17 - [voice]

[stargathering]

[ Backdated to yesterday ]

The other night... How do people know if those were their own dreams or not? Is there a way to tell? I'm just curious...

[ Filtered to Rita & Katara: ]
Are you okay?

[ Note left on kitchen table of apartment: ]
I'm going out for a few days.

Comments

text for now; filter

[drizzlinginside]

I don't know how one can tell, but... I know most of them were mine. They felt so real.

I'm okay, Tyr. How about you?

voice; filter

[stargathering]

[ He doesn't like the fact she's responding by text. ]

I... see... [ This is really not reassuring. ] They felt real to me, too...

[ Doing the Tyr thing and '...'ing before he answers. ] Let me see you, Katara.

action; filter

[drizzlinginside]

[Okay, that's odd. She could have sworn she heard him somewhere... She doesn't revert to the voice function, though.]

Tyr, are you here in the woods? [Normally, Katara will be on the beach when she feels like being alone, but the beach... the water reminds her of her bending too much.]

action;

[stargathering]

[ He can hear her voice, distantly. He looks down to his device, and there isn't a reply from her, nothing to show it came from there, so... He stands up, looking around him. ] Katara...?

[ He asked to see her, but he didn't think she would somehow oblige like this. ]

action;

[drizzlinginside]

[She didn't. Even before he asked to see her, she's already here, thinking through a lot of things. Katara begins to search around the trees.] Tyr? Where are you? I'm sure you're here.

[Even then, she doesn't know if she's prepared to see him after everything.]

action;

[stargathering]

[ Tyr hesitates to move at first. He can hear her voice coming closer, and he had wanted to see her to be sure she was okay, but there was also a desire to be alone, too.

He begins trying to follow her voice. ] I am... I'm over here. Can you follow my voice?

action;

[drizzlinginside]

I can... [It's a bit hard at first. She's not exactly Toph, but. After a while of brushing away some branches and looking behind trees, she sees him. And she doesn't know if she should smile or something of the sort.

Instead, she just stands there as if she doesn't know what to say. Actually, she really doesn't. She didn't anticipate he'd be here too when she just wanted to be alone.] Tyr...

action;

[stargathering]

[ He doesn't say anything in response, just nodding in greeting. He really wanted to be alone. For a few days, if possible.

But he wanted to see Katara, if only to confirm she is okay. Stepping closer, his hand brushing aside branches, he closes the distance between them to only a few feet. He can almost see the cuts still, but her face is the same face, albeit with a look that he hadn't seen in a while... ] What are you doing out here, anyway?

action;

[drizzlinginside]

I... [She looks down. The ground's a nice view for now.] ... wanted to be alone with my thoughts.

[There's a long pause before she meets his form. Katara can almost see him covered in blood, and it was her doing. She immediately looks down again, one hand coming to hold her other arm. The nightmares were just so traumatizing....] How about you?

action;

[stargathering]

[ It's horrible to him that that they both went somewhere they rarely visited in order to be alone, and still ended up running into each other. He nods in response, looking at her shoulder. ]

Yeah... I needed to be alone for a while... That night...

[ Tyr suddenly wonders if there's a way to know if someone is real. It wouldn't be the first time the City made him imagine someone was there with him. ]

action;

[drizzlinginside]

[There's an audible wince when he mentioned 'that night' as she's still not looking at him. She can't bear to see his face because the memory of that horrible dream comes back to her. Her eyes turn watery, though...]

I'm... so sorry... that's...

[That's something I'll never do. Not to you. Not to anyone she holds dear. She inwardly cringes in fear, the memory still fresh. And maybe one single tear makes its way down her now unblemished cheek.]

action;

[stargathering]

You weren't the one at fault... [ And it was a dream. That doesn't feel particularly relevant, though. ]

[ He looks back to her face, though, and... Tyr was never, ever good at comforting people. Even though he did see her memories and feels like he can understand some of her pain. He takes a few more steps forward. ] Katara.

action;

[drizzlinginside]

[At his step forward, Katara unconsciously steps back. Normally, she'd be hugging him to comfort him but how can she give him a solid hug when she's so broken like this? By now, though, more tears cascade down her cheeks that she has to cover her mouth to keep the sobs in.]

I... should have been stronger and... Tyr, I...

[She's in a complete loss for words. She wanted to apologize to everyone she managed to hurt. She knew it was just a dream, maybe that's why it hurts more because even then, she wasn't strong enough to fight it. But she knows she managed to hurt them emotionally. After all, what's Tyr doing here?]

.... Tyr. [Yeah, she can only say his name for now.]

action;

[stargathering]

[ Tyr is here because all the dreams freaked him out. He's here because he didn't want to explain something people either wouldn't understand or would find it important. ]

[ Aside from that, her tears, those words again (thankfully not punctuated with pained gasps again), he really cannot stand it. Stop saying his name like that! Even though she stepped away from him, he's going to put his hands on her shoulders again. His face, it's here. Look at it. ]

Stop saying that. You were strong enough to not die, so... That's what matters.

action;

[drizzlinginside]

[Was she? She doesn't know if she's weak enough that the dream-created Hama spared her life or because she's strong that she survived it. Whatever the case is, tears continue to flow down her cheeks. The hand on her shoulder ultimately made her look up. Once she sees that face, more tears stream down her eyes.]

Tyr... [Yeah, she says it again but even before Katara continues, she hugs him. Tight and unyielding. She's still broken, though, so that hug might not be as tight as it should but she gives it her best.]

I didn't mean to... it's an ability I... [I'm not proud of. She says this in muffled words, her face buried on his shoulder.]

action;

[stargathering]

You weren't in control of yourself, Katara... You can't blame yourself...

[ Whether he hears or understands those words or not, he can guess enough that it's certainly not an ability she uses regularly. Those memories he saw must have something to do with why she's out here now, after all; being controlled like that couldn't have been entirely made up. ]

[ He loosely wraps his arms around her, placing a hand to the back of her head. Sure, he's not very good at this, but he knows she would like something like this. At least, she did before. ]