Invasion!

[goneawaymod]

Who: The New Hires
What: Sudden Memory Share
Where: Their Memory Palaces
When: After Intermission
Warnings/Notes: Possible in every memory, warn in subject lines.

Contact.

It's during a pause in their day. A nap. An idle moment looking across the Top Deck. Taking a slow breath between reps in the training room.

The New Hires are connected. Mental pathways locking together, they're forced into one another's innermost beings. Thrust into one another's memory palaces where the mind collects and stores everything that makes them who they are. The core of their beings are only a few steps away and no one can help the violation.

To make matters worse, it comes with no explanation or no ability to pull out and stop. Once they're through the first memory, perhaps they can find a way out, but they're already witnessing some event from their host's past. And, if they left, who knows whether or not they'd end up accidentally invading another memory palace?

And if they were there, who was in theirs?

[[So, how this works: the memories can either be viewed in spectator mode or experiencing everything themselves. The person whose memories are being shown, the host, can watch as their current self or take the form they had of their past self.

They cannot control the first memory shown, the player decides that, but they can control any other memories they'd like to show people. Of course, there's always the option of an extreme emotional reaction bringing up memories unbidden.]]

Comments

[somnioergosum]

Their surroundings shifted again. This time they stood in a church best described as small and green.

Ronan, the one from the memory, was only distinguishable from the real version by the fact that he was more clean shaven. Right before him stood a slightly older young man, well dressed in a bland suit, with dark brown, curly hair that he’d tamed. They shared the same sharp face and blue eyes and were clearly sons of Niall Lynch.

“I needed you. It was an emergency.”

“A zoo emergency,” Ronan mocked.

“Did you even read the texts I sent you? Did you listen to the voicemail?

“It wasn’t like it was a big surprise where he was going to end up. He always goes to the falls, to the exact same place at the falls. Overlook One, rinse, repeat. My phone was in the car, man, stand the fuck down.”

“I had work. I had appointments. This created a situation that put me into a difficult place.” Despite his restrained words, Declan himself was clearly failing to keep himself in check.

Ronan didn’t seem to care. His face twisted into a mocking sneer. “Created a situation.” He mimicked.

Declan grabbed Ronan by his arms and shoved him into a doorway. He leaned in close and lowered his voice though it was no less venomous. It could also still be clearly heard. Some quirk of this memory, the present-Ronan guessed.

“You see that kid there? Head down?"

The kid he was referring to was evidently the young man, perhaps not even eighteen, sitting in the front pew of the church. His blond curls were untamed. He looked cherubic, like an angel descended to bless this unremarkable church, or he would if he didn’t look so morose.

“You know him, right, your baby brother?” Declan continued. “I don’t know where the hell you really were, but while you were there, that kid was putting the pieces together. While you were out doing fuck all with yourself, he figured out you dreamt him. So no, we are not. Still. Hitting. The. Zoo.” And with that he let Ronan go. “I’m going to the car to put out some fires. You can go look him in the eye now and be a fucking smart ass if you want.”

The past-Ronan’s demeanor changed. Before he’d been snide and enjoyed goading his brother. Now his expression shifted to shock. As Declan left, he looked at his brother. His face was open, showing just how lost and vulnerable he was before the walls came up again.

Present-Ronan had watched his brother leave. He couldn’t quite look at Matthew yet. He struggled to keep the shame from showing but he felt the familiar burn in his cheeks and so he kept his face turned away from Sam.

[fromfryingpantofire]

Well. That...

"That was unexpected." Sam watches the memory with a raised eyebrow. "I got my younger brother in the usual way. My dad shacking up with a woman while Dean and I were off working together. I think he told them he was a travelling salesman or something like that. Something to explain why he was always leaving."

He's trying not to be bitter, but Sam's able to keep things from changing around them. Mostly because he doesn't want to think about Adam if possible. "I didn't know that dreaming your own brother up was even a possibility."

[somnioergosum]

Ronan didn't speak for a second. This was a worst case scenario. There were more traumatic memories to go through, but his dreams had been his dark and terrible secret. And if someone found out about his brother-- well, he'd already seen what could happen. And if that wasn't bad enough? He had to relive the moment when not only his secrets but his brother's and father's and mother's all blew up in his face.

"I didn't either," he said bitterly. "Not until a year ago. I don't even remember dreaming him. Dad never told me. He was always leaving too just-- no other younger brother."

...God, he hoped there wasn't another younger brother.

The other Ronan walked down the aisle to sit beside his brother.

"Why does God give some three year old the power to dream somebody into reality?" Ronan finally voiced one question that had bothered him since he found out. The other went unspoken. The thought was too terrifying and too possible. What if it wasn't God who gave him that power?

And his other self sat beside Matthew. "Hey kid." When Ronan got no response he tousled his brother's hair. "Do you want to talk or not?"

Silence.

[fromfryingpantofire]

As somebody who had gotten his powers from the Other Side, as it were? Ronan didn't have to say that part out loud. Sam could hear it.

"I don't know. They say that the Lord works in mysterious ways. Me? I figure it's more than just mysterious. It's fucking dumb, most of the time."

Sometimes, he didn't hate God in his world. But most of the time? Yeah.

[somnioergosum]

Ronan looked at Sam, a mix of emotions came across his face. He was a little taken aback at the blasphemy-- at least in church, but that was from the child who went to church every Sunday. The older Ronan, the one who went anyway but nurtured and brooded over his doubts, was glad that someone had said it.

"If the priest were here, he'd say it's not our place to judge," Ronan sounded more skeptical.

The other Ronan spoke to his brother, not so skeptical and even more lost. "What do you need me to say, little man?"

"I don’t want... to hear you say anything-- because now I know--" He sounded like a more restrained Declan and a furious Ronan, carefully doling out words when he was burning up inside. "You’re as big a liar as Declan."

"Oh." Ronan sank back into his seat.

The current Ronan just wanted to be swallowed up whole. "Christ," he said softly. "He's got the most soul in my family and we don't even know if he has one."

[fromfryingpantofire]

Sam glanced over at Ronan and raised an eyebrow. "Let's just say that there were prophesies and free will involved."

Which seems like a contradiction, but it really wasn't. Things could have gone either way. Prophesies laid everything out in stone, easy for Michael and the angels to follow. Free will turned it on its head.

"Also, I've never known a priest who didn't judge. They say they don't, but they absolutely do. Some of the most judgey people in the world."

He watched the interaction and shook his head. "I...I can't say for certain if he has a soul and I've only seen a little bit. But he seems like he can feel love and he definitely feels anger. And fear. And those are things that somebody without a soul can't do back home."

[somnioergosum]

Ronan snorted at the mention of prophesies and free will. He'd heard the future told before and dealt with the repercussions of it. His head still hurt when he thought about it though he tried to avoid that as much as possible.

"All priests do is judge. It's us who aren't supposed to."

Nothing more happened in the memory aside from the brothers sitting in silence. Ronan couldn't remember how long they'd spent like that.

"They can't feel that?" Ronan had never met someone he knew for sure had no soul so he had to hope that the same would be true in his universe. "Matthew's full of love. He's usually so happy and bubbly." It said a lot that Ronan actually used the word bubbly. "I'd never seen him like that before."