(open dreamshare log) (muffled twilight zone playing in the distance)

[hackitude]

WHO: EVERYBOOOODYYYY (yeaaah) (rock your booodyyy) (yeaaah)
WHERE: DREAMSPACE
WHEN: The night of November 1st (slightly forward-dated to give people more time to play out threads mmk)
WHAT: DREAM SHENANIGANS (event info here!)
WARNINGS: None up here, but players please tag the subject lines of your dreams if they have NSFW or triggering content in them.

It's Saturday evening. What are you dreaming about, imPorts?

Some of you might find strangers intruding on your regular dreams. Others might find themselves suddenly in the dream of someone they've never met before. Or perhaps someone they're close to...? Either way. Seems like you're in for a bumpy night.

Comments

[braided_icarus]

[Ed never got proper closure over what happened to Nina. Always feeling guilty over what happened to her. Determined he'd never let something like that happen again. The most he will be able to do once he gets home is research a means to ensure people are at least less likely - less able to transmute humans with their research or experiments. Work with the military if necessary from the inside to enforce those rules and laws, change them.]

We played together a lot while your dad let us stay and study at your place.

[hands4healing]

[Nina rubbed her head against their hands.]

Wanna play, Big Brother?

[Her voice blurred and stumbled, but the words were still understandable.

Winry wondered if Ed could use alchemy to separate them. It was a dream. Anything could happen.]

[braided_icarus]

[Ed can't help but want to instinctively cover his ears again. He won't. He's just so used to being....haunted by Nina. What happened to her. How he couldn't figure it out in time. He's not entirely sure what to make of this. So different from his usual dream. If the laws of alchemy would even still apply if he were to try restore her and Alexander to their usual forms. He himself hasn't even considered that, but he does kneel down in front of the chimera.]

I'm sorry, Nina. But what....would you like to play?

[hands4healing]

[Winry lays her hand on Ed's shoulder, reminding him she was here, that it was...all right. As all right as it could be, considering.

Nina butted Ed's hand, like Alexander might.]

Play chase. [Her tail wags.]

[braided_icarus]

[Winry's presence is a comfort, if disconcerting because he never meant to have to tell or show her certain things alchemy is capable of. All the ways people misused it that they encountered in their journey. All the same, this is in some ways tamer than his nightmares usually are. He's not alone.]

Chase. Okay then.

[He tries to summon up his usual enthusiasm. Not quite as hyper as Nina would remember him being because this is still wrong, something holds him back.]

[hands4healing]

Big Brother okay? [Nina nudges him again, nosing his face.]

[Winry can feel Ed tensing under her hand, and decides to ask what she'd thought. She leans down, and whispers.] Ed...can you change her back? Change them?

[braided_icarus]

That's.....I don't know. There's no way I could have done it back then. I'm not even sure if I could manage it now. It's a perfect transmutation, merging them together. If I tried....it could kill them.

[Them, because this isn't just Nina but Alexander as well. As much as he still mostly thinks of Nina more than the dog. He's not sure if it would work, if he should try.]

You think I should?

[hands4healing]

[Winry strokes Nina's head gently.]

I think...you should try.

[It's a dream. Anything could happen in a dream.]

[braided_icarus]

Okay. Nina, I'm going to try....to try make you better, okay? Just stay there and give me a minute.

[There's a slow nod, reluctant agreement setting his features. Worth a try. He readies himself, taking a deep breath before bringing his palms together, the ethereal hum as familiar to him as breathing as he then sets his hands to her head.

What results is initially seeming normal, the one shape shifting to two. But then it merges back again, morphing into something far more grotesque and wrong. It's all too familiar to Ed, but Winry never did see the result of their attempt to bring Trisha back. It doesn't haunt him now quite so much as after he found out the truth, that it wasn't her. But it's still there in the back of his mind all the same. Now right there in front of him once more, that hand reaching for his as his eyes widen and his lips tremble in denial.]

[hands4healing]

[Winry gasps, horrified at the creature in front of them. What had been something sad turned into a monster the like she's never seen before. She grabs Ed's arm, clutching it tight enough to bruise.]

I'm sorry, Ed, I'm so sorry!

[braided_icarus]

[If Ed notices her grab his arm, if he feels that bruising, he doesn't react. Simply stands there rooted to the spot, unable to take his gaze from the figure.]

Thought this stopped. Seeing this in my nightmares. What Al and I created that night....

[The thing he dug up in an effort to find answers, right back where they started.]

[hands4healing]

[Winry shivered at the sight of the creature, her fingers digging into Ed's arm. This was what he saw? This was what Granny buried, so long ago?

Still, it was a dream, wasn't it? There had to be a way to turn it around.

Prying her fingers loose, Winry took a shaky step closer to the dying figure.]

Ed, you can change this. You can. It's a dream.

[braided_icarus]

I just tried to. It only got worse.

[So whether he wants to try again, he's not sure. Of course there's a chance he could set things right. But there's also the chance of making it worse. Winry's encouragement vaguely filters through.]

One more time?

[hands4healing]

I know. [Winry shoots him a worried glance. At her suggestion, even, he'd tried to fix this. But she has faith in him.

She puts her hand on his shoulder again, nodding.]

One more time, Ed!

[braided_icarus]

[There's a nod, a deep breath as he decides to give it another try. The familiar ethereal hum and pale blue sparks emitted with any transmutation as he claps his hands together, reaching to the pitiful creature in front of him. Once the light dims from the transmutation, there's a familiar figure once more, with that purple dress and side ponytail.]

I...did it?

[hands4healing]

[Tears springing to her eyes, Winry bites her lip to keep from breaking down. She has to swallow a couple of times to make sure her voice is steady as she speaks.]

You did it, Ed.

Hello, Nina. I've heard so much about you!

[Not really, but it seems like the right thing to say.]

[braided_icarus]

[The girl tilts her head a little, one braid falling to touch the ground when she hears that.]

Big Brother told you about me?

[While Ed is still staring, blinking and then glancing to his hands before reaching to pet a hand to her head. He doesn't confirm or deny the question. He and Al may not necessarily really have spoken much about Nina but she was always at the back of their mind.]

Nina....I'm sorry.

[But then, he did it. Even just if this is a dream. He kneels down and envelops her in a hug as the dream fades.]