2024-12-28 - Visions and Dreams

The backstage area at the Arena of Champions has a side area for training away from the prying eyes of the public, and when he's not expected on the arena floor, or out wandering the village for character meet-and-greets, Benedict is often found here. He is a self-professed workaholic, after all, and when he's at work, he's at work.

Which is why he's got a couple of the training dummies out and ready to take some hits.

He's not in full armor at the moment, taking a much-needed break from being the Black Knight all day, so he's just in a pair of black jeans and a padded vest not all that unlike what fencers wear, probably the legally necessary amount of protection as determined by staff regulations. Standing by the sword rack, he pulls on first one glove and then the next as he looks off into the middle distance, his attention very far away.

Still adjusting to the routine and flow of Spellbound, Bennie decides a trip out to the Arena off the clock might be a good idea. So here he is. Maybe he's hoping to get inspiration for his character or maybe he's just bored, but walking into the side space he removes a duffel from his shoulder and offers a nod to Benedict.

Unzipping his hooded jacket he wears jogging pants just for a little more flexibility. Then, he's stretching one arm across his chest before alternating arms to stretch. For now he doesn't offer any further greeting in case Benedict is the method actor type.

"BENNY!" Miriam doesn't know there's now more than one Ben in the mix, much less that one is actually a Bennie. "I swear to god, if you keep stepping on my lines I am going to buy fruit flies from a lab supply company and release them in your apartment."

That is a really, really weirdly specific threat.

The auburn-haired woman crosses the training area with big strides and picks up a wooden waster sword. She points it at him, extending it as if it were part of her arm. "I bite my thumb at you, sir."

The arrival of other folks is enough to snap Benedict out of whatever daydream he was in, and he glances over at Bennie but doesn't interrupt the other man's stretching. It has nothing to do with him being a method actor... which he is. But not to the extremes some others have exhibited! He only goes monosyllabic when he's in the armor.

Just as he's pulling a training sword from the selection to test its weight, Miriam calls out to him, and his immediate reply is a mock-concerned gasp. "Not my fruit!" he says. And then he finds himself looking down the length of her sword, and his expression lightens into an amused look.

"Well, if you kept up the pace I wouldn't have to hurry you along," he teases as he circles around Miri, moving out into the middle of the open space. Then he casts a glance towards Bennie, and calls out, "You'll have to bear witness to our duel, I'm afraid. It's a matter of honor." And then he lifts his own blade in a salute to Miriam, cheeky grin well in place now.

"WHATEVER-I-DID-IM-SORRY!" It's blurted out in a confused jumbled totally-respectably-high-pitched tone.

It WAS a specific threat. As he turns to face Miriam he looks to her...then to her sword...and follows the direction of it's point. Not him. Huh.

Blinking he looks between Benedict and Miriam before nodding at the man's request. "I mean. What else is a Jester for right? It'll be my honor." Grinning he nods to the pair. Before offering his name to both for an official greeting outside of their stage personas now. "Bennie. New arrival and professionally known as Chester the Jester. Does this mean no fruit flies for me then?"

Hopefully Drea has the day off, because her hair is in a messy bun rather than the usual carefully-constructed crown braid that allows her to pull it free with a single pin when she removes her helmet after the joust. Or she's really late to hair and makeup. She's wearing knee-length fencing pants and long socks, a workout tank, and carrying her light HEMA bag with her jacket, mask, gauntlets, and sword slung over her shoulder.

There's a shout ahead of her, and she flinches a little, peering out from darkened eyes to study the two Bennies and the Miriam. "Is someone getting fruit flied?" Her eyebrows lift as Bennie introduces himself, "A new jester? Nice. You'll have to meet our heralds too. Iggie's a good one. Ryan steps all over our cues." Evidently the 'duel of honor' is common enough that she doesn't seem put off by it, watching with amusement.

"It's called gravitas, sir! GRAVITAS."

From behind her back, she pulls out a gauntlet, throwing it down in the sand. A duel it is!

She whips her head around when the stranger yelps. "Oh shit. Hi. I didn't know you were also a Benny. Will you be my second?" She tilts her chin up imperiously.

There's something about post-joust adrenaline that just makes Miri playful. And her sort of play often involves combat.

"Drea, you heard him, right? Those were dramatic pauses he jumped all over. A sin most grave."

The gauntlet being thrown, quite literally, gets an eyebrow lift. "I see you came prepared," he says, droll, and then his head tilts, looking towards Bennie out of the corner of his eye. "Oh, that won't get confusing."

So he aims a look over at Miriam, amused. "My days of being Benny are over, it seems. Mother will be ever so pleased." And then before there's a chance of the duel kicking off before he's ready, Ben lifts a hand to wave towards their new jester. "Benedict, pleasure to meet you."

"Don't answer that, Drea! Be my second? She's trying to turn you against me even before we've started!"

Drea's arrival has Bennie turning his attention to her and offering a smirk, "You've come at quite the tumultuous time in our kingdom."

Then, he's looking back as the gauntlet is indeed literally thrown and he visibly holds in a laugh. Consider this training. You can't laugh in the field! "Indeed, Sir Eleanor. I shall even be your third or fourth if you require it!" Taking a quick knee he puts a fist over his chest in pledging loyalty.

As Benedict makes the clarification he nods, "At least your parents gave you a whole name. Mine were just Elton John fans. So it's just Bennie. But call me Moss. It's my last name and I yield the rite of Benny to the order of seniority." Standing again he looks back to Drea and blinks.

"Wait. If we're both seconds does that mean we're fighting each other?" He looks to Miriam again, "I won't be offended if you want to change your mind and pick a more realistic second...like one of the training dummies."

Drea drops her duffel down and digs into it, pulling out her rather battered padded jacket in its dramatic red and gold first and shrugging into it. As she zips and velcros the front, she waves off Miriam's complaints, "I'm not the one to complain about dramatic pause-stomping too," even if she just complained about it herself more or less, "I just see dramatic pauses as openings to hit people in." Gathering up her plastic and leather training gauntlets, she leaves her fencing mask in the bag and pulls out the dulled training sword, giving it a spin around in a neat circle at her side as she straightens up. "Of course, Ben," She gives Benedict a tight smile, since he's been ever-so-busy claiming that Mother will be displeased by that nickname too. "I'll defend your honor... just remember I'm the Serpent on foot, not the Mystery Knight."

Evidently, that's enough time for her to work up to something, because she notes, "I had the weirdest dream last night. Must have been the jalapeno sidecars last night. Something about a glowing orb in a cage or something and having to repair it while people in lab coats attacked. A bunch of people from the park where there, but none of you."

But at Bennie's question, she breezes right past her own statement, "No, only if one of them cheats. Since they both play heels, we might be busy though, Moss. I'm Drea. I think there's a Jetts around here somewhere?"

"My dear lad, you need to read your Miranda. Don't you know the Ten Duel Commandments? The second is the lieutenant when there's reckoning to be reckoned," Miriam deadpans. She swishes into the middle of the training yard.

"You only have to fight Drea if we both die."

So maybe that's not how that works, but she's saying it with confidence.

"You can have Bennie, I suppose," Benedict says, and it doesn't sound like a hardship on his part, admitting that. He glances over towards Drea as she explains her strange dream, and as he lowers himself into a defensive stance, sword held in front of him, he frowns.

He waits. It looks like Miri will have to make the first move. "That's an odd one. Do you think it means something? Wouldn't be the strangest thing that's happened here, admittedly."

The look he shoots Miriam after tells her he is very amused at the absolute hogwash she's spitting at Bennie, so he chooses not to correct her.

"Ah. Well that's encouraging at least," Bennie says with a quick grin. The joke at his name gets a non serious eyeroll, "Great if my Jester career doesn't work out maybe they can pair up to be a musical act."

Miriam's remark is only half caught, "Who's Miranda?" Lofting a brow he shakes his head. "Alas I've only read through three of the ten duel commandments and only half of the employee handbook. I'll improve my efforts should we survive this battle."

Watching Benedict and Miriam prepare to fight he looks to Miriam. "I wish for your quick victory, Sir Eleanor. Both for your glory and for the preservation of my frail body." Looking to Drea he steps a little more away...better safe than sorry.

Drea looks at Miriam with a bit of confusion, "I know Marozzo, Capo Ferro, and Agrippa, but I don't know any treatises by Miranda..." Maybe she doesn't work so well without much sleep. At least she isn't the only one not to get the reference to Hamilton. "I'm pretty sure you're just supposed to stop me if I cheat, or help punish Ben if he cheats."

She steps well away from the 'duelists,' lifting up her training sword into an extended ready stance, with the point well out in front of her, and then she shudders and draws back, brushing imaginary dust -- or blood -- from the tip of her sword. "I don't think it means anything, but it was entirely vivid. This whole room of like steampunk or gearpunk stuff, and some of the people were working to get the glow-y thing working, and some of the people were holding off the lab coats, and some of the lab coats were throwing electricity around. And I fought them."

Miriam rolls her eyes. "Okay, so I apparently need to have you guys over for an education. Hamilton. God. Heathens, all of you."

Her brows draw together at the description of the dream."That's really crazy. Do... do dreams mean things around here, or am I just looking for everything to be magical?"

She pauses. "You guys are trying to distract me. Well played."

With a salute of her sword, she takes a few testing swings at Benedict.

Benedict doesn't take the entirety of his focus off of Miriam, relying on his peripheral vision to keep up his participation in the conversation flowing back and forth. "It's always magic," he says, as if it's as easy as that, and then Miri is stepping in to swing at him.

Their practice swords knock together once, twice, and then on the last swing Benedict parries Miriam's blade away at the last second. Not enough time for him to properly take advantage of, but it gives him a chance to reset his stance, still on the defensive.

Or so it seems. He lunges forward with practiced ease, sword leading the way.

Wait. Drea has her weapon. Why does Drea have her weapon if they aren't going to be fighting?

Oh well, better safe than sorry! Bennie watches her and gives an acknowledging nod. He then takes his own sword...or at least pretends to. An imaginary sword being lifted in his hand in a manner that mimics hers, down to the brushing away of imaginary whatever. He then extends his sword out in a ready defensive position.

"Be prepared for frequent disappointment from me. There's a lot of movies, shows and everything else I have never seen. It's a sad fate, but it's mine nonetheless."

He keeps his gaze between the 'battle' and his hopeful non-opponent. A quick plead to Drea, "If you do have to strike? Please. Avoid my face? It's unfortunate enough."

Drea face-palms gently in her practice gauntlet, "Oh. Hamilton. Duh. Right. That doesn't see as much karaoke as some of the other songs from that show." Which might be her most common connection to Broadway songs. "Come on, Miri, you've got to be able to fight with distractions. We work in front of a huge crowd yelling things at us," she gestures over to Bennie with one hand, "And a jester and a herald with mics."

"And I don't know if it's a Thing, or just... too many jalapeno sidecars." Looking over to Bennie, she laughs softly, "I won't hit your face. Do you prefer bruises on the arms or the legs?" She's joking, right? She's probably joking.

It's okay. Miri is happy to take those parries and blows. She seems to turn on a laser focus, all movement and calculation, sinew and muscle and instinct.

And maybe some dirty tricks.

<<So, Benny.>> She parries his swing and tries to get in under his guard, both physically and psychically. <<Tell me about that governess.>>

She lifts her head to ask, "What the fuck is a jalapeño sidecar?"

The thoughts being beamed directly into his brain causes Benedict to stutter, verbally with a short, "Cheating!" and then in his movement, which allows Miriam to get a swipe in across his midsection. First blood, or it would be, if they were using real blades.

He glowers at her as he dodges backwards, putting some space between the two of them. Of the spicy sidecars (which do sound delicious), he says, "I can see why they might have caused you some distress, but I've heard rumors about strange dreams before." Though he's not yet breathing hard, their initial flurry of sword strikes only enough to begin the trickle of adrenaline into his system, Benedict's eyes are narrowed with intensity.

And then he finally decides to have some mercy. Oh, not on Miriam, but his name twin: "Seconds are mostly responsible for making sure the fight is fair," and the look he shoots Miri suggests he doesn't think that telepathy trick counted as fair, precisely, "So you aren't liable to actually fight unless some sort of emergency happens."

Benedict reengages with a flurry of blows, a move not unlike the Back Knight's usual modus operandi, meant to overwhelm his foe by being menacing right up in their face. Of course, without the spiked armor, glowing eyes, and all... the effect is perhaps slightly lessened.

"It's true. I'd be a poor Jester if I wasn't distracting. Or at least mildly disruptive."

To Miriam's question Moss answers matter of factly, "It's a jalapeno attached to some sort of transportation unit to add additional seating. Though I always found the concept silly. Who could even fit in a jalapeno?"

Then, he realizes he's supposed to be distracting Benedict! Even if the knight was just trying to assure him. "Hey Benny. That reminds me of a joke. What kind of vegetable is the nosiest?"

Drea frowns slightly in thought at Benedict's mention of others experiencing strange dreams, but she nods and looks back to Miriam, adding in after Bennie's accurate-ish-but-wrong description of the item in question, "A sidecar is brandy -- or in this case bourbon -- with lemon juice and triple sec, sort of like a margarita without the evils of tequila. A jalapeno sidecar has one of the liquors infused with jalapeno."

Still watching the sparring going on, she moves through a flowing cutting drill consisting of a loop of thrusts and cuts that brings her right back to her starting position, "For our show, a second is mostly an excuse to get more people involved, to let the heels do something dirty and the faces to defend themselves and come out on top." But she holds off any further commentary to allow for the joke's punchline.

<<Do I really remind you of her?>>

Miriam is relentless, not intimidated by the Black Knight's fast and close maneuvers. And relentless in cheating and being an utter imp.

She calls out, "I thought it was some kind of huge popper," she says of the sidecar. Now she's determined to craft such a monstrosity.

A grin is flashed in Bennie's direction. This is excellent backup.

Benedict's mind is a steel trap. Actually, he might be reciting Shakespearian sonnets in his head to keep Miriam from getting any information out of him, but the effect is the same.

Their swords clash, going blow for blow for a time, each giving up and gaining the upper hand in due course. He resolutely does not look over at Bennie for the joke's conclusion, instead calling out another singular, "Cheating!"

And then something about what Miriam says nearly has Benedict getting smacked in the face with her sword, only managing to block at the very last moment. Close, that. "You, what?" he asks, only for something to click in his head and he lets out a snort of a breath.

"Well, next time you have a drink, sign me up," he says to Drea. "We'll compare dream notes to see if it was an isolated incident or not. But I'm telling you -- magic!"

"Well. It's good to know I'm safe for the most part then," Moss offers to Drea's explanation with a smile.

He does notice Miriam's appreciation for his backup. Now he has to land the delivery!

When Benedict every so rudely does not look his way he 'drops' his imaginary sword and puts both hands on either side of his mouth to call out. "A pepper! Because it's...jalapeono business!" Sound it out. It's funny. Honest it's funny!

"That sounds amazing too," Drea adds to Miriam, "Bourbon-soaked cream-cheese in a jalapeno?" She looks between Benedict and Miriam, back to Benedict, "And far-be-it from me to go against the man I'm seconding, but how in the hells is she cheating?" There's laughter behind the words as she repeats the cutting drill at a safe distance from the sparring, "That was a great parry-riposte."

Drea groans at Bennie's joke, but she groans with a grin on her face, shaking her head in amusement. Tucking the dull blade of her sword under her left arm, she pulls off her gauntlets and holds them both in her left hand as she watches, her amusement fading away rather quickly, "I'd rather not think about it too hard. I'm pretty sure I killed a couple of folks in that dream -- but since I haven't heard about a rash of people waking up with electricity burns or blunt force trauma, maybe none of the damage lasted." Clearing her throat, she looks over to Bennie, "Hey Moss, you have any experience with stage combat? There's a bit in the show where the herald and the jester get pulled into the melee. Should be pretty easy to learn even if you don't know what you're doing with it yet."

"A boat," Miri clarifies, "made of slices of pepper, frankensteined together with a pound of cream cheese, then battered and fried."

This seems utterly delightful to her. "And then--"

Suddenly she stops in her tracks, eyes going wide and unfixed, dropping her sword. She seems frozen in place, not even seeming to breathe, though she trembles slightly.

"She knows how!" Benedict protests, even as he sizes Miriam up for his next attack. He's ambivelent about the food talk, but he does echo Drea's groan with one of his own at Bennie's joke, mouth curving into a good-natured smile.

His fingers around the grip of his sword tightens slightly just before he moves in, but he has to abruptly halt his attack, as Miri drops her weapon, and he backtracks a step or two to give her space. "You alright?" he asks, voice tinged with concern.

The obvious admiration for his humor gets a smirk from Moss. "You're welcome." He's punny!

Drea's question gets a nod, "I do actually. Had some stunt experience from high school theater." Hearing her talk about her dream he frowns, "That sounds awful. I'm sorry."

Then, there's more to be concerned about as Miriam starts behaving oddly. Looking to her he lets the others check on her, not wanting to crowd any or get in the way.

When Miri freezes in place, Drea drops her gauntlets, catching her practice blade at the balance point as she drops it out of her armpit, and rushes forward. She's more careful setting her sword down, but only a little, and by the time she gets closer to Miriam, both of her hands are empty. Drea reaches out with her right hand to try and grasp Miri's arm in case she starts to topple over, her left hovering behind her co-worker's back, "Is she seizing?"

"Tunnels," Miri whispers, the air barely touching her vocal cords. She is tense and rigid, eyes unfixed, brow knit.

"Stone tunnels. Wet and old." She seems to be regaining her composure, though she still looks utterly terrified. "I saw them. None of you were there, but I was. I saw it all around me. Small and narrow and... fuck, what is happening?"

Benedict is at Miriam's side not long after Drea, having done a similar routine of setting his sword down before approaching. He nods over her to Drea and then his lips thin, giving an uncertain shake of his head. "I don't know," is all he says.

And then Miri speaks, so she's at least with them, to some degree. Though Ben's brow knits together in confusion at what she says. "Not the park tunnels, then," he supposes, quietly, but then he blows out a breath. "Maybe we should have a sit-down, yes?"

As the two tend to Miriam, he watches with concern. Moss breathes a sigh of relief when she speaks but...it doesn't make any sense to him. Or to the others it seems.

Walking the few steps to his duffel bag he quickly reaches in before walking over to them. Holding out a water bottle to Miriam he nods, "Here. You all want me to run get a medic?" he asks and looks to Drea and Benedict. There's a time for jokes and a time for serious. The Jester antics are put aside for the moment.

"Tunnels?" Drea repeats Miriam's whisper quietly, looking back to Benedict and Bennie, "Stone tunnels, wet and old." But then Miriam's voice is more readily audible -- and Benedict is there at her side too. "Probably not," she agrees with Benedict thoughtfully, and then nods, "Yeah. A sit-down sounds good. And maybe, Moss. Let's see how she's doing first, but get ready to dial the in-park paramedics."

"Sitting down. Yeah. I can do that." Miri sits down unceremoniously on the ground on which she had been standing. "No, please, no medics unless you think I'm actually having a stroke this time." She looks up at Bennie. "I appreciate you," she says earnestly.

This time. Benedict was there for the first time she thought she was having a stroke -- when her telepathy manifested spontaneously, malfunctioned, and jolted through her head like a lance.

Looking up at Drea, she states in a flat tone of barely contained dread, "Your dream had tunnels."

"I don't think she's having a stroke this time," Benedict says, his intonation fairly flat to avoid it being panic-striken. He crouches down next to Miriam one she goes to ground, and braces his arm on his knee as he looks her over consideringly.

Then he sighs out with regret. "Magic," is all he says, and then he looks up at Bennie, a momentary flicker in his eyes before he asks, "You said you were a new arrival, didn't you?"

There's a nod given to Drea as she says to be ready to call just in case. Though it's Miriam and Benedict's comments that concern him, "THIS time!?" The debate is clear on his expression as to whether he should just call the medics.

With Miriam's appreciation though he does give a small smile, "It's what any good second would do," he offers in an attempt to hopefully make her feel better.

Wait a second. How does Miriam know what Drea's dream had in it? Had she mentioned tunnels? He really needed to pay better attention. Then, Benedict's question draws him back to the conversation and he looks over to him. "Yeah. Wait...magic? She had a magic stroke?" He's so confused. Was she allergic to new people!?

"This time?" Drea and Bennie speak their disbelief in unison. She crouches down too, looking up to Bennie with a little shrug before her head snaps back to Miriam sharply enough that some of that messy ponytail of hers nearly comes loose. She's hesitant for a moment before she admits, "Yeeeeah... the scientist guy who told us to fix the thing was dragged out into tunnels by the red-gloved guys in black." Sighing heavily, she nods at Benedict, "Magic."

Looking over to Bennie, she speaks quickly, with a slightly rote tone to it, "You said you read the handbook, right? Well, you probably didn't believe it, I certainly didn't, but magic is real. At least here it is. I don't wear makeup when I perform as the Serpent of Seraphin."

And then she does the thing, her skin sort of blurring into serpent-like scales of black and dark gray, with whorls of gold running through them, a paler gray along her throat, and bold stripes of orange running back from her eyes into her blonde hair. "That's a lot easier to show off than the regeneration."

"I didn't have a stroke before, either. My telepathy manifesting was a wild ride," Miri says by way of explanation. She looks up at Bennie sympathetically. "Yeah, this is all new to me, too, and it's hard to get a grasp of it all."

Suddenly, her voice echoes in Bennie's head. <<And this is what I was doing to try and throw Benedict off during the duel.>>

If he doesn't believe Drea's skin, this is one that's harder to rationalize away.

Benedict has his own magic trick to show off for the uninitiated, but Drea takes care of that for him with her own. As does Miriam, though there's no way for him to know that she's now aiming her thoughts at Bennie.

Standing, he lets out his nervous energy by pacing a few meters away, before turning around and coming back to Miri's side, not wanting to be too far in case something else happens. But as far as he can tell the worst has passed, those ominous few words from whatever vision of Drea's dream Miriam had rattling about in his brain.

Suddenly tired, he peels off a glove o rub his face, sweeping a few curls from his forehead after.

"I skimmed the handbook. Figured it was more like a guideline anyways." At least he's honest. Bennie lofts a brow, "I just assumed it meant it in the 'Magic is the friendships we make along the way', sort of deal." Bennie looks between them...that's not...what it meant?

When Drea's skin shifts into the serpent scales his eyes widen and it's his turn to sit as he plops to the ground. "I'm sorry the regene-whonow?" Hold that thought though. Someone is talking in his head.

So he does the only natural reaction of turning around quickly and karate chopping the air, "What-the!?"

He looks to Benedict expectantly, but when nothing happens he blinks. "So what? Your magic is being ridiculously dashing and charismatic?" Shaking his head he looks to them, "Did you ever think the best way to introduce your abilities ISN'T by practically sending a person into shock though?" There's a pause and if there's any worry he's actually upset it's quickly proven unnecessary when he grins, "Those are all pretty bad ass though."

"Telepathy?" Says the woman who currently has mostly-matte rattlesnake skin, "That's so cool." Drea looks over to Bennie as he handles it... like he does. She lets out a little breath and the scales shrink down and fade right back to her peachy skin. "You handled that... not bad." She nods to herself, "Sometimes the shock is good, sometimes it isn't. Figured you could handle it, Moss."

But then she's snorting at his question of Benedict, "Please. He's mildly cute for this park," and focusing back on Miriam, "So you saw tunnels? Is it the first time you've seen something like that? And did you see anything else? Like what was going on, or what that machine that we fixed did, or who the people we were fighting were?"

"I think he's super cute, but I'm pretty sure his superpower is hero poses," Miri chimes in with a sly grin. Isn't it great that everyone is weighing in on Benedict's cuteness? Poor Benedict.

She gets back to her feet, sketching a bow to Benedict. "I concede the duel and hope you are satisfied with the resolution of the insult." While she is bowing, she scoops up the gauntlet.

She straightens, turning to Drea. "Nothing like this has ever happened before, which is kind of why I lost my shit. Wasn't a fun surprise. But no to all of that. Just tunnels."

If it were just Bennie calling him dashing and charismatic, then maybe Benedict could have managed. But then Drea offers a rebuttal, and Miriam piles on, and now Benedict's face is red and his lips are pressed into a thin line and he looks entirely at a disadvantage. "I really don't know why this is a topic of conversation," he says, almost as if to himself, and then thankfully they're moving on.

When Miri pulls herself up to her feet and bows, it's the showman in Ben that automatically bows back, a little flourish of his arm thrown in for good measure. But his brow is knit together as he straightens, and he looks between her and Drea, the two apparently comparing visions or dreams or the like.

There's nothing for Benedict to offer to that, so he turns to Bennie and says, "You get used to it, eventually. It's just... a quirk of the park."

Drea's compliment, or at least that's what Bennie is taking it as, earns a grin. "Thanks! I appreciate the confidence."

He realizes then just how embarrassed Benedict is and there's a flash of guilt before he helps move the topic forward. "Tunnels!" That's subtle. "Maybe you could draw them? To see if they're anything like what the park has anywhere? Or...telepathically show them to us?

Benedict's assurance gets a skeptical look as Bennie's brow furrows. "Is it a quirk that happens to everyone? Because that looked painful at best...scary at worst..." he nods to Miriam regarding how her vision affected her. "I am not interested in that Employee Benefit."

Drea wavers her spread fingers back and forth at Miriam's response, making a little 'eh' noise, "Maybe moderately. But there's some real talent around. Have you seen some of the hospitality folks, medical, and security?" She whistles soft and low in appreciation. Reaching out to give Benedict a little shove on the shoulder, she adds, "It's a topic of conversation because it's easier than talking about magic dreams that match up with... I don't know," she looks at Miriam in question, "visions? Plus it's important to look at the talent around you."

Looking over to Bennie, she shrugs a little helplessly, "It seems like everyone has slightly different abilities. Like I can protect myself with the snakeskin, I heal faster, and I can understand animals a little better. I've never had magic dreams before, or telepathy, or anything like that. Some people can fly though, which is wicked."

"God, I'd love to defy gravity." Miri sighs wistfully. She claps Benedict on the shoulder when he blushes. No words. Just pat pat.

Bennie gets another sympathetic look. "Not optional, I'm afraid. As far as I can tell, if kind of hits everyone. Best of luck."

Benedict's eyes go skyward at the Wicked reference, and then he shoots a look at Miriam that is both a bit fond and a bit exasperated. Some sort of history there, certainly. He doesn't reveal what his own special talents are, leaving that to Bennie's imagination for the time being, and after both Drea and Miriam reach to pat him (well, Miri at least pats him, it's a bit rougher from Drea) he moves to gather up his discarded sword and return it to its place on the rack.

"We'll keep an eye out for any magical developments," he says, nodding once to Bennie. "They can come as something of a shock but they do end up as second nature before long. And maybe post something up about the tunnels?"

The encouragement from the others doesn't feel very encouraging, but it's not their fault. "Great. As if regular puberty wasn't bad enough. Now I get 'magical puberty'," said with jazz hands for magical emphasis obviously.

"With my luck I'll get something like being able to turn invisible, but only when no one is looking. Or being able to summon peas on command," he says with a grimace. Safe to say he isn't a fan of peas. "Well...whatever happens...whenever it happens...at least I know who to come talk to about it."

Seeing the duel come to an end he looks between the group. "I think I'm going to stay and work on some stunt work a bit...stuff to amuse the audience ya know? But we should hang out sometime. Outside of work."

Drea chuckles at the quote, "I understood that reference." She reaches out to squeeze Miri's shoulder lightly, and then heads over to collect her own gear, only to crack up at Bennie's description, "Magical puberty. I love it. I mean, I hated some of it, but I love the description." She blinks, and then narrows her eyes at Bennie, "Wasn't that something from an old movie about really bad superheroes?" Her sword is tucked under her arm again, and she pulls on her gauntlets, flexing the plastic protectors, "Yes, I'm sure you can talk to any of us about it. I know Ben's been here from the park opening, I've been here for like nine months, and it's all pretty new for Miriam. So we all have different, good perspectives."

She chuckles at Bennie's suggestion, "A bunch of us hit Lucky's most nights after work. After a day playing for the whole world," or at least a very small subsection of it, "you kind of need to blow off some steam." Looking back to Benedict, she adds, "Oh, and posting something on the employee forums is a great idea."