I will do everything I can to bring her back to you. You deserve it.

Wendy, your strength against your opposition in this place is admirable. Even as it gets harder to keep holding onto hope, you still do your best to keep hanging in there. I want to give you something real to hope for.

Ford, even after everything, I’d wager to guess a lot of folks here see you as a father figure, and I want a great man like you to go home to their family… and with his partner

And, Didier, I know it’s hard to trust me after everything that’s happened to you, to all of you, but I assure you that all I want in the world is to see you all safe. And I don’t want last week to be the last time you ever see your partner ever again.

[toogoodforhim]

[He listens. It wasn't exactly what he meant, but watching the man address each of them in turn he can see the care in his eyes, he can see how earnest he is with each one, the way his face twists on the word disgust, but his eyes stay soft with care. With sympathy. It's so different to how Agathe had stood on the steps of the castle surveying the reunions from afar like she was patting herself on the back for a job well done when the curse was her fault in the first place.

The way that Walt looks at them reminds him how his mother always told him he had his father's eyes, soft and kind, how they were too poor for a portrait so all he ever had to remember his father by was his mother's word.

He doesn't say anything as Walt goes through each person, from Julia to Ford. But he gasps, almost too softly to hear, at his name. His real name, which Walt had already said he hadn't been watching them when he had told Elsa.]

...How...did you know my name?

[aboyandhiscar]

That's. . .seriously it?

[???? no ulterior motives ???? can mike finally apply blind trust safely???

He gives a little smile.]

Well, since you're sticking with that answer. . .I'll believe in you, man. Help us get the heck out of here, and I'll owe you one, whether you want the favor or not.