The room was dull, that is the first thing she came to realize. Then again, everything in reality is a bit dull to someone like Ash. Nothing is as clean as it should be, or as bright as it could be. To her, everything is coated in a vale of gray, even the people, and that was what scared her the most. The gray vale was strewn over them like a cloak, hiding their true self, giving them a selfish mindset. Sure, some people weren't as covered, but they still had limits, still wouldn't go outside the boundaries of their own mindset. Ash knew that even she was covered by the vale, it was the cause of her cynical nature (and perhaps, her near sanity). The vale wasn't hard to spot, at times it is even blatantly obvious, and Ashling found it to be the most annoying thing to exist. In her dreams, however, everything was bright and open and fresh, and the people (well, "people" could be a loosely used term) were all mad and delightfully fun. The vale could not bother her in her own head. There, she was allowed to be the real "Ashling", bright and curious and beautifully imperfect in a perfect sort of way. 

[i]'No, do not think about the bad stuff right now, think of the goods!'[/i] Her mind warned her. And she did, which led to her noticing the second thing, how warm the room was. A comfortable warm, one that could lull any person in a sense of comfort and sleepiness. It was warmer then at her old job, and Ash couldn't be happier to lay on the bed and just daydream about all things warm. Fire, lava, summer, this room, stars, tea. Oh, what an endless list it seems to be! The more she thought of warmth, the warmer she felt, and the warmer she felt, the sleepier she became. Her brain quickly rattled through the names of warm things until she found that she couldn't name them anymore. Then she shifted towards how she had spent the last five days after arriving. The welcome party had been rather hectic, to say the least, but not overly unfriendly. She had been as polite as she usually was, introducing herself in a small voice, putting 'Ms' or 'Mr' before every name, staring at the floor often. It was her own special way of appreciating this sort of work. The second day, she mulled around the place, curious eyes searching over each room she was allowed to enter. Her chat was minimal and her presence hopefully not obscuring. The third and fourth day she inspected the board, reading each offer for a job, but didn't bother to ask about them. If she was needed, they'd come to her. The fifth day was the day she finally decided to wind down a bit and relax. Yes, relax... Her mind then sat, blank as a sheet, still too giddy to dream and too tired to get up, until a familiar voice drew her back into reality.

"Ashling~ Enjoying yourself?" the voice asked, and Ash looked quickly around the room until her eyes fell on the strange, rather fat cat that appeared at the foot of her bed. He gave a wicked grin, and Ash gave a faint smile in return,

"Yes, actually. Everyone here seems to be very nice." she replied with her rich accent, her eyes bright. The cat nodded, grin dimming a bit,

"Nice for now, but watch your back. Not everyone is as they seem." Vapor's eyes gleamed a bright green, and Ash frowned,

"I know that already. Shoo for now, cat. I want to dream a bit." She retorted, leaning head against the pillows once more. Something shifted at the end of the bed, and then vanished, leaving behind a brief chill. [i]'Rude cat,'[/i] her mind whispered, [i]'I barely know these people, perhaps they'll be kinder then most...'[/i] 

Ash stared at the ceiling for a moment, trying to allow the warmth to calm her excited nerves and make her tired, and then let her heavy eye lids droop until she was surrounded by darkness. Dreaming, Ashling always found dreaming to be such an easy feat to accomplish. Just closing her eyes for only a few moments could send her spiraling into a different, beautiful land. Arriving was always the worst part, though, the almost insanely long fall never got anymore exciting then it already was. Experiencing it, night after night, now just became a tedious task. Ash allowed her arms to dangle at her sides as she slowly drifted downwards, down down down the claustrophobic drop, at times grabbing a book or two to quench her boredom. It normally took two or three books skimmed through quickly to reach the bottom, but today, she found herself on the fifth.

"Oh dear, this seems longer then usual." she whispered, throwing the book over her shoulder as her eyes glanced downwards. Wind shifted around her legs, just below her fluttering skirt, keeping her afloat and even below that was the endless black of the hole. Suddenly, the air vibrated, causing Ashling to lurch back. A voice, low and oddly familiar, filled the tunnel, and Ash found that it formed a word, no, a name.

"[i]-st Aaaaaaaaaaashliiiiiiiiing![/i]"

The tunnel vanished with a blast of light and Ash shot up, looking rather frazzled. Her door, which was slightly ajar, allowed Ash to hear the approaching foot steps which were accompanied with a cheery tune. Slowly, Ash sat up straighter, rubbing her eyes until she felt her grogginess melt into a sense of semi-awareness. The warmth of the room was gone, luckily, so she regained enough focus to pull on her boots and wander towards the door, peeking outside. Much to her surprise, the hall seemed empty, until she tilted her head up a bit and saw a young girl standing on the ceiling, walking as if she were right side up.

"How queer!" she whispered, a faint smile on her lips, "Hello, Ms... er... Pete. Do you need something?"