a waking dream of life and light

[findaconstant]

[Daniel is somewhere in the park. His special power is remote viewing - so yes, he's just witnessed his own death. *pets him* I have no qualms with any pups remembering him! A caveat, however: Dan is very likely to sink deeper into the realm of hysteria, should he be bombarded with people who know him that he doesn't remember. But don't worry! He'

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[girlorgun]

April was passing nearby when he fell through initially, and the feeling made her take pause. It was familiar, that particular brain pattern, but not familiar enough that she could place it immediately.

And then the flash of memory comes - echoing into her own mind a little as she cautiously prods at this new person who seems so familiar - followed by the panic that takes all her strength not to echo back at him.

April takes off running, skidding to a stop and falling to her knees next to Daniel as he screams. It's like a knife to her heart - Daniel but not Daniel, not her Daniel, her almost-brother, her friend. She shoves it down, focusing on calm and practically shoving the feeling into his mind, with a bit more force than she usually uses.

"It's okay!" she says. "Breathe. You're alive. You're all right."

((ooc: Yeah, a note, April is a projective empath - she can project emotions onto people, or echo back their own emotions if she's not careful or they're too strong. It's up to you how much the "calm" takes in Daniel's

[findaconstant]

[... that's actually kind of convenient! :D]

A momentary calm manifests in Dan's mind, quieting him. She's right; he's alive. There may be blood smeared on his shirt but it's not his, and that "memory" was probably just his imaginations's response to stress.

(Probably.)

With a slow, ragged, careful breath, he turns expectantly toward the woman kneeling next to him. There's only one person who's ever been able to calm him so easily, so quickly -

- and this woman's not her.

His sense of tranquility disappears as quickly as it emerged and then he's back to panicking. He's doing so quietly this time, though - instead of screaming, he's crying.

"Charlotte..."

[girlorgun]

April lets out the softest of frustrated sighs, and very carefully collects as much calm as she came and pushes it on him, gently this time, so it will come more gradually instead of instantaneously.

Honestly, if he keeps this panicking up, she's going to start and echo chamber effect which will incapacitate both of them, and she knows it, so it's best to try to calm him down, even just a little. "Don't be afraid, băobèi," she says softly, reaching out cautiously to touch his shoulder. "I'm sorry, I know it's all strange and scary, but no one's gonna hurt you. Won't let them."

It might not be the most comforting thing, considering it's coming from a five-foot-nothing girl who looks hardly older than 17. But it's okay! She's about 27 (not that she knows it or it's relevant) and completely capable of it.

[findaconstant]

It's not the most comforting thing, but it does help, a little. Luckily, Dan's been close to the point of exhaustion for the past few days, so it doesn't take long for the fight to leave him.

And then April just has a very numb, very broken, very confused - albeit calm - scientist on her hands.

His glassy eyes flick back toward her and he studies her face for a moment, eyebrows furrowing.

"You look familiar," he says, distantly.

[smithnjones]

It makes sense, of course in the way that only the Rift does, that not long after thinking about how she has become so desensitized to the deaths of people she knows, Martha would walk around the corner and hear the screaming of someone, who died. It could be another person that has the same face for all she knows, but it's enough to send her head reeling as she runs toward him.

If the CLF is still watching, the screaming will likely bring them running, and she would definitely rather avoid that. She drops to her knees in the grass beside him and sets her hands on his shoulder.

"I'm a doctor. I'm here to help you. Are you hurt?" If he doesn't answer, she will reach out to touch his hand. She really shouldn't use her power so often, but it's easy and effective, and bloody hell, she has it for a reason so she would like to use it and make the most of it.

[findaconstant]

The hand on his shoulder (resting not far from a bright stain of blood) is enough to momentarily startle him out of his panic and he turns his head, looking up at Martha with wide, frightened eyes.

"I don't - I don't know where I am," he says slowly, voice cracking. "I should - there was a flash, and - "

He tries to think, for a moment, of how this could have possibly happened. Unsurprisingly, his mind gives him no answer.

"Something happened. Something went wrong..."

He trails off, swallowing another scream. Whatever's done is done, whatever happened, happened.

[smithnjones]

And he's just fallen through, too. Martha's heart hurts for him. People tend to fall through the Rift at the worst sort of times. There is rarely a good time to fall through the Rift.

She sees the blood and gasps, reaching for his hand, because he is clearly too disoriented and emotional to answer her. If he's hurt, she needs to know now, but she touches his bare skin and sees nothing at all. He's not hurt. He's been through something very traumatic, but his body, at least, is fine, which was her immediate concern.

"What is it? What's happened," she asks, calm and comforting, despite the intensity of the moment and the emotions of the man whose hand she's still touching. "You're alright now. I promise." Physically, anyway. "Try to take in a deep breath, okay? And tell me what's happened."

[findaconstant]

His hand reflexively tightens around hers and he draws a slow, shaky breath.

Then he shuts his eyes and exhales.

"I was on an island," he begins, "and - and I was on a mission with some people, and we were supposed to - "

Behind his eyelids, there's a flash of blinding, white light. He whimpers.

"Something bad happened, and - I don't know, the island started skipping through time, and it - " his brows knit together, almost as if in pain " - she - "

That's as far as he gets before he loses what little composure he mustered and begins to cry, grip on Martha's hand tightening. "I told her, I promised her that nothing bad would happen..."