second trial. | voice (unlocked)

[greenies]

[ thomas has not been a common presence on the network since his arrival to the drabwurld; gaining the ability to talk telepathically with the people who've been close to him have made it fairly easy for him to communicate without it. but this time, thomas addresses the network at large, although only with a (perhaps semi-familiar) voice.

he sounds uneasy. tired. ]

Do any of you have nightmares? How do you deal with them?

[ it's a stab at anonymity, mostly because he doesn't want to show his face, but the storms currently raging over head have not made his life any easier. thomas sleeps fitfully, twenty minutes at a time, wakes up screaming. no one's going to see his face as an effect of that. eventually, he tacks on a soft--]

Thanks. [ --and the line goes dead. ]

Comments

voice; private

[greenies]

I've seen what happens to cranks hopped up on Bliss. [ not that that sentence makes literally any sense to anyone outside of his world, but, he says it seriously enough that the inflection of drug addicts is clear in his tone. ] I've had enough people messing around in my head, anyway, I don't need drugs on top of that.

Yeah....yeah, that's a good idea. I usually go for runs in the morning, maybe I can go at night. [ it's quieter anyway. run away from your problems, right? thomas feels like maybe he's starting to get good at that, and that's the last thing he wants to be. ] I appreciate it.

[ after a moment, he adds-- ] Has it helped you?

voice; private

[cerebral]

[Good lad.]

I've an old injury that limits how much exercise I can do. But I find I'm sleeping a little better these days. [Sort of. It hadn't been instantaneous, but before he'd been brought to the Drabworld he'd had enough time to build up some of his metal shields again the longer he'd stopped taking the serum. He was nowhere near what he used to be, but it was enough to afford him some small measure of peace.] Though I imagine the reasons behind our insomnia are different.

voice; private

[greenies]

[ well that's good, at least. thomas feels for these other people, who experience the same thing he does. it's horrendous. the memories make thomas wake up screaming until his throat's raw, until it takes him hours of pacing and wandering around the room to calm down again. way back at quendi, he projected these nightmares on someone via uncontrollable powers granted to him by morla, and now he's trying his best simply to keep them away.

he sounds a little wan. ] I don't dream about giant spiders, let's put it like that.

voice; private

[cerebral]

[It's a shame Charles' reasons weren't that much better, but he's not about to talk about his inability to deal with emotional fallout combined with a natural empathy that comes along with telepathy conspiring against him. Not to someone who seems as though they're going through enough already, and not any time soon in general.]

You don't have to explain. I've lived long enough to know people go through things in life that leave their mark. The mind is like any part of the body and it needs time to heal, although that's not always possible. And it is definitely frustrating. But if I could advise you on one thing, it would be to be kind to yourself. As much as you can allow for this place. [A case of advising other people to do what he hasn't always been able to accomplish himself.]

voice; private

[greenies]

[ be kind to yourself. that's one thomas has never heard before. it startles him for a moment, and thomas has to compose himself further before he can say anything else. has he ever been able to do that? no, it's...always moving, always running, always trying to stay a step ahead of WICKED, of everyone else. death and destruction were always clawing at thomas's back, and he was too busy surviving to do that, to try and handle himself.

it takes him a few seconds to properly respond. ] ...this place is a lot gentler than what I'm used to. [ this guy's right, he thinks. it reflects in thomas's tone, soft, open. ] It's good advice.

voice; private

[cerebral]

[That's worrying. The Drabworld has its challenges but it's by no means easy going either, from what he's gathered. And the voice on the other end sounds young.]

I try. I've been told I'm well suited to the wise man figure. Got a beard and everything. [j/k. But the situation calls for some levity.]

voice; private

[greenies]

[ that makes thomas chuckle a little. ] I've never had one of those before.

[ jorge had a beard but...........yeah, no. ]