recolle | [ open ]

Entry tags:

[ open ]

WHO: Tatsuo, Li-Na, and YOU
WHERE: in their dreams
WHEN: throughout july
WHAT: Dreamsharing!
WARNINGS: violence, human experimentation, will add others as needed

TATSUO AU1 : apartment fire [OPEN]

You ever have one of those dreams where you dream you wake up and go about your day as usual? Yeah, this is one of those. Only, this isn't going to be a 'usual' day.

It's the noise that wakes Tatsuo and the vibration. An explosion loud enough and violent enough to cause the whole building to shudder. In an instant, Tatsuo snaps awake, only to feel disoriented. This isn't his apartment... though it's filled with his things. Still, that sound and the way the building had shuddered, that didn't seem right. So he quickly rolls out of bed and starts pulling on his clothes.

He notices the smoke as he reaches for his shoes. Addias Superstars, his favorite pair of sneakers. He swears under his breath as he quickly puts them on. Smoke means fire and fire means get the hell out now.

Logically he knows he should drop everything and run. But all his brain can think about is the things he needs to take with him. He stuffs his cellphone and wallet into his pockets and grabs a sports bag from the closet. As much as it pains him, he leaves his beloved sneaker collection. Instead, he grabs his laptop and external harddrive... and then his hand reaches for a photograph of himself as a child with his mother.

Odd. He doesn't remember this photo of the two of them. The background looks like Peach Beach... but he didn't move to Recolle until university. Tatsuo shakes his head and stuffs the photo into the sports bag anyway... then turns to find the room so filled with smoke he can barely see the doorway.

Coughing, Tatsuo slings the sports bag across his back and drops to the floor. Alarmingly, he can to feel heat as he quickly crawls over to the window where the fire escape is. But to his absolute horror, the window won't open. Muttering choice words about inconvenient laws of physics, he crawls his way toward his front door. Around the center of his living room the smoke starts getting to him and he stops to cough, trying to catch his breath.

TATSUO AU1 : warehouse raid (cw: torture) [closed to Togusa]

Tatsuo paces anxiously outside a large warehouse. The area is swarming with police and first responders, and for some reason he and Derek are there. He's not quite sure what he's waiting for, but when someone shouts 'All clear!' Tatsuo and Derek both grab large bags and hurry inside the building, a cluster of EMTs right on their heels. Tatsuo can feel his head's not in the game, but he can also tell he's not about to sit on the sidelines either.

"Tatsuo, they're going to be alright. I'm sure Cleo is...she's a fighter, alright?"

Derek is trying to be comforting. It's not a very successful attempt.

"I know, I know she's tough."

His right shoulder twinges slightly at the mention of Cleo. (Wait, who is Cleo again?)

"But just because she's tough and can fight doesn't mean--"

Whatever he was going to say is lost as his nose suddenly starts picking up the odors of the warehouse. The scents of dirt and rust, but also sweat... and worse, blood. The sharp coppery smell fills his nose and his mouth until he starts to gag. He quickly clamps a hand over his mouth as he tries to get the dry heaving under control.

Dude... are you ok?

Tatsuo almost doesn't hear Derek. The odors assaulting his nose take up most of his attention, and his efforts to control his gag reflect take up most of the rest. He gives his head a small shake, no, and forces himself to breathe through his mouth. It doesn't lessen how much he's smelling, but it helps a bit with the gagging. Once he finally has it under control, he asks Derek a question in return.

"Don't you smell that?"

Derek gives him a concerned look.

You don't mean the blood do you? Cause, the chances of it getting worse are high.

Tatsuo returns Derek's look with an annoyed one of his own.

"Yes, I do mean the blood. I can practically taste it."

Derek frowns slightly, then reaches into his pocket for a handkerchief.

Take this and suck it up. We've got work to do. Now come on, they're waiting for us.

"I know, I know..."

Tatsuo is reaching for the handkerchief when he overhears someone saying Cleo's name. The scrap of fabric is quickly forgotten as he jumps over another CSI collecting some broken Christmas lights toward some EMTs preparing a young woman for transport. A young woman with a set of large black cat ears... and a gouged out eye. Tatsuo feels himself start to go numb.

"Take care of her. She's my little sister, okay?"

Little sister? What the? He doesn't have a little sister.

LI-NA OU : nightmare [closed to Noah]

It's not the first time she's had this dream. It starts off the same each time. The first thing she notices is the silence. It's not an absolute silence, but just about. She can hear the lap of the water against the ruins and the occasional tumble of stone. But there's no sounds from anything living, just inanimate objects.

If you look up, there is a black crescent moon hanging ominously in a pink tinged sky. And all around her are the broken walls and collumns of a building, slowly crumbling to a sea of black water. And for some reason, she sits perched on top of the ruins, her knees drawn up to her chest.

"Brother?"

Her voice rings out, but is swallowed by the silence.

"Guys?"

It sounds wrong to speak. Her voice seems hollow and empty the moment the words leave her mouth.

She covers her ears with her hands, trying to stop that feeling of wrongness. But the sounds of the ruins continue, here and there, until a loud PLOP catches her attention.

She looks down, and feels her hands go numb with shock. There's a body in the water below. A black coat with a silver cross. A red hand with a cross on the back. The body of someone she knows and cares about. A scream starts to build in her chest, because she knows if she looks at the black water too closely, she'll see even more people she loves.

LI-NA OU : fallen ones (cw: death) [OPEN]

She's a child in this dream. A frightened child hiding behind a door while she watches the adults talk about another child. She has a terrible feeling about what is happening (it is the middle of the night), but no one she can run to for help. Instead, she just huddles behind the door, watching and listening.

The boy sees her, sees her watching them, and gives her a small wave, as he's taken away. Taken away so a large white figure the adults call Hevlaska can try to put a little green glowing piece of Innocence inside the boy. It doesn't go well.

"Stop," she pleads, her voice barely a whisper. "Stop. Stop!"

But no one can hear her voice over the howling wind and the adults own shouting as the experiment goes terribly wrong. A large torso-shaped mass appears from the mist, the boy now sticking out of its chest.

It is hopeless. Innocence will only synchronize with accomodators chosen by God.

Hevlaska's voice rings out hollowly, as the adults look upon the monstrosity they've created.

WILDCARD

See here for other possible dreams, or if there is anything on either Tatsuo and Li-Na's regain posts, LMK @ anacrusis

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

And here's where the dream takes a nasty turn.

Uh, I kind of doubt that, man. Unless you've got one of these too.

One of the paramedics twitches back the blanket covering Cleo just enough so Tatsuo can see the mangled broken mess of Cleo's tail. It's not what actually happened that night, but since Tatsuo later learned the extent of Cleo's injuries, his brain is happy to fill in the details for dream purposes.

Tatsuo lunges at the paramedic, grabbing the front of his shirt.

"Who did this."

His voice is low and ice cold, void of any emotion. Because that's how Tatsuo feels right now. Void of everything, emptied and hollowed out. The paramedic yelps and points past Togusa, the figure of Malik appearing in a completely different location than where he'd actually been that night. Tatsuo releases the paramedic and turns to stalk toward Malik.

He doesn't even notice that Togusa is there. And if Togusa looks at Tatsuo's eyes, they've gone dead. The sense of detachment he started feeling has gotten worse, to the point Tatsuo doesn't exactly feel connected to his body anymore. Like he's watching everything from an arm's length away. (Pretty common feeling in dreams really.)

"Tatsuo!" Togusa cries out when Tatsuo turns on the paramedic, but he doesn't get very far. It's only a step, before Tatsuo changes targets, and there is the disturbing sensation of Tatsuo looking right at him with that same expression.

Togusa gives only the briefest look away, a glance behind him to where Malik is laying in his own laid up state. He looks back, and Tatsuo is right there, all he can do is hold out a hand and try to stop him. "Tatsuo- Tatsuo!"

"You want him to actually pay for this, we do this right," low, hissed, and insistent. "Tatsuo!" And then the hand finally makes contact with Tatsuo, a grip on the side of his arm, while Togusa tries to position himself between Tatsuo and Malik.

Tatsuo barely even notices Togusa is there, until the other man touches his arm. He doesn't say anything in reply; he goes moves to remove the obstacle (Togusa) from his path. Reaching up to grip Togusa's arm in return, Tatsuo steps across so he can hook his other arm under Togusa's shoulder. Togusa is about 0.5 seconds from being tossed.

Ten years since high school, and any Judo, but even Togusa recognizes ippon seoi nage coming. He recognizes the attack, but doesn't remember a finesse counter. So, he has to improvise.

He has to take a step, keep his hip in front of Tatsuo's, and use his free arm to grab at Tatsuo's, and push as he pulls back with his right arm, stripping it out of Tatsuo's grip. Once he's free, both hands plant on Tatsuo's torso and he shoves sharply, more of a playground bully move, but something to try to shake him out of this. "Tatsuo!"

Tatsuo stumbles back a few steps from the push. For the moment, Togusa has succeeded in distracting Tatsuo from Malik, though now all of his focus (what little there is) is on Togusa.

Instead of backing down or snapping out of it, he moves to close the distance between him and Togusa again. Hands clenched into fists, he throws a punch at Togusa, putting quite a bit of weight behind it, and not even bothering to protect his midline.

Once Togusa's mind has been primed for oh we're in a fight now, the reaction is automatic. Togusa steps into it, the punch glances off his chin, rocking him, but he has to keep moving.

One hand to Tatsuo's arm, the other wraps around Tatsuo's waist, and Togusa tries a throw of his own, a hip throw, if he can carry the momentum of that punch. But it's less of a throw, and more of a tackle, because that tac gear is more restrictive than a gi for this. The whole throw starts to topple over, but Togusa isn't letting go. In theory, it should bring Togusa down hard on top of Tatsuo.

Tatsuo goes right over, slamming to the ground back first. And if Togusa had let go, he'd have just jumped back to his feet. Slightly winded, but he'd have jumped back up all the same. So it's good Togusa follows him down, because the extra impact of a body on top of him takes a bit more wind out of Tatsuo than the throw would have on its own. It doesn't quite knock him back to his senses though, and as he tries to get his breath back, he shoves at Togusa, trying to get him off him.

Togusa has gravity on his side, and every arm that Tatsuo hands him? Is a leverage point that he can grab. His goal is to turn Tatsuo over, get him into an almost-handcuff position, something where Togusa can get a lot of control over him.

Speaks through gritted teeth, "If I have to just- sit on you to get you to calm down!" Then he will. He is trying to get his arms behind his back, but is keeping a knee on Tatsuo no matter what.

It takes some grappling, but Togusa manages to get Tatsuo face down and his arms pinned. Though he just growls in response to Togusa telling him to calm down. Not going to get through to him that way. And even pinned the way he is, he still fights Togusa's hold on him.

At least he's not going anywhere. Togusa nearly growls as he leans in closer to Tatsuo, making sure that his words are only heard by him. "Tatsuo. You want this whole damn thing to fall apart? Then go ahead and punch him in the face. You get one petty moment of revenge, and none of these kids get any justice or closure because Malik gets to walk. You want that? Or do you want to act like a professional?"

Edited (.) 2018-07-23 23:01 (UTC)

At the sound of his name, Tatsuo freezes, though the tension doesn't leave his body. And while he stop fighting Togusa, the rate of his breathing doesn't change. Until about ten seconds after Togusa says the word 'professional.' All the air goes out of Tatsuo in a single woosh as he goes completely limp in Togusa's grasp. If he hadn't already been pressing his head to the dirty floor of the warehouse, he'd have dropped it rather painfully just then. If Togusa is looking at his face, he'll see Tatsuo's eyes simply roll up.

And for a couple of seconds, nothing. He's just completely still. And then Tatsuo takes in a quick breath and his eyes snap open, alert. As if he's snapping awake from from a sudden, accidental nap. His eyes flick around in confusion as he tries to figure out why he's laying on the ground. And then he catches sight of Togusa at the edge of his vision.

"Hi...tori?"

Togusa waits to see if his words have any effect, and then all of a sudden they do, and the first thing to come out of Togusa's mouth, "Oh, fuck." Tatsuo passed out.

Togusa gets off of Tatsuo and rolls him onto his back quickly and carefully, starting to get ready to help him recover. But Tatsuo snaps out of it, and he's thankfully breathing. It's just the same reaction as somebody accidentally getting choked out in a class. Togusa puts a hand on the middle of Tatsuo's chest, urging him not to jump right up.

"Easy. Do not get back up for a second. You passed out. Stand up too fast and you might do it again." There is a very cautious worry in Togusa's eye, and he keeps his hand hovering close to Tatsuo, as if it would need to turn into a restraint again any second.

"Passed out? What do you mean I..."

Tatsuo's eyes track around the space, taking in the ceiling oh so far away, the walkways crisscrossing a little nearer, the police and CSI milling about in a business-like manner... Warehouse. Kidnappings. People were kidnapped and the police raided the warehouse the people were being kept prisoner in. He'd gone in and seen a girl with cat ears.

"Cleo. I saw Cleo and then..."

And then a blank. He doesn't know what happened after that. He doesn't remember how he got on the floor with Togusa kneeling over him, his shoulder a little sore from... something. Tatsuo takes a deep breath as he fights down the panic.

"Shit. It happened. I raged, didn't I?"

Togusa stiffens, and the look on his face grows more alarmed. He looks Tatsuo up and down again, as if that would give him a clue. He has to choose his next words exceptionally carefully, so he speaks slowly.

"Is this something that has happened to you before...? Or...to...Ryuuzaki?"

"Ryuuzaki. It happened to him."

Tatsuo glances away from Togusa as he takes a slow breath and decides how much. All of it, he decides, all of it. He looks back up at his cousin.

"I have two memories of his where I think that happened. But it's like they both have a hole in the middle of them. All I can remember clearly of those incidents is the rage building up before... and the evidence of violence after."

Togusa nods in understanding. "That's- that's what happens, yeah. If Ryuuzaki never remembered it, then there's no way you'd know it. I'd never thought that eventually you could get a condition of the other soul, too." LIE. A dirty and absolute lie. It's precisely the fear that Togusa has for Koutarou, that one day his best friend would wake up with the kind of cognitive degeneration he's described the other version of Koutarou having.

So seeing Tatsuo exhibiting something similar? It's as sharply terrifying as anything else in this room. But he doesn't dare try to deny it. Togusa abruptly notices that he is breathing a little harder, his heart is clenched. Get it together.

"You aren't supposed to be here at all." Slowly, Togusa can focus on that fact again.

You aren't supposed to be here at all.

Tatsuo gives Togusa an extremely confused look. Why wouldn't he be here?

"What... what do you mean? I was looking for Cleo. She's my student. They're all... they're all my students... one way or another..."

But as his mind tries to make things fit together neatly, the whole thing starts to fall apart. A crack appears nearby. And then another. Cracks that seem to go right through the fabric of reality.

Togusa flinches when the first crack appears, the resonating sound like glass shoots through him. There is a feeling of responsibility. He did that. He pointed out something he shouldn’t have. But now that he’s seen it, can he stop himself? Should he stop, or should he get to the bottom of this?

The confused look only deepens, and Togusa makes his choice, presses on. “This is still a crime scene! You shouldn’t have been here at all! The hospital, the aftermath, but not here!”

A creak echoes into a loud groan of bending metal, straining under some kind of weight. The rafters, those metal railings, are all bending inwards, starting to curve down over the two of them.

Something's wrong. Something's wrong and he can't put his finger on it. Togusa's right, he shouldn't be here. He doesn't really remember being here. So why does all of this feel so familiar?

"Then what's going on? Why am I..."

Dreaming. He's dreaming all of this.

And everything shatters. The ground, the rafters, the roof, the railings. Even the other cops milling about on the fringes. Everything shatters, leaving them momentarily suspended in a black void. Then Tatsuo's form starts to fade, as his brain starts forcing him to wake up.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ open ]

Re: CRUISE- I mean warehouse raid

Re: CRUISE- I mean warehouse raid

Re: CRUISE- I mean warehouse raid

Re: CRUISE- I mean warehouse raid

Re: CRUISE- I mean warehouse raid

Re: CRUISE- I mean warehouse raid

Re: CRUISE- I mean warehouse raid

Re: CRUISE- I mean warehouse raid

Re: CRUISE- I mean warehouse raid

Re: CRUISE- I mean warehouse raid

Re: CRUISE- I mean warehouse raid

Re: CRUISE- I mean warehouse raid

Re: CRUISE- I mean warehouse raid

Re: CRUISE- I mean warehouse raid

Re: CRUISE- I mean warehouse raid

Re: CRUISE- I mean warehouse raid

Re: CRUISE- I mean warehouse raid

Re: CRUISE- I mean warehouse raid

Re: CRUISE- I mean warehouse raid