See the sun set;

[20likes]

Character Name: Heartman + you
Who: TDM continuation + a few open prompts re: prelude
What: The prelude dream doesn't bode well for someone like Heartman
When: Night of Jan 1st
Where: Community hall, Outside

Content Warnings: TBD, will update as needed


i. The Dream;
Heartman's a very light sleeper. Doing everything in 20 minute cycles means his body's circadian rhythm is severely off, if nonexistent at this point. There's no Beach to go to, no wandering black sand and smelling the salt and decomposing fish, following familiar footsteps until he tires himself out. It's just him.

When he does sleep, his dreams are never. It's usually the same dream, one Heartman stopped dreading once he knew the scientific reason but still finds deeply unpleasant. He should be glad--is glad--that he only suffers a mild case of DOOMS. He lacks the homicidal tendencies for one, the suicidal behaviour is thankfully non existent. The dreams, though. The nightmares are relentless, sharp and vivid but never in colour.

This dream is not the same.

Heartman wakes with a gasp in the community hall, hand flying to his chest out of habit--no, his heart is fine, it's still fine here--and knocking the sleeping person next to him in his hurried attempt to rise. His brow furrows, determined, panting from the adrenaline as he scrambles up and shoots to the closest scrap of paper on a table, knocking over a chair in his haste to reach for his glasses at the same time.

"It's different--" His lips frown deeply, immediately twitch into a half smile in a temporary moment of sheer scientific excitement, and his face eventually settles on a very stern sort of look, lips parted as he scribbles madly.

"This... is... different."


ii. Outside;

He can't go back to sleep. Time seems to stretch on here, elongated and like a giraffe neck in comparison to the nice, neat, short and compartmentalized moments he's so used to. He's left rudderless, aimless without his research, and while he's already started to shift his work to solving this puzzle and trying not to focus too much on the one back home in order to retain his sanity here, it's difficult.

This dream, the wolves and the voice, even the word interloper is both a blessing and a curse. Heartman decides to go for a walk, bundling up as tightly as possible and throwing a blanket around his shoulders for good measure. The air is crisp, reminiscent of the mountain air swirling around his lab, but it has far more of a bite. Temperature, perhaps. Or the sense of foreboding that new dream has weighted him down with has clouded his judgement.

If someone else is taking a night walk, Heartman will politely raise his hand in greeting, sticking to the town itself and never straying too far from the community hall.

He does nip out a second time, this time to watch the sun rise, bundled just as tightly. For all of the unanswered questions he has, Heartman still has time to enjoy the natural beauty of it all. There's no Timefall to worry about. Just sheer, natural beauty.

Comments

[20likes]

It does, indeed, suck.

Heartman can't help the genuine smile that floats across his face at the phrase Kate uses, a strange pang in his heart that has nothing to do with its deformity. This is a girl who's been brought here for little to no reason, as far as Heartman knows, but she wants to help. Homo Ludens.

"It was. A long time ago, when the first explosion happened." A sharp inhale. "Not to worry--we're very close to uniting once more. And until then, there's another question that needs answering that's far more pressing: the arrival of so many people from so many different places to this one, fixed area, and what precisely this area is."

He tilts his head to the side.

"What do you think, Kate?"

[castitas]

Explosion makes her think something nuclear. Like a nuclear war. And it's a frightening thought. It's only cities because the states themselves aren't there anymore. Kate's mouth forms a thin line briefly, hearing— we're very close to uniting once more— it settles her somewhat.

There'a a blink, surprised. He's asking her? Kate shifts her weight from foot to foot, wringing her hands a little. What does she think this all is?

"Well—" she frowns a little, awkward. "I've... I've considered this might be Hell. Or Purgatory, when someone suggested it— Hades, I think. The grave."

There's a little more awkward shuffling before she continues.

"I've been studying a little more, my bible— Gehanna comes up a lot, and I know it's one of the sections of Hades from how I understand it. Hades is the place where the souls wait until the Judgement, but Gehanna is the place where the soul and body could be destroyed. It's the place for the wicked. Although, everything's all... fire, not like this place."

Not... cold, frozen.

[20likes]

There's a nervousness to her, not quite skittish, just unused to being in the spotlight, perhaps. Heartman can relate to an extent, and he listens patiently. She's thinking abstractly, she's thinking about the 'why's and the and the 'how's.' The only reason Heartman doesn't give her a thumbs up is because he's a bit worried it will interrupt her flow of thought.

Instead he crosses his arms over his AED in a position he usually slips into when he's mulling things over, hand by his chin and thumb just below his lower lip as he thinks.

"Not cold. Frozen," he naturally reaches the same conclusion Kate doesn't say out loud, following her completely.

"What an excellent theory. Yes... a shared beach. A shared place." It's brilliant. "That's fantastic line of thinking, Kate."

[castitas]

Kate would totally like to stay away from the spotlight as much as possible. Like, especially after— uh, everything. Back home. It sucks being in the spotlight.

"Yeah." she nods a little. Basically what she was thinking. Although she thinks Dante describes the ninth circle of Hell as cold. So like— who knows? Maybe Dante was right. Still, there's a little smile at the praise, flushing a little. But there's one particular word that makes her frown slightly.

"Sorry, uh— a... beach?" This is the least-beach looking place ever. Like, totally not beach-y.

[20likes]

"Yes," Heartman confirms, and falls silent for a few moments before he realizes that Kate might not know what it is.

Funny, the things you take for granted.

"Are you familiar with liminal spaces? You've mentioned Purgatory, but there are others--rather, they're all the same. Da'at is another example. A Beach. A place in the world of the dead, frozen in time, but also serving as a place between the living and dead, as you've described. I've dedicated most of my time to studying it, as my soul is there."

His smile is a bit softer, though he doesn't seem particularly sad about it. He continues without much of a pause. "While most Beaches are singular and belonging to one person, there are cases where several souls inhabit the same one."

His gaze slides over, lost in thought.

"Exactly as you said: this place may be a grave."

[castitas]

"They're like... transitional places, right?" she questions hesitantly. She's heard of them before. You hear a bunch of stuff when one of your classmates is a huge science buff. Warren has definitely mentioned liminal spaces before. "Like an inbetween? A beach is an inbetween?"

If she... understands that right. And that they're... all in this liminal space, a beach? But there's plenty else that has her looking at him with uncertainty, her head shaking a little: his soul?

"No, no— but you're here. I mean— you're alive." Kate... doesn't really get it. Her hands go to her chest, pressing gently against her heart. "Your soul's in your body. Here."

[20likes]

"Not to worry, I am alive," Heartman's quick to reassure. Despite his words his voice is quite calm, if occasionally dotted with strange pauses or a very hurried sentence. "It's a bit complicated." It's a lot complicated.

"My soul is tethered to the beach, in the simplest of terms. It allows--allowed?--me to travel between the world of the living and the world of the dead. This," a tap at the bright yellow box. "Allows--allowed--me to come back. Are you familiar with Ancient Egyptian concepts of life and death?"

[castitas]

A bit complicated, he says. Kate's mouth is a thin line of concern. Even if he says he's alive, there's a whole lot to this that's... worrying.

"Is it... like, some kind of astral projection, or something?" That's really the only way she can really... work it out, in her mind. Or maybe not, considering the fact that he's got a defibrillator strapped to him. "But... electronics won't work here. Meaning—" she doesn't quite finish, not at first. The enormity of it all hitting her with a quiet kind of horror in her eyes. "If you die, it... it can't bring you back."

Is... is he going to die—?!

"Um. Not... really." she shakes her head, her head lowering as she wrings her hands over it all. "I guess I know the afterlife was important for them, which is why they have such elaborate tombs."

[20likes]

Heartman puts a gentle hand up. She still looks worried--his fault, he realizes--and decides to put a stop to it.

"If I was going to die I would have perished precisely twenty-one minutes before I woke up. As it's been more than a few hours, I feel it completely safe to surmise that due to not falling into cardiac arrest at least 8 times since arrival, I'm perfectly fine. In the event that my heart is beginning to falter, I'll certainly be able to tell, as I'm quite used to feeling it, and I'm not planning on wandering off where someone can't hear me shout. Not until a full 48 hours have passed. There is simply nothing to worry about, Kate."

Another small smile.

"Now: the Egyptians and the afterlife are actually quite fascinating, they're one of the earliest well documented believers of a body and soul being separate--a 'ka' and 'ha', respectively. My colleague Deadman has an incredible theory regarding these two..."

He's doing it again. Heartman stops altogether. His laugh is a bit breathy, a bit embarrassed as he reigns himself in. he's done nothing but talk this poor girl's ear off since sitting down.

"I've said it before, you'll have to forgive me, I'm quite unused to talking to other people. When to shut up is completely alien. Why don't you tell me about yourself, instead?"

cw: minor allusion to suicide

[castitas]

There's still worry there, because that's... a lot. But it's been mollified a degree, enough to stop her fretting too much. He dies every twenty one minutes? Gosh, that sounds awful.

"That's... why you have that? The AED?" She motions towards it, but doesn't reach out to touch it. She has no business touching it. It... wouldn't even work here, she thinks. Maybe it might when there's an Aurora? She's not sure.

She's learned a little about other faiths, but she's by no means an expert on any of them. She certainly doesn't know much about ancient Egyptians — her expression shifting as he speaks: body and soul being separated is certainly a kind of... horrifying thought, for a Christian. But she knows that not all faiths and cultures believe in the same thing — she's not here to judge that.

She doesn't mind, really. And there's a weak, polite smile at him mentioning not knowing when to stop talking. But it's turned onto her and Kate flounders a little, visibly taken aback. He wants to know about her?

"Oh. Um." she stops short, unsure of what to say. "Well— I just.. I go to school, back home? Just... school."

For a long moment, it seems as if she's just going to leave it at that. School. That's it. Just school. Homework. Blackwell is hardly a fond place for her right now. She wrings her hands — it's not really much about herself, is it?

"I—it's a special private school for seniors, in Arcadia Bay, Oregon. They... it has a focus on the sciences and arts. They have a really cool photography program there." The smile is brief, but soon slips — she remembers the last thing Mr Jefferson ever said to her. He called her her a martyr, he was so mean. Kate shakes her head, opting for something else.

"But... but I like art, more than anything. Um. Drawing. I'd like to write and illustrate children's stories."

When she's older. Something in her jaw tenses a little: she wasn't planning on getting older.