Post by Marshall on May 2, 2019 6:49:11 GMT -5
It was a snap back to himself... And he pulled his hand away from the Mandal woman with a jerk. His hand balled up into a fist and it slammed into the ground beside him... "DAMN IT!"
Ava’s reaction was much quieter. Her eyes opened, brown eyes dilated for only a second before their pupils returned to their normal state. Her hand still pressed against the womans skin. This wasn’t the first time she’d been ejected from someone elses mind. Thirty-one hours had not been forgotten.
But she felt Jeryndi’s frustration. His anger as his fist balled and slammed into the ground.
The meld was not broken, though the chord had been frayed. Ava’s eyes halfway drifted closed. She tried to sooth the feelings coursing through her partner – attempting to repair the damage their meld had sustained.
"DAMN IT!"
Every head turned toward them. Breis was there, tense, confused, having shot over from the heap of emptied pods. "What's happened?"
To him, the jetii and dar'jetii had still been engaged in some feely... sitting around. That's how it appeared to all of them, except perhaps for Captain Black, who had engaged herself in some intense standing there not long before. Catia the Hapan tech stood closest to Solomon and Jeryndi, frozen and startled, geared up to head out to the graveyard.
Jeryndi allowed Ava to soothe him... But it was short lived. He withdrew from the Meld quickly and quietly, breaking it as gently as he could... In the same breath, he was standing up and pulling his glove back on. "I'm sorry," he told Ava. "I thought I could do this... I can ground you, but I can't delve that deep again," he said softly.
The meld broke and if it was any pain, she made no show of it.
Her eyes softened. "Jeryndi..." Ava said softly as she lifted her hand off the Amidid woman. She rubbed the dirt between her fingertips before glancing at Breis.
"We... ran into a complication." She said.
"Are we in trouble?" asked Breis Teimar.
Snort! Catia's inelegant laugh came with a smirk and an air-elbow-jab from afar, as if she could nudge Breis in the ribs with her mind. "Good one."
"No, you're fine," Jeryndi said towards Breis. He walked around to the other side of the Mandal woman to stand beside Ava... And the only thing he whispered to her was, "I remembered something I shouldn't have." And then turned away.
She gave him space, only sparing a glance to Solomon who was still with his own Mandal dreamer. Her brows knitted a hair. And then she was glancing back at the woman.
"Where are we at on time, Breis?" She asked.
"Wake him up," Breis said in answer, nodding at Solomon. "I'm not leaving with anyone doing... that.... We need to head out, or it's going to get black before we're halfway back."
Jeryndi nodded towards Breis... He gently touched Solomon on the shoulder. It was both physical and in the Force. A gentle touch and pull back towards reality... To let him know he was needed. Nothing more. Nothing less.
The rain still fell, but the landscape was the same -- still dry, still untouched by the life giving waters that had come with him. Suddenly that was not a concern, the weight that pulled his physical shoulders down was an echo, and the direction to go northward seemed to not be so close at hand. Something had changed beyond where he was in that dreamer's mind. From somewhere distant there was a need to return. Physical touch brought back the shell of his body and all of its awareness, all of its ailments. Heavily he breathed out, his lungs feeling odd in the sensation. His mind recognized it, and the warmth that was settled on his shoulder. This was the physical self. This was the waking Solomon, not the suppressed being he had been working to contact. He didn't open his eyes just yet, but he did clear his throat and try his voice. That, too, now felt alien and strange, "Did -- it work?"
Ava stared at Solomon for a second.
“Are you asking about our attempts or yours?” She asked.
"Is there anything I need to know?" Breis asked. This time, his attention swept across not only Solomon, Jeryndi, Ava and the three dreamers, but included Liv also, though she'd been with him at the pods. The man's exasperation was crackly with the way this entire disaster had his bones near to poking holes in his own skin as if he were a mummified husk of himself.
"We got further than I think we ever have before," he told both Breis and Solomon. "But... There were complications," he said, echoing what Ava had said seconds before. "It kicked us out... We'll try again when we have time."
"What kicked you out?" Breis demanded, overriding all others. "Report!"
Was he asking about their attempt? He nodded, eyes still shut but that was quick to change. Their clear blue color carrying a glow to them as his head turned, eyes focusing on Breis and then Jeryndi, "What complications?" He looked finally toward Ava, drawing her into his focus as well.
"It is an ambiguous, all encompassing -it-," he said, looking back to Breis. "Whatever is holding them under in the Dreaming, it keeps them in this... Cycle. The impact, the ship, the explosion that followed, dying, realizing you're not dead, and then the Dream... We tried to interrupt the cycle to wake her up and it -kicked us out-."
Ava looked away from Solomon. She’d talk to him later.
“There’s something there that’s keeping the Dreamers tied together.” She tried to add. “Whatever it is, it has all the Dreamers connected.”
Breis stared at them with an expression buried under dust, wrapped layers, worry, and mounting exhaustion. He worked fingers through the layers to briefly scratch at his neck. The man breathed; the other Mandals waited to see how he'd respond. He finally closed his eyes, bowed his head, breathed a heavy sigh, and when he straightened again it was to look at Ava. "You," he said, "are scheduled for patrol. Can you fulfill your duties?"
She could practically feel the weight radiating off of Breis. Ava felt for him but there wasn’t much she could offer just then. Her head nodded only once.
“I can.” She replied. “Will I be with Mav’kin again?”
Still coming back to himself, none of that was making any sense. Yes, they already knew there were connections, that there was -something- keeping the dreamers in their state. That was -not- news. He blinked, trying to grasp at concepts that seemed to flit about in the air like little itty bitty flying bugs -- not bugs, but grit. The glinting dust that filled The Red. "What do you mean, it kicked you out? Is -- there is a consciousness behind it?" So many words came from him, and they all felt wrong just then, filling a hollow chest with vibrations that seemed to linger.
"You:" To Solomon. "Be quiet." To Ava again with the slow deliberate focus of a schoolteacher: "You'll be with Ra'aqi. She'll have your kit. Go." Jeryndi got his focus then: "You have been working since we got here. You are off-duty and you will sleep. Do not touch my dreamers while you rest. Am I clear on that?"
Jeryndi lifted his head to look at Breis... To meet his eyes. "Of course," he said, nodding. "Send Ren back to me and I'll make sure he rests, too," he told Breis. . He knew his son... Though he'd slept some of the speeder ride from Tal Ruus to Tal Keb, he hadn't rested since then.
Breis nodded and finally looked at Solomon again. "There will be time for you to compare staring notes later. For now: you're on rest, too."
Catia cleared her throat and raised a finger. "Actually, I'd like another awkward busybody along. Y'know. In case I blow up."
Breis nearly rolled his eyes. "Fine. Five minutes and we are gone."
Ava felt weary in her own sense but she had agreed long before this moment to help patrol. And with Jeryndi out to rest and their time here running short, it made sense to hold off for now. Solomon’s reluctance to the meld would not be pushed. And Ava had the growing suspicion that she couldn’t do this alone. She’d need Jeryndi fresh and ready to go should they try this again.
And with Solomon being paired off with Catia, it seemed, there was only one thing left for Ava in that moment.
“Okay.” She agreed. She turned and headed out.
Ava’s reaction was much quieter. Her eyes opened, brown eyes dilated for only a second before their pupils returned to their normal state. Her hand still pressed against the womans skin. This wasn’t the first time she’d been ejected from someone elses mind. Thirty-one hours had not been forgotten.
But she felt Jeryndi’s frustration. His anger as his fist balled and slammed into the ground.
The meld was not broken, though the chord had been frayed. Ava’s eyes halfway drifted closed. She tried to sooth the feelings coursing through her partner – attempting to repair the damage their meld had sustained.
"DAMN IT!"
Every head turned toward them. Breis was there, tense, confused, having shot over from the heap of emptied pods. "What's happened?"
To him, the jetii and dar'jetii had still been engaged in some feely... sitting around. That's how it appeared to all of them, except perhaps for Captain Black, who had engaged herself in some intense standing there not long before. Catia the Hapan tech stood closest to Solomon and Jeryndi, frozen and startled, geared up to head out to the graveyard.
Jeryndi allowed Ava to soothe him... But it was short lived. He withdrew from the Meld quickly and quietly, breaking it as gently as he could... In the same breath, he was standing up and pulling his glove back on. "I'm sorry," he told Ava. "I thought I could do this... I can ground you, but I can't delve that deep again," he said softly.
The meld broke and if it was any pain, she made no show of it.
Her eyes softened. "Jeryndi..." Ava said softly as she lifted her hand off the Amidid woman. She rubbed the dirt between her fingertips before glancing at Breis.
"We... ran into a complication." She said.
"Are we in trouble?" asked Breis Teimar.
Snort! Catia's inelegant laugh came with a smirk and an air-elbow-jab from afar, as if she could nudge Breis in the ribs with her mind. "Good one."
"No, you're fine," Jeryndi said towards Breis. He walked around to the other side of the Mandal woman to stand beside Ava... And the only thing he whispered to her was, "I remembered something I shouldn't have." And then turned away.
She gave him space, only sparing a glance to Solomon who was still with his own Mandal dreamer. Her brows knitted a hair. And then she was glancing back at the woman.
"Where are we at on time, Breis?" She asked.
"Wake him up," Breis said in answer, nodding at Solomon. "I'm not leaving with anyone doing... that.... We need to head out, or it's going to get black before we're halfway back."
Jeryndi nodded towards Breis... He gently touched Solomon on the shoulder. It was both physical and in the Force. A gentle touch and pull back towards reality... To let him know he was needed. Nothing more. Nothing less.
The rain still fell, but the landscape was the same -- still dry, still untouched by the life giving waters that had come with him. Suddenly that was not a concern, the weight that pulled his physical shoulders down was an echo, and the direction to go northward seemed to not be so close at hand. Something had changed beyond where he was in that dreamer's mind. From somewhere distant there was a need to return. Physical touch brought back the shell of his body and all of its awareness, all of its ailments. Heavily he breathed out, his lungs feeling odd in the sensation. His mind recognized it, and the warmth that was settled on his shoulder. This was the physical self. This was the waking Solomon, not the suppressed being he had been working to contact. He didn't open his eyes just yet, but he did clear his throat and try his voice. That, too, now felt alien and strange, "Did -- it work?"
Ava stared at Solomon for a second.
“Are you asking about our attempts or yours?” She asked.
"Is there anything I need to know?" Breis asked. This time, his attention swept across not only Solomon, Jeryndi, Ava and the three dreamers, but included Liv also, though she'd been with him at the pods. The man's exasperation was crackly with the way this entire disaster had his bones near to poking holes in his own skin as if he were a mummified husk of himself.
"We got further than I think we ever have before," he told both Breis and Solomon. "But... There were complications," he said, echoing what Ava had said seconds before. "It kicked us out... We'll try again when we have time."
"What kicked you out?" Breis demanded, overriding all others. "Report!"
Was he asking about their attempt? He nodded, eyes still shut but that was quick to change. Their clear blue color carrying a glow to them as his head turned, eyes focusing on Breis and then Jeryndi, "What complications?" He looked finally toward Ava, drawing her into his focus as well.
"It is an ambiguous, all encompassing -it-," he said, looking back to Breis. "Whatever is holding them under in the Dreaming, it keeps them in this... Cycle. The impact, the ship, the explosion that followed, dying, realizing you're not dead, and then the Dream... We tried to interrupt the cycle to wake her up and it -kicked us out-."
Ava looked away from Solomon. She’d talk to him later.
“There’s something there that’s keeping the Dreamers tied together.” She tried to add. “Whatever it is, it has all the Dreamers connected.”
Breis stared at them with an expression buried under dust, wrapped layers, worry, and mounting exhaustion. He worked fingers through the layers to briefly scratch at his neck. The man breathed; the other Mandals waited to see how he'd respond. He finally closed his eyes, bowed his head, breathed a heavy sigh, and when he straightened again it was to look at Ava. "You," he said, "are scheduled for patrol. Can you fulfill your duties?"
She could practically feel the weight radiating off of Breis. Ava felt for him but there wasn’t much she could offer just then. Her head nodded only once.
“I can.” She replied. “Will I be with Mav’kin again?”
Still coming back to himself, none of that was making any sense. Yes, they already knew there were connections, that there was -something- keeping the dreamers in their state. That was -not- news. He blinked, trying to grasp at concepts that seemed to flit about in the air like little itty bitty flying bugs -- not bugs, but grit. The glinting dust that filled The Red. "What do you mean, it kicked you out? Is -- there is a consciousness behind it?" So many words came from him, and they all felt wrong just then, filling a hollow chest with vibrations that seemed to linger.
"You:" To Solomon. "Be quiet." To Ava again with the slow deliberate focus of a schoolteacher: "You'll be with Ra'aqi. She'll have your kit. Go." Jeryndi got his focus then: "You have been working since we got here. You are off-duty and you will sleep. Do not touch my dreamers while you rest. Am I clear on that?"
Jeryndi lifted his head to look at Breis... To meet his eyes. "Of course," he said, nodding. "Send Ren back to me and I'll make sure he rests, too," he told Breis. . He knew his son... Though he'd slept some of the speeder ride from Tal Ruus to Tal Keb, he hadn't rested since then.
Breis nodded and finally looked at Solomon again. "There will be time for you to compare staring notes later. For now: you're on rest, too."
Catia cleared her throat and raised a finger. "Actually, I'd like another awkward busybody along. Y'know. In case I blow up."
Breis nearly rolled his eyes. "Fine. Five minutes and we are gone."
Ava felt weary in her own sense but she had agreed long before this moment to help patrol. And with Jeryndi out to rest and their time here running short, it made sense to hold off for now. Solomon’s reluctance to the meld would not be pushed. And Ava had the growing suspicion that she couldn’t do this alone. She’d need Jeryndi fresh and ready to go should they try this again.
And with Solomon being paired off with Catia, it seemed, there was only one thing left for Ava in that moment.
“Okay.” She agreed. She turned and headed out.