ioduanlogs | (no subject)

Entry tags:

(no subject)

Characters: Klaus Von Reinherz and You!
Date: Throughout October
Location: Aifaran and Die Rose Tulpe
Situation: October Nonsense
Warnings/Rating: Some warnings for blood in the Dreaming Sickness prompt.

Dreaming Sickness [Early October - Open ]

Klaus's dreams were often an incoherent tangle of noise and chaos and constant combat. There was always a stench of blood as monstrous figures rose up from the rubble and wreckage and were promptly struck down, before the vision faded to nothing.

There was another dream, a blank space, a sterile white. There was still the smell of blood lingering heavy on the air, and no sound save for the occasional clink of chains that were woven around the place.

The last dream was of a garden. It lacked the din of the first, but it wasn't completely silent either. There was the impression of birdsong, and the flutter of insects over a tangled green mass where flowers bloomed. In the distance stood a number of vague silhouettes. Klaus ambled trance-like in their direction, reaching out his hand, before this too faded and he came to his senses.

Sci/Tech Affinity - Paranormal Photography [Open]

To say that Klaus was accustomed to abnormalities would be like saying a fish was accustomed to water. There was nothing about Klaus's life that could, in any way, shape or form, be described as 'normal'. So when the figure showed up in the photos he'd been taking of the cafe for the Xaxa network, his first reaction wasn't a perfectly reasonable bout of terror, but rather to loft a brow and acknowledge that it was "Indeed peculiar".

"While I'm sure this is seasonally appropriate," he said to where he'd seen the figure in the photograph he'd just taken, "I believe it would be in rather bad taste to use any of this. If you're a ghost, is there something I can do to help you?"

Autumn Updates [Open]

It was becoming increasingly clear to Klaus that Leo had likely gone home for good - or at least for a considerably long time. So, with a sense of resignation, he put the help wanted sign in the window. He also put another note on the door, stating the cafe would be open to all for the duration of the night parade.

Deciding he needed a distraction from his bout of melancholy, Klaus busied himself with setting up holiday decorations around the shop. There was an abundance of pumpkins after the invasion of the gourd folk, and while Klaus was able to convert most of it to pumpkin bread, pumpkin pie and bags of sweet and salty roast pumpkin seeds, there was still quite a bit left over. The vines and leaves made for excellent decorations and the orange of the pumpkins was quite vibrant and festive, leaving Klaus in a bit lighter of a mood than he'd been in the last two months.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

The sudden appearance of a garden in the middle of the street alerted Valdis to the bout of illness making itself known. Birds, the scent of flowers and the passing of some butterflies that weren't native to Aifaran made quite the lovely scene. She glanced around, looking for the source of the Dream, her gaze falling on Klaus, who moved slowly and blankly in the direction of some clouded figures. Calling out seemed inadvisable, and since his life didn't seem to be in imminent danger, like when Miles had interrupted her, perhaps she'd just let it play out. A moment later, the vision faded and Klaus seemed to wake up.

"It was a nice garden," she said lightly. Even considering what little she knew of Klaus, the dream hadn't been traumatizing in any way. She knew there was blood in his past, what with how he had sealed Bobby, so that at least had been a relief.

Klaus seemed rather disoriented for a little while after the dream had faded. His outstretched hand grasped empty air and then he slowly, gradually came to his senses, blinking and bewildered as though he'd just stepped out into the light after a long time in a dark room.

"Miss Valdis...?" He gave her a puzzled look as he pieced together what had just happened.

A garden.

His garden. Of course.

"It was back at the estate - last I saw it, it had gotten a bit overgrown."

Valdis smiled softly, Klaus seemed a bit disoriented, unsurprising considering how vivid these waking dreams seemed to be.

"It looks lovely," Valdis replied, "It's been awhile since I've seen a garden like that."

Large and thick with flowers and greenery. She supposed Eden would have been something like that, but still wild.

"Mister Gilbert," Klaus said, gesturing to where the garden had been. "He kept the gardens at the estate. He taught me as well, when I was quite young."

He dragged his hand down his face, breathing in the air. Aifaran didn't have the underlying stench of Jerusalem's Lot, but the soft floral fragrance had vanished from the air, leaving an empty feeling in his chest.

It faded quickly, or perhaps Klaus just gently ushered it to somewhere safer, more protected.

"Forgive me, I'm feeling nostalgic it seems. Are you partial much to plants, Miss Valdis?

Klaus' state filled briefly with the sort of sorrow that accompanied loss, though it lacked the precise sharpness of death and was more a sense of soft sadness that came with missing someone or something. It didn't last long.

"There's nothing to forgive," she replied, deciding to allow the change of subject, "I enjoy them, but not in a deep or loving way. A close friend loved them dearly though."

Perhaps if she were better at caring for living things like plants, it would be different. Meira might have loved flowers, but Valdis might never know for sure. That person was too far gone.

Klaus was grateful that Valdis didn't press the matter. His feelings about wanting to return to his life back home had grown complicated, but he'd be lying if he said he didn't miss his friends.

"If it is ever something that ever piques your interest, I would be happy to help you pick out a suitable plant. Flowers tend to return as much love as one gives them."

It was an unconscious repetition of something he'd been told, something that resonated with him.

Something like that is important for someone who's lost a foothold on life.

"I imagine the Sentry has been keeping you busy these days?"

"I'm afraid my touch is more adept at death than life," Valdis replied.

She had not forgotten about what Klaus had done to Bobby, or what he had done when Trahearne had attacked Devin. That the man could move so easily from gentle giant to a monster like her was worthy of admiration at the very least and envy at the most. Not that Klaus was a monster, he simply commanded power she didn't understand.

"They've been busy wasting my skills. I can do more than paperwork and observing interrogations to pick out lies, but my superior officer wasn't exactly pleased when I told them that." She shrugged, "I know it's important, but it's also boring."

She didn't currently have much interest in discussing herself, so it was definitely time to change the subject again.

"How are you holding up?" She asked, "I...know that Leo has not returned."

Klaus stifled a chuckle.

"Paperwork is among the necessary evils of protecting others," Klaus said, not-so-fondly recalling the mountains of it he and Steven would traverse through the long nights.

"They'll recognize your talents soon, I'm sure. Though you may have to show them. Law enforcement is ...fond of hierarchies and not so fond of anything that challenges the status quo."

Klaus grew quiet as the topic about Leo was broached. Valdis was not the first, and his answer was the same.

"He hasn't - but it's not as though he's gone home to his death. I'll see him again, one way or another. I'm more concerned for his friends here who are from other worlds and times."

Klaus gave Valdis a small smile. "I know you two were on good terms. How are you holding up?"

Valdis rolled her eyes, she had spent quite a bit of time exploiting hierarchies for her own gain, this one was tough to crack as herself. Though she wasn't exactly trying to exploit the Sentry, so her past experience probably didn't matter. It didn't help that she wished to keep some past experiences to herself, such as running the Police force over five hundred years ago, she expected that wouldn't go over well with her superiors.

"I'll have to think on it," she replied, gauging Klaus' reaction to Leo's disappearance. "Leo's not the first friend I've lost, Klaus, but I don't know what it is like to have someone familiar from my own world to share this one with, so don't turn this on me to avoid your own feelings."

"Ah... my apologies. It was not my intention."

Not consciously, perhaps.

Klaus fell silent for a time, wondering what words he could put to his thoughts without giving the wrong idea.

"Leonardo is a bright young man who has helped more people than I think he realizes," Klaus explained slowly. He remembered how shocked Leo was to find that Steven and KK had survived because of him. That there were so many times Klaus or others in Libra would have faltered or died if not for him.

"He is at home, safe and well and among those who are ...dearly fond of him. It is a selfish thing to want him returned as sorely as I do. I hadn't meant to turn it on you - only that my own thoughts and feelings are... conflicted."

Valdis tipped her head, trying to be understanding of Klaus' deflection, it hadn't been done on purpose, and he had apologized, so she simply nodded and listened. Everything he said was true. Leo was a wonderful young man, understanding and kind, innocent. All qualities that hadn't died despite what she knew of his life.

"It is not selfish to want your friend to be with you," Valdis pointed out, "Or at least, it doesn't seem like something to feel guilty about. People need companionship, and some companionship has more value than others. It's normal."

Emotionally stunted she might be in many ways, but Valdis knew the value of feeling care for others.

The simplicity of the dream is deceiving, but it almost puts Antarcticite in mind of their home--at least at first, until they catch the scent of blood. It doesn't trigger the same, visceral fear or revulsion in them that it might in a living thing, but they recognize it as something strange, as something out of place.

Then comes the clinking, the clanging sound of the chains.

All of it is the work of the Dreaming Sickness, they realize, and the source of this one must be the tall man that they can glimpse in the distance. Antarcticite squares their narrow shoulders and strides quickly towards him.

There was a blurred impression through the chains - a middle aged man in a coat standing under a stone, cross-shaped edifice in which a haggard looking red-head was partially submerged, as though his body was fused to the granite. The chains were fastened to a number of iron spikes, skewering the man's body, though he still seemed to be quite alive despite the fact they were certainly puncturing vital organs. But at least the source of the smell of blood was clear now.

The middle-aged man was talking in that garbled way that people spoke in dreams. Indistinct, but the impression was clear. He was offering Klaus a second chance.

God only knows what he did with the first one.

The vision faded, and Klaus came to, shaking the fog from his head, only to see Antarcticite approaching him.

"Apologies," he said, raising a hand to indicate he was, physically, fine. "It seems I've also fallen prey to the Dreaming Sickness."

He'd heard about it, and he was wondering when it would strike. Well, that was that question answered.

As the dream fades around them, Antarcticite's swift stride slows. They pause several paces away from Klaus to glance about themselves; all of Aifaran's strange autumnal decor swims back into focus... as do the faces of several passers-by who look towards Klaus warily before continuing on down the road.

Antarcticite finds they cannot blame the witnesses for wanting to flee. That bloody tableau has been burned into their eyes, and the stink of blood makes their inclusions recoil within their structure--

"Apologies. It seems I've also fallen prey to the Dreaming Sickness."

They startle back to the present moment and turn their wide eyes back to Klaus; whatever vestiges of animal-like fear their inclusions may be experiencing, Antarcticite smothers the anxiety it inspires in them and takes another step nearer to the large man in front of them. "It's affected all of us, in some way," they admit, gaze gone momentarily distant, before refocusing. "Are you all right?" they ask instead, earnest and a bit awkward in their inquiries. "That was... a vivid dream."

Klaus removed his spectacles, and rubbed his face in attempt to rid himself of the groggy feeling, as though he'd just awoken.

"Yes," he agreed, dazedly, and gestured. "It was... a long time ago."

And finally he felt his senses return, and he wasn't just operating on automatic.

"I'm sorry, I should be asking that of you. It couldn't have been a pleasant sight."

They startle some at that statement, before promptly giving their head a shake. "I am fine," they assure him, gesturing once towards themselves. "We gems can't be wounded in such a fashion. I'm not sure we can even truly die."

Which doesn't change how unsettling it was to witness that dream. They may not be a living thing, but Klaus is, and the after effects of his suffering are apparent.

Thinking on that memory is unpleasant. Shifting uncomfortably, they go on with, "I'm Antarcticite--I'm with the Sentry," they add, because surely at a time like this, that must be an appropriate point to note. "Can I do anything to help you?"

Klaus shook his head.

"No, no - I don't think the dreams can do physical harm. I meant -"

He meant if they were alright emotionally, but he trailed off, his expression guilt-ridden when he saw the gem was visibly uncomfortable with the vision.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Antarcticite," he said, almost automatically responding to the introduction. "I am Klaus Von Reinherz. I am very sorry you had to witness that."

The irony of it all resonates louder than it should with Bastien once he passes by this little cafe. Having just emerged from the sea the other day out of nowhere, the pirate fled from the Dreaming Bridge and hauled his butt back to town. It took him awhile to retrace his steps but once he does, the pirate finds himself staring at this sleepy cafe with a smirk.

"Ain't this the place Leo works at?" He mutters to himself as he brushes open the door. The "help wanted" sign catches his eyes briefly as the pirate wanders in. Seems no one filled in his old part-time job it seems. That's oddly comforting to know even though he hated it. Well, maybe hate is a little strong of a word to use here. Bastien didn't quite dislike his time here at this quaint cafe but he utterly hates how he got roped up in here in the first place.

"I ought to give that little brat a piece of my mind---Hey!" A cheeky grin lingers on his face once he sees the red giant. Bastien waves enthusiastically at him with such a stupid but pleased grin upon his face. Sorry, Klaus. This little nightmare is back to stay.

"Ahoy, matey! Where's the midget?"

Klaus had been washing dishes when he heard a rather familiar piratey cadence.

"Bastien," he greeted warmly. Bastien may have come into the cafe by shooting out a window and threatening Leo, but to be completely honest, that also described just about every day at Libra with Zapp around. And Klaus cared deeply for that human trainwreck in his own special way.

"Leonardo has gone home, I'm afraid."

There was, of course, the lingering hope he might return, but for now Klaus would largely treat it as permanent.

"It's good to see you, though. How long have you been back?"

The pesky pirate wanders over with a bright smile upon his lips but that smile vanishes instantly once Klaus mentions Leo. "What?!" A look of sheer disbelief lingers upon his face. "That flea bitten vermin ran off somewhere?" Bastien shakes his head in disapproval. Seems like he wasn't the only one to magically vanish into the night.

"Ah, my condolences." He mutters as he takes off his hat. That beaten up old leather tricorn hat has seen better days. There's a bullet hole one side, a few slashes cross the front and leather look positively water beaten. All proof of Bastien's dangerous life at sea.

"I'm sure the little bugger will be prancin' back in here soon." He says with an encouraging smile. "I mean if the sea can drag me back, I'm sure he'll return."

"My thanks, but if it's any assurance, Leonardo is safe at home with his friends," he said, hoping that may soften the blow a little. He knew many who came here were dead in their own worlds and their disappearance was a return to that.

"I hope your return was not too disorienting? If you'd like, I can fix you something, on the house of course."

Klaus was a fair man, but he was given to occasional bouts of nepotism. He quite liked Bastien, when the pirate wasn't shooting out his windows that is.

When she wanders into the edge of this dreaming imagery, she finds it oddly familiar, and rolls the "taste" of it through her mind until it matches the same currents as what she'd seen when she fortune-told for Klaus.

Her expression betrays only a hint of melancholy before it smooths out to the more serene mask she wears when dealing with things of a spiritual nature. She pads through the rubble, overlaid with scents of of blood and harsh flashes of sterile bleached walls, following the clanking of the chains, her head cocked to hear better.

Seeing the blurring of foliage at the edges of this dream does little to reassure her, nor do the snatches of birdsong making an eerie cadence with the clash of chains.

While she is not at all familiar with the Dreaming Sickness, she is familiar with intrusive realities overlapping at times, so she simply keeps her eyes open for the center of the visions.

She eventually comes to recognize the giant figure of Klaus, and she steps past the shifting imagery to place her fingertips against his scarred hand, much as she had when she scried for him. She doesn't speak, but simply allows her presence to be a quiet fulcrum if he needs it.

Klaus didn't seem to perturbed by the visions swimming around him, but then again, his nightmares could rarely live up to his reality. Chaos had become background noise in his life.

The only sign of disturbance from him was a soft exclamation as the figures in the garden faded, his hand reaching out to try in vein to pull them back.

He felt a warm weight on his arm when he came to, disoriented and bewildered.

"...Miss Yuuko?" He sounded puzzled. "Please, this way, I should introduce you to the-"

As his head turned he realized they had completely gone along with the garden. Reality was finally pouring back as the fog cleared from his head.

"...I'm sorry - I must have been dreaming."

She squeezes his hand lightly, now that he's come back to himself. "I think you most certainly were. Come now, there's a vendor with some flowers of the kind i have never seen just a little way down the street"

If he allows it, she will adroitly maneuver him onward, away from the area of the disturbance, along with suggesting things of the here-and-now to engage him until he's firmly grounded again.

That is not to say once he's properly back to himself, she won't promptly unbalance him again, but certainly not as deeply or unsettlingly as the intrusion of visions she just witnessed.

Klaus was easily maneuvered away, though as his head cleared, his footfalls became less erratic and more purposeful.

"My apologies," he said slowly, finding his voice. He was running through the bout of dreams that had been on display for any to see, and he felt frustrated at having something so private laid bare.

"...I wouldn't want you to see that. Are you alright?"

That gets him an amused flicker of a smile, as she tilts her head up slightly to look at him.

"I am alright. I saw considerably as much the first time I 'looked' at you, Klaus. You gave me your name, your hand, and your permission, after all."

She pats his hand lightly, and releases him. Perhaps her words were meant to be reassuring, or just a reminder to be mindful of who he invites into his house.

After a moment, she answers his question with one of her own. "Are you alright?"

"Even so," Klaus said, "Before you had some warning. This was more..."

He gesticulated, still not in a state where words came easily. Coffee or tea, something to jumpstart the mental processes. He felt, a moment, a pang of deep sympathy and comradarie for Steven, who seemed perpetually exhausted without having ingested at least fourteen shots of espresso.

"...Sudden."

He breathed in the scent of flowers as they passed the stall and soon seemed less on edge.

"This sort of thing happens often here, I'm afraid. It's not pleasant, but it's not entirely unexpected either."

"I see. Thank you for the warning." She gives him a nod of appreciation for the information, but is also not in the slightest deflected, despite his obvious habit of shifting attention from himself.

"However, you still have not answered my question." Her tone of voice is polite, but firmly spoken.

As they stroll past the flowers set out for sale, she pauses slightly to enjoy the fragrance, with the thought it would help his peace of mind as well. Taking advantage of the brief stillness, she looks him over, frankly, noting he seems less on edge, albeit self-effacing in the way of one who has done so for so long they no longer realize it.

Bakura is pleased to see that Die Rose Tulpe is still going strong, since they had excellent coffee, and the thief had more of a sweet tooth than he cared to admit. Pausing only briefly to note the Help Wanted sign in the window, he entered and sought out the distinctive proprietor.

"Afternoon, Klaus."

Klaus didn't smile because that was one way to get customers running right out the door, but he was delighted to see Bakura, and his warm tone of voice was much better at conveying that.

"Good afternoon, Bakura. You look well today," he remarked, handing off a cup of coffee from the counter to the waiting Igheeri, and thanking her.

"How have things been?"

Tony, seeking his critical daily caffeine fix, walks into Die Rose Tulpe... at what appears to be an awkward moment.

"Sooo. Klaus. Good morning." He raises his eyebrows at the distinctly empty spot that Klaus was just talking to. Ghosts, huh? Mmm hmm. "Have you not had enough caffeine yet, or have you had way too much?"

Edited 2018-10-26 09:49 (UTC)

Klaus looked up from the photograph he'd just taken, and gave Tony a polite nod in greeting.

"Ah - neither, Mister Stark. There appears to be a sort of specter," Klaus remarked. Behind him, a vase rocked ominously, before settling back into place.

"Would you like to see...?"

Tony's about to make another joke, teasing Klaus for chasing imaginary specters around the cafe, when a vase behind him wobbles. Without any apparent outside influence. Tony squints suspiciously.

Great. Ghosts.

"Cool." Not cool. "Well, that's very festive." He clutches his insulated travel mug a little tighter. "I come in peace or whatever, but I'd better not see anything spooky happening with my coffee, Casper." Nobody messes with his coffee. Not even ghosts.

With some reluctance, he continues into the cafe, wondering what sort of apparition Klaus has captured on his yimo screen.

"Festive indeed," Klaus agreed.

"Though fortunately they haven't caused any trouble. I believe your coffee is safe for the time being."

He passed the phone over to Tony and there was, indeed, a shadowy figure in the photograph, too indistinct to discern if it was anything beside humanoid. It didn't seem to be doing anything beyond just standing there.

"For all that I've dealt with back in Jerusalem's Lot, ghosts aren't among such things. Peculiar, now that I think on it."

Tony peers at the screen, and his eyebrows continue their ascent towards his hairline. "Yeah. Okay. That's definitely creepy." He looks up, down at the screen again, and then up again, as if he expects the ghost to suddenly give up the ruse and show itself now that he knows it's there.

But the ghost doesn't move, and it doesn't manifest, and after a couple seconds, Tony just shakes his head and sighs, wearing an expression that says 'it's too damn early for this shit.'

"As long as the coffee's safe." He turns his attention back to Klaus. "You know, I don't think I've heard much about where you're from, Klaus." He'd never really asked, which seems slightly rude, now that he thinks about it: they're not BFFs, but he likes Klaus, and they've both been here quite a while. "So, no ghosts, but a bunch of other weird stuff, huh?"

"I'm from Earth," Klaus explained. "Some version of it, where New York City merged with the alternate dimension known as the 'Beyond'. So... yes. The unexpected has become fairly mundane there."

He rubbed his chin thoughtfully as he tucked the Yimo back into his breast pocket. He'd try taking photos later - perhaps after the apparition had gone.

"I believe it was either you or Miss Potts that mentioned you're from New York originally?"

"Man, as if New York wasn't weird enough already," Tony jokes. "Yeah, that's where me and Pepper and Gene are all from. The original flavor, though, not the alternate dimension remix." ~~Universes variations will now be named after bad Lay's Do Us A Flavor entries.~~

"What does the Beyond have if it didn't have ghosts?"

"It's somehow less strange to me the way it is now," Klaus admitted.

"Those from both Earth and the Beyond that survived the Great Collapse seem to be adapting well enough to the changes. It's not without some tension, but I'm surprised things haven't been more chaotic."

Which was saying something, given how ...explosive the city could be.

"The Beyond has anything you can imagine. Most legendary creatures, supernatural occurrences, or magical artifacts are things that have managed to pass through to our world."

And the Blood Breed. But this was a pleasant conversation and Klaus didn't feel particularly inclined to discuss actual monsters.

"Are there ghosts in your world? ...Or just those television programs where young men run around with cameras in abandoned places?"

'Young men' says the man who is the same age, if not younger, than many of those he's talking about.

"I'm not surprised. That's what New York is all about. Drop another dimension on Manhattan, and most people are just pissed that their commute is screwed up." Chaos? New York is a well-oiled machine of chaos, fueled by forward momentum and sheer cussedness.

"I haven't ruled ghosts out," especially not after spending a few years in Konryu and being exposed to another level of strange entirely, "but I haven't run into any yet, either. So far it's been more scifi than supernatural. You know, aliens, evil AIs, time travel, that kind of stuff."

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

(no subject)

Dreaming Sickness

Re: Dreaming Sickness

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

Dreaming Sickness--the second dream

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

Autumn Updates

no subject

no subject

no subject

Dreaming Sickness

Re: Dreaming Sickness

Re: Dreaming Sickness

Re: Dreaming Sickness

Re: Dreaming Sickness

Re: Dreaming Sickness

Re: Dreaming Sickness

Autumn Updates

Re: Autumn Updates

Paranormal Photography

Re: Paranormal Photography

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject