These Dreams

**Lynn Mills** · Feb 20th, 2016 08:51 AM

Lynn hovered slightly behind Ava and Daniel and concentrated on weaving herself into the dream as well. The first time she used too light a touch and was unable to manifest. Growling to herself, Lynn tried again, easing through and trying to blend herself into the dream. But it was as delicate as fine lace and even as hard as she tried, Lynn could feel the dream starting to come apart at the seams. The same as the two before her, Lynn had to focus, drawing the ragged edges of the dream back together through sheer force of will.

2 successes

In the dream, Lynn manifested with a brief arpeggio of notes, running up the scale in a cheerful burst of sound. Looking around, she located Daniel and Ava, walking over and nodding cheerfully at the two. "Hey there." She glanced at Ava. "You're right, I've been pursuing the idea of therapy, but mostly from the waking world's side." She reached out and touched the wall thoughtfully, examining it out of simple curiosity. "I've been studying music therapy and how it can help disturbed children. I've also been studying dreams and how fear can effect you." She looked around again. "So, do we have a plan yet?"

-1 Willpower to repair the dream

Feb 22nd, 2016 12:32 AM

She nodded pensively as Daniel spoke, her eyes following his hand as the gesture encompassed the dreamscape around them. "I understand, but... I think being too hesitant to act could do as much harm as doing too much." They had all seemed to agree that leaving the children alone to heal or not as they would wasn't an option, it wouldn't help them to move with such a light touch nothing even noticed their presence.

Looking around for the source of the sprightly notes, Ava smiled at Lynn's arrival. "Alright. Well, I admit, I've been focusing mostly on how I could adapt what I've read to fit this situation. We've got a couple of options, way I see it: we use this dream as an opportunity to learn about Robby, see how we might help him best, or we take a crack at the dream therapy."

There was a moment after she finished speaking where she simply looked at Daniel, like she had in her Hollow: strange, searching, except this time the words did come. "Ah," she began articularly, mouth folding into a grimace, "I'd also like to know why. Why do you want to do this? Beyond the idea that it's 'right.'" Her eyes flicked to the Spring as well, though in her mind that question was already partially answered for her. Still, she wanted to hear it in their own words.

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**Daniel Leto** · Feb 22nd, 2016 08:47 PM

"Probably try learning more about Robby would be the place to start," Daniel said.

Daniel returned Ava's quizzical look, though his said something more along the lines of 'Isn't that enough?'. However, from what she said it wouldn't so he gave it a bit more thought. And then he gave a little more on how he wanted to say what he thought.

"You know how I used to... assist people. I have a responsibility to help where I can." A lot to make up for.

"What about you? Why are you doing this?" Turnabout is fair play.

Oneiromancy biz

Feb 23rd, 2016 01:36 AM

"Yeah, I remember," she responded softly, brow still pensive. His reference to a previous conversation brought her a pang of nostalgia for a Summer day in a park and some pretty mediocre ice cream, a conversation she still remembered fondly. This was a redemptive act, for Daniel. That was fair. She wanted it to be the same for herself but the feeling just wasn't there, she didn't want to do it just because it was the thing to do.

Maybe there wasn't as much in common between them as she'd thought. Was her own kindness so shallow? Sometimes it came freely and naturally, she was sure. Often. She had felt it. But, the more she tried to pin down certainty the faster it seemed to flee.

"I'm doing this because I wish I wanted to." She regretted the words almost as soon as they'd left her lips, a little too honest. Looking between the two of them, her face faded into careful neutrality. "Whatever we want to do, we need to find him first. Shouldn't take long."

Picking a direction based on her memory of the original experience, Ava made her way in search of the boy they were supposedly there to help.

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**Lynn Mills** · Feb 23rd, 2016 06:56 PM

Lynn raised an eyebrow as she walked after Ava, carefully considering the Scrivener's words. To do something, solely because you wished it was a natural act? That seemed rather . . . bleak. But then again, it's not like she could talk, still carrying (quite literally) the death of her husband with her.

Why am I here to help? I suppose, it's because once I know it's something I can do, it's something I should be doing. How can I look at somebody in pain and suffering, knowing that I can do something about it and not acting?

In her view, that would make her as guilty of causing harm as those who originally held the knife. But by the time Lynn came to this conclusion, it seemed that the moment for sharing had past. Instead she continued following, looking around in interest. "Is this the original dream, from the first time the Sandman attacked?"

**Daniel Leto** · Feb 25th, 2016 11:17 AM

Daniel still gave Ava a supportive, if sad smile. It was very close to obligation but not quite. He remembered what she had said as well, how she had given hope but then betrayed it for survival reasons. Did this not satisfy her on some level without that personal gain? He wanted to ask but she was already switch the topic and he remembered her saying she didn't know how to talk about it. Should he push? Help her talk about it? There was a large part of him that wanted to but this didn't seem the time. Lynn was here and Robby as well. They had come for a mission. Sidetrack tracking that might mean helping Ava but unfortunately it wasn't her they were pledged to help. It would have to wait.

Lynn didn't answer at all. Was the Spring courtier considering the Nix's desires or did the Nightsinger's own reasons have to do with the secret of the bone violin. Daniel couldn't tell.

He followed them both through the fuzzy ideas of hallways, checking doors every now and then to see if Robby was behind any.

Feb 26th, 2016 11:09 PM

Daniel's support was both welcome and not, a spidery sensation that crept down her spine. His compassion made her feel as if she was standing in the presence of a much better person than herself, and perhaps that was so. Either way, Ava was relieved when he didn't push the issue. It seemed, she silently berated herself, the skill for trying to have delicate conversations when they were least likely to succeed had not failed her.

"It's like an echo of it, yeah. He had them all in cells and he terrorized them, came to them with different faces and voices to keep them guessing. When we showed up they thought we were a trick." She, Jason and Mal. What an odd group it had been, terribly ill-prepared. But it was some comfort to know that what had seemed like an unbeatable foe, that fake child covered in vomit-armor and slinging dreamstuff, had in fact been eminently beatable. It had just taken time, practice, and plenty of help. And what else was a Freehold for.

She moved down the halls, finding it easier to speak with no one in front of her. "Honestly I'm not surprised this would stick around as a component to his nightmares. But, it's weak. That's something." Peering through a couple of the grated doors, the Nix eventually spied the boy in question picking at the space between two rocks from the inside of a cell, as if slowly digging his way to freedom. A gesture alerted the others to her discovery and she stepped out of the way, eyeballing a good spot for them to speak without alerting him.

A little ways down the hall, she waited for the others to catch up before asking, voice low, "You guys have already been working with him, right? What all have you done so far?"

**Lynn Mills** · Feb 28th, 2016 06:06 PM

Lynn glanced into the cell and stepped away, silently retreating back the way they'd come. When she spoke, it was in a hushed tone, careful to carry no further than it had to.

"We were trying to build on the last dream we'd seen him in, give him the idea that not all of the things he doesn't understand are bad and that he is capable of fighting back and escaping. Which is probably why he's trying to dig himself out in this dream." She smiled a bit. "Although, we may want to ease back on the fantasy aspects of the theme, otherwise he may end up a LARPer or something."

**Daniel Leto** · Feb 29th, 2016 03:29 AM

Daniel halted when Ava made her gesture and backed up when they were trying not to be heard yet.

"Or a Trekkie," said Daniel "I didn't craft it but one of the dreams I watched over had that kind of vibe to it. Space adventure. It was a little... precarious sometimes though. Almost went to being a nightmare, like Alien vs. Predator. He was able to come out on top in the end but there were some scares in there."

Mar 3rd, 2016 12:07 PM

Her discomfort began the slow process of fading as she looked between the other two oneiromancers, an amused smile creeping into the faint lines beside her eyes. "I think there are worse things than being a LARPer. But I take your point." A look was sent back the way they had just come, the door Robby was beyond, as Ava lapsed briefly into thought.

Empowerment. That seemed like a good place to start, but how were they to gauge it? Did they just observe him, as often as they could, taking note of behaviors or reactions, and how would they balance interpreting them with what they wished and wanted to see? It would be a cautious process, to say the least.

"I'll admit," Ava said after a moment, voice still soft, "While I have an idea of how to begin dream-therapy, I'm not sure exactly how successful we'll be at gauging progress. We aren't exactly flawless ourselves." A person didn't need to be perfectly sane to see where someone else might be struggling, but their experiences had left them with certain blindspots. At the very least, Ava didn't trust herself to know explicitly where or not something was 'normal' for another person's mind.

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2016-02-20 08:40:57		Lynn Mills rolls 3 to change the dream [Wits (2) + Empathy (4) + Wyrd (3) - 4] (10 Again)		1, 3, 10, 9		2 successes

These Dreams

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