(Untitled)

[leucemic_god]

Date: April 3rd, 2003
Status: Private (Loki, Gabriel - Complete)
Setting: Sitting room
Summary: Gabriel wants to have a talk. Loki does not.

Comments

[cattygabriel]

Gabriel had travelled in dreams for millennia, and he knew a little about them. The strange dream he had had may have come through the Gate of Ivory, but it had been no ordinary dream either; there was no reason for him to dream of Norse gods he barely knew, surely, and besides, suffering such migraines in dreams was new. It was no ordinary dream, and he knew it.

He had heard of people sharing dreams before, or dreaming the same thing, though usually those people were related or linked in some way. Still, perhaps he'd find some answers with Loki.

He walked through the Manor, pausing as he sensed Loki's aura nearby, pushed open the door to the sitting room, and blinked. Loki seemed to be dozing off, looking paler than usual in the flickering half-light of the television. He glanced at the screen, and winced as a masked man (presumably) repeatedly stabbed a screaming girl.

"... I didn't know you liked horror."

[leucemic_god]

Loki looked up at Gabriel, then back at the screen.

"It was the most interesting thing I could find," he explained. "Go ahead and change it, if you prefer something else."

[cattygabriel]

"Actually, I came to talk to you." Gabriel ran tense fingers through his hair and sat down on the couch near Loki, back ramrod-straight. "About dreams."

[leucemic_god]

"Dreams?" Loki asked sharply. This was not a topic he wanted to discuss, not at all.

"You do remember that I'm not a dream god, right? You were there when we discussed it with Adam."

[cattygabriel]

"I know you're not a god of dreams. But how much do you know of dreams?" Gabriel asked.

[leucemic_god]

"I dream sometimes," Loki said with a yawn. "As everybody does. I had a conversation with Daniel once, but he didn't explain in detail. Not that I'd have been interested. Dreams are all in your head, so who cares."

[cattygabriel]

"Not all dreams are so simple. I am the Messenger, and as such I have been in many dreams, delivering messages and instilling hope while those people sleep. I have walked in others' dreams, and watched the Lord of Dreams craft dreams and nightmares in his realm. Dreams are much more than the result of your mind processing the events of the day as you sleep."

Gabriel paused, looking down and rubbing a loose thread from the hem of his T-shirt between his fingers, wondering how best to phrase I think we had a shared dream.. "And while I have not actually seen it myself, I have heard of instances when somehow, the walls between separate dreams blur, and two people share a dream."

As if on cue, a high, bloodcurdling scream rang out from the television, and Gabriel jumped slightly before reaching across to the remote and pressing a button randomly. The screen flickered for a moment and changed to show a meerkat family.

[leucemic_god]

Loki shrugged. "Frankly, I don't care. I dream sometimes, but I live in the waking world."

Shared dreams? Now this was alarming. He'd have to ask Daniel about ways to prevent that. Without letting on how much it bothered him, of course.

"Hey, meerkats! Good choice!" He sat up suddenly actually interested in the TV.

[cattygabriel]

Gabriel raised an eyebrow. "You don't care if your dream merges with another's and all your hopes and fears are laid bare? If someone manages to use that connection to harm you?"

Perhaps it had simply been a very strange dream of his own, after all. But... no, it had been no ordinary dream; of that he was sure. He was also sure that Loki was more bothered than he let on.

Evidently simply switching the channel had been a bad idea.

[leucemic_god]

"Dreams aren't real," Loki stated not taking his eyes off the cute little animals on the screen. "There's no way anyone can hurt me in a dream. Scare me maybe, but I'm not easily scared."

Gabriel's words were way too close to his own fears for comfort, but as long as Daniel remained uninterested in his dreams Loki hoped it would seem like too much work to look them up.

His secret fears were safe. They had to be.

[cattygabriel]

"Some dreams are more real than you might think," Gabriel responded, but it was almost like talking to a brick wall. "It is quite possible to hurt and even kill in dreams."

He couldn't force Loki to take notice if he didn't want to, though, so he stood to leave. The god obviously didn't want to discuss it, even if Gabriel's warning meant anything to him.

[leucemic_god]

"Kill in dreams?" Loki laughed. "How would I do that?"

Spying, yes, that he understood. He'd also heard of sending prophetic messages, though he thought it a very unreliable method of communication. But when you died in a dream you woke up safe and sound in your own body.

[cattygabriel]

Gabriel turned. "I doubt you or I would be be able to kill in dreams, but I do know that it is possible. You don't always wake up."

[leucemic_god]

"So who would do it and how? Dreams happen in your mind, right? How'd you get a weapon in there? And what would you hurt, if you did?"

Concentrate on the theory behind it and you won't freak out about the practical applications and Gabriel's apparent conviction that someone around here might actually do it.

[cattygabriel]

"Yes, I suppose, but when you dream, you're also in Daniel's realm. And I have been in others' dreams via the Dreaming; I'm sure others can do so as well. I'm not sure how, but I do recall Morpheus - Daniel's predecessor - saying once that you can die in dreams. Perhaps through fear, or a nightmare of being killed? Daniel would know."

Daniel could give him answers... but Daniel was already dealing with problems in the Dreaming, and perhaps Gabriel was just being paranoid... Hold that thought. Daniel had said that someone had cut the dreams of those Manor away from the true Dreaming; perhaps that was why their dreams had merged. Something was very wrong. He frowned in thought.

[leucemic_god]

"But Daniel also told me that it would be a lot of work for him to find a particular person's dream and it's usually not worth it," Loki reminded them both. "If it's that hard for him, how much harder would it be for someone else? And what in the world makes you think someone is actually out to do it to you? What have you done that would provoke such a revenge?"

He gave the Judeo-Christian a considering look.

"I don't know, Gabriel. It seems to me that you have a bit of a tendency to jump to conclusions. Maybe you should double-check your facts. Do you have any solid evidence at all?"