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idream_ofmemes2023-04-05 09:59 pm
perchancetodreammods) wrote in idream_ofmemes2023-04-05 09:59 pm
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TDM #7 - April Showers (and Other Weather Conditions)
April Showers (and Other Weather Conditions)
New Arrivals
You wake from what should have been a normal night of sleep bolting upright from what is very clearly the bed you went to sleep in that night, but in a strange place. A tower, high in the air, with huge open windows that clouds could lazily float through. Before you is a massive oaken double door, emblazoned with a carving of an eye, and a note on black lies atop your bedsheets. The note instructs you to go through the door and come to a place called the Torn Oak for more answers, and is signed by someone called "the Outsider." You climb out of bed, pull on the door handle, and step out into an ethereal, mysterious, ever-shifting world of dreams.
─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───
Welcome to the Dreamscape. A beautiful, endless dream where you and a bunch of other unique and interesting minds from across the multiverse have been gathered to connect, commiserate, and make the impossible... possible! There are many fantastical locales to explore and even more to come, and you are given your very own Nimbus Cloud to serve as your home. This puffy pink cloud will host a pocket dimension just for you where the only limit to what you can create is your own imagination. Missing personal items or locations from the waking world? No problem--- the only thing you have to do in order to earn feathers, the local currency, is make meaningful connections with others. In fact, making these meaningful connections seems to be the only task assigned to you by your mysterious host, the Outsider.
In order to make your way in this weird and whimsical world, you'll need to form lasting bonds with your fellow dreamers, learn more about the Outsider and their intentions, and stay on your toes. There is something very strange happening here, and despite their jolly demeanor, they are clearly struggling to maintain control of their own domain--- something that could land all of you in danger.
─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───
Welcome to the Dreamscape. A beautiful, endless dream where you and a bunch of other unique and interesting minds from across the multiverse have been gathered to connect, commiserate, and make the impossible... possible! There are many fantastical locales to explore and even more to come, and you are given your very own Nimbus Cloud to serve as your home. This puffy pink cloud will host a pocket dimension just for you where the only limit to what you can create is your own imagination. Missing personal items or locations from the waking world? No problem--- the only thing you have to do in order to earn feathers, the local currency, is make meaningful connections with others. In fact, making these meaningful connections seems to be the only task assigned to you by your mysterious host, the Outsider.
In order to make your way in this weird and whimsical world, you'll need to form lasting bonds with your fellow dreamers, learn more about the Outsider and their intentions, and stay on your toes. There is something very strange happening here, and despite their jolly demeanor, they are clearly struggling to maintain control of their own domain--- something that could land all of you in danger.
DATE
4/5/2023
THEME
Weather-themed music and springtime!
QUICK NAV
Constellations
When you join the Dreamscape, you will receive a magical Constellation pendant, allowing you to connect to the DreamNet! The star-shaped pendant, which varies depending on your personal style, lights up and projects a hologram screen that will allow you to send messages, videos, and voice calls. A handy way to stay connected with fellow dreamers on the go that is intuitive enough for anyone to understand, whether you come from a world where email has been invented or not!
Mr. Blue Sky
{Electric Light Orchestra} ♫♪♩♬
Do you have a television in your Nimbus Cloud? Or perhaps you just have the screen of light that can be displayed from your Constellation charm. Whatever the case may be, it flicks on, and the Outsider is in a suit. No, not their usual ornate body suit, but a poorly-tailored black and white business suit, completed with a cloud-print tie. They are standing in front of a map of the Dreamscape, holding a pointing stick. They look ridiculous, even a bit disheveled. As they begin to speak, both their tone and their smile appear to be more forced than usual.
“Good afternoon, Dreamscape residents! It’s spring time here, which means we are officially clear of snowstorm territory and on to warm breezes, lovely flowers, and fresh leaves on all the trees. And of course it wouldn’t be spring without a little unpredictable weather!”
Cloud formations ranging from green to yellow to red began forming on their map, moving slowly across it from left to right.
“As you can see, we have some rather unique weather conditions rolling in! They’ll be rotating through all the locations in the Dreamscape, and changing every few hours, so I recommend that all of you stay up to date. I’ve provided resources on your Constellations and on any electronic devices in the Dreamscape to help you get the latest information on what weather will be impacting you, and what impact it will have on your location! Good luck out there, and whatever the weather, it’s better together!”
The Outsider’s rather cheesy presentation of the newest Dreamscape event, while amusing, seems out of character with their normally heartfelt or enthusiastic monologues. But before you have time to really dwell on that, the sky above you begins to shift and change. The spring time weather conditions are quickly arriving, affecting every location in the Dreamscape, and each type of weather has a magical effect of some kind that is influenced by the location itself and the people in it. You can choose whether to look up these effects and stay prepared or fly blind and hope for the best, but these weather conditions will be affecting every location except inside Nimbus Clouds!
Here Comes the Sun
{The Beatles} ♫♪♩♬
Everyone loves a sunny day, especially during a rainy season like early spring! If you’re in a place with sunshine, you’re in luck.
Clouds part above you, warmth filling the air as the sun’s golden rays envelop you and the landscape around you in a honey glow. As sunlight touches the ground, flowers begin to bloom in droves on any surface it might be reasonable to find them, and fresh green leaves sprout from the branches of every tree present. The sweet scent of nectar and florals fills the air everywhere that this light graces the ground, but the effects are particularly potent in the botanical gardens. The warm and almost heavenly glow from the celestial body above seems to soften the whole world, as if everything is faded slightly like an old photograph.
Breathe in. Take that sweetness into your lungs. Feel the warmth on your skin. You can feel a strange, calm euphoria rise up from your core so strongly that you feel compelled to exhale it out. With the dreamy light of the sun, you are instilled with a nearly overpowering joy. What will you do with this unexpected moment of bliss? Who will you spend it with? Will you reminisce about your favorite times, discover who you are without your burdens, or just allow yourself to float through the merry fields of flowers and forget? And of course, all this begs another important question--- how will you cope when it ends?
Northern Downpour
{Panic! at the Disco} ♫♪♩♬
One of the milder ones on the roster, light rains are the most common weather conditions you will encounter. Ranging from fading drizzles with a bit of sun to gloomy but calm showers, these peaceful storms have a large spread, change intensity often, and last longer than the other weather conditions. Occasionally, these storms can impact a single location for days at a time rather than just a few hours. If waiting out the rain doesn’t suit your schedule, there’s a shop in the Twisted City having a half off sale on umbrellas (making them only one feather, instead of two), but finding the shop is another matter. As with most shops in the Twisted City, it has a habit of disappearing, and reappearing elsewhere… But it’ll turn up eventually. (Probably.)
Whether you’re out in the rain or sheltered inside, the effect of the light rain is the same. As the persistent, musical sound of water droplets striking every surface fills the air and thrums in your ears, you begin to feel profoundly nostalgic, and feelings that you’ve been hiding or ignoring bubble to the surface. While it is up to you if this is enough to compel you to speak on these feelings, you will find that they nag at you, affecting your mood and plaguing your idle thoughts. Perhaps this is the time to have a conversation you’ve been avoiding?
Thunderclouds
{LSD} ♫♪♩♬
Another particularly common weather event that you’ll come across is heavy thunderstorms scattered in amongst the light rain. Much like the former, less intense version, these storms can linger, though not as long, and feature darker skies, heavier showers reaching up to the point of torrential downpours and even flooding, and the distant rumbling of thunder and flashes of lightning. The electricity is usually far enough in the distance that the rain is safe to walk in if you have an umbrella or don’t mind getting wet. Maybe you’re even the sort who likes to play in the rain--- in which case you’re in luck, these puddles are HUGE. However, this is also a great opportunity to huddle up and stay inside where it’s cozy.
Unlike the light rain, however, the heavy thunderstorms don’t influence your emotions. Instead, they are influenced by yours. Those in calm, playful, or romantic moods might see the storms grow a little lighter, the skies a brighter shade of gray, while Dreamers dealing with sadness might find the rain around them to be colder and heavier, or perhaps the clouds above you are darker and crackling with more lightning if you’re angry or scared. If you’re looking to change the vibe, start by changing the mood. Whether the severity of the storm is affected by you or the person next to you, a conversation could be enough to change the weather, and the state of the skies could be an indicator that someone around you could use a friend.
Jump Into the Fog
{The Wombats} ♫♪♩♬
More common at night or early in the morning, there is a slightly rarer chance that you’ll run into a patch of thick fog as you wander the Dreamscape. Dense, soupy, and gray, this fog is so intense it makes it hard to see more than a few feet in front of you, and will chill you down to your bones. Where fog is present, the sounds of the world will be duller, and everything will be eerily still.
This fog is not as innocent as the rain, however, and this is a very severe weather condition. As the cold sets in, sinking through your skin and making you shiver, so does a pervasive sense of anxiety, and a fear of the unknown. Listen closely and you’ll hear strange, unsettling sounds or barely-audible murmurs in the distance. What’s out there? It sounds so close, and yet you can’t see it.
What lurks in the fog is drawn from your own fears, and if you stray too far into the dense clouds, you’ll be met with a source of deep fear or stress from your own mind. Whether that’s monsters, people, places---you’ll find yourself among things that distress you. However, if you find another Dreamer to walk with, you may be able to escape the clutches of the fog. All you have to do is maintain physical contact with your companion. Hold hands, link arms, stand shoulder to shoulder or back to back, whatever works best for you, and as you proceed you’ll find that the fog is confused by the pairing, resulting in a fusion of your fears with those of your companion. Perhaps they conflict with one another, form something altogether new, or even result in something comical. Either way, this will allow you to share your burden with a friend, creating a situation that is easier to handle for both of you. Face your fears together, and the fog will lift, revealing the way forward. Or, if confrontation isn’t in the cards, you can always find somewhere indoors to hunker down and comfort each other until the danger passes instead.
Eye of the Storm
{MARINA} ♫♪♩♬
There is one more weather condition that it’s possible to run into, though this one is far less common and far more severe than any of the others. You almost won’t notice it at first as clouds loom overhead, threatening you with rain but never committing to it, and a brisk breeze blows through. However, the once-gentle gusts will escalate quickly, evolving into high winds with nearly enough force to bowl someone over.
As your hair and clothes whip in the wind, debris from the area begins to swirl around near the ground, and a piece of paper, fluttering in the breeze, flies up and slaps you, sticking to your body with the force of the gales. You peel it away from you and can barely make out the words printed on its surface before the rough winds rip it out of your hands and send it tumbling off into the distance.
Catch me if you can.
The page disappears from view, and there is a moment of complete, terrifying stillness as the tempest gales that seemed fit to carry you off just moments ago just drop off into nothing.
The paper, you realize, is cursed, having chosen you as its target, and from your mind a crisis of some kind is selected from your fears or memories and inflicted upon the surrounding area. This can be a natural disaster, an attacking army or monster, a chaotic mishap, or any other manner of catastrophe big enough to afflict the area you’re in, and it can range from comical to terrifying, all while massive gusts of wind bluster through the area. There are only two ways to end the disastrous effects of the high winds--- either resolve the crisis by overcoming the problem itself, or find that piece of paper and destroy it while the effects of the crisis attempt to keep you away from it, and the winds will persist until one of these things happens. Good luck out there! Maybe if you have an Emergency Wish, that could help you out?
Rain on Me
{Lady Gaga} ♫♪♩♬
As rotating weather effects impact the Dreamscape, this may be a good time to explore previous locations and see how they’ve changed with the weather and seasons. Investigate original locations like the Glass Lake and Twisted City, take the ferry over to Marrow Isle and see how Pumpkin Hollow looks in the spring, or visit your friends’ additions from last month’s wishing contest. Peruse the Locations page if you need ideas on where to go!
With all this rain, we’re sure to see some build-up over the course of this month, which will undoubtedly influence what’s to come, so stay tuned!
Additional Info!
-The Feather Info pages have yet to be updated with this information, but going forward we will be adding a new feather gain category: Shared Joy! You can earn this feather by meaningfully deepening your bond with another person over a shared wonderful moment of bliss. This is a fairly flexible category, but carries some weight. The rule of thumb is that it will count for any joyful interaction that brings characters significantly closer. Cannot be applied retroactively.
- Don't forget that we have a birthday chart for both players and characters!
-Reminder that activity check for March going into April has been waived. Existing players did not need to do AC this past week. Barring incident, it should resume as normal next month.
-NEW PLAYERS! Feel free to request a Discord link!
And last but not least, we have the winners of the wishing contest from last month's members-only event. Votes for first place were given 3 points, second place for 2, and third place for 1, ensuring that each vote was weighted according to priority.
In Third Place was Little Inkopolis & the ColisSeaum. Pearl Houzuki is awarded a free jumbo umbrella big enough for two people to stand under!
In Second Place was Blood Moon Library. Lioriley and Astarion are awarded a pair of stylish raincoats and a two-person umbrella of their own, to share.
In First Place is Rainbow Road. Princess Peach Toadstool and Lucas Kovach are awarded their own bespoke raincoats and colorful umbrellas respectively, as well as a letter informing that they will have the privilege of assisting in the planning of next month's Steamboat Gala. Details on that to be announced at the end of April!
An honorable mention to CB Ranch and Ambrosia Lounge, which tied for fourth place and were not far behind! A huge huge HUGE thank you to everyone who participated in making last month's event fun and filled with player participation!
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For just an instant, he’s four years old again, soaked to the skin after chasing a crab into the water and getting pulled under by a wave, being carried home in Javic’s arms. He’s safe, he’s happy…he’s home.
Giving him one more little squeeze, Gray draws back with a smile of his own, one that turns a little rueful as he points skyward.
“Got caught in the sun.” He explains. “I figured I could ask your boyfriend where to find you if you weren’t here. It was…bad the last time, after? So…y’know.”
He knows he’ll be safe with you—and that maybe, when this feeling goes away, it won’t be so bad this time since he’s with Javic.
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It's still a bit surreal to realize that, even when he's not dazed by soul-warming sun, he's honestly not worried about what John might be doing that requires secrecy. Sure, Jack doesn't have any reason to believe he might try to pull something really stupid like poisoning him or...well, anything his ex-partner might have done that required some kind of secret purchase, but it's still bizarre to find himself trusting someone so completely.
Then again, no one else ever gave him a damn horse. Speaking of. He grins, remembering the main reason he'd kept his coat on after stepping out and feeling the sun. He pulls back just enough to put an arm Gray's shoulders, shoving his other hand his pocket. "But there is still someone I wanna introduce you to."
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“What, you guys have another partner? Isn’t your boyfriend from the 20th century?” Gray asks with a raised eyebrow.
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He grins as they approach the stables, "But that's just because he doesn't appreciate a gorgeous lady who just takes what she wants instead of waiting for people to give it to her, right Estelle?" he calls cheerfully as they get in sight of her stall.
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When the horse comes into view, Gray’s eyes go wide with awe—where the lady in question is currently standing, head stretched over her stall door, tail swishing eagerly behind her as she snorts in delighted greeting.
“Wow…Jav, she’s beautiful!” Gray breathes, stepping away from his side to walk up to the stall a little faster. “Hey, Estelle…you’re so pretty!”
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"'Course she is," he says, quickening his stride. "She's mine, after all. Isn't that right, gorgeous?" he murmurs as he gets up to the stall, holding out his hand and laughing when she bypasses it to nuzzle at his hair instead. "I swear, John only has a problem with the way you take your apples because you keep making him jealous so he's gotta find some fault in your perfection."
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“Okay, I see: this is the engagement ring.” Gray teases, patting the stall door to indicate Estelle. “Got it.”
Hey, it’s wonderful to see Javic so happy—but it’s his duty as a little brother to give him shit about…
Well. Everything.
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He holds out an apple slice to Estelle, laughing softly when she huffs against his hair in a very clear expression of 'I know you're holding out on me, Pretty Human.' "Ah, come on, I wasn't the one who cut 'em up."
When she snorts and almost petulantly takes the apple from him, he turns to glance back to Gray for a second. "I will grant you, he was very explicitly doing this to entice me to hang around more by having me name her. He could've just asked for me to properly move in, but no, this man has to give me a damn horse," he says, grinning the whole time.
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He catches Javic watching him as he feeds the bay mare her treat and makes a face, still feeling pretty tranquil despite his apprehension.
“Besides the fact that I’ve been trampled to death before? Some animals…it’s like they can sense something is wrong.” He confesses. “I do better with predators like Myfanwy and Hywel—“
Estelle finishes her treat and swings her head towards Gray abruptly, making him freeze. She snuffles at his shoulder, snorts, and tries to pick up the bomber jacket still draped over his shoulder, twisting to offer it to Javic.
Behold, a present, Pretty Human!
Gray bursts out laughing, leaning on the stall door for support. “Oh man—you really are gonna make the
Mister jealous if you’re not careful, Javic.”
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And then Estelle goes for his bloody jacket.
Relieved as he is to hear Gray laughing, he still runs a hand hand over his face. "Would you believe I didn't teach her any of these bad tricks?" he mutters. "Seriously, not five minutes after John gives her to me, she was knocking a water bucket over him and now this." He gives Estelle a look that is not at-all reproachful. "I'd say that I'll be thinking up a punishment for this, but even I can't lie that well."
Estelle, of course, responds by nipping at his shirt sleeve. He can't help grinning, pressing a kiss to her nose. "So," he says, lightly, as he tries to keep Estelle distracted from the rest of Gray's wardrobe, "is Myfanwy a pterodactyl in your universe too?"
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“Yeah, she is! Is Hywel still a saber tooth tiger in yours? Or did she actually lay her eggs in the warehouse you and Gwen found her in? Or…was it Gwen?”
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Damn parallel universes.
"Ah...no, we don't have a saber tooth tiger, just the pterodactyl,"he says, laughing. "Who wasn't guarding a nest, but had been tracked to a warehouse by Ianto." Which, okay, is still kind of a fun memory even knowing why Ianto had been working to impress him.
Which...raises a whole lot of really unpleasant questions. "So. Your Gwen. Was she London, then?" the sunshine's effects and Estelle and Gray's presence all make it relatively easy to keep his tone conversational and be only just a little uncomfortable thinking about it
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“Yeah.” He replies with a sigh, watching Estelle nibble on the collar of Javic’s jacket for a little bit before just pressing her nose to the curve of his neck. “Caught her hunting Weevils…two years ago, give or take? Spent three months bringing me coffee at the Hub, begging for a job. Came damn close to killing her, but she scouted this pterodactyl nesting in a warehouse, dealt with some on site workers that had been attacked, caught up to me finishing another job…”
He trails off, thinking about the last time he saw her in his bed—goddamn blanket hog in one of his oxfords and nothing else…
Which brings to mind their first kiss, and Javic said Ianto was the one he found out of London…
“So—if Ianto came from London in your world,” Gray asked slowly, “did he…was Rhys…”
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But then...
"Wh--" he turns his head, letting out an only half-nervous chuckle as he realizes what Gray's implying. "Oh. Oh no, noooo, Rhys is Gwen's boyfriend, and he's fine. Ianto..." he sighs, rubbing Estelle's nose.
"He...was doing pretty poorly for awhile, after we had to deal with her, and I missed how poorly for way longer than I should have. But he's getting better, with some help." He can't help smirking a little at that. He might be utterly, stupidly besotted with John now, but he's still him.
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…wait a minute…
Gray blinked, jaw dropping.
“Wait a second—you were shagging Ianto? Ex-cop, nice ass, idealistic to a fault soft hearted little Ianto Jones. And bloodthirsty homewrecking Gwen Cooper…what, has a flat and date nights with Rhys? Are you trying to get me back for the engagement horse joke?…”
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"Yeah, I was shagging Ianto, the archivist who snuck his cyberized girlfriend into my Hub, and who shot Owen in the shoulder to try to stop him opening the Rift to rescue me and Tosh. Gwen is the ex-cop in my universe. Who has a flat and date nights with Rhys, when Torchwood doesn't ruin them."
He shrugged, "Can't say I'm not real thrown by your version of 'em, too. Because now I'm trying to picture Gwen handling the coffee maker, and all I'm seeing is a lot of smoke. Tell me Tosh is still your tech whiz at least, I do not want to imagine what Owen would do to Mainframe."
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He cuts himself off, realizing what Javic said. Rescuing him and Tosh…he’d mentioned it before, when he asked about Jack, but…
Gray frowns, but it’s mild—more curiosity than unrest, wrapped safely in the artificial contentment of the sun and the more real, soothing balm of Javic’s presence, the quiet snuffle and apple-munching of Estelle there with them, the earthy smell of animals and sweet hay on the warm air.
“What was it like? When you met Jack, I mean?” He asks slowly. “I…that happened for me, too, but I wasn’t there. I didn’t—get trapped, Gwen and Toshiko did. They got a little help from my past self…the one that was sent to kill Jack back in 1941.”
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Jack sighs, fishing another apple slice out of his pocket for Estelle so he can focus just on her, for a moment.. "Awful. Wonderful. Like I said, didn't know anything about him before. We ran into each other basically right away, and it's real good he introduced himself first, even if it did mean having to explain a lot to Tosh real fast."
The idea of the Agency sending Gray to kill that good, heroic man still unsettles him, but not as much as it had when he'd first found out and John had to talk him out of his guilt spiral. "I'd never felt anything about just taking his name before, after awhile there were some days I almost forgot I had, but after seeing him...." he shakes his head. "It's real possible if Owen hadn't opened the Rift, I would've done something stupid like trying to save him."
He turns back to Gray, smile only wavering a bit. "I did get to dance with him though. And made sure he got one helluva last kiss."
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It hurts, it’ll always hurt to know there was no hope of saving him, in any world. Gray only had three days, and one night in his bed, but Gray had loved him—and had failed him in every way that mattered. Still, knowing his big brother would have tried, that even in another reality, Jack found a place to accept that piece of himself even if only for a moment…
It feels like getting a tiny piece of his soul back, knowing that. Knowing even in another world, Javic was looking out for the things Gray loved.
Moving over to Javic’s side, Gray slings an arm around his neck and pulls him in to kiss the side of his head with a watery grin.
“Thank you for giving him that.” He replies softly. “I know it wasn’t my Jack…but it means everything to me.”
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He presses his lips to Gray's hair. "Feels really weird to say about...all of that, but you're welcome."
It feels like he should be able to say more, but it's probably always going to be like that with Gray--that he should be able to give him more in return for everything that happened. But instead he just stands there, hand on Gray's shoulder and trying to blink his eyes clear, until he feels a tug on his sleeve. He looks up and gives a faintly-watery laugh.
"And I'm out of apples, princess."
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Gray laughs at Estelle’s search for treats, leaning against Javic a little as he reaches out to try and stroke her neck, which she allows.
“It’s not so weird—you always looked out for me that way.” Gray points out, squinting at nothing as something starts to come into focus in his memory. “I was thinking about it before…remember when I was four and you had to run into the water after me? I chased a jelly crab into the waves and got knocked down, but you pulled me out and carried me home. I…remember you—went back. You left again after we got back and Mom made me take a nap. I didn’t see you again…until dinner, I think. That’s when you came back and gave me a jelly crab shell you went out and found for me.”
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It even makes it easier to listen to Gray's memory--one he can't be completely sure he does remember anymore. Little bits have been coming back, slowly and in fragments often devoid of context, since the breakdowns John's helped him through. It's been easier to let them come, not lose himself in them so much, but there's still so much missing because he let it slip away that he can't always be sure what's memory and what's just jumbled up dream-like compilations.
He could lie, but it feels wrong to do that to Gray, especially about home--unless he starts digging for what happened after.
"Sorta…it's vague, lotta stuff still is," he says, softly, before turning to Gray with a faint smile. "I remember doing a lot of that kind of stuff for you. Think you were the first person I really wanted to make happy and show off for, even more than Mom and Dad." It's a bit easier to mention them right now, in the sunlight with Gray and Estelle, than it had been with John. It still hurts, a bit, but not enough to start pulling him under the waves.
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The confession is soft, more wistful and longing than agonized--and it hurts, but less when he can keep stroking Estelle's neck and leaning a little more heavily into Javic, tipping his head to rest it on Javic's shoulder.
"I can't even blame time for it, either." he went on quietly, the sorrow eliciting nothing more than a deep sigh as he kept his eyes on Estelle, who was turning into Gray's stroking and only settled when he began to rub her nose instead. "I'd forgotten I had parents for a little while by the time the Agency found me. There were things--parts of me I had to sacrifice just to stay alive, say sane. I couldn't...care or miss people or feel anything but fury. My anger is the only strength I have, has been for a long time. Without it, I'd be dead."
He hesitates, lightly thumping his head against Javic's shoulder in a gesture of affection.
"You need to know that even if you didn't rescue me, Javic, you saved me. Holding onto you, the big brother that looked after me, took care of me--loved me? It's the only thing that kept me from becoming like them. I know I'm a mess, and I know it bothers you, but I would be a monster without you."
Gray smiles a little, then leans more heavily into Javic--not quite dead weight, but enough to try and make him lose his balance a little.
"So stop worrying about me, stupid."
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But that pain hurts less than usual, watching Gray's hand on Estelle in the sunlight. Even as Gray keeps speaking, echoing Jack's own experiences in burying his past. Maybe he'd taken longer to do it, had been far more concious and purposeful about what he was doing at the start, but the end result was almost the same. He'd just covered it up differently, most of the time.
His past doens't get a chance to cover his past in shadows, though, because it gets jostled just that little bit by Gray's touch. Jack surprises himself a little by laughing, shaking his head.
"Sorry, even if I wanted to, that's not happening," but he's smiling as he says it. "I'm always going to worry about you, but I'm trying not to let it weigh me down so much. It's getting easier." It feels a little strange, for something like that to be the truth instead of a way of keeping someone from seeing under one of his masks. Not that he'd have much chance of that with Gray, even after all the years and pain that had separated them for so long.
"Especially when I remember I've got several lifetimes of teasing you to catch up on."
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"We have eternity, remember?" Gray points out, letting out a yelp of surprise when Estelle suddenly shifts over to try and nibble on his hair. "So there's no rush--except to keep your girlfriend from eating my head. Hey, I don't have any apples, either--and by the way, what's with the coat? I mean, I wear it when it's wet out, but I always liked the bomber better. Don't you get hot in that fucking thing, Javic?"
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