( open )

[evasives]

WHO: cassian, helena + YOU (ota!!)
WHERE: dreamscapes and new amsterdam, maybe elsewhere
WHEN: throughout ic march & early april
WHAT: dreams! cooking! it's a catch all!
NOTES OR WARNINGS: several warnings - will note above each header for specifics but many dreams involve blood and death, please be aware of the individual warnings! starters in the comments.

( hit me up if you want anything else specific: communism @ plurk, romanitas#5368 @ discord, or pms! or wildcard me, i'm easy. )

Comments

[evasives]

[ it's not a name he recognizes, which isn't a surprise given he hadn't known her face either. but more than that, it's her next question that gives him pause. where are we. how is she here. ]

[ oh. he's dreaming. that means she's probably a displaced, dreamwalking like the rest of them. cassian sighs, and he lowers the gun further so the barrel is pointed at the ground. he could lift it again swiftly if need be, but if this is dream, he doesn't think it'll be necessary. ]

We are in a dream. [ it's clearly his, but it doesn't mean he won't avoid admitting so as long as possible! ] Are you Displaced as well? It is one of our gifts.

[stabsbooks]

[ Perhaps unexpectedly, she seems to relax immediately upon hearing that they're in a dream, even more so than when he lowers the gun, and she accepts the explanation at face value. ]

In the Fade. Of course.

I am one of the Displaced, yes. [ She studies him, curious. ] What is the nature of the gift? That we can share dreams? Or shape them?

[evasives]

[ she believes him without issue, which is a plus despite the discomfort that comes from sharing this piece of himself unwillingly. he supposes that does make it easier to turn the conversation towards the overall experience more than the personal. ]

I don't know what the Fade is. They are our dreams, but we somehow have the ability to enter other people's. We share them, we can alter them, so it is a little of both. Sometimes it is as simple as just witnessing one.

It is another connection we have as Displaced, like the empathy bond. And like the bond, much of it is still a mystery.

[stabsbooks]

The Fade is the realm of dreams, of spirits, and of the dead. In my world, there are some who are able to shape their dreams, and enter the dreams of others at will. But I have never been one of them.

[ Not in Thedas, at least. But then, she'd never been able to share the feelings of others just by touching them, either. Her gaze drifts back to the gun in Cassian's hands. ]

Is this your dream? I do not recognize this place.

[evasives]

It sounds similar enough, on the dream side of things. There is no confirmed explanation as to how it works on our end as Displaced, but we can share memories as well as walk through each other's dreams, though the memories come via touch.

[ at least she has a springboard for the dream concept. ]

Yes. It's a planet I visited a few years ago. [ meanwhile the people down below have begun to cheer, excited more than horrified that the woman had been killed. ]

[stabsbooks]

A planet.

Another world, you mean? This is not your first visit to a world that is not your own?

[ It's all new to her - the concepts of other worlds, of a planet as something that hangs in the sky like the stars or moons. But she's trying. ]

[evasives]

No, not quite. In my galaxy, travel between planets is not unusual or rare.

Earth, the the planet we live on in New Amsterdam, does not exist in the universe I am from. I have been to many planets, but Earth and its galaxy are new to me. I think of world and planet as different concepts.

[ at least he'd started to do that more once waking up on the dirt planet. it's a long way from his galaxy. ]

[stabsbooks]

Your...galaxy.

[ His...reality? perhaps? A bigger world than world? ]

How do they differ, in your mind?

[evasives]

Galaxy, like space. Up in the stars you see from whatever planet you are on. We use ships to travel between planets.

[ he's not sure he's ever encountered anyone who was surprised by the word galaxy, and now he wants to find a good way to describe it. it might take some sitting down. ]

At least here, I think of planet as Earth. There is a colony up on Mars, two separate planets. But the whole of them together, plus any other planets nearby, I put together as a world. I am not from this world or this planet. It does not sound like you are either.

[stabsbooks]

I...see.

[ She doesn't, not really. She hadn't gone so far as to try to consider how one might move from one planet to the next, and so, of course, now she's imagining sailing ships, traveling through the night.

It's rather a romantic image. ]

No. I am from a...planet...far away. But I have never traveled between them before. [ She tilts her head, curious. ] It seems as though you are accustomed to it.

[evasives]

[ she does not see. but it doesn't get to him, lots of people here don't have any experience with space travel, sometimes not even the concept. ]

I am. Travel between planets is common. Sometimes difficult, depending on resources available to you, but it is standard to trade, development, and war that most everyone is familiar with it in the universe.

I find interplanetary travel is rare for most Displaced, you are not alone there.

[stabsbooks]

Like any travel, then.

[ Just on a much grander scale than she's used to.

But as interesting as a comparative discussion of the Displaced and their worlds might be, there's something else they haven't addressed yet. She nods over his shoulder, to the street below and the woman lying dead on the ground. ]

Is that why you travel? For war?

[ Her tone is merely curious, not accusing. ]

[evasives]

Like any travel. [ he agrees entirely. even on a singular planet, some have the resources to get from one city to another by a variety of means. even here on the dirt planet, travel is so limited. trains are difficult without the right money, connections, more. ]

I suppose it would be difficult to convince you it's for leisure. [ some people go hunting for fun! just... not people hunting. either way, he still does not give her a direct yes or no. ] My galaxy is being ravaged by an Empire. I am fighting against it.

[stabsbooks]

[ The corner of her mouth twitches up just slightly in amusement, but she's not about to be dissuaded by jokes. ]

Ravaged by an Empire?

They attacked your country? Or...your planet, perhaps?

[evasives]

It has taken over much of the galaxy, my home planet included.

[ attacked his planet is true, but also more complicated simply because it hadn't been an empire when he was first sucked into war - at least in name. for cassian, fest has been fighting for independence much longer. ]

It rules over a great number of planets, having initially begun as a republic and expanded into an oppressive, totalitarian force.

[stabsbooks]

A...republic?

[ Yet another new idea. She tilts her head curiously. ]

Such greed for power is not uncommon, I fear. Many empires have followed the same path, though perhaps on smaller scales.

[evasives]

A republic is supposed to function with a body of representatives, usually elected by its people to govern in their benefit.

[ and the galactic republic failed, utterly. ]

No, that greed seems to be everywhere, on this planet Earth as well. New Amsterdam is full of corruption.

[stabsbooks]

Elected by the people?

[ The surprise in her tone is palpable. The idea of elected representation is easy enough to digest - it's how the Chantry is run, if not any government she's familiar with. But the Grand Clerics elect the Divine to head the Chantry, as is only reasonable. She can't imagine it being left up to the entire population. How would they ever decide? ]

That sounds...messy.

[ But interest flickers in her gaze when he mentions New Amsterdam. It's not that she doesn't want to learn more about where he's from, but this is at least somewhere she's familiar with. ]

I have not been here long enough to see much of it. But that is not surprising to hear.

[evasives]

That is the intent. It is often quite messy, whether via suppression or simply governing in interests outside the population you're supposed to represent.

[ he doesn't trust them much, but at this point it would take many, many factors to get cassian to trust any government. he is admittedly biased in his anti-authoritarianism. ]

[ it biases him here too in new amsterdam. ]

I was hardly surprised either. How long is that?

[stabsbooks]

I believe it has been about a month. Though it has been difficult to keep track, I am afraid.

[ Without her duties to fill her time, without the Inquisition to help run, it's surprised her how the days seem to run together. ]

And you?

[evasives]

It is not a calendar I know, so it took some time before I was able to keep track without too much thought.

[ it's similar enough to the standard calendar back home, but every planet works time within their own rotations too. ]

Almost half a year, nearly six months. [ which continues to feel... strange, whenever he sits down with it. ]

[stabsbooks]

That is...a long time.

[ Discouragingly long. She's managed, so far, not too think too much about how long she might be trapped here before returning to Thedas, but she knows it's something she'll have to deal with eventually. ]

I imagine it has been difficult, to be away from your home, and your cause.

[evasives]

Longer than I expected when I first woke up here, yes. Some have been here longer.

[ but short for him in the long run, since this is his home now. there is no going back to his own galaxy for cassian, but he's not interested in dredging up that pity party. ]

Anyone would miss being away from home. But this is where I am now, so I am making the best of it. [ it's almost like he's being utterly vague on purpose. ]

[stabsbooks]

[ Some have been here longer. It's nothing she wants to imagine, being away from Thedas for so long. What will happen to the Inquisition in her absence?

She raises an eyebrow, taking note of the way he avoids directly answering her. ]

That is very pragmatic of you.

[evasives]

Pragmatism is much easier than stressing unnecessarily, and I am already used to moving between planets. [ he's always pragmatic, or at least he tries to be. honestly he's been on earth longer than some other planets, and with any luck, he'll be on this one the longest of all. ]

And you? What about your need to get home? [ it's direct on purpose, she can refute or answer, but it's very much meant to divert. ]