hadriel_logs | Event Log: Dreamwalker the Second

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Event Log: Dreamwalker the Second

Who: All characters participating in the event
What: The event log for the Dreamwalker part 2 event
Where: In your dreams
When: October 14th-20th (the second log will go up on Oct 23rd, please keep the two weeks of the event separate!)
Warnings: All different kinds of dreams falling under the umbrella of Delight, Rage, Sorrow, and Hope.

This time, the weird stuff doesn't happen when you're awake- as a matter of fact, your waking hours are the normal ones. That's because you're forced to sleep by some unknown entity, getting more and more exhausted by the moment as night falls. Better make sure you're always around a soft pillow.

Once asleep, it doesn't get any less weird- your dreams will be influenced by one of the four gods that make up the first week. Something to make you smile, something to make you angry- or something that reminds you of your deepest regret or most vulnerable hope, they're all things that you're dreaming about now for some reason, no matter how hard you may try to pull away from them.

To make matters more complicated, there are others intruding on your dreams who definitely don't belong there, and while they may seem like manifestations at first, it becomes clear that these others are actually the consciousness of other members of Hadriel, getting some top quality exposure to your angriest, happiest, most sorrowful moments. Hope it doesn't get awkward when you see them tomorrow...

► This log covers October 14th-20th.
► Feel free to make your own logs as well
► Please tag headers of threads with content warnings where they apply
► Please put your character's name and open/closed in the subject line of your starters!
► If you die in dreams you don't die in real life, but if you somehow die in real life anyway, please let us know here.

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[This sort of scene might work plenty well for a younger, more outgoing Brennan--but for the displaced ice alien finding himself among a pack of rowdy humans crowded into a small room lit with disorienting lights and filled with booming music, it is confounding at best, highly stressful at worst. Maybe the gods are simply delighting in the irony of having him visit such a scene; it's about the only way he'd be able to figure this making any sort of sense when looking back on this particular shared dream.

In the now, Glacius has finally managed to extricate himself from the noisy throng of people after having one human too many bump clumsily off his icy armor as they attempt what he thinks might be some form of dancing. Casting a quick look around, he quickly heads over to the bar, not because he wants a drink but because it seems like one of the few places free of the frenetic, uncoordinated movements filling the stage. His ears are ringing thanks to the obscenely loud music, his nostrils burn and his mind is hazy from the stench of alcohol filling the place, and the flashing lights leave flickering floaters and afterspots in his vision.

Trying to recollect himself, Glacius hunches over at the far end of the bar and squeezes his eyes shut, massaging at his temples and shaking his head; only when he raises it a few moments later does he spot Brennan heading towards him. He can only guess what she wants based on the context of the dream, and so he raises a hand and quickly prefaces the interaction.]

-- Hello, I-- look. I do not wish to become inebriated, or partake in any particular substance, and I think if I were to try to dance I might knock a whole clump of you over, so I think it is best if I just stay here for now. [At this little end of the bar, away from the group, as far away as he can get from everything currently transpiring. He's... not exactly in his element, and he knows that it is showing. He also does not particularly care at the moment; he just wants to find a nice quiet spot to hunker down, maybe liquidize and retreat into some cool dark crevice if things are going to keep up this way for the foreseeable future.]

That's not why I'm here.

[Brennan gives him a gentle smile. This dream is touched by Delight, so even someone as oblivious as Brennan can tell when someone in it is not having fun. The music quiets a little as she draws nearer, and the pulsing lights slow and dim, so they can talk without raising their voices, and so they can see each other by the brilliant, beautiful glow of Glacius's eyes.]

Would you like to go outside? It's quieter there. We can stargaze. I need some fresh air anyway.

[She is being sincere. If she is happy, everyone should be. This is not a night for sadness or discomfort. There is joy to be found in the night sky and the cool air outside the club.]

[And it's that same feeling tinting the dream that causes Glacius to feel his first little bit of happiness of this whole situation at that offer. He tilts his head as his one intact mandible twitches briefly, then seems to temper himself from even that subtle display of eagerness.] Oh, ah. Admittedly I would like that, but I am sure you came here to enjoy yourself. I do not think it would be courteous of me to pull you away from all of these... [don't say oddities, don't say anything that comes across as rude or judgmental--] ... festivities. You should be enjoying yourself, no?

[She shrugs, her smile never fading.]

I've been enjoying the music all night. A little break will be nice.

[She motions to the exit with her head.]

Come on. I want to look for Delphinus. Have you seen it before?

Very well. [Glacius has been searching desperately for an out for some time now; he is not going to put up much protest in this regard! So he starts to follow the woman, though he only gets about one step before he stops up again, tripped up by a question he doesn't know how to answer.]

Ah... no. I--I do not even think I have heard that word before. What is it..?

It's a constellation, [she answers over her shoulder as they find themselves outside as if by magic. No, not magic. She hates that word. It is just the fact of the dream.] It's Latin for "dolphin". It's my favorite.

[Yes, it reminds her of her mother, who she misses terribly, but those memories are happy. It is impossible that her mother is "watching over her" as people say, but Brennan feels comforted when she looks at the night sky and sees it there.]

There. [She lifts a hand and points at it, at the correct grouping of stars in the sky.] Those stars that form a sort of diamond, they're the head. And just below it and off to the side-- that's its tail.

Oh..! [Glacius seems to perk up immediately- too pleased at the suggestion to be embarrassed any longer over not recognizing the name of the star, or what a "dolphin" is for that matter. Though he suffers a moment of dissonance over suddenly be transported to another new scene, his attention is easily directed to the stars-- they were always a comfort, at the same time they were a reminder of what they lost. In this, he and the woman standing next to him are strikingly similar.]

I... I believe that I see it, yes. [The alien nods, following the direction of her hand, letting her guide his eyes.] I'm glad to meet another stargazer. They hold... a lot of meaning to me. Is it the same for you?

[It is peaceful out here, as if it is only the two of them and the dark expanse above. Brennan smiles faintly.]

Yes. [It's a very quiet response. She takes a deep breath, her voice a normal volume when she continues.] I used to stargaze with my mother. She-- taught me about constellations when I was a little girl. Her favorite was Delphinus.

[Absently, she rubs the heirloom dolphin ring she wears on her right ring finger, probably out of sight now that her arms are at her sides again. The ring her mother would've given her if the past hadn't intervened.]

Doing this... stargazing-- it reminds me of her. [There is a brief pause where something like sadness crosses her face, but it disappears quickly. The dream is happy, and the memories the stars bring up are warm and sweet.] What about you?

I see. A somber remembrance... but a lovely one, too.

[Glacius pauses at the question, as if not sure how much to divulge; he's always been a secretive being, but the emotion behind the dream softens it somewhat, and besides... it's not like she can't tell what she's dealing with, here. If she's not alarmed by an alien somehow showing up at her party, then it's not like she's going to be surprised to hear of where he comes from.] I suppose it is much the same for me. They remind me of home. Sometimes it is hard to look up at them, and think of how long I have been separated from it. But at the best of times they hold promise--they remind me that my home and my people are still out there, and that I may... hopefully be reunited with them once again.

[Yes. He understands her perfectly.

Being in Hadriel has helped her grown accustomed to being around different species. Delight's influence on the dream only makes it easier for her to feel confident that Glacius will not harm her. Besides, how can someone who feels and talks that way about the stars want to harm anyone for the sake of it? His story sets her at ease, and when he is finished, she looks at him with a faint, hopeful smile.]

If they're still out there -- your home and your people -- then you'll get to see them again. [Not so with her and her mother, but she did get to see her father and brother again.] Sometimes the impossible is possible, just challenging.

I like that. [Glacius chuckles softly, thinking of how much it sounds like a saying his people might adopt. The smile that tugs at his features, however, is a bittersweet one.] It is important to hold on to hope. But after nearly two years of separation, during the last of which I have made no real progress towards that goal... sometimes even mine can falter. I miss them, and I know not what I must do to overcome this challenge and see them again.

Two years is a very long time.

[The sympathy she feels for him seems to age her, from the age she is in this dream, to the age she is in real life, a shift of seven years forward.]

I miss my daughter, my partner, and my friends. They are my family, and I do not know when I will see them again. But we must believe that we will. Otherwise... if we give up, then we have already lost.

[Believing in the future she would attain through her hard work got her through some of the worst times in her life. Brennan does not believe in faith, and yet here she is, having some, just like when she and Hodgins were buried alive.]

We must believe.

I know. You are right. I know. There is just... so much at stake. [He doesn't really know what else to say on the matter. He just sighs, looking up at the stars again, trying to imagine that one day they will not be so far away.]

Yes. My daughter is only five months old.

[And it hurts to be away from her, so much so that even Delight's influence can't dull the ache.]

We named her after my mother. So, when I look at Delphinus, I think of them both. I am... glad to be seeing it now. I miss the night sky very much.

I'm sorry. I cannot imagine-- I mean, I have never had a child. But from what I understand, parents always want to be there when they are growing up... to guide them, and to look out for them. And I'm sure the latter goes doubly so for one so young.

[Glacius pauses, then scoots just the slightest bit closer to the woman before looking up at the stars again.] We take what reminders we can get, then--we stay close to the people we love in the ways that we can. I have missed the stars too... and I have looked too fondly upon them to let the pain of their distance mar that.

Yes. [She wants to hold her daughter close, to watch her sleep in her father's arms, to see her take in what little of the word her rapidly developing brain can process. There is an empty place in her that nothing in Hadriel can ever fill, and this conversation has reminded her it is there.

Glacius may be physically cold because of his icy armor, but his closeness warms and comforts Brennan a little. She is not alone, and Christine is safe at home with Booth and the rest of their family.]

We will see them again--our loved ones, the stars. I refuse to believe otherwise.

[Looking up at him, she smiles.]

Thank you.

Of course. [Glacius replies with a blink, not quite sure what all he's done to help her situation... but then he is perpetually underestimating his ability to empathize with humans, and the good it can do for them. He knows it has helped him to have someone show some proper resolve; perhaps she is similar.]

Don't let them take that from you--that firmness of belief. It will get harder as time wears on, but if you can hold to hope and find others who can do the same and will encourage you, then you'll have as good a chance of making it back as anyone.

[Yes, in that way, the two of them are quite similar. Brennan does not typically ask others for reassurance, but when it is offered sincerely, it means a great deal.]

The same applies to you, [she says, as the dream begins to fade, happiness giving way to peaceful relaxation, no longer serving the god who influenced the dream in the first place.] No one can take that from us. We will endure.

[They may not know this about each other, but they have both been through ordeals and come out stronger for them. They will, therefore, endure in this place as well.]

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Event Log: Dreamwalker the Second

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