And the Boats Drift On [Open to All]

[applesaucemod]

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.]

Comments

[wildmage_daine]

At least he's no longer insisting she drink wine. Daine explores the contents of his basket and emerges with a bottle of water - a fancy bottle of water, all elegantly shaped and tinted glass. There's a faint hiss as she unscrews the cap, which gives her a moment's pause, and she takes a small, cautious sip. It's fizzy. She knows fizzy water exists, but this is the first time she's had it, and she pulls a face as the bubbles go straight up her nose.

But at least it's just water, when all is said and done. She takes another more measured sip. "Haven't seen you in ages," she says. "How have you been?"

[fucking_ebay]

Realizing she's not going to take it, Peter helps himself to the drink he poured for Daine. It won't do him much good in a dream, but old habits, etc, and maybe he can fool himself into feeling at least a little bit buzzed. "Me? I'm peachy. Never better. How's life underground?"

Look at that, an actual question about her.

[wildmage_daine]

He doesn't sound very peachy, but his question is more distracting than he probably thought it would be. Daine frowns at her bottle of water, then quietly says, "Harder, now that it's summer. The whole island's starting to feel a bit… cramped." She hunches in on herself a little, as if the rift's supposed barrier is pressing down on her.

[fucking_ebay]

Most people don't fall for that tactic...if they cared enough to question him even as far as she did. He rolls one shoulder in a noncommittal shrug, not exactly unsympathetic but not seeing how she's only starting to feel that way now. "We've been in a cage from the start," he points out.

[wildmage_daine]

Daine shrugs moodily. It's hard to explain without going into how much the People's mindsets can influence her own. Winter is a time for hunkering down and going underground. Even two-leggers tend to hole up to the extent that they can over the winter months. Life at the base had felt sort of natural, in that sense. But spring - spring is about waking up and bustling about and getting things done (and traveling fair distances, if you're a migratory creature).

"Have you ever tried to leave?" she asks suddenly. Oh, she's heard tell that folk can't leave the island, but she's not sure what exactly's stopping them.

[fucking_ebay]

"And get captured by our local shadow government? Not likely," scoffs Peter. "Besides," he adds without thinking better of it, "where am I going to go? Not my world."

It's not her world, either, and it's a hell of a lot less like her world than it is his. For Peter, though, there's the knowledge that there's likely another him out there if he hasn't gone the way of Hendrix, and it's bad enough losing his place in the world without competing for it with the local edition of himself. "...Have you?"

[wildmage_daine]

Being captured by Romac doesn't seem a likely outcome - not the way she'd plan on leaving. She doesn't doubt that they monitor the typical routes that two-leggers take to and from Manhattan, but she doubts the waterways are as closely guarded. Even the question of where she'd go isn't as daunting as it apparently is for Peter. It's true that the urban areas would be unrecognizable to the average Tortallan, but the wild places are exactly the same - if not safer, due to the lack of immortals. She could survive in the wild quite comfortably.

If she can't get home, just about anywhere would be better than Manhattan.

"I've been thinking about it," she says. "It was too cold to try it before, but I could do it, now." She could.

[fucking_ebay]

"...Could you." Peter finally looks directly at her, finally sees that she's serious. He's not sure if he feels hopeful or if he wants to tell her that no, she couldn't. "How? You're not thinking of swimming for Jersey, are you, because I can tell you it gets worse than this."

[wildmage_daine]

Does it get worse, though? "Swimming for somewhere, anyway," she says, not sure how detailed she should get. "I could handle worse if it meant I was at least on my way to better."

[fucking_ebay]

"There's a lot more city than this," Peter points out. Irritated at finding himself trying to talk her out of it, he adds, "What the fuck do you want to leave for, anyway? You're not going to get home."

[wildmage_daine]

Daine scowls. He's missing the point. "There are other rifts out there - probably more than most folk even know about. And if this rift isn't going to take me home, why stay in Manhattan? I'd do better out in the wilderness." She huffs once, bitterly. "Or whatever passes for it." Maybe she'll aim for Canada or something.

[fucking_ebay]

"Why do anything?" snaps Peter, who doesn't have an actual argument. He doesn't want her to leave, but that's stupid and he won't say it. "So what, you're going to go live in the woods with the beavers? How's that supposed to be better?"

[wildmage_daine]

Well, of course he doesn't understand. He's from a universe like this one, where most two-leggers can't function outside of a city or town and wouldn't dare venture anywhere without a car to protect them. Daine lets out an impatient (and slightly contemptuous) huff of air.

"I can survive just fine out in the wilderness. That would be closer to home for me than Manhattan ever was."