Now back in Dorothy's office, Kenji opened his eyes and hummed to himself at the familiar yet different feeling of hopping between pocket dimensions. Looking up, he saw Dorothy slowly open her eyes and let out a loud yawn, stretching her arms above her head.
"Ahhhhh, it's been so long since I've been awake like this. I think... a week? Hehe."
Kenji looked at her weirdly. "Really? You haven't woken up for a week? How do you even get anything done?"
She put her hand over her mouth and giggled. "Hehe, well, I let little Kirschey deal with all the bothersome duties. I don't have to do anything unless something really bothersome comes up." She stopped and thought for a bit, then continued, "Well, I suppose I'll have to do more now with the Diamond Kingdom attacking and all that." She pouted cutely. "How rude of them, don't they have any heart interrupting a lady's beauty sleep like that?"
Kenji laughed. "Well, you might just be the smartest captain out there. Absolutely genius, I'd say. Who wants to work when someone else can do it for you?"
Dorothy smiled brightly at that, looking bashful at the praise. "Hehe, you get it!"
Kenji pondered for a bit, hand under his chin. "Well, I suppose if I ever become captain, I have someone perfect in mind to toss my duties onto." He thought to himself, Yuwei wouldn't mind if I dragged her into this mess, right? Nah, of course not. She loves me.
Dorothy smiled mischievously. "Ohhh, and who might that be? Hehe, it's not a girl, is it?" She looked at him with gossip in her eyes, clearly eager for details.
"Yup, but it's not how you think, haha. More of a brother-sister relationship."
Dorothy pouted. "Nono, mister. I'm the only big sister in your life now. This won't stand."
Kenji thought secretly, We just met girl, what? " But said aloud, "Sure... haha. More best friends—how's that?"
She nodded happily, satisfied with the compromise.
"So what's all this big sister business you keep insisting on?" Kenji asked. "Not that I'm complaining about being able to ride your coattails here and take it easy. But we literally just met. I don't think I've done anything that crazy to gain your affection, no?"
Dorothy's smile became more genuine. "Well, yeah, we just met, but we can always get to know each other. That's no big deal—time will mend that. But it's because I finally have someone to dream with! With you here!"
Kenji gained a pondering look. "You said that before. What do you mean by that exactly?"
Dorothy's expression shifted to something sadder, more vulnerable. "Well... with my magic, life's so lonely, you know? I have my own world where I can make all my dreams come true and do anything I want... but I have nobody to share it with." She looked down. "I can bring people there and all, but they don't really understand me while there. They only see my strength as a threat or an asset. They can't truly share their dreams with me there, open up and share with me through their magic. And since the cost of my dream world is having to sleep constantly in the real world... I can't do that there either."
Then she brightened up considerably. "But it's different with you! If I'm right, you can do the same as me with your magic and make your thoughts reality in your own space! When you're stronger, I also think you'll be able to play around with me in my dream world and gain some control, sharing your dreams! That's why I call you that—because you're the first person I've met that I can truly share my dreams, my own world with, and in return, you can do the same!"
Her smile brightened at the end, and Kenji stayed silent, not knowing what to say. He'd imagined something like this might be the case, but hearing her say it out loud changed things. He couldn't just dismiss her now or shut her out, or he'd feel like an asshole.
Before he could ponder too deeply, Dorothy broke him out of his thoughts. "Well, enough of all that mushy stuff! Your mana has almost recovered now. How about showing me how your world works!" She was getting excited again.
Kenji came out of his own head, shook it off, and smiled. "Yeah, sure." He slicked his hair back with his hand. "You ready? It'll feel a little different from going in and out of your dream world, as you call it."
Dorothy nodded excitedly.
Kenji nodded back.
Snap.
Everything around them changed. The office's basic structure stayed the same, but all the colors transformed to look like splashes of paint washing away—orange, the same pink and purple as her office, white, and a myriad of different colors blended together, looking like a chaotic canvas from a street artist spray painting graffiti.
Dorothy looked around in wonder. "So this is how you see the world, huh? How beautiful." Her eyes tried to take it all in, filled with genuine appreciation.
Kenji chuckled. "Well yeah, I like this look. It's ever-changing, never staying the same. Makes it fun to play around with and create some truly cool surroundings." Thinking of how he'd unconsciously put it, he began to understand Dorothy's point of view a bit better. "You know, I think I get what you said before. Nobody has ever really appreciated everything in here before. Everyone I've brought has either been in a fight, or they didn't truly appreciate what I'm doing here."
Looking at her examining the space with wonder, bringing her hand up to go through the orange liquid-like paint splashing through the surroundings, skipping around with childlike joy, he muttered quietly, "Yeah, this isn't so bad, I guess."
Dorothy turned toward him, skipping over. "See, I told you! Someone to dream with—isn't it great? And you were right, it feels different here. With you, it feels more like we're blending into this space, like it's a natural thing, like breathing!... but with me going to my dream world, it feels like... hmmm, how should I put it?" She tilted her head, thinking with a hand on her chin.
Kenji cut her off. "Like you're being ripped from reality?"
Dorothy giggled. "Well, for you maybe. For me, it's more like falling asleep, hehe."
Kenji laughed as well.
Dorothy grabbed his hand, eyes sparkling. "Well, show me what else you can do!"
Kenji nodded with a slight smirk.
Snap.
Everything around them changed to black and white, like an old detective film. "Well, you see—"
Snap.
Everything transformed to look like a cartoon, even Kenji and Dorothy themselves. She looked at him and started giggling at his new appearance, then laughed harder when Kenji created a mirror for her to see herself.
"I can make everything as I want it to be here."
Snap.
Everything changed again to look like traditional animation, causing Dorothy to feel an odd sensation wash over her.
"Whatever I want the world to be here, I make it so. Kinda like you." He began to walk forward.
Snap.
Everything gained vibrant color again, with them appearing in a 3D animation style. "Everything's mine to play with here."
Snap.
The world began to break apart. "My favorite thing that makes people lose their minds is playing with relativity like this." He spread his hands to gesture at everything.
Staircases appeared, going in multiple conflicting directions within the same structure, creating an impossible architectural space where gravity and perspective were completely distorted. Continuing to walk while leading Dorothy by the hand, he stepped onto different walls, platforms, and stairs, showcasing how the labyrinth-like design that seemed to go on forever. It is interconnected with three different gravitational forces, each orthogonal to the others. This created a world where a wall could also be a floor, and where figures walked on the "underside" of stairs as if defying gravity, thoroughly messing with Dorothy's perception of the world around her.
Snapping again, everything froze in place, then suddenly twisted rapidly before constricting into a tight ball, leaving everything around them as an endless expanse of white with the only color being the compacted sphere of the former room.
Snap.
The ball exploded colorfully back into the original office design.
He smiled at the awestruck Dorothy. "Well, that's some of what I can do. What do you think?"