[She listens patiently, quietly, and solemnly, and each detail that Eustace adds on top of everything else only makes her more and more certain that this isn't just some dream. No matter how creative or wild one's subconscious is, there is absolutely no way that she could weave such an intricate web of stories. At some point, Ilsa forgets about the last few bites of her burger and the skewer, and instead, she's taken to sipping slowly at her drink until she's reached the bottom. She doesn't interrupt, allowing him to continue as if he were on duty and giving her a full report rather than them casually sitting on a swinging chair sipping fruit punch and eating burgers... While she does sprinkle a few questions, mostly ones out of disbelief, here and there, she saves most of them for the end.

...

.....

After he gives her several minutes to let the information sit and stir.

It's a lot to take in all at once. Just when she thought things were about to get complicated with Cassius' presence back home, things seem to have spiraled a bit. Complicated would be an understatement, to say the least.

She'd been sitting forward, staring at the blades of grass beneath them, elbows propped on her knees, but eventually, she falls back against the chair with a sigh.]

Ah... so...

[She begins, looking over at him with a tired expression. Where to even start!?]

I am at the beginning of this all, aren't I? Cassius' arrival seems to be the thing that toppled the first domino.