The Shavings Off Your Mind are the Only Rent [Open to All]

[applesaucemod]

Picture a house. Actually, picture two houses. They're (almost) identical structures that share an uneasy coexistence, tangled together on a quantum level. One of the houses is Good: bright, cheerful, full of comfortable furniture and a pervasive feeling of safety. The other house is Evil: dingy, dilapidated, and haunted by the dreamers' greatest fears.

The good news - and bad news - is that travel from one house to the other is as simple as passing through a door. All a dreamer has to do is walk through a doorway, any doorway, and they'll find themselves in whichever house they weren't in before they crossed the threshold. Perhaps they'll step out of a beautiful library and find themselves in a threatening hallway - or perhaps they'll flee a menacing kitchen and find themselves in a perfectly safe dining room. That is the nature of the houses' entanglement: every door is a portal between the two.

There are, of course, complications. Dreamers in one house can't perceive the other; if you're in the Good house and looking through a doorway, the space beyond will look as nice and inviting as the space you're in now (until you step through that doorway, of course). Dreamers also can't really perceive one another if they're in the same room, but in different houses, though they might see a flash of movement out of the corner of their eye, or think they heard something.

Perhaps the greatest complications are the houses themselves. They have rather strong personalities, and they aren't very fond of one another. Each house will want to keep you if it can (keep you safe, in the case of the Good house, or keep you for itself, in the case of the Evil one). Dreamers may attempt to cross a hall and find the door that looked open and inviting a moment ago is now barred shut, leaving them trapped in the hall - or have doors suddenly close in their faces before they can end up anywhere unpleasant. Still, there's only so much either house can do, and even a locked door can be jimmied open or busted down.

Escape from the houses is possible, but the formal gardens beyond are similarly entangled, with neatly trimmed lawns and expertly plotted flower beds becoming overgrown tangles of nettles and algae-choked reflecting pools. An archway is as good as a door, as far as the gardens are concerned, and there are plenty of arbors and arches over the paths. Of course, dreamers may find that a sound arbor in the Good garden has collapsed in the Evil one… and heaven help anyone who dares to explore the hedge maze.





[ooc: y'all know the drill. ALL characters are welcome, regardless of whether they're in the game. Characters can remember or forget the events of the dream at the players' discretion.

Also, this dream party marks the aforementioned calendar freeze. For the next three weeks, the IG date will sit on July 3rd. Posts dated July 3rd or earlier are allowed and encouraged. The calendar will resume forward motion at a 4:1 ratio on Saturday, July 26th.]

Comments

[mr_fring]

This is not the first time he's found himself in a richly kept home, with no memory of his arrival. This is better than the last, though; quiet, comforting, still and empty. It's some sort of foyer, letting out into the expansive gardens beyond. He peers out the windows at greenery, wondering if he is truly alone here, or if there are people to be found - perhaps people he's met in Manhattan? That seems to be the pattern he's experienced so far.

Just near him is an open door, looking out on a decadent sight indeed - a clear blue pool, broad and sparkling in the sun.

This certainly isn't the time for a swim. It's pleasant enough right where he is anyway, he doesn't feel particularly inclined to leave. But at the same time, something draws him out. The pool so reminds him of Max. Or rather the last time he saw Max.

He steps closer, passing through the open doorway.

Instantly everything changes. He stops short, feeling a sickening lurch in his stomach. The water is gone now, drained dry, the pool nothing but a gaping cement hole sent into a crumbling brick patio. Ivy creeping and dying over everything. Gus inches forward, hesitant and nervous, for a closer look. Everything's as it was, but... ruined. He turns back to see if the house's interior has changed as well, and sees instead a bolted, barred door. Gus approaches it quickly, giving the handle a firm shake, but it's locked and perhaps rusted shut.

He drops his hand, wipes it on his trousers. Stay calm. There has to be an explanation.

He turns back to the pool, still finding himself compelled to go near it, even with it in this state. He crouches down at its rim, studying the intricate latticework of cracks and weeds in its floor. After a moment he lowers himself into it, standing at its deepest point, gazing up at the walls, trying to imagine himself in the water, lingering far beneath the surface.

[ceciiil]

Unbeknownst to Gus, Cecil has been watching his strange empty-pool meditation (?) for a little while. He doesn't want to interrupt what certainly looks important and tranquil, but he has a feeling Gus might need know the full scoop about his surroundings. Cecil, in his slightly bloodied pantslegs and general knowledgeability, is bound to be helpful, here. Object (in this case, location) duality. Worst case of it he's seen, actually; gotta be murder on the local property values, that sort of thing can spread like termites. "Gus?" Polite, unintrusive, attempting not to startle.

[mr_fring]

Gus is only slightly startled, but not displeased to hear Cecil's voice. He turns and looks up to see his - sure, his friend - looking down at him from the pool's edge. He feels a little self-conscious, having been caught like this, but Cecil's an odd enough bird that it doesn't make much difference, really.

"Hello," he says, and moves toward the shallower side of the pool. "I'd begun to think I was the only one here."

[ceciiil]

"Nah. Not that kind of dream." Cecil is glad to see he hasn't startled Gus too much. No telling what he's been through so far that might have him on edge. Gus is certainly a very savvy man, but a little sheltered sometimes. "Have you been in it long? The dream, I mean. Not the pool."

[mr_fring]

Gus chuckles a little at that, hoisting himself up out of the pool, coming around to meet Cecil. "Not terribly long, no," he says, though he's not entirely sure. "It's the strangest thing - when I was inside the house, everything looked very clean. The pool was full, the area was... well, kept. As soon as I came outside, it was like this." He frowns around himself. Dreams are always odd, so he doesn't find himself particularly concerned, now that the initial surprise has worn off. Still, it's no longer very welcoming. That might indicate something.

"You?" he wonders.