Event Log: Dreamwalker the Second

[hadrielmods]

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.

Comments

[nowherewolf]

So what, you think we should just wait?

[He'd prefer that, honestly. If they can just sit in this weird hut and not have to run around and try not to get shot, that is vastly preferable. But before either of those options, he feels like he has to clear the air on something.

This isn't just a random dream, this is a memory. This actually happened. Which means Rome's bullshit explanation earlier didn't just come from dreamland. It's something he's actually had in his head, something he's probably used to justify this to himself a thousand times.

And that's fucked up.]

Hey, you do know this is bullshit, right?

[He puts a hand on Rome's shoulder, but he's ready to pull it away if Rome gets testy.]

Like I'm sorry this happened to you, but you have to know that. This is wrong. This is fucked up. What they did to you is super not kosher.

[He has to know that. Right?]

[leashed]

Maybe.

[If this dream is like the others. If something isn't different now that Tucker is here.

He's not expecting the sudden contact but he doesn't quite flinch away- the other man is taller than he is and when they're closer like this, Rome has to look up to him. He's used to it, but it still sets off a small warning bell in the back of his mind. He hasn't forgotten that his acquaintance here is... well, not a werewolf per se, but similar enough and foreign enough that it skews his instincts sideways. He's good at repressing them, he always has been, but it's still there, a murmur in the back of his mind that amplifies when James touches him.

He's also not entirely sure what Tucker is trying to say- whether he's admonishing Rome or his superiors or both of them and he resists the urge to be defensive about it, instead forcing the sort of calm that's come to be expected of him.]

It isn't my place to judge what was done.

[He finally says, shaking his head.]

To me or to anyone else. I'm not... [he falters just for a moment here, struggling for the right word] ...I don't- have that. Whatever it is that makes you able to pass that sort of judgement, feel the way you feel. A soul, or a higher form of sentience, or whatever you'd like to call it.

[Slowly, Rome takes a step back, reasserting the distance between them.]

You're looking for it in me. It isn't there.

[nowherewolf]

What are you even-

[Tucker has to take a second to collect himself. This is so unlike him, getting emotional about things, getting angry. He never gets angry, not really. He lets things roll right off of him, because they don't have anything to do with him, they're not his problem.

But this is somehow... personal. He can't help it. He's still pissed.]

Yeah, it is your place. You're the one who gets to decide how to feel about things that happened to you, or that you were there for. Shit, you can decide how to feel about stuff that's got nothing to do with you. That's the benefit of having emotions.

[Even animals have emotions. Which Rome isn't. He's not letting that one go, because if Rome's just an animal, then what does that make him? He's less human, even. He's not human at all, he was never human to begin with.]

You're trying to tell me you don't have, what? A conscience? Because I call bullshit.

[He points, vaguely, in the direction that dream-Rome left.]

You gave a shit. You didn't want to do this. I saw that. Now I don't know shit about souls, but as far as I'm concerned? Same thing.

[leashed]

[He's quiet at that, turning away for a moment. What Tucker is asking from him is something that he's not quite willing to look for- if there's a semblance of humanity inside of him, if it's just as real and just as valid as everyone around him, then his handlers were wrong about him. About them. If he gets to decide how he feels about something, then a fundamental rule is broken, and then-

And then? What else were they wrong about? What other rules can be broken? It's a step from a very high precipice and Rome isn't willing to trust that there's a bottom to it, or that it won't somehow swallow him whole. He isn't ready to jump, he isn't there yet, and the idea of ever being there is more terrifying than anything else.

He doesn't know a lot of things, he doesn't feel a lot of things, but that sudden strike of fear is something he feels- that Tucker is picking at a thread interwoven in the fabric that makes up the core of his entire life, and that he's frightened of what would happen it if unwound.

Still, Rome barely lets on that he's struggling at all. The pause is longer than normal, he stares off for a moment or two as he recollects himself, and then he nods slowly.]

Maybe.

[That's all he'll grant him. Rome opens his mouth to speak again, but before he can, a piercing, terrified shriek echoes over the campground- not close, but amplified by the dream, the kind of sound that can't ever really be forgotten once you've heard it.

He tenses at the sound, recognizing it, and looks back toward Tucker.]

...it's over. You're going to wake up now.

[He swallows hard. Just as loud, as if it's happening right next to them, comes the sound of a single shot. The world starts going black at the edges.]

You're only dreaming.

[nowherewolf]

[Maybe. It's better than nothing.

The scream makes Tucker's heart beat faster, but the gunshot seems to freeze it in place. He can feel consciousness slipping in, dragging him back from the dream. He only has seconds left.]

Don't forget. Think about it.

[And then he's jerking awake, pushing himself upright, but everything's at a slightly wrong angle. Oh, right, he went to sleep his other form.

He glances over at his phone on the table beside the bed, thinking of firing off a text at Rome. He can still feel a weird tug in his chest, a mixing of anger and sadness. But then, he's never been great at talking about emotional stuff, and outside of dreams, he barely knows the guy. Despite Tucker's command, there's a chance he doesn't even remember.

Another time, maybe.]