Vanessa seemed to soften up a lot. Suddenly it appeared like she really needed Pia to come inside. She said she had a rough night.
Not that kind of rough night I hope?, Pia thought to herself. Or maybe she had just stepped into someone's private nightmare.

"Well, if you are sure it is allright, I would be happy to come inside!", Pia said, stepping in through the door. She was really curious about this place's allegded infamy, but she was not going to pry about that.

"You are kind of different. I mean, without the traditional robes and all. And you are kind of more.. bigger. Taller. Something like that."

"One thing, if anything looks shiny or stained, stay away from it."

she said nervously shaking her head a little remembering just how much of the stuff in the dorm the various 'activities' of the occupants had stained.
Her mind then moved to Pia's observation and she shrugged slightly.

"Yeah, I'm kind of intimidating. my dream self is different because it's cuter and easier for people to handle. usually everyone looks different in their dreams. you're actually one of the first I've seen that looks just how i thought they would. Cute & sexy at the same time. you must be popular around here."

Shiny or stained? What does she mean.. Oh! I see..

Pia was starting to get a dim idea about the infamy part. She wasn't interrupting anything now, was she? She supposed Vanessa woudn't have invited her in if she was.

"Popular? Eh.. Thanks.. Not really.. I don't have many friends, to be honest." Pia said, blushing from the compliment Vanessa just gave her, and suddenly she was looking down on her feet. Pia was not realy used to people telling her they liked her, or even noticing her at all.
"I guess I am a bit of a recluse, really.."

"And, uh, you are not intimidating, really. More, you know, striking. Like someone you take serious."

"A recluse? that's a shame really. Will have to do something about that sometime won't we?"

Vanessa smiled a comforting smile as she took a seat on what one could only assume was her bed. She smiled as she shifted to sitting cross legged on her bed patting the edge as an invite to Pia.
"My be'd probably the cleanest one in this room... come take a seat."

She smiled softly still in thought for a moment before she realized what she was wearing right now.

"Crap that's pretty bad of me! sorry about that."

She offered pulling her blanket up to cover her simple black panties.

"It is no problem. I am not bothered, really." Pia said, smiling. That Vanessa seemed embarassed from what she was wearing made Pia like her a little more. Pia herself was prone to be embarassed for pretty much anything, and that Vanessa could be the same made her seem a bit more.. human.

Accepting the invitation, Pia sat down at the bed. She was a bit unsure about how to start the converation. She had a thousand questions about the dreamwalking and all that, but she did not want to press.

"If you want to change or anything, I can step out and come back later and all, but I don't mind. Your place, your rules and all that."

"Uhm, Actually I'll just throw on some pants real quick, you don't have to go."

she offered simply as she jumped to her feet and moved to a drawer gathering a pair of loose knit shorts. she slipped into them without much of a word before returning to her bed.

"So you had questions for me last I heard. go ahead and shoot. I've got all the time in the world today, no classes."

she said simply leaning forward placing palms flat against her well sculpted thighs.

Well, Pia was curious. Very curious. She had been forced to admit that such things as supernatural powers existed, mainly by being the target of them. Up til now, she had mainly witnessed such powers being wielded by monsters. Vanessa was living proof that some humans also had powers.

"Well, first off all.. This dreamwalking thing, is it something you've learned, or is it an inborn talent?"

"Have to be honest, dreamwalking is a learned skill, honestly any human can do it it's just, not safe for most..."

she paused placing a finger at her lower eyelid pointing to the pool of gold that was the iris smiling slightly.

"Ancient clan of humans and souls have these eyes, something about us makes it so we can do it without limit. there used to be a lot more of us too, then just like everything else humans decided could only exist in a fantasy and could never really happen or work, we fell by the wayside along side magic, witchcraft, sorcery, aliens and the like."

Pia looked concentrated, trying to get a handle on all these new concepts.

"So, the golden eyes are a sign of this.. clan?", she said. "I suppose.. does this have anything to do with this.. this cord, the one you pulled in my dream? Like, your strings are longer or something like that?"

Pia could not contain herself, and blabbed on with more questions. "Has this something to do with distance? Like the cord only goes so far.. Does actual distance mean something?"
Pia could not help but smile. This was a new mystery, a bunch of new things to learn about.

"RIght on the golden eye part."

Vanessa smiled as she began to think of a good way of to explain better before finally smiling.

That chord is a life line back you your body. an time is the factor with that rather than anything. think of your dream being simple water to you. then the world outside of that dream is more like an acid that slowly eats away at that line until it snaps. there's no such things as distance in the dream world really.
She paused there for a breath or two
Now as for a dream walker like me... lets see... think of normal people as people from the past using string to find their way home and then think of us as from the future with a fancy GPS with no limit on energy."
She smiled now as she'd continue.
"Now this isn't to say a normal human can't do it! I mean witches do astral projection all the time, they just have an instinctual knowledge of their time limit."

No such thing as distance in the dream world?
Pia's mind grasped the possibilities. Could be a way to keep in touch with her friends and family? Warn the other students?
Yeah, like that would help. Most people do not even remember their dreams, much less believe them.

"Witches?" Pia said. "Like women doing magic? I thought.. well, I did not think someone could step into anothers dream either, so I guess that does not count for much."

Once again she looked at Vanessa. She was tall, and very striking looking, with eyes that drew attention, and.. well.. her shape probably made her popular among the boys. Yet it seemed to Pia that she had a burden to carry. Pia had to admit she was a bit intrigued.

"So.." she began, afraid to be seen as probing " If I may ask.. your family, your clan. What is your history? It seems to me that a group with such.. special traits must have quite a bit of a story to them. If it is not secret or anything."
The last she added hurriedly. Maybe such special people prefered to keep a low profile.