dreamwalk two | ota

[firstroar]

CHARACTERS: Blue, any sleepin folks out there
LOCATION: Someone's subconscious
DATE: Late Oct/Early Nov, pre-mission things
CONTENT: Psychics gon' psychic, dreams gon' dream...it's free dream/memshare real estate
WARNINGS: none in the tl; tagged as needed

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It happens one of two ways:

outside

When he sleeps, Blue's subconscious stretches itself outward, instinctively drawn to things familiar to itself: Feelings, imagery, names...bonds already made or half-formed. It's in a Mu's nature to connect in this way, to be linked in thought and emotion, and this happens even in sleeping. The universe he hails from lacks much of the color and diversity and freedoms of others', but there are common lived experiences to be tethered to, for better or worse.

Peril and pain, longing and loss, hope and harmony...while Blue reprocesses his own volume of them, he unconsciously seeks out meaning in those notions which might flicker throughout the station in minds other than his own.

That means a routine recollection or predictable dream comes with something new this time.

inside

The door swings both ways, for when Blue is asleep, he can't consciously keep it locked, can he? So those who have even a passing capability to perceive matters of the mind or heart, be it magic or something more, could find themselves drifting out of their own dreamspace and into his own, where pastel marble floors mold effortlessly with sheer metal surfaces dappled with clouds that shouldn't hold any weight, let alone a person's.

It's where the sky is no sky, but a gaping field of stars not unlike the view outside a station window...save for the massive, red planet crowning the horizon. Beyond it, a pale blue dot no bigger than what Earth's moon would be glimmers in the dark. A lyre's strings are plucked from some unseen place, filling the place as one would fill a vast, empty room, and Soldier Blue stands at the edge of the horizon in his old, familiar vestments and headgear, absorbed in...something...until the shuddering of the dream's veil prompts him to acknowledge the presence passing through.

Red eyes turn to fix on the interloper, unsure of what they are perceiving yet.

This is still simply a dream, after all.

Comments

[firstroar]

[Blue's heart hurts to hear that. he's still young! still...capable of so much more. he's not a 300-year old being well beyond his time...

gentler:] ...Nor do I. [because he shouldn't be alive anymore, either.]

But we're still alive. And, however it happens...things will change.

And so will we.

[petsthedog]

[He doesn't want to be alive, honestly. But he doesn't reiterate that; it seems somewhat needlessly cruel to impress the point on this man who so earnestly cares in a way that Shinjiro both finds uncomfortable and yet can't quite begrudge as he would like to.

He sighs.]

Whatever happens to me doesn't matter. I just gotta fix things for the kid.

[firstroar]

[Blue doesn't like the way some of his own feelings and past moments resonate with that statement, but it's good to know that they do. that kind of perspective...he'd never have gotten it before, not until regret pulled him to this station.]

I understand.

[he does. but he can still hope...there will be more for him beyond that. it would mean there's hope for himself in a way.

that he'll keep to himself for now. for now...maybe just a respite from that looping chaos is enough, and he can provide that, keeping this place peaceful and reflective until Shinjiro stirs and wakes.]

we can call this an endtag or continue if blue would react to it!

[petsthedog]

[Shinjiro might never quite have the words to put to the gratitude for that respite. He struggles with nightmares like this so regularly he doesn't remember the last time he got a full night's sleep, and his body accepts it hungrily. He stays asleep a long time, and though the guilt and grief and exhaustion that comes with both are never quite far from the surface, he wakes with a little more energy in his bones than usual.

Above all, he wakes calm, and he wonders if he may ever have that again. The next time he sees the man around the station, he opens his mouth to thank him, but can't quite find his voice to do it. The feelings associated are too overwhelming.

Instead, the next time Blue finds himself to be hungry enough to try to eat, he will find he need not trek all the way to the kitchen. Shinjiro may not be psionic, but he does pay attention. There's a tray left outside his door with a bowl of okayu and a glass of water. There's a note along with it, that reads simply: I can do this again if it helps. - Aragaki

Shinjiro has never been good with his words. Actions, however, are at least one way he can show his sincerity in offering gratitude. It's easier, too, when he need not do it face to face.]