Action: but you never tire of dreams

[ofthebeast]

Characters: Any willing dreamers
Open? Yes
Where: In your minds
When: After the party
What: Part two of the dream plot!
Warnings:


The party went on, with the beast's head on display. A proud, twisted thing. Behind false ruby eyes, it waited. And as the music became slower and the wine less plentiful, it waited still.

Those who had gazed upon it at the ball. Those who had seen it once living in the forest. All heroes who dared to look upon its face and dream still that they would be able to live another day...

There are all sorts of ways of living. In waking. In sleep. Perhaps, now, they would find one in between.

(ooc: Feel free to keep tagging into the party post! Once your characters go home and go to sleep of their own accord, that is when the dreaming will begin. Remember, it is up to you to set up what kind of world your character is trapped in and how best to help them. Plotting post is here, make use of it!

The beast's power will wane once the bulk of the dreamers have escaped his curse. If your character was not at the party but you still want to involve them in the dream plot, that is fine! They can either help get people out or have seen the beast wandering in the woods before it was killed and have caught its attention that way.

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[consultmybooks]

Giles, a pair of grey wings edged with red protruding from a couple of holes in his coat, draws near to the happy mother with his laughing daughter. Ducking neatly around the girl's trainers as she strives for yet more height, he takes a seat on the adjacent swing, the chains creaking a bit with his weight. He says nothing, but seems faintly troubled...and, as has always been the case when Giles is troubled, he finds himself drawing nearer to his family.

[shadedsunlight]

Tara will be safe swinging a little on her own. Ginia moves from her daughter's side to join her husband, fingers lightly brushing over his wings before she embraces him from behind, her head settling on his shoulder. Her own back remains bare of any wings, a thought that nags at the back of her mind. She should have wings, dark purple wings, where are her wings? Her mind replies it's because they're no longer in Luceti, because they're back in Helios' world as they should be.

Her lips kiss his neck and cheek in light gestures of love and reassurance.

"What troubles you, my love?" She knows him well enough to read him like a book. Every line of tension and faint unease on his face and over his body she wants to draw out of him and replace them with calm and comfort.

[consultmybooks]

And yet, here is Giles, with the same pair of wings that he had when she met him, the feathers real and worn and ragged under her fingers. They are in Helios' world, as they always wated to be, as they always hoped to be. But you never really escape Luceti.

But Giles lets out a soft, happy sigh as Ginia holds him, leaning back slightly against her and making the chains creak again. One hand comes up to hold hers', the other finds her cheek and gently strokes it.

"Everything, I think," he murmurs.

[shadedsunlight]

You never really escape Luceti. All the years they spent there shaped them in different ways. It brought them together, tested their resolve and mettle, forged bonds that could never be broken. Luceti strengthened them and turned them all into fighters and survivors, but Helios's world, his home, their home, finally gave them the peace they needed and deserved. Though living and working at the academy certainly provided no shortage of excitement and entertainment. Ginia quite took to her job as Helios' personal assistant and social media manager and one of the resident piano teachers.

Most importantly, it was a good place to raise a family. Ginia leans into Giles' hand, snuggling happily against him as she watches their daughter. Tara was a blessing and a joy, the perfect child anyone could ask for. She had her temper tantrums and bratty moments as any child did, and she was already showing a streak for mischief, but she was an intelligent, beautiful, child.

"Why?" Ginia asks quietly, turning her head to look at her husband. His words concern her as her smile turns into a small frown. "Did something happen at school? Or something else? Talk to me."

[consultmybooks]

He shakes his head, smiling back in an effort to brush the frown from her face. Of course, there are times for frowning, for crying, even in the happiest of lives, but this particular expression reminds him a bit too much of...before.

"Nothing. It's...it's just a feeling. I, um, I can't really put a name to it. Still. You know how I am." He kisses her lightly on the cheek, before looking back at Tara where she's still swinging happily, drawing some strength from the sight.

He finally speaks, after another few seconds, sounding as though he's speaking from far away and long ago.

"I suppose...it's just such a fragile thing, isn't it?"

[shadedsunlight]

She does know how he is. Ten years and some odd months, you tend to learn what your husband is like. His strengths, weaknesses, grief and joy, likes and dislikes, when to get the first aid kit without another word and when to chastise first. Ginia knows him just as well as he knows her, and she still loves him for everything. So she data nothing and only kisses and holds him, watching their child swing.

"Life?" She replies, glancing at him. "This? I suppose. We are no strangers to hardships." That earns a small sigh a she reflects on the journey it took to get here. "But delicate things can be deceptively strong. Don't worry, Rupert, relax." Her voice drops to a light purr as she whispers in his ear, "Or should I help you relax later? My sister can watch Tara for the night."