[The City] IC Contact

[hypnagothic]

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[keepgodwaiting]

[ Flat: ] When they caught you, they murdered you.

[ She remembers the encounter with Kim and amends: ] Or you murdered them. And the people around you experienced it. Hallucinated it with you.

As my counselor used to say, it's the sort of thing that can undo your progress.

[hypnagothic]

I did experience such an occurrence with her. Thankfully, that seemed to bring the event to a lull for the night until we could leave the following morning.

[keepgodwaiting]

--Was she all right? Were you?

[hypnagothic]

She was understandably upset, but a night of uninterrupted sleep aided her a great deal.

[keepgodwaiting]

And you?

[hypnagothic]

[ he tilts and turns his head back to facing forwards in a way that suggests a shrug. ]

It was not dissimilar to dreams of one's death.

[keepgodwaiting]

[ Constantine blinks, genuinely a little surprised. ] Do people have many of those?

[hypnagothic]

They can be more prevalent in certain cultures and worlds.

[keepgodwaiting]

Huh. I think I always wake up before I die. Before I hit the ground, or they catch me ... whatever it is.

You don't dream yourself, though, do you?

[hypnagothic]

[ he nods. ]

Most creatures wake before that point. But no, I do not.

[keepgodwaiting]

You're just responsible for ours.

[ There's no heat behind the statement, though there's some wryness. Not responsible like she blames him for her dreams -- responsible like a teacher is responsible for his students. ]

... People still dreamed when you were down there. I know I did.

[hypnagothic]

Mortals may still create their own dreams and nightmares. Those who were sensitive to such changes were the ones affected by my absence.

[keepgodwaiting]

[ She nods slowly. Mortals do create their own nightmares, don't they. ]

Strange how the world keeps moving when you're not there for it, isn't it.

[hypnagothic]

[ he goes quiet again, no reply to that question. if she glances at him, she'll see the way the muscles of his jaw tighten, too. ]

[keepgodwaiting]

[ The silence has a subtly different feel to it than when he's simply acknowledging her with a nod. She glances over, spots the clenching jaw. Shit. Good job, Jo. ]

... Sorry.

[ Dream should count himself lucky. Usually it takes her weeks or months to apologize for anything. ]

[hypnagothic]

[ he returns the glance, if she's still looking at him. ]

Why?

[keepgodwaiting]

[ A short breath of laughter. ]

Seriously?

Because you seemed upset. I'm capable of noticing.

[hypnagothic]

You simply spoke what I now know is the truth. The universe continues, even for the Endless. I suppose I should have realized it centuries ago ...

[keepgodwaiting]

[ She shrugs. ] When would you have had a chance to find out?

[hypnagothic]

[ his jaw clenches again, his expression closing off. ]

[keepgodwaiting]

[ All right, that one, she has no idea what she might have said wrong, though clearly something hit him badly. Apologizing for trampling over a sore spot she understands is one thing; she's not going to apologize for a rhetorical question.

... So this silence is gonna get a little awkward, then. ]

[hypnagothic]

[ soooooooo awkward, with Dream remaining tense. it's only after several long moments does he ask quietly: ]

What do you know of the Endless?

[keepgodwaiting]

I don't know.

[ She shrugs; it's an honest answer. ]

There's things I think I know. I tried to find out more after we met, but it wasn't easy. Gran told us stories about the Lord of Dreams and the Lady of Death, and the Lord of Destiny's garden. And I found someone saying something about a Desire appearing in the Nag Hammadi codices, but that whole exegesis was a bit hysterical.

[hypnagothic]

Desire does tend to cause hysteria where they appear, in person or otherwise.

[ said mostly even, but there's a note to his tone like one might imagine an elder brother speaking of an irksome sibling. ]

Are you aware of how many there are, at least?

[keepgodwaiting]

[ Oh, yeah, as an irksome younger sibling, Johanna knows that tone. ]

No, I don't think so. Five? Seven?