--
There was a moment of silent between them. There was an awkward stare.
Speechless, both of them doesn't seem to know what to say.
Solanne was still sitting, looking at her almost lukewarm cup noodles. While Yael was sipping his coffee.
They were silent. No one was talking. Not knowing what to do in this kind of situation, Solanne grabbed her chopsticks and decided to eat. The noodles taste like chicken.
Seriously, she can feel her body draining with energy. She needs to drink her medicine soon.
Yael on the second was now scrolling through his phone. He seemed to be typing something.
"Meow…" the two cats were now awake and both of them were walking in their direction.
"Have you feed the cats?" Solanne asked out of nowhere. It's a good way to start a conversation.
"Yes, earlier. " Yael simply answered.
"They look hungry tho." Solanne looked at her feet where the cats were.
"Do not let them fool you! Overeating is not good for cats."
"…."
"Isn't this the part where need to panic and runaway?" Solanne who can't bear the silence sighed and asked.
"That's just happens in movie." Yael shrugged. Solanne tilted her head. There's something missing about this.
"Aren't we pretty calm about this?"
"Should we panic then?" Yael asked back. He raised his right brow. Solanne looked down, seeing that he had already finished his coffee.
"Hmmm?" She hummed.
"Then," Solanne finished her food. "What should we do now?"
"Talk?"
"About?"
"Well, anything we might connect with."
Both of them were silent once again. They were both preoccupied with their thoughts.
"When did you started dreaming?" Solanne asked her head was resting on the kitchen counter. She doesn't have any energy right now. She feels drowsy.
"Put your mask. You'll spread the virus."
"Eh?" Solanne paused. Her eyes trembled. Her complexion even looked paler than before.
Yael's gaze was focus at her. "Huh?" he was puzzled seeing her started panicking like that.
"Now that you think about it, having fever, body aches and cough are all signs of the virus, right?" Solanne begun to panic. This time, her eyes were wide as a saucer.
"You're not panicking about the dreams but the virus? Really? In this fantasy like happening, right now?"
"Hey! I have the right." Solanne stood up, hands on her waist. She wanted to look like she's making sense of something yet, her voice just cracks and she panics.
"Those were just dreams they can't harm us. If I really contracted the virus right now, I'm dead! There's no cure that has been developed! I do not want to die yet! I have my dreams! I have a family! I can't leave my only brother behind! Besides, I dream of opening my very own café and live a slow life like this! I need to be an aesthetic girly you know that!"
Solanne heaved her breath, as she glared at Yael.
"Also, why are you pretty calm about this? What would happen if you got infected! I can't be on the news again saying, 'the Idol and actor, Yael has been infected by the virus. This is all because of the woman whom he's been with on his vacation."
Solanne pulled her hair out of frustration. Yael was just staring at her panicking like this.
"All of your fans will hate me! I'll be stalked! Worse, they'll kill me, and if I'm already dead because of the virus, they'll dig my grave! I can't even rest in peace! Perhaps, God would also give me divine retribution for putting harm on that precious body like yours! I'm just a commoner anyway! Only the devil would welcome me in his arms praising me for a job well done! Ah!"
"No! Stay away!" She waved her arms in the air.
"Calm the fuck down! Have you been watching the news?" Yael's lips were twitching as he sighed.
"No!" Solanne answered as if it was given. "It gives me depression. My mental health is important."
Yael sighed again. "Your sick where is all of this energy came from? Besides, let me ask you a question. What's the taste of the cup noodles?"
"Chicken flavor, duh?" Solanne answered eyeing in a weird manner.
"Then you're not sick because of the virus."
"Where's your scientific basis?" Solanne challenged. She's a person who often research things on the internet and gather facts backing up her theories.
"The news?" Yael answered like it was pure common sense.
"Explain it to me please." Solanne's eyes were begging. She's desperate of course. What If because of all of her Karma, the world decided to give her the virus and kill her? There are still many things she wanted in life.
Yael feels like he'll the one who'll get sick because of her. "Beside what you have mention, another symptoms was the lack of taste as well. You can test the cup noodles so in conclusion you do not have the virus. Besides, according to the news, the only way you can contract them is by spending time with someone who has them."
"We are in a very isolated place. We can't even leave if we want too. So, how will you get the virus?"
Solanne paused for a moment. Her eyes were moving left and right as she seemed to be thinking. "Well," She sat down. Both hands on the table.
"I'm sorry, I over exaggerate."
"Glad that you know." He bluntly said.
Solanne can feel her face burning not because she was sick but because of her embarrassment. She cleared her throat. "Why not let's go back to the topic? When did you started dream?"
"A few days ago." Yael shortly answered. Solanne nodded urging him to continue. "My first dream was when I was in the train and there's nobody there—"
"That's the same as mine!"
"Let me finish first."
"Sorry."
"Going back," Yael leaned on the chair and put his phone down.
"That was my first dream and that continue for a few days before I started to explore the train. Then I met you and that creepy Conductor handling tickets. After that, whatever you saw, I saw it too."
Solanne sighed. Her head was again resting on the kitchen counter. All of her energy was now drained off her body.
"The same us mine. Why do you think this is happening? Have we done something? Are we being cursed?"
"Don't say something so horrifying," Yael shivered. "I tried to search something on the internet and most of them are talking about emotional closeness. Some were even talking about spirituality. Are we even that close? We're strangers to each other before this."
Solanne eyed her weirdly. "Are you the type of person who believes everything on the internet."
"Not all." Yael denied as he frowned.
"How ironic," Solanne simply answered back. Yael studied her. Her eyes glimmer of something he doesn't seem to recognized before it disappeared without a trace.
"Anything to help?" Yael pressed.
"In a sense," Solanne closed her eyes as she continued speaking. "We're traveling. We are in a train it means that we have a destination." Solanne was able to think this rationally now knowing that she wasn't alone. There something comfortable, knowing that Yael was with her in this.
"Additionally, to that, we should consider those as important parts. They're dreams. Dreams like this won't give us unnecessary things."
Yael was silent as he calmly listened to her.
Solanne continued. "Now, we should dissect everything we have seen. The conductors. He's the one who seemed to be guiding us. But, when did we have tickets? We have a destination. So were the other passengers. Yet, why are we in the train? Why are they showing this to us? They can just magically teleport us to somewhere yet, we're in the train."
"It's all questions for now," Solanne heaved her breath. Her voice become weaker and weaker the second past before her mouth stopped moving and her breathing became stable.
"She fell asleep?" Yael exasperatedly said as he eyed her. He doesn't know if he should be annoyed, be angry or even laugh. "You were in the middle of something! How can you even fall asleep?"
Yael looked at the time. It's pass seven in the evening. 'She's sick. It's understandable.' Adding to that, what he said to her made sense that he was even more curious to know what is in her mind.
"So what to do now?" He murmured. He could just leave her be here but he's afraid that her fever could get worse. Her insights were much more helpful than him so, he can't have her like that. That would be a pain.
In the end, he sighed and carried her to her room once again. He put a blanket over her and closed the room.
He then went back to the kitchen and tidy up. He used some alcohol to disinfect the place afraid her virus might really infect him.
He can't have her delusions come true. He still have dreams like her.
He laughed remembering her narrative. "Damn that narrative was so informative."
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