text; broken head and the stars are spinning

[mimic]

Anyone else having trouble sleeping lately? [ He's tried counting sheep. He counted up to a hundred thousand before deciding he should quit it. Peter's hoping that some random conversations via text will help get his mind off... well, everything.

He just can't seem to relax. One thought leads to another leads to another. It's a constant stream of noise made worse by this ability to hear people's thoughts. It's a jumble of words that don't make sense and he can't seem to shut that off. ]

Comments

[trigeminalheadache]

Essentially, yeah. When your life basically falls down around you, decent sleep becomes mostly a thing of the past.

[mimic]

Sorry to hear that. You want to talk about it?

[trigeminalheadache]

Thanks. It is what it is, you know? Not much you can do once it's happened.

[mimic]

But if you can change things about the past, would you do it? [ Because Peter can. He has the ability to bend space and time. He can make these changes. He's just not sure if he should. It's a thing he's been wrestling with. ]

[trigeminalheadache]

[ What a question. While most people may think about time travel in hypotheticals, Caitlin knows it's a very real thing. A very dangerous thing. ]

No. As much as I might want to, no matter how happy altering certain events would make me, it's too dangerous. Too reckless. Changing one thing for the better could make hundreds of other things worse.

[mimic]

Someone told me my brother is dead. In the future. I don't know if I can accept that. [ There. He finally told someone. It doesn't change anything though. He's still having a difficult time processing the news. He's not sure he wants to believe it. ]

[trigeminalheadache]

I'm sorry. I know how difficult it is to get news like that. [ Change fiancé for brother. Or watching her husband die. ] A decision like that caused a rift between my best friends back home.

[mimic]

[ Come to think of it -- he really hadn't given it much thought when Hiro from the future told him to save the cheerleader in order to save the world. He immediately assumed and believed it would be for the better. Knowing what he knew about the fate of the girl back then, there was no way he would have let anything bad happen to her. ]

How's time travel possible where you're from? [ He's curious to know. Back in his world, it's just an ability some people have. ]

[trigeminalheadache]

It's not well-known by anyone. There's really only a handful of people who knows that it's anything more than a theory. There's only six people I know of back home that potentially could do it unassisted.

[ She doesn't even want to touch on how Rip and the Legends do it. It's enough to try and wrap her mind around how speedsters do it. ]

Basically, it involves running fast enough to break the space-time barrier.

[mimic]

[ How fast did someone have to go in order to succeed at that? Months ago, he would have thought it'd be crazy impossible, but he's seen enough to know that anything can happen. ]

That's kind of crazy. I don't know how time travel works where I'm from, but I've been meaning to find out.

But back to your inability to get much sleep, have you ever tried just going for a late night run? Doing some cardio exercises? Or yoga? I hear that's supposed to help.

[trigeminalheadache]

I've never been much for athletic things. Being here, I have taken up running in the mornings. But usually, when I can't sleep, I opt for productivity.

[mimic]

I've been sketching a lot. And painting. But there's a point where your brain just goes -- here's a migraine and then productivity just goes down the drain for me. I'm kind of at that point right now.

[trigeminalheadache]

I wish I could do something artistic. Usually one my brain gives up on productivity, the next thing I know, my best friend is waking me up and shoving coffee under my nose.

[mimic]

You should give it a try. Nothing wrong with a little abstract painting. If you want to give it a shot, just let me know. Although to be fair, I never had an artistic bone in me until after I met this painter, Isaac, who believed he can paint the future. [ Reason he's telling her this? He's curious to see how she'd react to hearing such a thing. ]

[trigeminalheadache]

I guess it couldn't hurt. Then again, if my painting is anything like my singing, people would probably thank me not to.

[ She might be exaggerating there, but... maybe she isn't. ]

Could he? I mean, hypothetically speaking, if someone can travel through time, it would stand to reason it's possible and probable that another could see through it.

[mimic]

I'll reserve any comments until you've given it a try. The keyword here is fun. [ It's a stress reliever if nothing else. ]

He really did paint the future. I saw it happen. I saved a young girl's life with the help of his ability. I was told that it would help save the world.

[trigeminalheadache]

I have vague memories of fun. I think I liked it.

That's incredible. I'll never stop being amazed at how one act, one decision, one person can change the fate of so many.

[mimic]

Only vague memories, huh? We'll have to try to change that then.

[ Peter hadn't even considered the complications of altering future events. He just knew then that he had to save Claire's life and he simply hoped that Future!Hiro had been right about her being the key to saving the world. ]

Are you planning on face-planting to sleep again tonight?

[trigeminalheadache]

Challenge accepted, hmm?

[ There's something somewhat familiar here. This was how she and Ronnie started off as friends. ]

I think I've had enough waking up with keyboard marks on my face for this week.

[mimic]

Clearly someone's got to stop you from being too much of a workaholic.

What did you do back home anyways?

[trigeminalheadache]

Clearly that's going to be you.

I'm a doctor. More of a private physician currently. But my work tends to let me focus on my other fields. Which are bio-engineering, genetics, and biochemistry.

Not that I'm trying to brag. Just thought I'd say them before you had to ask.

[mimic]

It's definitely bragworthy. [ He's definitely impressed. (Also a little intimidated because wow...) ]

I was a nurse back home. Not that I'm trying to brag... [ Hardy har har. ;; ]

[trigeminalheadache]

You should. Doctors couldn't do what they do without nurses. [ Her dad had a great respect for nurses. Her mom... not so much. ]

You said "was." You're not anymore?

[mimic]

I guess you could say I took a sabbatical. Needed to figure out some stuff.

But hey, if there's ever a need for a nurse in Wonderland, I'm there.

[trigeminalheadache]

Trust me: you'll definitely be needed. Even outside of events, there's plenty of the run-of-the-mill injuries and illness.