sleepyhollowed | IC Inbox for redshiftrp

Yeah! Let's start walkin'! I'll follow you.

[There's no other description for the look on Kieran's face other than unadulterated excitement. There's a chance to explore an area that's familiar but just strange enough for him to discover something new. And the promise that he'll get to see an entirely different country on top of it all fills him to the brim with delight.]

If you want, I can tell you all about the horses and the plants around us. I-I ain't much of a tour guide, but I know at least that much.

Are you kidding? I would love that!

[ Reynir's enthusiasm bubbles over at once, his words coming quick and delighted: ]

The whole reason I left home - I mean, one of the big reasons, anyway - is that I wanted to see another country, just once. Someplace with different animals and plants and landscapes and people and ways. I've wanted to travel since... well, as long as I can remember!

[ It's difficult to know at this point how much of that urge to see the world is natural and inborn to Reynir and how much had grown within him because he'd always thought it was something he would never ever be allowed to do. Reynir forgives his parents now for lying to him all his life, telling him it was illegal for non-immune people to leave the country. But it really had changed the way he looks at the world, probably permanently. ]

What is this place? It's - America?

[ He remembers the name, has met a few people who are from variations of that country. But seeing it is so much more real, and vivid. Even if it is in a dream. ]

It's so - flat. And dry! And the dirt's so red. Is it meant to be that color?

Edited 2019-12-04 16:36 (UTC)

It’s part of it, yeah.

[Kieran walks along with a practiced ease, his feet completely used to the unique way grass and dirt give way underneath his boots. To him, the open sky and sweeping, flat land—with the occasional hill breaking it up, are the very embodiment of freedom. He’s enjoying every moment of their conversation and, of course, the setting in which it’s taking place.]

I’ve been all over America, but, uh, where I spent the most of my time was down south. But the country is so big that yer just as likely to come across desert as you are snow as you are swamps. No place is exactly the same as the other.

[He gestures at the horses.]

Like, uh, take these fellers fer example. They’re gonna wanna live somewhere that’s open, but that’s still got some trees or hills around. So yer gonna find ‘em on a prairie.

You really don’t have anythin’ like that in Iceland?

[ Reynir listens with interests. Apparently, America was a much much bigger place than he'd realized. Or perhaps it merely has more variation than Iceland, because it wasn't an island? He doesn't really know how these things work. But he wasn't exaggerating about being excited learning about another place, and so he listens to Kieran with rapt interest.

When he asks about horses and prairies, Reynir gives a complicated little half-shrug. In some ways, it will be easier to just show Kieran, rather than tell him what Iceland looks like. But he also answers: ]

We have horses, they're just - smaller than this and sort of. Sturdier? There are open spaces, and trees and hills, just... different to this. It's hard to describe... here.

[ And Reynir beckons Kieran over towards him. They can come back here, after all, tonight or on some future night - traveling between the different areas is easy enough, with Reynir there...

...though it might be a bit of a shock for Kieran when the grassy area they are walking in suddenly stops, like the edge of a picture, an unnatural disjuncture between one place and another, and gives way to a vast expanse of flat water, under a huge cloud-filled starry sky. The dog trots past them, over that rift in space and onto the water, its paws sending out little circles of ripples. Reynir follows, completely blithe, walking on the surface of the water.

He makes it a pace or two before he remembers how terrified Carlisle had been of this place, and sure, some of that was down to that man's specific fear of open spaces - one Kieran doesn't seem to share - but Reynir turns to check on him all the same, offering: ]

I - can hold your hand, if you want, while we cross. If you're scared.

[ For Reynir, who doesn't have a macho bone in his body, it seems a simple enough thing to offer, not at all meant to be pitying or condescending. ]

[As with most things he comes across, Kieran's initial reaction is to timidly stand back and observe. Watching both the dog and Reynir walk on water that's just suddenly appeared out of nowhere is enough to absorb in itself, let alone any social faux pas that may come with offering a hand.]

[So, Kieran hesitates for a few moments when Reynir says something, blinking as he continues to process all of these abrupt, whimsical changes. That's all it takes before he reaches out with his arm to take his red-headed buddy's offer. He'd been holding hands and arms plenty back in the waking world out of necessity. Here, though, it's a choice. Kieran could've said no if he wanted to, and just having the power to make that choice is more than enough to offset his prior misgivings.]

S-Sure! Let's go.

[ Reynir takes Kieran’s hand, but he doesn’t lead him, the way people have been leading him around in the waking world. With the two of them touching, Reynir knows that Kieran won’t have to follow as exactly in his rippling footsteps in order to avoid falling in. As long as they stay in contact, he should be able to stay on the surface of the water just as easily. He doesn’t know why. He doesn’t know why half the things in the dreamspace work the way they do. He just knows this place, intuitively. He understands it, it’s magic, how to move in it.

So the two of them walk side by side over the water, Reynir seeming completely at his ease, the dog trotting along ahead of them. He does think to mention: ]

There’s usually barriers between different places, here. Mages like Onni or Lalli put them up around their areas, and I think some just happen naturally, but because of my magic, I can just walk through them. And if you’re close to me so can you!

[ The excitement in his voice is contagious, and it’s not long they’re moving over that strange, eerie in-between place before they move through another invisible barrier and are on solid land, once more. Volcanic land, cover in rolling green hills, the sky a bright blue filled with clouds. There are sheep dotting the hills around them, just as round and white and fluffy as the clouds in the sky. Reynir lets Kieran’s hand go and says, gesturing: ]

See? This is my home.

[A natural worrier, Kieran's first thought regarding the barriers is whether or not it's a good idea for them to pass through them, but Reynir's innate optimism puts him at ease fairly quickly. His grip on his red-headed friend's hand smoothly transitions from uneasy to confident as he follows along.]

[Kieran's neck cranes in awe as he takes in the brilliant green of lush hills and the familiar puffs of sheep breaking the smooth landscape with random patterns and clusters as flocks travel together. Immediately, he feels at peace.]

Reynir, this is amazin'.

It ain't anythin' like what I was expectin' fer a place called Iceland.

[ Reynir can hear that peace in Kieran's voice, see it in his body language. Who couldn't feel safe and comfortable, here? This place is partly constructed from Reynir's impressions of his home, how he felt about it. And it had been a safe place for him to grow up, tranquil and beautiful and nurturing. So it is that way, in this dream.

He laughs at Kieran's joke about Iceland, shaking his head: ]

Well, it is pretty cold, but there is a lot more than just ice! Here, let me show you!

[ And then the two of them are off, exploring the hills and rocks and little secret places, the landscape of Reynir's dream sanctuary. There is a lot to see, here, and he wants to make sure Kieran makes the most of it, during this brief time that he can. Even if the waking world poses a million challenges that will still need to be faced, Kieran won't be facing them alone. And he won't have to feel like he will never see clouds again, or sheep, or green or hills or any of that. Because Reynir can do this small, huge thing for him. ]

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