Milkshakes and berries.
Usually, while Lu was asleep, she dedicated a part of her dream to visiting Hata. She always took a milkshake and a box of purple berries. She knew he was forgetting to eat when he was thinking, which he was doing all the time except when he was asleep, which Lu never saw him do anyway. His thoughts were very precious, and nothing was allowed to disturb them. Even the smallest bit of his attention had to be utilized and put to work. Hata knew he had an important role in this life and was very serious about it. Lu didn't know exactly what that role was, but she knew that a brain is one of the most energy-consuming organs, and to think properly, one must eat properly. A milkshake, in her opinion, was a good way to top up Hata's energies. And purple berries were good for his eyes. Hata wore heavy glasses that would gain an extra millimeter of thickness with every box of books he read. It scared Lu; she didn't know how it would end and decided to provide care for his eyes preventively. She read that berries were good for eye protection and she added it to her daily presents. Above all, Hata loved milkshakes, so Lu could feel not only useful but also happy.
"You happy, me happy," she used to say, which annoyed Hata. Ideologically, he was rejecting the obvious interconnectedness between them, insisting on their asymmetries. Lu stopped saying that, but the phrase stuck to her mind like chewing gum in hair that won't come out. She secretly wanted to level up with Hata, and asymmetry was moving her away from wanting to be like Hata.
But also Lu was convinced that her milkshakes were, at least partly, responsible for Hata's inventions. And she also suspected that they are a reason why Hata was coming to her every night. She didn't mind that and liked contributing to Hata's mission even not knowing what that was. Not like she had any other choice, Hata was the one who already loved her, so it didn't really matter why he was there. He didn't have much choice either.
They sat together, played language games, rolled on the grass, and collected things that could be both "Yes" and "No" simultaneously. Once they found such a thing, their blinking decreased, their breath slowed down, and their words started to make less and less sense to each other. Until all words would fade, and Lu and Hata ended up in statue-like postures, gazing at each other silently, unable to comprehend what they had just discovered.
Lu was convinced Hata knew what was happening, most of the times she was losing her clarity, staring at Hata, trying to squeeze drops of understanding out of his brain. In those moments, their attention was like a strong cord binding both of them into a secure knot. Even if an elephant would swing on that rope between them, it wouldn't break. Lu had a feeling she had to hold on stronger than Hata, but she never knew for sure and didn't dare to ask. Being silent seemed to be important to not scare off insights, she thought. But Lu couldn't hold confussion for too long, though.
She was not always comfortable with silence and not knowing, and when Hata would slurp his last sips of the shake, breaking the virginity of stillness, Lu would push out her ripe question:
"How is all this possible?"
Perfectly shaped sounds, highlighting the joy through the familiarity of excitement. This phrase was their small ritual to celebrate the end of the dream. Lu was ready to get up; now she had a question to answer. Fueled with energy and enjoying the itch to solve the puzzle, she was leaving Hata behind, doubting if he even existed. The question itself was more important than the answer. Lu didn't understand why that was the case, but she suspected that it was related to her being alive.
Perhaps forgetting to ask "How is all this possible?" would be an answer to her death, but Lu was avoiding thinking about it. It would also mean she would forget Hata, and her dreams would be pointless. Nobody to deliver a milkshake to.
Perhaps she secretly didn't want to die, wasn't ready yet. Unlike Hata, who was a master of dying, Lu was a young soul, still in training, learning how to die silently.