applesaucedream | And the Boats Drift On [Open to All]

And the Boats Drift On [Open to All]

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The water is calm, and the night sky is filled with stars. The only light is natural: a patchy, bioluminescent glow coming from the water below, and the bright swath of the Milky Way above. It's not much, but it's more than enough to see by.

The dreamers will find themselves sitting in their own little rowboats, each stocked with two oars, a length of rope, some cushions, and a little picnic basket full of snacks. There is no visible shoreline, but it won't take the dreamers long to realize theirs are not the only boats in this shallow sea. Anything stirring in the water, be it fish or paddle, causes phosphorescent plankton to glow a bright blue, so there isn't really anywhere to hide.

Feel free to paddle around and visit the other dreamers, perhaps tying your boats together and sharing your snacks in an impromptu picnic. Or you could go for a swim - the bioluminescence makes it difficult to see the bottom, but it's not too terribly deep, so the risk of drowning is all but nonexistent. ~~This setting, unlike the last one, isn't actively out to kill you.~~ Or you could simply lie back and look at the stars.

[ooc: Same drill as always, folks. All are welcome, regardless of whether or not your character is in the game. Characters may remember or forget dream shenanigans at the player's discretion.]

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Daine is decidedly not going to just sit in a titchy little boat when there is an entire ocean to explore. When she reaches her hand in to test the temperature and sees the resulting flash of blue, that clinches it. She tumbles overboard - a neater dive seems risky, given she doesn't know how deep it is - and beams as the water around her glows with every little stirring of her limbs. Numair's told her about this sort of thing before, and that it's caused by tiny creatures living in the water, but this is the first time she's seen it firsthand.

A few moments later, she's taken dolphin shape and is twisting through the shallow sea, leaving a fading trail of blue behind her.

[ooc: feel free to spot her from your boat and call out to her! She'll respond once she's over her initial giddiness. Or perhaps she approaches your boat out of curiosity and pops her head out of the water.]

Edited 2014-05-29 22:59 (UTC)

Peeta's fascinated by the sky. They could see plenty of stars in the districts, but none of them match the ones here. The sky is different and the stars seem more numerous.

It's beautiful, but what captures Peeta's attention is the water.

He has only seen the ocean once before, during the Victory Tour. And even then, it was only from the shore. The water had been dark - very different from the clear, bright blue that stretches around him in all directions. The boat he is in drifts gently, the water around it glowing blue as the hull rocks against the surface.

Peeta leans over carefully, trying to gauge the depth of the water. It doesn't seem too deep, and he cautiously dips in his hand, momentarily surprised when the water glows around it as well.

Daine recognizes Peeta from a fair distance - not with her eyes, but with her echolocation (which, in this shape, is even better than a bat's). She considers trying to sneak up on him, but then realizes he probably hasn't seen a dolphin before. Best not to frighten him just for a joke.

So she surfaces a few yards from his boat, coasting on her side so she can examine him with one eye. She keeps her mouth shut (it looks as if she's smiling, and he can't see how many sharp little teeth she has). Then she lifts her pectoral fin and waggles it in a little wave.

When something surfaces not too far away from him, Peeta immediately pulls his hand out of the water. It's an animal of some kind, though not one he's ever seen before. It has some similarities to a fish, from what he can tell, but is much larger than any fish he's come across.

He's watching it carefully, trying to make up his mind about it, when it rolls slightly and - waves at him?

After a few seconds of surprised staring, everything clicks together.

"Daine?"

Amused, Daine swims up to his boat and floats there, head poking out of the water and the rest of her submerged. Hullo, Peeta! she says cheerfully. Have you ever seen a dolphin before?

"No, I haven't," he says with a delighted smile. A dolphin. It's kind of strange looking, and Peeta's reaching out before he thinks about it. Realizing what he's doing, he quickly pulls his hand back.

"May I - may I touch you?" he asks Daine.

Of course, Daine says. It's a common enough request when she's in animal shape, and it's not just children who ask. Most folk are curious what different animals feel like, and they know she isn't a truly wild animal who might take their hand off.

She does appreciate being asked, though, which is more polite than just poking at her without so much as a by your leave. Thank you for asking, she adds.

Gingerly, Peeta reaches out and runs a hand over the top of Daine's head. The skin feels smooth and slightly cool beneath his hands, and he marvels.

"Thank you," he says as he pulls his hand back again.

Daine briefly bobs beneath the surface so she can take in a mouthful of water… which she then playfully spits, bright and blue, in Peeta's general direction. It's not a trick she's practiced much, so she does it with more enthusiasm than accuracy. You're welcome.

Then, because the water's quite nice, she says, You should come swimming. She forgets, for the moment, that he has plenty of good reason to give shallow seas a wide berth. It's not as if she'd allow him to sink, and the water glows! What could go wrong? Look at what the water does! She turns away from the boat and cuts a swift arc through the surrounding water, her dorsal fin stirring up a wake of bioluminescence behind her.

The glow is enticing, and the water inviting, but Peeta -- "I can't swim," he admits.

You can hang onto my fin, if you like, she offers, returning to the boat and listing to one side a little so she can look up at him. The one on my back. I could tow you around. She's done it with dolphins before, so it shouldn't be difficult for her to play the dolphin's role instead of being the one getting pulled around. It'll be fun, she adds enticingly.

Peeta's skeptical, but he trusts Daine enough to at least give it a try. He's already shoeless, so he quickly shucks off his shirt and - with some delicate maneuvering - slips into the water, one hand clutching his boat.

"Now what?" he asks, kicking his legs awkwardly and managing to keep himself afloat.

It's only the work of a moment or two for Daine to circle around and tuck herself beneath his other arm. I've got you, she reassures him, turning her head a little to look back at him. Just lean against me instead of hanging onto the boat. They can start slow, she figures - get him used to the water and using her for support before she actually starts pulling him around at any kind of speed.

Peeta lets go of the boat hesitantly, leaning against Daine as she's directed and grasping her fin with one hand. "I'm not going to hurt you, am I?"

I doubt it, Daine replies, an undercurrent of amusement in her tone. Dolphin skin is sensitive, but there's nothing objectionable about what he's doing now. Just hang on like that, and we'll be fine. If he drifts loose and starts to panic, then he might actually manage to hurt her by thrashing around. She's more concerned about him losing his grip than she is about having her fin squeezed a bit too tight.

And besides, she adds after a moment's thought, I'm fair certain this is a dream. Elsewise, I wouldn't be able to talk to you like this.

Peeta blinks in surprise. "Oh. Right. A dream." The thought hadn't even occurred to him, but now that it's been pointed out, it's obvious they're dreaming.

Even so, they both know from experience that dreams aren't always pleasant. Or safe. So he holds on a little tighter, sure Daine will say something if his grip becomes uncomfortable or painful.

His nervousness isn't hidden from Daine. She can hear his heart rate picking up a little, and she makes an effort to tow him smoothly through the water. Dolphins can 'see' with sound, like bats, she says, her tone light and conversational. That's how they hunt and talk with one another. Right now, there's nothing nearby but fish. The implication being that if anything else should come along, she'll know straightaway.

Other animals is something Peeta hadn't even considered, and he can't help but scan the waterline in concern. He forces himself to relax. It's just a dream. And he's with Daine. They'll be fine.

"Have you been a dolphin before?" he asks, trying to focus on the strange sensation of gliding through the water while making no effort at all.

Oh, yes. Not as often as I'd like. If she wasn't stuck in Manhattan, she'd probably try it out more often, but there aren't any bodies of water big enough on the island for her swimming around as a dolphin to go unnoticed. The press would have a heyday if they spotted her in the reservoir. But I used to take dolphin shape back home whenever we were close enough to the ocean.

She could mention sea lion shape, but she decides not to. The last time he saw her in that shape had been in the last dream they shared, and she doesn't want to remind him of that when he's finally starting to loosen up a bit.

As the water before her swirls and glows, she says, I've never seen the ocean do this before. Numair said it's because of tiny little animals in the water that light up like fireflies when they're disturbed.

Peeta lets his free hand drag in the water, watching the curious glow swirl around it. "It's beautiful. I've never seen anything like it before."

He glances around them. From this low in the water, the ocean looks even vaster. "I've never seen an ocean like this, either."

Oceans are wondrous, Daine says with a good deal of feeling. She used to spend hours quizzing Numair about the various creatures that lived beneath the surface, especially before she was able to take oceangoing shapes and explore things for herself. Dolphin in particular had been a helpful one, and she'd wound up resurfacing with information that was new to everyone, since no one else had been able to gather it before.

Her voice takes a turn for the bitter as she adds, If we weren't stuck on Manhattan, I'd show you the real thing.

"It must be hard for you, not having space like this." He's never really cared one way or the other - indoors or out - but he knows that not having space to roam can be difficult. He learned that from Katniss.

She's silent for a few moments. The island has felt more cramped than usual these days, doubtless because it's summer. New animals have migrated to the island over the past few months while others have departed, and both natural occurrences have left her feeling stifled for being unable to do the same.

What would she do with such freedom, anyway? Her universe isn't across the ocean or on the other side of the mountains to the West; there's nowhere for her to go that would be home to her.

But it couldn't be that difficult to find someplace more agreeable than Manhattan. If she has to be stuck, why does she have to be stuck there?

Yes, she finally says. She broods a little longer, towing Peeta in ever-widening circles around his boat, but never so far that he'd lose sight of it. I've been thinking of trying to leave.

Peeta almost lets go of Daine's fin - not in surprise, but in a kind of subconscious acceptance. He isn't surprised that she wants to leave; all the rifties do, to various extents. The thought of losing her makes him feel hollow inside, but he knows he wouldn't stop her if she tried to go, or if she succeeded.

"Where would you go?"

It isn't something he's contemplated himself, leaving the island. There is nowhere else here that he particularly wants to go, and the island holds his best chances of ever getting home. So he's curious how far Daine has thought this out.

It's a good question, and one she's not sure how to answer. Part of her motivation to leave the island is just to see if it can be done. She's been told folk can't leave, and heard plenty of horror stories about those who tried, but common knowledge is so often just plain wrong. It'd be one thing if she tried to get out and failed. It'd be another if she stayed on the island forever because she never bothered to test the theory that it was impossible to leave.

But if she succeeded… Somewhere wilder, she says. There are other rifts. Maybe there are some in more tucked away places - ones that aren't so stubborn as ours.

She turns her head a little to look back at him. If I did find one that was more cooperative, I'd come back for you and everyone else. She wouldn't just swan off and leave everyone else stranded.

Edited 2014-05-31 02:34 (UTC)

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