Y'All Need to Dream of Dancing Fish

[hollystrike]

Who: Katie McCoy & you
Broadcast: fleetwide
Action: Iskaulit or Vanquish
When: 27 September.

[Because it's a matter of survival for the fae, Katie learned to deal with her own nightmares very early on.   It's one of those issues when your existence straddles the line between the mundane world and the dream one and you see both at once.  It can be fun.  It can be beautiful.  It can also kind of suck ass.

What happened to the planet below is still a source of roiling nausea for her, but she is by far not the only one dreaming of it now. 

In one sense, it's good that the scale of destruction is so vast that the human subconscious has difficulty replicating it as echoes in the confined space of the ships themselves, but it doesn't stop her from catching glimpses of horrified faces in the corner of her eye.  Ghostly echoes of copper-skinned victims before their death.   Corridors suddenly filling with flame and screams.  See, that one's jarring as hell and she has difficulty pretending she can't see it.  It's enough that she excuses herself from polite company and locks herself in the Vanquish's personnel room, a ball of wool in her hands and a twitchy cat slinking at her heels.  Licorice can see it all, too.  That's the problem with getting too close to the fae.  She wonders idly if Sam is having issues.

She can't exactly make an announcement to demand everyone get over it already.   You can't get over something like this.  It's healthy to go through that grief.  But if a corridor happens to fill with fire while she's in it, she'll burn.  And it's her job to try and curb this kind of thing, the way she ... totally didn't do that in Bath.  Oh, well.

She does what she can.]

[Video]

Would anyone like a dream catcher?  [She holds up a contraption made from baby blue wool and shells, shaking it a little.  It looks decidedly average.]  Personally speaking, I've always found the ones I didn't make myself far more useful.  But you could always try them out and see what happens.  Might help with the nightmares none of you are having.

Speaking of non-issues, I suppose this is what being a personnel officer is all about.  I really do need my Doctor Is In sign, don't I?

[Decidedly average-looking or not, the dream catchers will reek of magic to anyone who can detect that sort of thing.  And they'll work on the nastier nightmares people have until the magic runs down.

She'll be mostly in her personnel room on the Vanquish because these things take time to make, though she'll visit the Iskaulit later to hang out in the fox park and recharge.]

Comments

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[stormfist]

[ Normally, Jayden doesn't believe in things like that. But her life as a Guardian has pushed her limits of belief pretty well, and then coming here? Well hell, maybe anything's possible. She's been having horrific nightmares, mostly stemming from the disturbing feeling that she's been through something like that before and can't quite remember. She'd love to just be rid of it all. And hell, getting a dream catcher certainly can't hurt anything, right? Worst case scenario, it just doesn't work. Plus, blue is her favorite color...

... okay, sold. She opens up a connection - she looks so damn tired on the video, but she's still going. Somehow. ]

Hey, um... I'll take one. How much?

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[hollystrike]

[The request for how much takes her aback a little-- she probably should have assumed that might happen, but now Katie's stuck because she doesn't want to charge money but she can't outright say that and sigh.

Jayden looks exhausted, though. She smiles, putting as much warmth into it as possible, because lord, woman, you look terrible.]

Well, I already had the materials on hand. Bring me a handful of colourful uselessness from our next stop and we'll call it even. [She taps one of the shells. Then gently:] Have you had much sleep at all?

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[stormfist]

[ She's a little confused at how that constitutes payment, but hey, to each their own. And she is grateful for the chance at all, so why not? ]

Yeah. I can do that, no problem. Thank you. [ She rubs at her eyes with one hand. ] I... no. I haven't. Evacuation brought back some memories I lost a few years ago, and... I lost someone in the meteor strike.

action

[scanninggaydis]

[This isn't something Felix would automatically respond to, but by now he's more than aware that Katie is, you know....different. And that probably buried somewhere beneath that brief, somewhat breezy announcement is a kernel of truth.

And he's had it repeatedly suggested to him by someone no longer here - never here actually - that he really needs a more productive and effective way to deal with his nightmares than to just suffer through them and pretend they're not there. They've been....not great, in the aftermath of the destruction of the planet.

For that reason, he approaches the door of the personnel room and knocks on it.]

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[hollystrike]

[Everyone is surprising her today. Katie blinks up at the door, putting a mess of blue wool aside on the table, and sounds vaguely curious when she replies.]

Come on in, by all means.

[It used to a massive blanket fort when she was a kid, but the blankets used are all folded neatly against the wall now. Which isn't to say they don't get used on a regular basis. There's a stack of blue woolen dolls lining the window out, and a bunch of doodles and drawings, a mountain of shells, and a couple of finished dreamcatchers, and Katie. Welcome to her... very professional... counselling room?]

[scanninggaydis]

[He opens the door but doesn't...quite...follow her instruction to come in. Not really, since he instead opts to lean in the doorway.

Felix looks better than he did during the evacuation process. But only by a little, and only because he's not as pale. Eating is something he's remembering to do again. But sleeping...well. Anyway. There's a reason he's here. He doesn't look any less tired than he did before.]

I saw your broadcast. I'm interested. [The faintest, tired smile, more than a little wry.] I've actually got one already, but it doesn't seem to be doing much. Maybe two will help.

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[pain_train]

Hi, Katie!

That looks really cool. What does it do? I've got some yarn, could you teach me to make one? [Having things to do with your hands is really important when you're a super soldier killing machine with nothing around that needs killing.]

Anything that will help people fix antisocial behavior is probably a great thing for the personnel officer...

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[hollystrike]

Hello! [Her smile widens at the request. Katie loves teaching others to art and craft, it's fun. Especially if they're a super soldier killing machine on the side.]

It's meant to be hung above your bed and protect you from bad dreams, more or less. Either that or it makes for a lovely decoration, but people do say they help, so I thought I'd give it a shot. If you bring your yarn, I could try showing you? I have plenty of shells to go round.

[She's actually... pretty encouraging of some antisocial behaviour, but anything that bottles a person up is just right out.] Are you a personnel officer on your ship?

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[pain_train]

Oh, that would be super useful. [She doesn't sleep well, even if she doesn't ever really remember her dreams in a coherent way.] Sure, I'll bring over some cute yarn! I've got it in lots of fun colors. And sparkly ones!

Me? No, I'm the first officer. And I do security. But I dealt with personnel officers in the Proles Army and the militia. Some of them were good.

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[alwayscomeback]

[He has absolutely not been sleeping well at all, but Sokka is forever a man of science (albeit one who comes from a world of the spiritual) and he has Questions. ]

Okay. You're going to have to explain to me how a circle with bits of thread and shells on it can do anything to help with people's nightmares.

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[hollystrike]

I don't ever recall saying it would. [Innocent blink. Sokka: pegged as that guy who says I don't believe in fairies and kills Tinkerbell.] It's belief, I'm sure. You think it's going to help, and your brain shuts up a while. Basic psychology. It's not like I can work magic.

Though I'm amazed at your skepticism, given the sorts of strangers you share a Fleet with.

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[alwayscomeback]

You said it might.

[He would kill her so damn fast. ]

...So it's a placebo.

Hey, my sister can literally control water and I'm still staying in my healthy, scepticism corner, thanks very much. It's nice here. The world makes sense here.

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[tempredmental]

[The way she worded things was a little strange, but Keith remembered picking her up unconscious off the planet not that long ago. Sorey had relayed the information from Edna about how telling the truth caused her pain and injury. Keith wasn't good with implied meanings, but he still wanted to see how she was doing.]

Those things don't really work, do they?

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[hollystrike]

That all depends on who you ask. [This is a better response than Sokka's, at least. A pretty average human one.] I've found it all depends on trial and error and respect. Possibly belief. Possibly also the day of the year. Does that help?

[...well look, she's bright and cheerful and sassy and healthy-looking, so probably recovered?]

Re: video

[tempredmental]

[He looked mildly confused, and he had to process that for a second.]

So, it might, but it might not. Got it.

[He smirked a little. Her attitude definitely seemed "healthy".]

I'm glad you seem to be feeling better at least.

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[axi]

What about you? [A redhead appears on the comm, looking a little curious herself.]

Won't you need someone to speak with as well?

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[hollystrike]

[Not a question she was expecting, actually. Katie blinks in surprise for a moment, then grins cheerfully.]

Oh, probably. But I have a therapist of my own. I pay her in licorice. Thank you for asking, though.

[She likes you already.]

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[axi]

[A puzzled looks briefly flashes across her face, but it's followed by a slight chuckle.]

As long as you've got enough currency, then.

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[monolike]

Dorothy, you look a lot better. Are you doing okay? [Go ahead and lie to him, he's got it]

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[hollystrike]

[She knows you know what her name is by now. The continued Dorothy makes her smile.]

Well, I'm not sure. [Thoughtfully.] I have a headache. And this one curl that refuses to do what I want it to. Do I look okay? That's the important thing.

[She looks very healthy. Well, a little tired. But then so's everyone.]

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[monolike]

[Well, it's only polite.] You look really good! You've got the color back in your face. I'm glad you're doing okay.

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[reconstitution]

Your own dream catcher won't catch your dreams? Something doesn't sound right about that.

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[hollystrike]

[Grin.]

Well, I can't very well believe it's terribly mystical if I made it myself with nothing but string and a few shells. It's all about suspension of disbelief!

[Sort of.]

Video

[iattractmushi]

[Here's a perceptive lady. Ginko eyes that thing she's holding--it doesn't look like much, and he used to con food money out of country bumpkins with similar claims about love potions and the like, so he's immediately suspicious of it.

...but then again, it's not like it'll kill him if he tries it. Probably.]

Do you still have some? I don't know what you're charging, but I'd like to give one a try.

Video

[hollystrike]

I have two. Why does everyone think I'm charging? Perhaps I'm just curiously invested in your welfare. [But Jayden set the precedent, so she smiles at him, marking that interesting hair.]

If you have any shells or baubles or the like I can use to make more, that will suffice.