two ○ voice / text

[mylegacy]

Who: Caesar Zeppeli & u
Broadcast: Fleetwide
Action: None this time!
When: Late night, 7/28

( joseph : voice : 1 am )

[The dreams are always the same. A great wind comes and cuts his skin; he is alone, and it hurts, but he doesn't cry out, his tongue stuck to the roof of his mouth in the dry air. Blood bubbles out of his nose. He is very afraid.]

[He's pretty sure he doesn't make any noise during these dreams. No one's said anything, anyway. He could get away with keeping it to himself. But tonight something at the base of his skull urges him to tell secrets.]

[His voice, when it comes, is very quiet.]

Are you awake?

( public : text : 2 am )

I have questions about nightmares.

Do you have them? How often? What do you do to make them go away?


( ooc ; caesar is affected by augment glitches / compulsion! )

Comments

[mylegacy]

I have a list of possibilities. I can make tea for myself. I can't teach myself something I don't know.

[So, yes.]

[tothefly]

Might learn more, dealing with your nightmares instead of running from them.

[mylegacy]

[He prickles a little at that, but she has a point.]

So I've been told. Are you offering or not?

[tothefly]

Tell me about your nightmares. I'll tell you what I know.

[mylegacy]

You're an effective teacher in text?

[tothefly]

What, were you expecting me to come sleep with you? This doesn't work through osmosis.

[mylegacy]

I did tell you I didn't know how to do it. It could work through osmosis. You never know.

[tothefly]

You might be able to breathe in deep space. We could find out.

[mylegacy]

[Which actually makes him laugh. It's a little shocking, hearing himself laugh after such a dismal night.]

We could. Or I could answer your question. Do you have a preference?

[tothefly]

You going to try that line again? Because if so, I'm leaning towards the former.

Otherwise, we could talk.

[mylegacy]

[Excuse you, you started this. Sort of? Not really.]

No more. Promise.

[tothefly]

[Doesn't matter who started it, she's gonna put a stop to it right now.

If he's going to try to get in her pants, he'll have to try harder than that, anyway.]

Gonna hold you to that.

Video chat. Compromise.

[mylegacy]

[It's okay, Nat. You're way too much like Lisa Lisa to actually be fuckable.]

Compromise. Just a moment.

[The video clicks on shortly, displaying a darkened cabin. In the background someone's snoring, and Caesar's voice is hushed.]

Hello again.

[tothefly]

[She'll hope that 'too much like Lisa Lisa' means 'could break you with a pinky.']

[When the video clicks on, the redhead is visible, seated at a desk, in a dimly-lit room. She lifts an eyebrow, noting the snoring.]

No wonder you're having nightmares. Sounds like they're murdering a bear.

[mylegacy]

[That's exactly what it means. You don't fuck with women who remind you with Lisa Lisa if you want to live.]

[He smiles faintly, shrugging one shoulder like - yeah, well, this is my life.]

Only a small bear.

[tothefly]

I'd hate to see a big one, then.

[Ray snores. She deals with it, when she sleeps in the dorm anyway; catnaps, listening to them all breathe. It's almost familiar, now.]

[That smile is returned by the barest flicker of one, and she tilts her head slightly to one side.]

Tell me about your dreams.

[mylegacy]

[Mm. He did agree to that, didn't he. He can't really think of why he did that right now, but he also doesn't have the impulse control to stop himself.]

[The smile fades a little, and he glances sideways for a moment, then back to the camera.]

They're about dying.

[tothefly]

[It's late. It's dark. Everyone is asleep. It's always night in space, but it feels like that hour of the morning where time stops and secrets are safe.

She's always been good at finding out secrets, and at keeping them.]

You have much experience with the occasion?

[mylegacy]

Yes.

[Just yes. It's easier to say than he expected it to be.]

They're always very realistic. Memories more than dreams. Sometimes slower, sometimes too fast.

It's very cold, always. When I wake up, I'm cold.

[tothefly]

[It's not unheard of. She's known a few guys who died and didn't quite stay dead. In some cases, it's more figurative than literal, but still. Her only response at first is a lengthy pause, a considering look, grey-green eyes unblinking.]

So you remember dying. Repeatedly.

You have these dreams every night?

[mylegacy]

[He nods, tipping his head to one side, his lips moving silently as he counts.]

Every night. Sometimes three, four times. I wake up at the end, after every one, when the ceiling falls.

[tothefly]

Don't blame you for wanting to get rid of them.

[The ceiling falls. Was it something that actually happened before he got here? Did he die? She can't be sure, but it's not really the relevant part.]

Is it always the same? Aside from the speed.

[mylegacy]

Yes, [he says again, and then hesitates, because that's not quite right, is it. There are small differences, the shift of the light, the place where the wind cuts his skin first. And another thing.]

There's something I have to get. Something important from the one who's killing me. Usually I get it, but sometimes I don't.

[Those are the worst ones, where he can't quite stand before the ceiling falls, and the ring is out of his grasp before he can draw another struggling breath. After those, he usually doesn't even try to go back to sleep.]

[tothefly]

Is that the point of these dreams, do you think? The object you have to get? Repetitive dreams tend to have a goal. A focus. Your unconscious mind dealing with regrets.

[She's had her share of those. Unmoving bodies, too young to be so still. Familiar hands, covered in blood. Voices calling her name from decades ago.

Eventually, you learn to cope with the dreams. Move on.]

[mylegacy]

I don't know.

[But that's not right, either. He frowns slightly and pushes his hair back from his forehead, trying to fit it into words.]

There's an object and an objective. I sometimes get the object. I never reach the objective. Is it possible for such dreams to have - a dual focus?

[A double regret. He seems full of regret, lately, and one noticeable, stubborn piece that he refuses to regret for anything.]