Arthur [surname redacted] (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
aloadeddie) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
sixwordstories2017-08-06 11:04 am
aloadeddie) wrote in sixwordstories2017-08-06 11:04 am
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Hey. Don't worry. You're only dreaming.
I'm not worried. You probably should be, though.
My mind is not a pleasant place.
My mind is not a pleasant place.
Yes, they can be. Though not in the way most people might think.
Oh?
How do you think dreams are dangerous?
How do you think dreams are dangerous?
I-- wh-- excuse me?
[ Far too preoccupied with bodily shoving the perfect stranger back from the delicate crackle of glass, window chill-dusted and threatening to shatter. Already, the fairy's tendrils have slipped through the breach, dropping the temperature so violently Sam draws the protective arm upward to smother a rattling cough. Eyes stinging, nose an angry red. ]
Buddy, I need you to hear me. This isn't a dream-- this is happening, and the only way we can get through this is if you listen. [ An earnest glance over the plaid-clad arm protecting his trembling lips, breath starkly visible. ] Can you do that?
[ Far too preoccupied with bodily shoving the perfect stranger back from the delicate crackle of glass, window chill-dusted and threatening to shatter. Already, the fairy's tendrils have slipped through the breach, dropping the temperature so violently Sam draws the protective arm upward to smother a rattling cough. Eyes stinging, nose an angry red. ]
Buddy, I need you to hear me. This isn't a dream-- this is happening, and the only way we can get through this is if you listen. [ An earnest glance over the plaid-clad arm protecting his trembling lips, breath starkly visible. ] Can you do that?
Just that reminder, along with his unerring calm, was enough to pull her back from the lip of panic, to bring her around to focusing on what it was she was doing.
Which at that particular moment was holding a rope bridge together with little more than hope and sheer force of will. It was an obstacle course dreamshare style.
She knew that even if the bridge collapsed and they fell they'd just wake up, but that wasn't the point, staying the course was the point, and even despite an impressive fear of heights, staying the course was what she was going to do, "Just... don't move." She said, brow creasing a little in concentration, forcing herself to level her breathing out again.
It was right about then that the creepers lining the canyon wall closest started to grow, sending out runners along the bridge, weaving around the weak points, slowly at first, but more quickly as she got used to how to make the change work.
Which at that particular moment was holding a rope bridge together with little more than hope and sheer force of will. It was an obstacle course dreamshare style.
She knew that even if the bridge collapsed and they fell they'd just wake up, but that wasn't the point, staying the course was the point, and even despite an impressive fear of heights, staying the course was what she was going to do, "Just... don't move." She said, brow creasing a little in concentration, forcing herself to level her breathing out again.
It was right about then that the creepers lining the canyon wall closest started to grow, sending out runners along the bridge, weaving around the weak points, slowly at first, but more quickly as she got used to how to make the change work.
Arthur, for his part, does as she says - he keeps still, watching her, his eyes occasionally flicking to the moving foliage. If he's frightened at all, he doesn't show it. They're in a dream, after all, and he's used to all kinds of crazy shit happening in the dream. He's died in many different ways, as well.
"You only need to focus on one or two elements at a time," Arthur says quietly, instructing. "The rest will fill itself in. Try too hard, and it'll fall apart."
"You only need to focus on one or two elements at a time," Arthur says quietly, instructing. "The rest will fill itself in. Try too hard, and it'll fall apart."
She nodded, taking another deep breath, already feeling a little less shaky, though she knew her knees were still locked and she was going to fall flat on her face if she tried moving just yet, "I know, get it started, let it do the rest."
Which those runners were already doing, braiding and tightening around the ropes that seemed the weakest, and even growing out over gaps in the bridge itself where boards had broken or rotted through.
She let her breathing steady again as well, finally taking a half-step forward, as if to make sure that the bridge wasn't actually going to give way and that her knees weren't going to go out from under her. She nodded when everything stayed stable, continuing walking, slowly, but finally forward, one hand light on the guide rope that was now at least half climbing vine in most places.
Which those runners were already doing, braiding and tightening around the ropes that seemed the weakest, and even growing out over gaps in the bridge itself where boards had broken or rotted through.
She let her breathing steady again as well, finally taking a half-step forward, as if to make sure that the bridge wasn't actually going to give way and that her knees weren't going to go out from under her. She nodded when everything stayed stable, continuing walking, slowly, but finally forward, one hand light on the guide rope that was now at least half climbing vine in most places.
"You're doing great, you know," he adds after a moment, still watching her carefully, making sure she won't panic. They're isolated enough right now that his projections aren't likely to reach them anytime soon, but he sweeps his eyes from one end of the bridge to the other, anyway.
"I didn't realize you were afraid of heights," he adds after a moment. He's not mocking, or anything, he's just... mildly curious. Maybe it just seems incongruous to him that she's afraid of anything so mundane.
"I didn't realize you were afraid of heights," he adds after a moment. He's not mocking, or anything, he's just... mildly curious. Maybe it just seems incongruous to him that she's afraid of anything so mundane.
"Heights alone aren't the problem, I'm fine with them as long as I'm on something solid, it's the suspension that's the issue. I think. I have the same reaction to pontoon bridges, but not to the same degree."
The conversation was a good distraction, it allowed her to continue moving forward -if slowly- without thinking too hard about it, "Same thing with the swing ride at the carnival, the one that's seats. I can handle the dragon boat pendulum one, it's a different kind of motion, but that umbrella one is definitely on the list."
The conversation was a good distraction, it allowed her to continue moving forward -if slowly- without thinking too hard about it, "Same thing with the swing ride at the carnival, the one that's seats. I can handle the dragon boat pendulum one, it's a different kind of motion, but that umbrella one is definitely on the list."
"I haven't been on a carnival ride in... a really long time," Arthur says with a faint smile, one hand on the rail of the bridge as he follows her, step by step.
"I get my kicks in dreams, these days." Pun intended.
"I get my kicks in dreams, these days." Pun intended.
She snorted at that, relaxing just a little when she reached the other side, feet on solid ground again made her that much more stable and that much less likely to try giving up just yet, "Punny. Hilarious, even."
There was amusement in the statement, however, which was probably only a good thing at the moment.
There was amusement in the statement, however, which was probably only a good thing at the moment.
Amusement was certainly what Arthur was going for there. "In another life, I could've been a comedian," he teases.
Maybe a comedian of dad jokes.
Maybe a comedian of dad jokes.
Dad jokes would be at least 500% less offensive than most 'comedians' of their age, which might work in his advantage. She nodded, as if thinking that over even as she debated which path to take as it continued on in either direction, "Well, at least you know you've got something to fall back on if this doesn't pan out for you."
"Oh, yeah, I've got a fallback plan now," Arthur says with a chuckle. As if he needs one - he could've retired years ago, with the money he has stashed in offshore accounts, and the rest of it invested in various places around the world. He'd just die of boredom really fast without dream share.
He stands, inconspicuous, hands in his pockets, waits for her to choose. This is an obstacle course, after all, and like all dream levels, it's a maze as well. It's actually one that was originally created for the military training, an old one that he's very familiar with. He's curious what other alterations she'll make to it. "They'd dump us into different environments, as tests. You expect a jungle to be hot and wet, a desert to be dry, a tundra to be cold. So they are."
He stands, inconspicuous, hands in his pockets, waits for her to choose. This is an obstacle course, after all, and like all dream levels, it's a maze as well. It's actually one that was originally created for the military training, an old one that he's very familiar with. He's curious what other alterations she'll make to it. "They'd dump us into different environments, as tests. You expect a jungle to be hot and wet, a desert to be dry, a tundra to be cold. So they are."
"Used to be that was how I knew I was dreaming." She replied, finally turning to the left, the path that headed further up the mountain, "The weather didn't match the terrain, "Usually once I realized that I could flip it over into something more lucid."
She smiled, "Nothing like what I can do on purpose now, though."
She smiled, "Nothing like what I can do on purpose now, though."
Arthur's interest is a little piqued by that. "You were a lucid dreamer before you met Cobb?" he asks, eyebrows going up.
She nodded, making a sound to the affirmative in the back of her throat before she explained: "Same as anybody is, off and on, nothing I really paid much attention to until..."
She actually had to think that one over, shaking her head, "I don't know, probably just before I left for college, that was the summer I started getting interested in dream meanings and imagery, that kind of thing."
She actually had to think that one over, shaking her head, "I don't know, probably just before I left for college, that was the summer I started getting interested in dream meanings and imagery, that kind of thing."
"Not everyone does," Arthur amends after a moment. "I never did, before."
He glances at her. "It just figures we'd end up recruiting somebody who was already interested in dreams to begin with."
He glances at her. "It just figures we'd end up recruiting somebody who was already interested in dreams to begin with."
"Really?" That was a surprise to her, at least a little, "I wonder if it just runs in my family. I know mom can, we used to trade stories, sometimes. And her sister Sue can, don't know about the others, don't really talk to them often, and don't know if dad could."
An actual smile followed at the rest, giving a little shrug and spreading her hands, an entirely 'what can you do?' gesture, "Life works out like that sometimes, gives you exactly what you need."
An actual smile followed at the rest, giving a little shrug and spreading her hands, an entirely 'what can you do?' gesture, "Life works out like that sometimes, gives you exactly what you need."
"I never remembered my dreams much when I was a kid," Arthur says with a shrug. "After I got into the military, all I wanted was to stop dreaming naturally."
His natural dreams were never pleasant, after his stint in Afghanistan.
His natural dreams were never pleasant, after his stint in Afghanistan.
Another thoughtful sound, nodding and giving a little shrug, stopping to pick up a small rock, turning it over in her fingers as she kept walking, "Guess that makes sense. Probably a lot more people on that side of the fence than on my side."
She shrugged then, flicking the rock out along the path ahead, skipping it like a stone on a pond, "Would be an interesting statistic to work out, I think."
She shrugged then, flicking the rock out along the path ahead, skipping it like a stone on a pond, "Would be an interesting statistic to work out, I think."
"Maybe," Arthur says. "Wouldn't be any money in it, though."
Which means no one will do it. He's a cynical bastard, sometimes.
Which means no one will do it. He's a cynical bastard, sometimes.
She shrugged, "Make it a six-question google poll, put it up as being data-gathering for some kid's school project and it'd be easy to get at least enough people answering it to work with."
She paused, partly to admire the view and partly to survey the path ahead, still mostly level even though it was meandering towards the top of the mountain, "Even get enough people answering truthfully to make it worthwhile, I figure."
She paused, partly to admire the view and partly to survey the path ahead, still mostly level even though it was meandering towards the top of the mountain, "Even get enough people answering truthfully to make it worthwhile, I figure."
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