2021-07-14 - Okay, but you aren't real

Isi doesn't have a chainsaw - just a nice little regular one. As big pieces of cut up of the fallen branch she's collecting and helping haul them over to another place to be cut down even further. It's a solid little group of volunteers that have agreed to do this. Everyone is wet to the bone already but they're keeping at it. As long as there isn't lighting above any work done now will help.

He had promised to take a part of this as well, but then Jonathan ended up falling asleep. And so he arrives here a bit later than he had planned, since he needed to actually stop by his parents' place to pick up the chainsaw. "Hey, sorry I'm late," he offers to the people working as he approaches them. "Where would you like me to help?"

Isi reaches up when someone speaks out nearby to brush stray black hair from her face. No one else seems to have heard over the rawr of the chainsaw, so she turns to look at the man, then promptly screams and throws her log at him.

That's a totally normal reaction, right?

Thankfully, Jonathan's used to have to get out of the way of things due to his years spent as an athlete. While logs aren't what he used to dodge, he manages to duck out of the way, before he blinks a bit. "Err... Hello to you too?" Looking a bit confused, before he lets out a bit of a breath. "Wait, haven't I seen you somewhere before?"

"You're one of the fucking dream men!" Isi says - well, shouts. It's a good thing other people have the loud burrrrrr of chainsaws to distract them, or they might start to doubt Isi's sanity. "You put us through that fucking VR shit and watched us kill people."

"What?" Jonathan grimaces as he hears that. "I was just as much a victim in that thing as you." He keeps his words low enouch so that they won't reach many others, before he takes one step forward, after placing the chainsaw he was carrying down on the ground. "I remeber now, you were the one who figured out we were wearing those things over our faces..."

"No no no no," Isi's not accepting this at face value and waves her finger in the air as she retreats one step to match his. "EVERYONE ELSE got vouched for as real but you. You were not known. Nope. You're not real and I swear if you come closer I'm going to.... scream or something." The last part comes out lame because Isi's not sure exactly what she COULD do against a dream creature.

Jonathan comes to a stop, shaking his head a bit. "I'm not real? I think my family will disagree, as well as a number of other people, both here and other places." There's another brief pause, before he adds, "Do you think we're in one of the dreams now? Because if not, why would I be here if I'm not real?" Another brief pause. "Do you follow professional sports? I mean, I used to play ice hockey, so it would be easy for you to check about me online, right? Jonathan Wallgren, played for Detroit..."

"Look," Isi replies, hands coming up palm out like she'd ward him off that way. "They said it could happen anywhere - any time - any how. That shit isn't something you can control." No clarification of who 'they' are, but 'shit' is probably dream? The last has her squinting at him, "Do Americans care about hockey? Isn't that a Canadian thing?"

"Some has to, otherwise most of the teams in the NHL wouldn't be south of the border, right?" Jonathan offers, before he adds, "And it can happen in the strangest of situations, that's true." He lets out a bit of a breath. "How could I prove I'm a real person, not just one of those creatures in the dream?"

"I wouldn't fucking know." Isi replies, re: Hockey. She looks him up and down with a squinty look. "Start naming people you know that I can text. Cassidy. Ravn. Ah, that Joseph guy. The police chief - Rick."

Jonathan glances around as he hears that. "I think I might have met some of those you mentioned at some point, at least. I don't know them well, though. But many people in town know me, I grew up here. My parents and sister still live here."

Isi scrunches her nose because this is actually NOT helpful. "If I pulled out my phone and googled you - how would I know that it wasn't false? That dream showed that any shit is possible."

"Everytime I've gotten pulled into dreams, I couldn't remember how I ended up there," Jonathan replies. "Did you suddenly appear here, with the saw and everything, or did you remember how you got here?"

Well. That's a good point. Isi's posture reflects that his point DOES penetrate some of her skepticism. She glances about, at the tree, the volunteers, the chain saws - then shakes her head slowly. "No - I volunteered to help out. I like running in the park when the weather isn't," she waves at the sky and the foul weather rather than saying it, "and a downed tree makes that hard."

Jonathan nods as he hears that. "Me too. Even though my sports career is gone..." A moment of hesitation there, before he continues. "Even though it's gone, I still like keeping in shape." He glances back to that log she threw at him. "I'm very glad you didn't hit me with that..." he offers.

"Well." Isi watches him with narrowed eyes for a few seconds, then glances down at the log. "I guess if you haven't tried to get me killed yet...." It takes her another few seconds before she actually does relax and steps forward, leaning down slowly (with one eye on him) to gather up the log again. "I'm not reassured that I missed. It doesn't bode well for me and the dream fuckers."

Letting out a breath as he hears her words, Jonathan nods slowly. "I have never tried to kill anyone... Not even in the dreams, except that dream we were both in. Even earlier, I always tried to either chase the dream creatures away, or simply run away from them..." There's a grimace offered, "But ever since that dream, I've been thinking about those people we... Were they real people, sucked in like us, or just something from the dream itself?"

"Oh god I fucking hope..." Isi says, the words fervently, the log suddenly becoming something to hug tightly. "I can't get it out of my mind that we maybe murdered people." Even though, technically, Isis didn't fire her weapon at anyone except when it accidentally went off.

Jonathan nods slowly, "It was them or us, but that doesn't make it any easier," he replies. Another brief pause, before he adds, "Was it your first time getting sucked into a dream?" It's offered quietly, before he lets out a bit of a breath. "Trust me, those things never are easy... I remember a few other times I got pulled into them."

Isi walks her teddy-bear-held log over to where she's suppose to put it to be cut into smaller pieces, then heads back to Jonathan. (She does leave a pace or so between them. If one is really curious, it's the length of a chain saw. Can't be too careful!!) "Yeah.... it was. I'd run into one or two things that were just... y'know, strange. But nothing like.... like that."

If Jonathan notices the length of the space between them, he doesn't say, although there's a hint of a smile as he notices. "Strange things are many in this place," he says, after a few moments of pause. "But the dreams, they never are good. One of them once tried ruining one of my happiest memories. And another made me feel like a person who didn't exist was quite real. And then ones like that one, all messed up." There's a brief pause, and a bit of a humorless grin. "Welcome to Gray Harbor?" he offers.

Isi rubs her temple slowly. "Thanks. If y'all could get a better welcome wagon, I'd thank you."

She nods her head at the downed tree the volunteers are making short work of. "So. You came to help with this fuckery?"

Jonathan nods a little, "I did. I just had to drop by my parents' place to pick up the saw first, so that's why I was late here." There's a brief pause, before he adds, "Been a rough day, which made me late. I still get the headaches from a few too many knocks to the head, although they're not as frequent anymore."

"Knocks to the head?" The look in Isi's eye will reaffirm the fact that Isi doesn't follow sports AT ALL.

"Told you I was playing hockey, right? I had a few concussions, the last one was up in Vancouver, and my family had come up there to see me play. I ended the game being stretchered off the ice after a concussion, and it's never really let go. For the last few years it's been getting better, but still..." Jonathan offers, with a bit of a shrug. "So thanks for not hitting me in the head with that log." That last part is offered with a smile, though.

"Ahhhh." Isi says, drawing out the 'h' sound in understanding. "Right - I missed that." She eyes in him up and down as if considering him in a new context. "Well. Good luck in the dreams then. Shall we?" She gestures back at the tree.

Jonathan nods, picking up the chainsaw he placed on the ground earlier. "They'll need the help, right?" he offers with a grin, moving over to help with the tree.