[open; here there be catch-all!]

[cmdreffingshepard]

Characters: Commander Shepard, Arthur, Booker and YOU! Yes, YOU!
Date: Throughout November.
Location: Various locations.
Situation: Various. This is a catch-all log for all three of these characters. I'll post at least one open starter for each (plus some pre-determined closed threads). If there's something specific you'd like to set up, feel free to PM any of my character journals or pp me on plurk @ frodabaggins!
Warnings/Rating: Pre-emptive warning for some discussion of violence-related trauma in Booker and Elizabeth's thread. Will update this as necessary.

Comments

[baniichan]

"I see," he said after a moment. "So, in other words, my subconscious wouldn't pose any physical threat to you, but the consequences of getting caught by it are still very unpleasant."

[aloadeddie]

"Maybe. Depends on the subconscious." Arthur chuckled faintly and shrugged. "I've been through a lot, I can handle most things. If I need to, I can wake myself up."

[baniichan]

"Good to know." It wasn't Barnaby's job to make sure Arthur didn't do anything foolish, of course, but there still wasn't much sense in putting him in unnecessary danger if he could help it, either.

"Are those the basics, then?" he asked. "Or is there anything else I ought to be aware of?"

[aloadeddie]

"I'd say that's the basics, yeah," Arthur said with a nod, checking his watch. "We've got a bit of time left, feel free to wander around, get a feel for things. Remember, though - dealing with memories is tricky, even dangerous. This seems pretty benign now, but things can get scary fast."

[baniichan]

It was good to know that they didn't have to rush this. The fact that their current session would only take a few minutes in real-time made the whole thing even more efficient in Barnaby's mind. Of course, he wasn't going to delude himself into thinking that a trip into his own memories would be this calm or quiet. For one thing, Arthur was an expert, and he likely had a much more solid grasp on all of this than the average person. For another, they were dealing with...well, his particular case, which meant they were also dealing with a lot of unknown variables.

With that in mind, Barnaby decided he ought to cover all of his bases. "Is there anything about my history you need to know about for future reference?"

[aloadeddie]

Arthur crossed his arms over his chest, leaning against a glass-and-metal railing easily. He knew this layout like the back of his hand, it was one he had designed specifically for himself as a training layout, several years ago. So he was comfortable in the environment, but Barnaby's question made him a little uneasy.

"It sort of depends - you seem like a guy who knows how to compartmentalize really well, but in general if there's anything you know about that might... make its presence known - usually something traumatic - it would probably be good to have warning ahead of time. We can never fully control our subconscious, and there's a fine line between dealing with issues in a healthy way to keep them segmented out of the dream and repression, which can lead to issues bubbling up through the cracks, so to speak."

[baniichan]

He'd suspected that sort of answer, which was partly why Barnaby had brought it up in the first place. Although Arthur wasn't off the mark in his assessment of Barnaby's ability to compartmentalize, that probably went only so far when dealing with someone's subconscious.

"I understand," he said. None of these things were topics of he enjoyed talking about, but they were common knowledge back home, and had always been a large fixture in his life. To ignore them just because Keeliai afforded him some sense of privacy would have been foolish in this instance.

"In that case," Barnaby continued in a calm, measured voice, "you should probably know that my parents were murdered in front of me on Christmas Eve when I was 4 years old. My memories of that day have always been very vivid, even now. My recollection of the killer's identity, however, was heavily tampered with, so that detail didn't come back to the surface until about a year ago."

[aloadeddie]

That was a pretty huge trauma - on one hand, Arthur felt a little uncomfortable having a near-perfect stranger tell him about such a terrible event that probably scarred him deeply.

On the other, he couldn't help but feel somewhat grateful to the other man that he was so willing to share, without Arthur needing to prod him about it. Arthur was bad at prodding in general, and he saw where that led them in Cobb's case. Right into some very bad places.

So he listened carefully, then nodded. "Thanks for letting me know. We don't have to go anywhere near that memory if you don't want. That doesn't necessarily guarantee that it won't... make an appearance on its own, but I wouldn't force you to deal with it, either.

"And don't worry - I won't go telling anyone any of your secrets. That's probably not very reassuring coming from someone you barely know, but trust me. As far as I'm concerned, you're a client, and I keep client confidentiality."

[baniichan]

"I don't see any reason to re-visit it, but it may manifest itself regardless," Barnaby told him. Quite frankly, he'd be surprised if it didn't on some level. The memory was burned into him, thanks in part to the fact that he never allowed himself to forget. Even all these years later, certain triggers still occasionally made him relive the experience all over again. Of course, his hope was that it wouldn't even become an issue, but he couldn't exactly rely on wishful thinking, either.

When Arthur tried to assure him about client confidentiality, Barnaby managed a ghost of a polite smile. "I would appreciate it," he said, though he'd already accepted that whether Arthur followed through or not was out of his hands.

Although there likely wouldn't be any reason to shout any of this information from the rooftops, the truth was that Barnaby hadn't shared anything he wasn't prepared to. If Arthur kept all of this to himself, great. If not, it probably wasn't going to be the end of the world. An inconvenience, at most.

Strangers knowing personal details about his life wasn't exactly anything new, after all.

[aloadeddie]

Arthur nodded. The confidentiality thing wasn't just about protecting Barnaby's privacy - frankly, Arthur had a professional reputation to build and maintain, and part of that was making sure the people he worked with were happy with the services her provided them.

If anything, it was a mutually beneficial business arrangement.

"And if it would help at all, if your partner wants to join us sometime, that would be fine. We can include a third member easily in these little exercises," he pointed out. If anything, having Kotetsu in the dream with them would allow Arthur to keep an eye on him.

[baniichan]

"If you can guarantee his safety, and that your suite is secure during the procedure, then I'd have no objections to bringing him along," Barnaby replied.

Kotetsu knew him better than anyone else -- something Arthur probably had picked up on, or else he likely wouldn't have made the suggestion. To be honest, it would help to have him there, and Kotetsu would probably find it preferable to sitting on his hands and waiting alone in the real world. Still, Barnaby had to look at it from as many angles as possible before telling his partner about the idea.

[aloadeddie]

"He'll be as safe in the dream as we are," Arthur said with a shrug. "And my suite is completely secure. He doesn't have to be awake to keep anything safe."

[baniichan]

He considered Arthur's words for a moment. As far as he could tell, the man didn't have anything to gain by lying about it. Besides, Arthur himself would be with Barnaby while they explored his subconscious, which meant he must have legitimately believed they were safe enough.

"All right," Barnaby said with a small nod. "In that case, I'll bring it up to him later and see what he says."

[aloadeddie]

Arthur nodded and checked his watch again. "I think we're about-"

He didn't get to finish his sentence before he opened his eyes, back in his suite as the timer ran out. He sat up almost immediately, pulling the IV from his arm with deft movements before moving over to Barnaby.

[baniichan]

And just like that, they were back in the real world. The transition had been painless, although the sudden shift was a little jarring nonetheless. Still, Barnaby didn't show any outward surprise as Arthur moved over toward him.

"Thank you," he said as the other man removed his IV. "Am I correct in assuming we're finished for today?"

[aloadeddie]

"Yeah," Arthur said, neatly slipping Barnaby's IV out as well, and disposing of the used needles. "That's all I had for you today. Next time, I'd say we start with a familiar memory - give it a week, maybe, figure out the place you'd like to start - and make sure you don't have any adverse reactions to the somnacin."

[baniichan]

"I understand." Barnaby sat up, not feeling any ill effects at the moment. He would have to be mindful of any changes, though.

"Thank you for allowing the both of us to come over," he added. In many ways, allowing Kotetsu to remain unsupervised was a show of good faith on Arthur's part, and that fact wasn't lost on Barnaby. "I appreciate your taking the time to do this even though you're busy."

[aloadeddie]

"It's no trouble," Arthur said with a shrug. "Keeps me in good practice, and I'll probably learn something from this experiment, too."

He offered his hand for Barnaby to shake. "Until next week, then?"

[baniichan]

A mutually beneficial arrangement was what Barnaby preferred, so he was pleased to hear Arthur say that. Still, there was something about this whole thing that had an unsettling similarity to seeing a therapist. Given the the nature of their meetings, as well as Barnaby's own baggage, though, that was probably inevitable.

Some discomfort was a small price to pay if it meant a chance to recover some of his lost memories.

"Sounds good," Barnaby answered, accepting Arthur's handshake. "I'll see you then."