sleepyhollowed | IC Inbox for redshiftrp

Hello!

[ It's been a few days since Kieran was attacked, but guess who doesn't know anything about that? Reynir! Which is probably why his lilting accented voice over the device is so cheerful and bubbly as he asks: ]

Can I swing by the barn in a few hours and pick up a little bit of hay for Anne? I'm making him a little pen to play around in, in my room, and I want him to get used to the feeling of it so he won't mind so much later on when he is staying at the barn more long-term.

[ Reynir doesn't think it will be any kind of problem he's just checking whether or not Kieran will be around at that time of day... ]

Edited 2019-11-10 20:24 (UTC)

[When his communicator pings, Kieran can feel his heart stop along with it. It takes him a few moments, but he manages to find the button to play his messages and presses it. When Reynir’s happy voice pops up, he feels his stomach begin to churn.]

[He’d been limiting his contact with other people during his time in the medbay. He’d chalked it up to wanting to spend the time convalescing and learning to adapt to his new impairment, but the truth is far less positive. He—in some flavor of irony—didn’t want anyone to see him like this. It was bad enough that whenever his friends visited, often to read something to him or chat about some positive things going on, he could catch the undertones of pity in their voices (some of it imagined, maybe, but it’s real enough to him). To have to explain it again to another friend and deal with their well-meaning sentiments fills him with a sickening anxiety he’d thought he’d left behind.]

[But he can’t leave Reynir hanging like that, especially not when Anne is also counting on his answer.]

[It’s part muscle memory and part training that guides his fingers as he selects the buttons that will let him respond, although he hesitates before he makes that final move. Finally, he sucks it up and confirms that he’d like to send a message in return.]

H-Hey, Reynir!

Feel free to, uh, h-head over to the barn. There should be a few hay bales set up alredy f-fer the horses. You can, uh, you can take however much ya need from there. They’ll be okay fer a while. They won’t miss it.

I-I, won’t be there to greet ya. I’m stuck in the medbay f-fer a l-little bit. Don’t know how long.

[ He's happy to just head to the barn by himself and pick up the hay, but he was looking forward to seeing Kieran, too, and chatting with him a little. He likes Kieran! The man might have a strange accent and be from a completely different world and time, but he reminds Reynir of home a lot more than most people in this place. So he's a bit bummed he isn't going to see him.

Then Kieran explains he's in the medbay, and Reynir's disappointment turns to concern. ]

Oh no, I'm sorry. I didn't realize you were sick. Do you need me to do anything to help around the ranch?

[ Sure Pratt is probably holding things down but it's a lot of work for one person and Reynir is willing and able. Reynir doesn't even realize the sorts of assumptions he is making - he just figures if Kieran doesn't know how long he'll be there, it must be an illness. He goes on: ]

I had an awful fever recently, it was the first time I'd been sick in a long time and I hated it. Are you contagious? Is it quarantined or can I come visit? Are they feeding you okay?

[It’s such a nice, genuine offer, and Kieran doesn’t want to be the jerk that tells Reynir not to bother. He only wants to help, after all, and it wouldn’t be right to quash that positive attitude. Especially not when Reynir has only been a friend.]

I-It’s not… I mean… I-I-I did get sick before, b-but that’s not what’s got me in here now. I feel alright, anyway.

[He sucks in a breath.]

Somethin’ happened and I lost my sight. It’s, uh, I’m… fine [ish]. So, so don’t worry about it or nothin’, I just… can’t… do much right now, is all.

[That’s the kindest way he can put what happened for Reynir, and he hopes that his friend doesn’t have any further questions for him.]

If you w-wanna help out around the ranch, I'm sure Pratt could use an extra pair of hands.

[ It's Kieran's insistence on how fine he is that makes Reynir worry the most. He knows that sort of person - Onni is that sort of person, and Sigrun too in her own way. He's working too hard to convince Reynir, like he has to convince himself. And besides how could he be totally fine? Between the last time Reynir had seen him and now, he's gone blind!

Reynir knows there are fevers that can do this, as well as any number of accidental circumstances - fires and head trauma and who knows what else. It doesn't even enter into his mind that someone else might have done this to Kieran, or the cruelty and violence of it. ]

I will, I will help at the ranch.

[ He doesn't say any more than that, because he's made his mind up already and he isn't going to be talked out of it. Reynir packs up some of the little spiced cookies that Onni had baked the night before, tucks Anne under his arm, and makes his way to the medbay. Kieran needs a friend right now and Reynir hopes he has other ones but there is no such thing as too many friends. There just isn't!

It's easy enough to ask one of the robots which way he needs to go to find Kieran, and about twenty minutes after the end of their call, he is saying from nearby Kieran's bed. ]

Kieran? It's Reynir, I-

[ But before he can explain himself Anne decides this is time for him to chime in and say hello, too, with an excited little bleat. Anne, it turns out, loves Kieran. He even starts wriggling in Reynir's arm, wanting to go over to the man. Reynir's voice is a bit closer again when he says, a hint apologetic, a hint defiant: ]

Anne wanted to come visit you.

[Kieran's head shoots up when he hears footfalls coming into the medbay. Logically, he knows that chances are good that it's just someone who's coming in to check on a friend, or someone who needs help with their own malady. Still, ever since that day where the O'Driscolls appeared out of nowhere and attacked him (...again), any strange sound--and sometimes even dead silence--has every one of his nerves on edge. His heart is racing as he tries to pinpoint whose footsteps those could possibly belong to, and he gets ready to bolt if need be. Not that he knows where he'd go, but at least he could try.]

[But then Reynir announces himself (along with Anne!) and Kieran instantly relaxes.]

[...For a few moments until he realizes that oh shit, his friend is going to see him like this.]

O-Oh! Well, uh, uh, that's mighty nice of Anne.

[Kieran chuckles and then clears his throat. Then, he reaches up to where he heard the bleat to try and find the little lamb. He misses the first time, flinches, and then manages to find him, scratching behind his ears.]

Thanks fer comin' to visit me, buddy.

[He's talking to Anne, but the same goes for the red-headed man holding him.]

[ Reynir sees Kieran misjudge his first attempt to reach out for the lamb, and his heart sinks. So it's true, then. He must be fully blind, not to be able to get the trajectory right from even that close, with the sound to help along, in this brightly-lit place.

Gently, Reynir holds out Anne from his body, settling the little guy onto Kieran's lap; the lamb curls up happily, giving another smaller bleat and butting his small head against Kieran's sternum, a gesture of fondness and affection. Reynir might not know the right things to say, but a warm soft lamb in one's lap can't possibly hurt. ]

I... hope it's okay I'm here.

[ Kieran hadn't invited him or anything and Reynir knows that he's not always the best at recognizing other people's boundaries. But he'd only had the thought that he might not be welcome when he was right outside the medbay doors, and his worry for Kieran had carried him past that hurdle of doubt. ]

What happened?

It's fine. It's a n-nice surprise.

[At least it's a well-meaning surprise that comes with a free lamb. Can't beat that!]

[When Anne presses his head against Kieran's chest, he reaches down to scratch the back of his ears, down the base of his head, and all the way down his back. The soft wool does wonders to keep his morale up and heart rate down--which is much needed now that he has to answer Reynir's abrupt question.]

I... it...

Some folks appeared f-from back home. They, uh, th-they attacked me. Ruined my eyes. But I g-g-got help for 'em, they just don't w-work anymore.

[There are a lot of weird and harrowing details that he's leaving out. It doesn't occur to them that if anyone would be well-equipped enough to handle 'weird', it'd be the resident mage, but he also doesn't want to dwell on those weird, harrowing details unless he has to.]

What?

[ Reynir's voice is small; as much as he tries to make it seem like he's mature and experienced now he's been out in the world and seen other countries, he is still, in many ways, very young. There's a denial in the question, a confusion that comes from having grown up in an environment that lacked anything like this level of violence.

People from Kieran's home had attacked him? Had blinded him? Gods, Reynir doesn't want to think about how. Even what Kieran says to try to soften the blow, about how he'd received some treatment but now his eyes don't work, is only a tiny drop in the bucket. ]

That's... so awful.

[ He's a simple boy in many ways, and Reynir's heart is overflowing with sadness and confusion and sympathy. He draws in a shuddery breath and then touches Kieran's shoulder, just a small warning before he is bending his long lanky frame down and pulling Kieran (and by extension Anne) into a hug.

Later, Reynir will start thinking about how he might help, any practical steps he can take. For now, though, he's shocked into silence by this awful thing that has happened to his friend. Maybe Onni was right. Maybe the world is terrible, after all. Even this one.

Voice muffled slightly by the hug, Reynir asks: ]

Are you... in pain?

Edited 2019-11-19 20:13 (UTC)

[In good conscience, Kieran can’t deny that it’s awful or that it’s something that the vast majority of people would or should ever have to deal with. It’s a weak platitude that wouldn’t even be worth the effort it would take to utter it. Why would he even bother when nobody would even believe him, let alone himself?]

[Reynir’s hug helps in a variety of ways—obviously, there’s that initial comfort that’s always welcome, but it gives him a bit of extra time to formulate his thoughts on the matter. In the meantime, he helps Anne get comfortable in his free arm again, the tiny lamb bleating once more as Kieran adjusts.]

N-No, not really.

[He throws his remaining arm around Reynir’s shoulders, squeezing tight.]

I mean, I bump into things every once in a while, but that doesn’t hurt too much.

[SEE REYNIR HE’S SORT OF OKAY HE’S MAKING JOKES.]

[ Reynir giggles, in a startled sort of way - he hadn't been expecting Kieran to joke, and it catches him off guard. He keeps hugging Kieran, glad to hear that he isn't in agony, at least. That might not change how horrible it was, what happened to him, but Reynir is generally someone who looks on the bright side. Kieran has had an awful tragedy befall him, but he's still alive. That's what matters. ]

You need a cool cane. Every blind person's gotta have a cool cane. There's, like, a rule.

[ And now, he starts to wonder... he doesn't know healing magic that could help, much less any other kind of medicine. But how might he lend a hand? Take care of things around the ranch, along with Pratt, obviously. Bring Anne for more visits (he can see how much Kieran is enjoying holding him and petting his little wooly ears). But surely there is more.

Hesitantly, he asks: ]

And it's. It's... permanent?

[Kieran chuckles at Reynir's return joke--although there's a certain truth to it. He'll have to get a cane or something soon to help him navigate. He'll also need someone to teach him how to use it... if anyone here even can.]

[Which leads into the answer to Reynir's question...]

...Far as I know, it is.

[He swallows.]

The feller who helped me out--somethin', uh, somethin' bad happened while he was fixin' my eyes. I haven't the slightest what could go wrong if he tried again.

[The image of his future with a cane burns in his mind. Those thoughts just cement the Kieran's certainty that he's never going to see again.]

[This is his life now.]

Edited (made new icons GONNA USE THEM) 2019-11-22 04:36 (UTC)

[ Reynir isn't surprised by Kieran's answer. If it had been possibly temporary, wouldn't Kieran have mentioned that, about when it might come back and his hope for it? And he would be making plans. Not... hiding here, in the med-bay. Grieving the kind of life he wasn't going to get back, not yet ready to plan for the new kind of one he would have.

It's nothing, nothing compared to what Kieran is going through, but Reynir has had his life and idea of himself disrupted in a radical way. When he'd first realized he was a mage, everything about his ideas for what his future could be shifted...

It's that thought which plants the seed of an idea. It is there in the back of his mind, slowly growing roots, even as he wonders more in the forefront of his mind what Kieran means by 'something bad'. He opens his mouth, about to ask what that even means, but he hesitates. Is he prying too much? He's probably prying too much. And he'd already accidentally asked Kieran to explain something super traumatic to him. Probably best not to repeat that mistake.

Instead he says quietly: ]

There's something on your pillow, hang on, lemme just...

[ He he plucks a couple of strands of hair from Kieran's pillow, carefully tucking them into his pocket, for later. The rest of the visit, he tries his best to cheer Kieran up with talk of Anne's development and how the crops are doing.

And it's a conversation that keeps going, even into the next day, and the one after, as Reynir sends little messages a few times a day, about little mundane and cheerful things happening back in the Agricultural area.

Then, he finally figures out a rune he thinks will work, and before he goes to sleep on that third night, he sets those two hairs of Kieran's in the middle of it, wrapping it up tightly and tucking it under his own pillow.

When he opens his eyes in the dreamspace, he sees a landscape he has never seen before. There are horses, so many of them, in such a variety of colors and patterns. And, he sees, sitting beneath a tree, leaning back against it and napping, is Kieran.

Reynir walks over to him, gripping his shoulder gently to wake him up, saying softly. ]

Hey, Kieran. Wake up.

[ It had worked. Reynir knows it had worked. He had pulled Kieran into the dreamspace. This must be a place that reminds him of his home, or somewhere he'd felt safe. The only real question is... will Kieran still be blind, even in the dream? ]

[Kieran had come to appreciate his dreams in the nights following his initial affliction. Granted, the pleasant ones were outweighed by a plague of nightmares, but when he had the chance to appreciate something a little more peaceful, by God he took it.]

[So it's a little disorienting when he sees--sees--Reynir there, but he doesn't chalk it up to much other than the byproduct of a more detailed dream than usual.]

Hey, there.

[His voice is raspy from just waking up, and the satisfaction of a good stretch is just too perfect to ignore... but that's also when things start clicking.]

[He can feel his joints cracking, he can smell the flowers in the air, the breeze is tickling the hairs on his beard, and the blinking of his eyes is just a bit too close to real to ignore.]

[A few seconds pass by, and Kieran's brow furrows.]

Wait... what's... what's goin' on?

So, you remember how I'm a mage, right?

[ Reynir is beaming, delighted with himself, full of joy and victory that he'd actually pulled this off. Those teachers at the Academy who had said he wasn't even worth teaching anything more advanced than helping sheep be more fertile because he isn't immune can just suck it. He is awesome and talented and he did this, for his friend, who is so good and deserves better than the awful thing that's happened to him.

His excitement is almost palpable as he goes on: ]

This is the place that mages come when we go to sleep. Well... this is one part of it. I've never seen this area before, this must be somewhere you know, right? Or - it reminds you of a place where you feel safe? At home?

[ Oh, but right, he's supposed to actually be explaining, isn't he.

With a hint of chagrin - vastly overshadowed by his glee - Reynir rubs at the back of his neck and admits: ]

I - have a confession. When I visited you in the medbay, I stole a few hairs. For this. I made a rune that I thought would pull you into the dream because... I was pretty sure you'd be able to see here, and I thought - I hoped it would make you happy.

[ At that moment, Reynir's fylgja, in the shape of a fluffy white-and-tan Icelandic sheepdog comes bounding up, tail wagging fast and excitedly. It presses its cold nose against Kieran's hand, feeling and looking exactly like a real dog.

Until it says: ]

Welcome.

[ So... no question of the fact that this is definitely a dream. ]

[This is.]

[A lot.]

[Kieran pulls himself to his feet while Reynir explains, half-listening and half taking in his surroundings. He nods in accordance with Reynir's words, not exactly mad at the well-meaning deception. It's just a couple of hairs, after all. That's totally cool.]

[The cold, went nose of that dog is what finally grounds Kieran and tells him, with complete certainty, that this is all real.]

[The cheerful voice of said dog also tells him, with complete certainty, that this is also a dream.]

Uh... hello. Dog. G-Good boy!

[He's not sure what to say.]

[Kieran blinks again and turns to Reynir to ask him a question, but it's cut short by one final realization. Sure, he'd noticed it in passing, and it had vaguely registered in the first moments of their meeting, but something important finally hits.]

[He can see everything. Kieran turns around in place, absorbing every shape and color his eyes can catch.]

This is... this is all real...? My eyes are really workin'?

[ The dog is wagging its tail so hard that the back half of its body is wagging, too. When Kieran calls it a good boy, it gives an excited bark, and then flops down onto the grass, rolling around with its belly towards the sun, tongue lolling to the side, just totally happy.

Reynir looks happy, too, but there is a nervousness behind it. He's not completely convinced that what he did was the right thing, that Kieran will be made happy by this little excursion. It could just be a reminder of what he can't have while he's awake. It could be an invasion of his privacy, or patronizing, or any number of other things.

So he is careful in how he answers the question. ]

It's not the waking world. You're not seeing with your actual eyes, here. When you wake up... everything's going to be the same. But, yeah. It's real. I'm the real me, and this is a real place, and we can go exploring if you like. And. I'm not sure it would be good for you for me to do it very often, but. I could probably bring you back here again, when you... if you wanted.

[ The dreamspace is for mages, and Reynir doesn't know what it might do to Kieran to come here frequently. At best, it would probably leave him very poorly rested. At worst, there could be real physical and possibly spiritual or psychic dangers. But every now and then? Surely it can't hurt. It hadn't hurt Emil, coming to the dreamspace with Lalli, the few times Reynir had seen him there.

He reaches over, touching Kieran's forearm, a tentative gesture. ]

Is it... do you like it? Did I make a mistake, bringing you?

[When the dog throws himself to the ground and exposes his belly, Kieran takes that as his cue to bend down and start rubbing it. His scratches are vigorous enough to involve his arms all the way up to their shoulders. When he stands again to listen to Reynir, there's a wide grin spreading across his face that only falters when he hears that everything will go back to 'normal' once they return to the waking world.]

[The falter only lasts for a moment or two, however, because regardless of what the future holds, that doesn't change the fact that he can see now and that there's a wide open space for him to explore. It's real enough, and he can't ask for more.]

[He doesn't shake off that gentle touch, choosing instead to answer it with a smile.]

It ain't a mistake at all, Reynir. Thank you. It means everythin'.

Edited 2019-11-27 04:32 (UTC)

[ That has the young man beaming, bouncing on his feet, almost as happy as the dog that is having its belly rubbed so competently by Kieran. ]

Oh, good! That's a relief.

[ All nervousness gone, now, Reynir claps his gloved hands together and eagerly says: ]

That means you can see Iceland, if you want! I mean, not real Iceland, obviously, but I can take you to my area in the dreamspace and it looks a lot like home for me! And is this what it's like where you're from? It's so... strange. And lovely.

[ He looks out over the landscape, at those horses, subtly different to the kind he's used to seeing, and those wide plains and the big sky.

A moment later he adds: ]

You'll need to stay close to me, if we go anywhere. I'm not really sure how easily you'd be able to get around without me. But as long as we stick together we should be fine!

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.

(no subject)

sleepyhollowed - 2019-12-21 23:06 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

braidmage - 2019-12-24 18:18 (UTC) - Expand

IC Inbox for redshiftrp

@mage | audio

no subject

no subject

no subject

--> action

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

(no subject)

(no subject)