brink: (Serious | Upset | This secret we have)
Topher Brink ([personal profile] brink) wrote in [community profile] applesaucedream2014-02-01 02:48 am

Hijacked dream party

Tonight's dream party is, unconventionally enough, not organised by the rift, but by Topher!

Thing is, he was sort of supposed to only pull in a few very specific, targeted people, and all of a sudden, this whole lot comes pouring in. See, he's working with someone with the power of ability amplification, making Topher's dream abilities obscenely powerful for tonight, and he's not quite used to it.

The dreamers will find themselves in an old mansion at nighttime. Lots and lots of rooms; several bedrooms and bathrooms of various sizes, studies, library, sitting rooms, kitchen, dining rooms, games/billiards room, even secret passageways... There's a fire roaring in every grate, everything is warmly lit, with lots of dark corners to sneak off to, comfortable couches, plenty of drinks tables. There's also a pervasive feeling that you're safe, that you can relax. That whispered secrets in the dark will be kept. And everyone will feel much less compelled to judge or mock upon hearing those secrets. A night for confessions. All of a sudden, it's hard to resist opening up...

Of course, the dreamers don't know there's someone listening in, seeing everything that goes on, sometimes even manipulating things to go the way he wants. Certain people with psychic/telepathic/dream abilities may eventually cotton on, though. But it'll take a while. But the secrets you tell in the meantime may not remain secrets for that long. Especially if those secrets are useful to certain other important players in the city, quite apart from the two factions our rifties have become familiar with.

[Mod note: Usual dream party rules apply. All players and characters are welcome, current members or no. Characters will remember or forget all dream events at players' discretion. Bear in mind that any events or information shared in this dream will be available to Topher, and, by extension, probably his bosses, such as Beatrice.]
antitimelord: (through it)

[personal profile] antitimelord 2014-02-05 02:31 am (UTC)(link)
"By carrying things, mostly." Zagreus offers Johnny a bronze crab, very unceremoniously, prepared to follow that with an assortment of other posh desk items. Does this boy get more self-assured with time, or is he always this way? "You can also keep an eye out for anything interesting. Particularly containers, of about yea-size," he says, indicating a size with his fist. Zagreus scrutinises the new door, of which he is still somewhat suspicious; his own entry into the room had been via secret passage, a fact of which he'd been proud. Having a proper door just cheapens the whole thing, and he decides to ignore it, in favour of the way he'd come in.
johnny_truant: (say what now)

[personal profile] johnny_truant 2014-02-05 02:52 am (UTC)(link)
"Oh...kay," says Johnny, studying the crab. He glances around the room, and finds that either everything could qualify as interesting, or nothing could. He glances again at Zagreus's horde, trying to get a feel for his definition of interesting.

"And where are we going with this stuff?" he asks.
antitimelord: (rly?)

[personal profile] antitimelord 2014-02-05 04:46 am (UTC)(link)
To the crab is added a heavy glass inkwell, a mirror, and a field guide to birds; Zagreus keeps the letter opener and the globe, though the calendar is met with notable scorn and left behind.

"This way." Zagreus indicates a dim and narrow hallway, formerly hidden by a bookcase. Aside from being offended by the new door, Zagreus just doesn't comprehend how else to get back to where he came from, which is a crucial element in successful dream-piling. "Even in a dream I can always find the secret passages," he offers smugly. "I take it this is your first foray into the dreaming, then?"
johnny_truant: (destitute)

[personal profile] johnny_truant 2014-02-05 11:56 pm (UTC)(link)
Johnny eyes the passage a little distrustfully. This is the exact kind of architectural phenomenon he aims to avoid. But where else is he going to go? It's not like the randomly appearing door is any better.

"Yes," he says, stepping into the passage, struggling to balance his uneven and mostly breakable armload. "I mean, I've got all kinds of experience dreaming about absolutely weird, horrible shit, but... this is different." Not too horrible, not so far anyway.
antitimelord: (or don't you)

[personal profile] antitimelord 2014-02-06 04:40 am (UTC)(link)
It is, indeed, different; Zagreus isn't even holding the letter opener like a weapon, which, though subtle, marks a rare level of unguardedness for such a habitually paranoid and hostile being. The effects of this dream's ambiance are powerful.

"More experience than is typical for a human?" Zagreus asks, curiosity clear in his voice. Weird, horrible dream shit is his slow jam.
johnny_truant: (Default)

[personal profile] johnny_truant 2014-02-06 05:40 am (UTC)(link)
"I guess so. Probably." Shit, he hopes so. What he's been through, he wouldn't wish on just about anyone.

"Just nightmares, really," he says. "Really... really intense nightmares. Sometimes... a lot of the time... while I was awake. Or thought I was. I don't know." He shakes his head slowly. "I was kind of mixed up for a while."

He doesn't usually say this much. To anyone, much less weirdos carrying letter openers, leading him down dark strange passageways. What is going on with him?
antitimelord: (cheetos)

[personal profile] antitimelord 2014-02-07 05:57 am (UTC)(link)
Yeah, Zagreus is reasonably sure that's not normal, particularly the 'while awake' parts. Curioser and curioser. "But not any more? What changed?" There's so much Zagreus wants to know, here. Feels entitled to knowing. Nightmares and vivid hallucinations and mental distress, like a friend's house he has the key to and can eat everything in the fridge with impunity.
johnny_truant: (Default)

[personal profile] johnny_truant 2014-02-07 06:43 am (UTC)(link)
Getting into it would be ridiculous. Johnny's not sure he could ever explain what happened to him, what happened after, or if anything has changed at all.

So, with catlike reflexes, he changes the subject.

"Where does this lead to?" he asks.
antitimelord: (glowing whatever)

[personal profile] antitimelord 2014-02-08 08:07 pm (UTC)(link)
That wasn't like any cat Zagreus ever met, and he has met some pretty strange cats. But he'll allow it. For a moment.

"Different parts of this...house. I've been exploring. Gathering. I don't know, technically, whose dream this is, or if it's really anyone's at all." Which is about the most regrettably Alice in Wonderland bullshit he's had to say all day, and it's going on the regret heap with the others. Also, that didn't answer Johnny's question at all, but that happens in dreams. He tries again, "But I've claimed a corner of one of the main rooms. This passage turned out to be close by. There are more doors, probably more than I'm aware of." Some had been badly hidden, but that doesn't mean some weren't also hidden well.

Aaaand the moment's up. "I don't envy you. The Dreaming could be a terrible place to frequent, if one were prone to nightmares."
johnny_truant: (Default)

[personal profile] johnny_truant 2014-02-09 01:48 am (UTC)(link)
Well, that sends a nice chill right down to Johnny's bones. "It could, huh," he says, trying to sound casual. "Just what I need. As if the venue weren't bad enough."

Fucking houses, seriously.
antitimelord: (or don't you)

[personal profile] antitimelord 2014-02-09 04:18 am (UTC)(link)
Good. It was meant to. Being casually ominous is like Zagreus' national sport.

"What's wrong with the venue?" From someone else, this might be an attack of sorts. But Zagreus isn't extraordinarily fond of the venue himself. Aside from all the random objects, and the stabilising atmosphere which he isn't aware of, anyway.
johnny_truant: (destitute)

[personal profile] johnny_truant 2014-02-09 04:23 am (UTC)(link)
"Because, like..." Johnny hesitates, frustrated by the difficulty of explanation, and moreso by his willingness to explain. What is going ON with him?

"I just have a really bad history," he mutters, "with houses. Big houses that change shape. I guess you could say that's where all my troubles started."

He stumbles, nearly drops the crab thing. Ugh, why is he doing this?
antitimelord: (404)

[personal profile] antitimelord 2014-02-09 06:37 pm (UTC)(link)
Zagreus looks more incredulous with every word. Steadying Johnny at the elbow when he missteps isn't even a conscious action. "Believe me, I can relate." Being at odds with these kinds of structures, in one way or another, has just about been a constant, prior to his coming through the Rift. "This one...doesn't seem too objectionable, though." He can only admit this very grudgingly, but that he can admit it at all is, itself, telling.
johnny_truant: (say what now)

[personal profile] johnny_truant 2014-02-09 06:51 pm (UTC)(link)
"So far," mutters Johnny. "Uh, thanks." He hesitates, trying to put a little bit of distance between him and Zagreus, hoping it isn't obvious.

"What's objectionable, to you?" he says. He wonders if Zagreus has encountered some of the same shit he has, or if it's a different beast altogether. He's not sure he wants to know, but here he is asking anyway.
antitimelord: (rock)

[personal profile] antitimelord 2014-02-10 03:39 am (UTC)(link)
What isn't. "Monsters. Sudden drop-offs. Topographical inconsistency. Inhospitable conditions." Puzzles, traps, and riddles are actually okay, are weirdly in line with his nature, but that's not important right now. "This place could be a lot worse, if it tried. It probably won't, though." Zagreus sounds more concerned than he is, puts on a faux-reassuring air. This place probably isn't sentient or even alive, but he has enough resentment for the concept it scarcely matters. Mostly he just wants to see if and/or how Johnny spooks.
johnny_truant: (scared)

[personal profile] johnny_truant 2014-02-10 03:43 am (UTC)(link)
Well, mission accomplished. That phraseology is enough to make Johnny come to a complete stop.

"Probably," he echoes. "What do you mean probably? Like... like it might be sentient, or it is sentient and just well-behaved?"

Monsters, sudden drop-offs, fuckin topographical inconsistency. Johnny couldn't (and certainly would not have) put it better himself. He suddenly feels an irrational fear that he and Zagreus have dealt with the same beast.
antitimelord: (but a question mark)

[personal profile] antitimelord 2014-02-10 04:29 am (UTC)(link)
Ah, that's much better. Zagreus is enjoying the almost palpable alarm Johnny radiates, like warming his hands at a fire. "Well, despite all prior experience I'm hardly an expert. So it's hard to say." It's not hard to say at all. "But there's definitely...something. This isn't a normal dream structure, at least not to my mind." Which is actually the truth. Zagreus can't put his finger on it, but this is unusual. And that should unsettle him more than it does, but then again, the Dreaming is becoming a place of refuge and power, for Zagreus, more and more something he can rely on. Perhaps that's why he isn't more worried or antagonistic.
johnny_truant: (Default)

[personal profile] johnny_truant 2014-02-10 04:49 am (UTC)(link)
"I mean, I've never had a dream like this either," says Johnny, trying to recover himself. "Are dreams ever this structured?"

He presses on ahead. He can see the end of the passage now; thank god.
antitimelord: (yes i would)

[personal profile] antitimelord 2014-02-10 05:20 am (UTC)(link)
"Here? Yes. Structured, themed, inhabited...dreams here are exceptionally real, but the misbehaviour of continuity remains. Unless the dream is manipulated by the dreamer, of course." He'd meant, of course, himself, but the realisation sets in...could this be an orchestration by a particularly powerful mind? Zagreus has witnessed some impressive dream manipulation, but this had been too unusual to register as such--he still isn't sure. It's just an intuition, perhaps paranoia, but the thought won't subside easily.
johnny_truant: (Default)

[personal profile] johnny_truant 2014-02-10 05:31 am (UTC)(link)
"Um. Okay." Johnny's not sure what to make of that, or any of this, really. He's starting to think he should probably extricate himself from this whole interaction as soon as he can.

He gets to the end of the passage and presses his shoulder against the wall, expecting it to give, the door to open. But it doesn't happen.

"Is there something I'm missing here?" he calls over his shoulder. "Secret panel, maybe?"
antitimelord: (a decent grumpy cat impression)

[personal profile] antitimelord 2014-02-13 02:15 am (UTC)(link)
"Ye-es. There was, before." Johnny is temporarily forgotten, though Zagreus is ostensibly answering his question; he may as well be a voice in Zagreus' own mind. He really hadn't thought this was going to turn out to be that sort of house, and he doesn't like to have been wrong.

Still with no regard for Johnny's physical presence or personal space, Zagreus takes over at the wall, inspecting it with increasing outrage. He really didn't think this was that kind of dream, or that kind of house either. "There was, I found it," he says, not at all petulantly.
johnny_truant: (Default)

[personal profile] johnny_truant 2014-02-13 02:37 am (UTC)(link)
"Hey, I believe you," says Johnny nervously, uncomfortably flattened against the adjacent wall in an attempt to give Zagreus any berth at all; wow, Johnny doesn't like him when he's edgy. And now he's trapped in a relatively small space with the guy. Please god just let me get out of here.

"Look, maybe you just forgot where the switch was, it's gotta be around here somewhere--"

His fingers have barely brushed it, and the wall opens. Just like that. No kick, nothing. Just swings gently open.

Johnny stands there, arm still outstretched, stunned. His armload shifts, and the crab clatters loudly to the floor.
antitimelord: (that's 9ffensive)

[personal profile] antitimelord 2014-02-13 03:41 am (UTC)(link)
Don't worry, Johnny, a dislike for Zagreus when he's being emotive is completely normal at first. And he is still being quite emotive, glaring at first the door and then Johnny with suspicion.

"You found a switch?" Yeah, like that's possible, that Johnny would find a secret passage control where Zagreus didn't. Probably the house, or as he is increasingly inclined to believe, some unknown and powerful dreamer. Absurdly, he retrieves the crab and hands it back. "No, you didn't find a switch. I don't think we should be lingering here." He suddenly doesn't like being in a small space any more than Johnny does, and leaves the passage in favour of the more public room in which he'd started his collecting.
johnny_truant: (kuro)

[personal profile] johnny_truant 2014-02-13 05:01 am (UTC)(link)
"I don't know WHAT happened," says Johnny, endeavoring NOT to think about it, NOT to panic, shuffling out after him, happy to be back in a lit, open space. He observes Zagreus's pile, fairly dubious, and sets his stuff unceremoniously on top of it.

"Okay, there's that," he says. "What's next?"

He's already scanning the room for new exits. What's worse, being lost and alone in this terrible house, or being stuck with this guy? He can't yet tell.
antitimelord: (distracted)

[personal profile] antitimelord 2014-02-23 10:42 pm (UTC)(link)
What's next, indeed. Johnny looks on the verge of bolting on breakable deer for the nearest exit, though who even knows where doors will go, here? The niggling thought that this ersatz domicile is a somehow more deliberate construction than is typical of the shared dreams refuses to abate. Perhaps it is time to leave the mansion for greener metaphorical pastures--not that Zagreus has mastered the trick of leaving the dreaming at will, yet.

"Thank you for your help, Johnny. You've been most generous with your assistance, and I dread to impose further," Zagreus calls upon his woefully intermittent ability to pretend pleasantry. "But I've begun to have suspicions, about this house, and I don't think either of us is safe here," with a conspiratorial drop in his voice. "Allow me to propose another experiment."

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