Submission (#607) Approved

Comet looked down to see a very distant version of their house. It was definitely their house. After all, it wasn't exactly common to have a huge telescope poking out of the roof. So why was it so.. far away..? they looked to the left, then to the right. Were they in the air..? Surely they must be with how small their house seemed. How on earth were they going to get back down?

As they pondered their newfound conundrum, a familiar little face peeked down into view, tossing any chances of figuring this out quickly through the proverbial window. Phobos, their new pet nauticus was staring, albeit upside down, in front of Comet's own face. Moving off of their temporary perch with a chitter, Phobos created a small cluster of clouds to rest on, chittering curiously at how their companion was high in the sky. Comet nervously scratched under Phobos' chin as they looked back down at the ground. They weren't exactly afraid of heights but.. they surely couldn't just stay up here. Well, they were going to be up here until they figured something out. Creating a much larger cloud, Comet fell back into their new seat.

Huh?

Let's try this again..

Comet made a gesture with their hands, tracing the rough shape of Phobos. Sure enough, a small cloudy lookalike appeared. Phobos curiously poked it with their face before it dissipated, leaving a baffled nauticus to look up at Comet, who was already making simple shapes. There were a few hoops here and there for Phobos to float through and a diving board to leap from into a bed of clouds below.

3.... 2.... 1..!

Holding Phobos in their hands, Comet jumped from the diving board only to realize how slowly they fell. How odd! After a minute or so, the two safely landed in the bed of clouds. Comet gently set Phobos down next to them and looked over to see the sun was coming up. The stars that gently twinkled through the night begun to be drowned out by the warm amber hues of the rising sun. Such pretty colors.

Comet jolted awake. They were back in their own bed with Phobos resting nearby in a bed of clouds they made last night, undisturbed by the light peeking through the starry curtain. Just to make sure they were surely back home, Comet quietly crept out of bed, as not to disturb Phobos and stood in the center of the room. Comet dug their foot into the fluffy carpet ever so slightly. It was the same cloud carpet, as soft as ever. The dull glow of the star stickers on the roof were fading with the slowly growing light. Let's close the curtain a bit more for now.. Phobos was a bit too peaceful to be woken up by an early sun.

The bed creaked as Comet leaned on it, sliding the curtains back together. Still asleep..? Comet peeked behind them. Phobos hadn't stirred just yet, just as serene as ever. Good, good. Onto getting ready.

As silent as Comet could possibly muster, they slunk around the room. Shoes, jacket.. Oh! They could write this down. Wouldn't want to forget anything. After all, it was a wonderful little dream once the initial fear wasn't an issue. It could also have been a nod to the potential of further bonding with Phobos. Comet pulled out the bedside drawer, only to be met with a missing journal. They must've left it in the observatory.

Comet stepped out of the room, almost closing the door instinctively before remembering they didn't need to with Phobos around. Wouldn't want to accidently shut them in. Comet tugged on the cord in the hallway that led up to the converted attic. The moon bead at the end was the roommate Ailin's idea. It helped to make sure you were grabbing it at least. With a firm tug, the trapdoor opened and the ladder tumbled out, ready to be adjusted.

Comet didn't expect to see Ailin dosing off in the pile of cushions up here. They presumed she would've followed after. Did they forget and sent the ladder up? Whoops.. Shaking their head to get rid of the momentary 'guilt', Comet got to work. They moved the pillows, one by one and folded up two of the blankets. Seeing the third one, one with the phases of the moon on it still sprawled out, Comet had a pleasant idea, and a teeny tiny apology just in case. Scooping up the stray blanket, Comet carefully crept towards Ailin before gingerly placing the blanket over her. There we go. Nice and comfy!

Back to searching.

It had been more than a few minutes by now and Comet still hadn't had any luck. They knew they had left it up here.. Ailin might've had an inkling of an idea of to where the stray journal could've been left or maybe even know outright, but she was completely and utterly passed out. That was also the only place they hadn't actually checked yet. There were a few more pillows and scattered books here, but Comet couldn't guarantee that Ailin wouldn't be woken up.

Taking a deep breath, Comet got to work nonetheless. Starting at the outer pillows, Comet moved the pillows off to the side, placing some of the smaller ones in the large wicker basket that had been put up there to keep things ever so slightly neater. ...It didn't always work. With no luck, and very few places to look left, Comet sighed. They'd have to wake Ailin up. She could be sleeping on it.

Comet shook Ailin's shoulder until she stirred awake, baffled when Comet asked if she could move to find their journal. The one with the planet stickers they wrote dreams in or jotted constellations down in? That one. Unsurprisingly, Comet's new hunch was right and the journal was produced.

After thanking their roommate, Comet hunted down a nearby pen and got to work with Ailin peeking over their shoulder with a curious air to her. To make it easier on both of their necks, Comet began to speak out loud as they wrote, saving Ailin from leaning over.

As Comet was finishing up the tiny details of their micro adventure, Ailin had a request, she wanted to visualize it, just for fun. Could they do the hand movements again? Humoring Ailin, they glided their finger in the air in the shape of a star. With a poof, a cloudy star appeared.

Maybe.. it wasn't just a dream.

Reward	Amount
Serum	20