eachdraidh | second trial. | voice (unlocked)

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second trial. | voice (unlocked)

[ 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. ]

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[ if there's one thing that Percy has become intimately knowledgeable about, it's nightmares. his trip through tartarus left some lasting damage, though it isn't something that is readily seen on his person. even then, he was already getting acquainted with the nightmare business just by being a demigod.

sleeping wasn't exactly kind to them. ]

Every night, more or less. [ he shrugs, once. he's sort of lost track of when they do and don't happen. still, there's concern knit across his face, because people don't ask these questions unless they (or someone close to them) is suffering through them. ] I dunno. I used to get up and take a walk around the castle. While I'm out traveling with friends, I'd take over watch or keep the person up company? Guess that's not really dealing with them, though.

[ at least- that's how it used to be. ]

Someone really special to me is here now. Sleeping with her there makes it easier, y'know? I mean, I still get them, but they're not as bad. So... maybe try staying with someone that you trust a lot? I guess that's what helps me, is her.

Edited (I'M SORRY I PROMISE I'M DONE EDITING NOW ;;) 2014-12-13 06:04 (UTC)

[ percy is familiar, and thomas turns on the video to meet him with a tired half smile. he looks like a wreck, and if one were to look closely out of the camera, it appears he's keeping his hands busy by idly stroking through the fur of a fairly large fox, curled up next to him. he knows minho can understand him perfectly, but he was pretty sure he was dozing when he made the post so...hopefully he can keep this quiet.

his words are familiar, and thomas nods his head, both in solidarity and understanding. ] ...yeah. I've been going on runs at night, but when I get back, they still don't stop. I just sort of gave up on sleeping. [ there's a faint humor when he adds-- ] It's so much easier to ignore it than to deal with it, right? Like...maybe if I keep moving, I won't have to sleep at all.

[ he offers a small smile. trust is a rare commodity these days, and he looks down to his best friend (even if he's currently small, furry and sulky) and shakes his head. percy's lucky to have that someone, and he's really happy for him, to hear so. ] One of your friends from home came?

[ there's two ways she can go about answering in -- the logic answer, and the cheese answer. all around, logic is the more comfortable route to talk about, but she can't deny the merit in what good medicine sappy goodness can be. ]

Good exercise and keeping healthy should help. Sometimes meditation helps some people? But I've honestly never tried it. [ peaceful things never say peaceful for too long, anyway. ]

I think it's more important for you to find someone close to you who... grounds you. And makes you forget all about nightmares. [ she scoffs a little. ] I know -- cheesed out answer, just call me Hallmark. But if you're looking for a remedy to bad dreams, that's the best way. Find someone you love and keep them close to home.

[Something about the voice makes the speaker seem too young to recommend getting really really drunk as a solution (but it was hard to tell with humans sometimes). But Lusiphur has his fair share of nightmares, and he subscribes to the relative anonymity of "audio only"]

The only thing that helps mitigate my nightmares is to wear myself out when I'm awake until I'm too tired to dream at all. Fighting, working, running, doing crazy stuff with a friend. Whatever it takes. Distraction until you're too exhausted to worry about whether or not you're gonna have 'em that night.

[Dorian answers the question candidly, perhaps indelicate to the precise severity of Thomas's bad dreams.] A doctor might suggest laudanum, but I don't think they have it here. And it's never really pleasant to get medical intervention of that kind anyway. [Dorian's voice does darken there. They might mark you mad.]

[But his tone raises up, and he adds,] I like to read a book before I sleep, or after I wake up from a nightmare. It tricks my mind into thinking something else so that it can't focus on what I was dreaming. The cooks might bring you something sweet to eat to soothe you if that will help.

[He doesn't have to respond, he realizes. Briar could easily go about his evening without responding and feel no pain about it. But he, too, knows some things about nightmares. Maybe he couldn't help his much anymore, but that didn't mean anything for the others around.]

Plenty of people will say there's ways to fix it, but there's not. I have a mate who's had nightmares for years now. Real bad ones. I don't know what she does about 'em, but sticking around calmed her down.

I could help you with sleeping drops and tea for it, but there's no guarantees it'll last forever if they're bad off.

I've learned to live with them. But a friend of mine makes potions for Dreamless Sleep.

Are you Percy's friend from home? [ it seems like a weird segue, but there's just a faint hint of fondness in his voice when he says it. ] He said the same thing.

[ attached at the hip, much. thomas's heart hurts for how he and teresa must have been once, the things he doesn't remember--that he chose not to remember. sleeping beside her felt safe--thomas felt better when she was in the room, let alone sleeping by him. but after what had happened...it was hard to rebuild those bridges, a fight that piled up brick by brick in hopes of maybe returning them to some semblance of their relationship before.

he's quiet for a little bit, before he ventures-- ] Meditation?

Yeah. [ he agrees with that instantly, and though the person on the other end can't see, thomas runs his hand through his hair, a little frustrated. ] I've been going out for runs every night to try and help, and it works for a little while, but...they always come back. It feels like I'm running from my problems, and that makes it even worse, you know? The more I try to outrun them, the worse I feel for leaving them behind.

Laudanum. [ he repeats that, nose wrinkling on his end--thomas isn't sure exactly what that is, and his useless memories dredge up no concept of it, so he'll have to ask further. at this point, thomas is desperate, because he sees death every time he closes his eyes. ] Is that a Drabwurld thing?

[ he sighs, rubbing his temples. ] Reading a book might work. Everyone's been saying distraction's a good idea, but I can't find anything distracting enough. [ a little stressed, but at least nice, he adds-- ] Thank you. Do you have them a lot, too?

[ thomas nods his head, even if he can't be seen--he doesn't really think there is any way to stop them. short of, what, chuck coming back to life again? seeing his mother? of alby, not being torn away by the grievers? newt, cured of the flare and smiling at him? that might be worse, he thinks, because he could remember every failing he caused them, everything that made them land in the position that they landed in, because of him.

dead, because of him.

thomas stays quiet almost long enough that it sounds like he won't answer back, but, there's some shifting as it sounds like he's moving--interest, maybe. ] Sleeping drops and tea, huh? That might work.

[ !!!! ] Who can I talk to about that?

Her name's Hermione -- Hermione Granger. I don't know how many ingredients she has; you might have to help her gather some.

Control them.

[ Reyna knows nightmares and knows that she hates them with a fair amount of vitriol. She's a demigod and of course there's always going to be someone finding their way into her dreams. Nightmares that she can't control— nightmares that end in her waking up in a cold sweat aren't things she likes to deal with.

Her answer stops there for a moment, like she's carefully weighing how to word the rest of her thoughts. When she does start speaking, it's with a solemn tone. ]

Take control of them. Don't just let your mind wander until it stumbles right into them. You have to start dreams where you feel most comfortable and if the nightmares come anyway— they're not real. They can't be where you feel the most comfortable.

[Nightmares are something she understands, though she hasn't had too many fitful nights of sleep here-- away from the Sforzas or any Italian family. But she can understand wanting to find a way through them. She looks upon with kind eyes and uses a soft voice.]

There is usually a root fear, something that drives them. One can confront it or find a decent apothecary.

[Briar is patient. He's used to quiet and half answers now. Even being reunited with his sisters and recently renewing their connection, it wasn't the same as before. They weren't constantly talking like they had when they were kids. It was different now and quiet was just a part he'd grown accustomed to.

When the other young man responds, Briar nods his head. Reaching back to rub his neck he continued.]

Not forever. You'll get used to it eventually. They're purely plants, so you won't have to worry about someone doing something funny to it. I could strengthen it with magic if you think it's needed, but that can mess with you if you take it too long, too. It's up to you.

First I try to determine if they are even nightmares.

No, it is something we have where I'm from. A medicine that the doctors often give you if you tell them your mind won't rest, and for all sorts of other reasons. [And it terrifies Dorian, the things that doctors do to people whose minds aren't well, so he never tells anyone.

That is probably why he hesitates a little before he answers Thomas's kindness.] I . . . I wouldn't like to say that I have more than the ordinary amount. But I don't think there ever is anything distracting enough.

Is there a song you like? If you get someone to play it for you, it might help you rest.

[ the way he speaks of that sounds bad, and thomas, frankly, has enough experience with bad medicine to last a lifetime. he's had quite enough people wanting to mess with his brain, and some kind of medicine doing to him what the WICKED doctors were planning to do...well, he'd rather just self-medicate somehow. he makes a thoughtful noise, pondering. ] It sounds like something we should be keeping out of here, then, just in case. I was wondering if there might be a magical cure or something, but--I'm still trying to deal with the fact that there's so much magic here.

[ thomas pauses and considers that. ] I...don't know. I can't remember ever listening to any music, so...

Like an addiction. [ he nods, even if he can't be seen--thomas's Thinking Voice is clearly on, his fingertips tapping against a hard surface just inside of the voice function's scope of audio. while temporary relief would be good, he's also seen what bliss did to cranks back in denver, and he has no intentions of becoming that for a few snatches of sleep.

still, it would be nice. it'd be good to have a night where he didn't see his best friend with a bullet in between his eyebrows. ] I'm going to try some of these other suggestions, but I'll let you know if that'll be needed.

[ as usual, his curiosity gets the better of him. ] Did you learn how to do that here?

Hermione Granger. Is she--does it really matter which side she's on? [ thomas does not really care about this whole unseelie/seelie thing, but some people do, who knows. ]

[ thomas has plenty sassy to say but he tamps down on it. clearly this girl has her own issues with nightmares--it seems to be a common facet of the drabwurld and the shardbearers that are beginning to inhabit it. it's not so easy that he can just control them, considering, and he respects that this girl's able to, somehow.

but he can't stop it because they're not nightmares. they're memories. nightmares are an easier thing to call it. an easier thing to admit to than being kept sleepless at night by the people you've gotten killed, the promises you've broken, the things you've seen. the silver monsters nearly ripping winston's face off. the red stain that remained on the maze floor where alby had been standing.

chuck, a knife buried in his chest.

steadily, thomas asks: ] How do you cope with them if they are real? If they were real. I don't dream about giant spiders or falling off of buildings or anything like that.

That sounds about right. [ what's thomas afraid of? it's an easy answer--getting more people hurt, getting more people killed. he's afraid of newt returning to life here in the drabwurld and screaming at him i hate you, i've always hated you, he's afraid of losing teresa again. afraid of failing.

he sighs. ] I think the confrontation of it is the scariest part.

[ so many questions ] Determine how? And--to differentiate them from something else? Memories, or real life, or regular dreams?

Uhhh. Well, I haven't really run into ways to stop them or anything yet, since I guess that's kind of a huge... mind deal. Sometimes you just get stuck on something like that. [ And in a place like this, where sometimes dogs made of the essence of fear and stuff just happen to run around, Bolin figures it's kind of understandable that a lot of people could get stuck on things. He knows he does a lot more than he used to. ]

But if I'm having trouble with them, it helps me a lot not to try going back to sleep right away. Which isn't usually too hard, since. You know, nightmares and all. Maybe walk around, get some food, pet a dog or something? Think about other stuff.

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