Loiral and Marcus - Routine - 8.i
Reverie is a blank room, empty and silent. The constant babble of the slum is walled out, and the mind is still. No thoughts unspool. No memories -- thankfully -- present themselves for examination. There is just nothing.
The nothing is interrupted by nearby footfalls, heavy on the flimsy floorboards. The voices that Loiral has been hearing and not hearing for some time, become near and immediate. He gets up promptly, scurrying out of the way of the two women who converge on his pallet.
One of them strips the sheet off it, adding it to the bundle under her arm, while the other replaces it with clean. It's still strange to see them doing slave's work, but it seems to be the surfacers' way. They talk continuously, laughing with each other. Their words are still meaningless to Loiral, but he is starting to be able to pick out the rhythm and the tone. They are relaxed and cheerful, and he is happy to be ignored.