event } a dream is a wish your traitor brain makes

[seeingyou]

WHO: All passengers currently aboard!
WHAT: Shared dreams.
WHERE: All y'all's subconscious...es.
WHEN: Nov. 7-21.
WARNINGS: If things get messy/triggering/sexually explicit, PLEASE put warnings in your comment subject lines! And if you die in the dream, you just move on to the next dream, no need to report deaths.

There's no warning - when the ship passes through the nebular cloud and Navi falls asleep, passengers on board will also find themselves dozing off at various times, and whether it’s after tucking themselves in for the night or passing out in the middle of doing something, unusual dreams will follow. Much like dreams normally behave, passengers will find themselves somewhere that may or may not be familiar, doing something that may be mundane or fantastical, but whatever and wherever the setting, dreamers will more or less accept it as reality.

Sweet dreams, passengers. Enjoy getting to know each other a little better!

Comments

Nothing wrong here!

[albatrossomen]

He understands, truly he does. While disturbing and horrifying visions weren't uncommon, dreams were something else entirely. A much more... intimate experience Murmur found himself both deeply perplexed and disturbed by.

So he understood. Not that he'd have judged Jack for her distress even if he didn't, angels didn't possess the stringent expectations of "strength" that humans prescribed. No, tears were not a sign of weakness.

He did draw back at first, to give her a little space so he wasn't overtly smothering her when she was so alarmed. He only looked perplexed at her apology, finding it wholly unnecessary given the circumstances. "Are you alright?"

[sisterswitch]

Jack's reflexive apology isn't about her wanting to be seen as strong, necessarily - it's a learned habit. Over the years of her life, she has constructed a facade, embracing her monstrous nature and separating herself as other than human, and part of that has entailed supressing emotions. Righteous fury is what she is, a shadowy arm of justice, and she had no space inside of her for sadness. Before tonight, she hasn't cried in more years than she can remember.

"Yeah," she says, sitting up and making room on the bed for Murmur, if he cares to sit. "Yeah, I'm fine - it was just a dream." She breathes out a mirthless laugh. "An old nightmare I used to have all the time when I was a kid. It's been a long time, I - I guess I forgot how much that sucks."

[albatrossomen]

Of course. It isn't an uncommon tactic, in fact it's a very normal display Murmur had encountered often enough in the few times he did interact with humans. Their defense mechanisms were strange, at times, but not without purpose. Besides he couldn't claim full unfamiliarity, had he not done much the same when he ripped out his own capacity for emotions and stuffed them in a golem of flesh and feathers to spare himself the pain? He understood the reflexive need.

He did move to sit beside her, then after a few moments of hesitation reached an arm around to pull her against him. She looked like she could use a hug. "Mm, seems a little more than just." He mused gently. Just a dream didn't leave one weeping in a ball. "I have to agree this dreaming thing is... unpleasant." And humans do this all the time?

[sisterswitch]

They do, and there's probably an underline to be drawn to the fact that Jack and others of her ilk use dreams to inflict terror on humans. But Murmur isn't wrong; this dream was more than just a dream - it was a memory of something traumatic, something that fundamentally changed Jack from human to monster. And she thought she'd been fine with that, embraced her newly-revealed true nature. But the fact that she's sitting in bed in tears speaks otherwise.

Jack doesn't expect the hug - she isn't used to being comforted. The gesture catches her so off guard that a fresh wave of tears bubbles up as she melts into the embrace. "Sorry," she mumbles, "sorry, I don't even know why I'm ... " and trails off, but she doesn't stop holding on to Murmur.

[albatrossomen]

There probably is. Murmur is distantly aware of the power of dreams, how they can be used for communication or punishment, and how devastating disturbed sleep is to one's overall health. There was a reason he could offer a blessing to relieve it, after all.

Murmur wasn't there to silence her tears, to deny her a release she has clearly held bottled in for so very long. Nor deny her the revelation of a trauma she's so thoroughly blocked away. "You have nothing to apologize for." He murmurs softly, massive wings flicking free in a gentle rush of wind before he winds them around to hug her tight.

It's not every day one gets wing hugs, they are pretty delightful and soft.

[sisterswitch]

Jack hasn't often received hugs of any kind, but the wing hug feels much more calming and comforting than any other she can remember. This is the sort of reassurance she needed and didn't receive as a child. Her parents weren't what could be considered warm even on the best of days.

It takes another couple of minutes for her to stop crying, but when she finally does, all of the spikes of terror and anger that have been pushed down and locked away for so many years have dissipated, albeit temporarily. Trauma doesn't just disappear after a single hug and a mouthful of soft words, but it's a good place to start.

"Thank you."

[albatrossomen]

Wing hugs are a pretty uniquely nice kind of hug not many people get to experience. Murmur isn't often great at this comforting thing, but he was a Guardian long, long ago. He hasn't forgotten everything. Her parents failed her miserably, she deserved better.

Murmur doesn't try to silence nor shush her crying, it seems like something she's needed to get out for some time and she deserves that release. Trauma doesn't disappear overnight, but bottling it down certainly isn't helping. So perhaps this will be at least a small step for her.

She might be done crying but he makes no move to get up and leave her. "Of course, what are friends for? How are you feeling?" Other than rough, that much he can guess.

[sisterswitch]

Jack only knows what friends are for by secondhand tellings, not personal experience, but yes, this kind of comfort is exactly what friends are for. She almost starts crying all over again with that realization.

"I'm ... better, I think." She rubs at her eyes. "Tired, I guess, but no surprise there. Crying sucks." No wonder she's tried to avoid acknowledging her feelings for so long. Jack takes in a deep, steadying breath and slowly exhales. "What about you? Did you see my stupid dream too?"

[albatrossomen]

Murmur barely has second hand tellings, he's really just trying to remember what little he can call back to from time spent among humankind. It's all guesswork, but they seem to be muddling their way through decently enough.

He keeps his wings where they are, simply nodding his understanding. Crying does suck. It's not something angels do much of, not the way humans do, but he still understands. Emotions are hard. He tore his out for centuries for that very reason.

Sometimes he misses that, it was easier to keep distance.

At her question he nods. "I saw, it's no wonder you awoke so distressed."