eye of the tiger playing in the distance

[falsify]

[Training for this team has been rougher than Eames really ever expected. SHIELD has already put him through the ringer over the years, but this dream stuff requires a lot of skills he'd never heard of before. And that's before even getting to handling it in the field.]

[Stressful, difficult, and at times painful as it is, it doesn't take Eames that long to get to grips with the fundamentals — using his powers in a dream, learning to navigate something that feels real but isn't, the right checks if he's not sure whether or not he's dreaming — he's dedicated to getting this right, absolutely willing to give everything he's got to it. Plus it helps that Cobb's usually there for the briefings, and he makes an excellent translator when Arthur gets overly technical or theoretical about the whole thing.]

[This part is another one of those things he'd never thought he'd have to learn. A frown on his face when it's just him and Arthur and the plain room they're using, because he wouldn't think someone has to be taught how to handle being killed in a dream, but apparently it's a pretty big deal. Something about being able to take it in stride, to be able to immediately move on to the next thing when you wake up, but surely when you know it's not real, it shouldn't be a problem.]

[He frowns, thumbing over a bottle of light sedative, and glances at Arthur with a raised eyebrow when he asks his question. Seeking a little more information from Arthur's point of view rather than the technical aspects of it.]

So... I have to learn how to die?

Comments

[specifiercity]

In a way.

[His tone is meant less to be frustrating and more to convey that this is a pretty difficult concept to fully explain. Arthur knows that dying in a dream causes a certain amount of distress and his dreams are a touch closer to reality, so it's better if one gets a little more comfortable with the feeling before going out into the field where it might happen unexpectedly or even be a crucial part of a mission.]

[He sits down on one of the chairs in the room as he starts rolling up his sleeves.]

It's more like learning how to make it into a routine. We all have tricks to keep ourselves grounded in reality, and that's never more important than after going through something as stressful as simulated death.

[falsify]

Stressful?

[It's a genuine question, not dismissive. As much as he disagrees with Arthur's way of doing most things, he does recognise that Arthur is the voice of experience and knowledge on this. And anyone who's ever died in a dream knows the feeling of being thrown awake with a jolt of panic. But there's a world of difference between knowing it's a dream and thinking it's real; he'd think it shouldn't be difficult to deal with at all.]

[He sets the bottle down on the table next to Arthur, frowning thoughtfully.]

Surely knowing it's not real should remove that element of stress?

[specifiercity]

[Arthur lets out a dry laugh. He wishes that were the case.]

Logic can't trump your gut reaction without a bit of practice first.

[He sighs and frowns a moment as he composes this next bit in his head.]

You know when you're dreaming about falling and you wake up with a jolt? For a split second you still have this phantom feeling of falling and it takes a moment to realize that you're still in your bed. This can be the same way - when you're in a situation where your life is in danger it activates your flight or fight instincts and those can carry over into wakefulness. Your mind, on some level, has been tricked into believing that the dream is real and it translates into real world adrenaline.

The point of all this is twofold. First of all you need to be able to override the fight or flight instinct within the dream so we don't compromise our objective, and second of all we need to be able to transition to wakefulness with clear heads in case we're compromised in reality.

[He looks at Eames to check if he's following, but in any case he just sighs and digresses.]

You'll understand it better after we start.

[falsify]

[He is, but Arthur's right. It'll make more sense once they've tried it. Eames nods and takes a seat, making himself comfortable with a frown. Real or not, dying isn't exactly fun.]

Alright, let's do it.

[specifiercity]

[Arthur nods and sits back in his chair, gesturing to the sedative in Eames' hand.]

Whenever you're ready.

[falsify]

[Well, here he goes. This much, at least, has started to become a familiar routine. He takes the sedative and passes the bottle to Arthur; it's light enough not to prevent waking up, they know what they're doing here apparently. Falling asleep is easy after that, and he quickly decided not to think too hard on how exactly Arthur's powers work. Apparently it makes it difficult to stay in the dream when you're too busy questioning how it works to accept it.]

[Regardless, he closes his eyes and reclines. Breath slowing and evening as he relaxes and falls asleep.]

[specifiercity]

[Arthur follows him in, slipping into the space between their subconscious minds and building a structure around them as easily as breathing. This is fairly simple one to start - when he opens his eyes in the dream they're in a room of solid glass, floating in the air high above an endless flat ocean. There are details Artur didn't bother thinking about like the steel beams lining the edges of the container to give it some visual shape but otherwise everything is really straight forward.]

[He looks across the room to see Eames, waiting to see how this is going to start.]

[falsify]

[Eames comes to just after Arthur, used enough to this part by now that he's up and looking around as soon as they're up. He has this habit he knows Arthur hates, of trying to push it, to see the limits. He walks to the glass walls, presses his hands flat against it, and then crouches to look through the glass at his feet.]

[He doesn't think he'll ever get over what an incredible ability it is that Arthur has.]

This is amazing.

[Looking at the ocean below them, he can't help but wonder how it would feel on his skin. How the water would smell. If that's something Arthur's even factored in or not.]

[specifiercity]

[Arthur watches Eames, feeling an emotion that could be described as regret over what he's about to do. He lets him look, watching the wheels turning in his head as he does what Eames does which is obsess over every detail of the dream.]

The first death is by falling. I usually start with this one because it's familiar - we've all fallen once or twice in our lives, sometimes long enough to register the feeling - and because it's almost kind of fun on the way down.

[He admits that it's at least a little for dramatic effect when he walks over to the wall and pushes a huge panel of glass wall until it tilts away and falls. It goes for a long time, falling and falling, and Arthur watches it for a moment before he looks up at Eames.]

If you don't want to jump I can push you or I can take away the floor. Up to you.

[falsify]

-- Christ.

[Eames stands and watches it fall, a little hesitant to lean out like he wants to just in case Arthur takes that moment as an opportunity to push him out. He watches the pane of glass, almost flinching when it hits the water.]

[He looks back at Arthur, slightly disbelieving.]

You're fucking with me.

[specifiercity]

[Arthur looks back down at where the bubbles must be rising up from the glass sinking into the water then back up at Eames. He shakes his head.]

No. The only way you get out of this dream is if you fall.

[falsify]

[Well, he doesn't know Arthur to have much of a sense of humour so he's almost certainly being serious. Eames pulls a face and turns to walk up to the empty space in the side of the room, putting a hand on the pane beside him to hesitantly lean out to get a good look down. He has no idea how high they are, but it seems pretty fucking high.]

[God, he's done a lot of shit in his life, but nothing like this.]

[Eames takes a deep breath and turns to face Arthur, the smirk on his face at least 50% bravado to mask the acute terror he's feeling right now.]

Well. Geronimo and so on.

[He backs up one step, feeling for the edge of the floor and then salutes as he leans back until he's falling towards the ocean, part of his logic being that the fall is less scary if he can't see it.]

[Turns out it's pretty faulty logic.]

[When he wakes, it's with a start and a lot of panic. His whole body jerks like he's struggling against something and he pulls at the collar of his shirt, almost struggling to breathe for the short moments before reality catches up and he realises he's awake and alive and fine, and he hunches over to put his elbows on his knees and his head in his hands.]

[specifiercity]

[Arthur wakes a fraction of a second after Eames, having had to stay in the dream long enough to make sure Eames actually experienced the dying part of the fall before he came to. He reaches over to put his hand on the back of the chair, careful not to startle Eames, calm and collected because it's important Eames hears a steady voice right now.]

Hey, are you okay?

[falsify]

Yeah-- Yeah, I'm fine. [He sighs heavily and drags his hands through his hair before he sits up.] It just... It wasn't quite what I expected.

[He punctuates with a bit of a self-deprecating laugh, but his hand still goes to his neck, rubbing back and forth while he replays that over and over in his head. The wet smack of the impact against the water and the feeling of being pulled under-- No idea how accurate it is to the real thing, but Eames would describe the experience as deeply unpleasant regardless.]

[specifiercity]

Yeah, it hardly ever is.

[He sighs and nods, pulling his hand back to lean back in his chair.]

You did well, though. It's good to be a little bit fearless. Some people need the glass pulled out from under them... they usually don't do well with the rest of it.

[falsify]

[Eames sits up once he's sure he has his head under control, frowning thoughtfully and turning to look at Arthur. He doesn't care how well he did for his first time, he cares about getting this shit under control.]

It's not like falling usually is in dreams.

[specifiercity]

No.

[Arthur appreciates Eames' desire to get straight to business about this.]

I think that's partially because I'm the one in control. When you're dreaming on your own, your brain just wants you to experience the feeling of falling, so it slows down time, feels a little floaty... When I'm in control of the physics, I don't give you those kinds of luxuries because I wouldn't want the mark registering any subtle changes in the environment. Now... with your abilities you might be able to change yourself in some way that would allow you to float or fly out of a situation like that, as long as it didn't give you away, but that's something we can practice another time.

[He waves his hand dismissively.]

Falling's not really our biggest cause of death in dreams anyway.

[falsify]

[He wants to talk about that a little more, but Eames stops himself. They can talk about it any time, but working through this is entirely dependant on Arthur and how much energy he has. So, business it is.]

It being the most familiar makes it the easiest to get to grips with though, right?

[It's a genuine question, he's trying to understand as much of this dream stuff as he can because he has no idea which bits are gonna be the most useful to him going forward.]

[specifiercity]

[Arthur shrugs.]

It's the easiest to get people to try, it's quick, and it doesn't require an enemy combatant. This is basically just getting used to the feeling of knowing you're going to die but keeping the awareness that you're in a dream so that you don't panic and go off book. Next week we should be able to go under into that same dreamspace and you should be able to jump without a second thought when the mission leader tells you that you need to jump.

[falsify]

[That all makes sense. Eames nods, jaw tight as he thinks and then looks at Arthur.]

Let's do it again.

[specifiercity]

[Arthur nods in understanding. For someone with a history like Eames has, he sure has an admirable work ethic. Arthur almost likes that about him.]

The same one or should I change it up?

[falsify]

[Career criminals aren't known for being lazy okay. Eames was good at what he did because he worked hard at it, and he fully intends to transfer that dedication to this.]

You know this better than me. [he shrugs a shoulder] Whatever it takes to get me used to it.

[specifiercity]

[He nods again.]

Let's try something different. [he gestures to the sedative] Whenever you're ready.

[falsify]

[Eames nods and reaches for the bottle to take a fresh one, settling back and closing his eyes as he waits for it to take effect. Silently hoping Arthur isn't planning to make him leap into another ocean.]

[specifiercity]

[When Arthur opens his eyes he's standing in a dimly light room, far different than the one they fell asleep in, furnished only with the chair Eames is currently tied to and a table between them. On the table is a gnn. This shouldn't be too hard to figure out but Arthur's going to let Eames open his eyes and get a lay of the land before he gets this started.]