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

[rae_of_sun]

It's not a particularly carefree laugh, but the corners of her mouth quirk up in response, anyway. "It's the same in Manhattan," she offers, both to demonstrate that she has a little perspective and to… not reassure him, exactly, because there's nothing reassuring about coming through the rift… but to let him know that he might not have much adjusting to do on that particular front (unlike her).

His second comment startles a strangled little laugh out of her. "Easier?" she repeats incredulously before she can stop herself. "I find it easier when the evil just leaves you alone and lets you live your life."

[watcher_giles]

The wry smile grows slightly, though there is more than a hint of sadness in it now. "As you should, if you aren't involved in fighting it."

He sighs a little and resists the urge to rub a hand over his face, not missing the irony of being tired in a dream. How to explain to someone who finds the idea of fighting against the supernatural to be ridiculous? "There are certain places in my world that demons and the like are drawn to," he begins. "If you are fighting against them and you happen to be based near one of those places, it just means you don't have to track them down."

It all sounds so dispassionately matter-of-fact to his ears, and suddenly he doesn't want to talk about any of it anymore. He waves the whole topic away with a flutter of his hand, setting aside his cold tea to rest his elbows on the table.

"So you're a baker?" he asks, trying for an actual smile this time. "What's your specialty?"

[rae_of_sun]

He might be surprised at how unridiculous she actually finds the idea, but she also doesn't really want to talk about it. That's sort of the point. So she bites back the various potential responses that spring to mind, which range from mildly sarcastic to overbearingly grim. And when he changes the subject to her baking, she doesn't fight it.

"Toxic sugar concoctions," she answers. "Well, there's the usual breakfast rush of cinnamon rolls and muffins and different kinds of bread, but then it's mostly cookies and desserts for the rest of the day." She pauses, then clarifies, "That's how it was back home, at my stepdad's coffeehouse. In Manhattan, it's a bit less… varied." Glaser's has a pretty specific menu, and while she's been shaking things up a little bit, there's only so much she can do in a place that just doesn't operate like a sit-down-and-stay-awhile coffeehouse.

[watcher_giles]

"All of that sounds delicious," Giles says sincerely. "And I bet any of it would have been wonderful with the tea. Which has now gone cold," he says with a hint of sadness in his voice, giving the teapot a look that borders on disappointment.

Remembering how he was on a mission to leave the room before Sunshine came barreling into it, he pushes back from the table and stands. Dream or no, he'd like a better understanding of where he is - and possibly why. He stretches his back a little as he tosses a look between the barricaded door Sunshine came through and its unsecured partner across the room.

"I was on my way out when you came in," he says, "and I'd still like to know where we are." He can predict her arguments, so he adds, "There hasn't been a rattle at your entrance, but we'll leave it alone, just in case. How about we try the other door?"

[rae_of_sun]

Sunshine watches him rise with a dubious frown. Her previous terror has faded into a distant memory - too distant, perhaps - but she hasn't forgotten what sent her bolting in here in the first place.

"'Where we are' is crawling with suckers," she points out, though she does get up out of her chair. This room feels safe enough that she has a hard time imagining a swarm of vampires on the other side of the door, but if she's wrong, she doesn't want Giles to be the only one facing them.

[watcher_giles]

Giles's mouth twitches at 'suckers' - it's such a colorful term. Thankfully, his back is to Sunshine at the time as he's studying the door again. He doesn't think she would appreciate his involuntary amusement.

"How about we try the door and decide when we see what's behind it?" he gently offers as he turns to face her. "For all we know, it could just be a closet." He does smile then, softly.

[rae_of_sun]

"After you," she mutters, though she's only standing a little ways behind him at this point. It would be kind of anticlimactic if it turned out to be just a closet, after all, but she's still rooting for that option. Closet means they can just stay here in the sunlight and read or something.

[watcher_giles]

"Right then." Giles straightens his glasses, takes a determined step over to the door, and pulls it open to reveal--

A library. A rather large library decorated in a similar style to the room they are currently occupying, sunlight streaming through the tall windows set between bookcases, and not a sign of anything demonic.

"Well, it isn't a closet," Giles says drolly. If he were alone, he would already have left the sitting room behind to peruse the library shelves. As he isn't, he turns and gives Sunshine a questioning look. He has already decided that if she wants to stay put, he'll stay, too. "Shall we?" he asks.

[rae_of_sun]

Not a closet, then, but not anything horribly unappealing, either. It looks every bit as nice - and safe - as the room they're currently standing in. No suckers, not with those open curtains.

"Yeah," she says, sounding a little surprised. "Um… yes." She hesitates, then follows him through the door.

[watcher_giles]

As Giles steps into the library, he feels an unpleasant shift to the air and immediately goes on alert. The inviting, sunny library they saw was a lie, transforming the minute they crossed the threshold into a dark, dank room filled with the musty scent of rotting books. Instinctively, Giles reaches for the stake in his back pocket even as a quick glance over his shoulder reveals that the door they came through is bricked over.

"Of course," he mutters. Stake firming in hand, he takes a tentative step further into the room.

"Stay behind me," he softly instructs Sunshine, herding her in that general direction with his free arm. "We'll just find another door." Weary cynicism having kicked in, he sounds much more convinced of that prospect than he feels.

[rae_of_sun]

Oh, spartan. Sunshine makes a little noise in the back of her throat as the room shifts around them that conveys surprise, dismay, and a sort of bitter resignation - of course this is happening, of course.

The only bit of good news is that her eyes like these lighting conditions, and she lets her gaze rove along the walls in search of another door. It only takes her a minute to spot one across the way, but before she can point it out to Giles, she realizes they're not alone. There are other figures stepping out from between the half-collapsed shelves, and she lays a hand on Giles's arm. "Um. Company."

She peers warily at the new arrivals. Their shadows aren't human. There's something familiar about them, but she can't quite place it. Still, she doesn't need their shadows to tell her that they aren't friendly; that much is obvious just by their expressions, the way they hold themselves as they stalk around her and Giles, surrounding them.

[watcher_giles]

Damn. Giles spots the vampires about the same time Sunshine does. He feels a moment's surprise at her calm response to their arrival - considering her state when she arrived in the sitting room, he wouldn't have expected such a small reaction to seeing vampires again. However, he's quickly distracted by their uninvited guests.

"Vampires." His tone is far from afraid - more toward the weary and exasperated end of the spectrum than anything - but he is concerned. A half dozen is too many for him to fight alone, and being in the middle of the room as they are, he can't protect Sunshine and fight at the same time. He mentally berates himself for not at least arming her with a stake of her own before they left the sitting room.

[rae_of_sun]

Sunshine blinks at that pronouncement, one hand absently touching her necklace, which hasn't even deigned to light up. "… Are you serious?"

Before he can answer, one of the supposedly-vampires rushes her. Well, to a degree of 'rushing.' It comes at her about as quickly as a standard mugger might, and even as her necklace joins the party with a bright, warning flare and her light-web glimmers, she has more than enough time to think: this has to be some kind of joke. But when the vampire(?!) reaches her, her body responds the way it has learned to respond: her hand slides up the vampire's chest, and her fingers plunge into the nock beneath its sternum as if its skin is no more solid than tissue paper, and she pulls out its heart with a quick, decisive tug.

… And then the damn thing turns to dust with a dramatic little poof. Sunshine gapes down at the palmful of grit she's suddenly holding, then gives her hand a vigorous shake and snaps, "Really?!"

[watcher_giles]

In another tone, he might think Sunshine is confused. But it's clear that she's simply doubtful, which has Giles confused. He half turns to her, keeping the vampires on his side of the room in sight.

"Didn't you just get away from vampires?" he asks. From what she told him of her universe and her life, he would have expected her to recognize vampires when she sees them. Before she can answer, though, he catches sight of a vampire charging Sunshine out of the corner of his eye. Forgetting his own safety, he turns his back on the other vampires, pivoting to face Sunshine's attacker, stake at the ready.

Only to watch as Sunshine calmly rips out the vampire's heart. With her bare hand.

Giles blinks at her in shock. The other vampires - some of whom had already followed their fellow's lead - all stop and stare too. Giles watches her shake the dust off of her hand and feels his brain rattle around in his skull.

"What."

[rae_of_sun]

'Calmly' might be too kind a term for it. It was an automatic gesture, but it wasn't an enjoyable one, and she grimaces. Granted, the comparatively clean little puff of dust is a lot less godsbloodyawful than what happens to the vampires she skegs back home. Dustbath sounds better than bloodbath.

Focus, Sunshine. She gives her head a little shake and belatedly registers Giles's questions, but the vampires don't give her time to answer. They don't seem eager to tangle with her one-on-one, but they're not above rushing her two at a time. Pressing her lips together, she braces herself, hands at the ready.

[watcher_giles]

Absurd as it may seem, Giles would probably be content to watch (read: stare agog at) Sunshine while she kills the vampires (with her bare hands), but he's rather quickly brought to focus on his own attackers when one grabs his arm. Giles dispatches him with ease and turns to tussle with another.

By the time the literal dust settles, though, he's formulated rather a few questions for his new-found companion. He puts them on hold for the moment.

"Are you all right?" he asks Sunshine, breathing a little heavily from the exertion.

[rae_of_sun]

Sunshine, for her part, is standing stiffly a little ways off with her hands and clothes liberally smeared with dust, her expression frozen somewhere between fear and distaste. Okay, so it wasn't a desperate kali horrorshow like the fight with Bo's gang had been, but it was still messy and awful, and she doesn't get a carthaginian kick out of being attacked even if her attackers were comparatively incompetent.

"I have… been better," she says, picking her way over to him in the cautious, hesitant rhythm of a doe making her way out from a line of trees. "You?"

[watcher_giles]

"I'm fine," he replies, brushing dust from his sleeves. He surveys Sunshine as she approaches him, a hint of curiosity under the measuring gaze. His inspection reveals no apparent injuries, and he feels a small, ridiculous surge of pride. Though she might have been surprised by the vampires (or at least, by the fact that they were vampires), she took care of herself.

"How about we get out of here?" he suggests, already moving toward the door, shooing Sunshine in front of him as he throws wary glances at all the dark corners of the room.

[rae_of_sun]

"Yes," she agrees with no small amount of feeling. Gods, what sort of house is this? She passes Giles en route to the door, and huffs quietly to herself when she finds it to be locked. She presses her palm to the door and mutters a word under her breath, and there's a reluctant, gritty-sounding clunk from the locking mechanism. She pulls open the door to reveal another hallway, one as dark and uninviting as the one she found herself in before.

And like that other hallway, this one is similarly occupied.

There is a shifting gang of vampires - her vampires - fifteen yards away, lanky and androgynous and alien, and there's a gleam of eyes in the darkness as they turn to look toward her. Then, in the space of a blink, they're right there, standing just on the other side of the doorway as if they'd always been there, and Sunshine jerks back with a gasped, "Shit!" She slams the door shut (part of her can't believe they just let her, but it's not a very big part and it can't begin to compete with the rest of her, which is fully occupied with panicking) and stumbles back into Giles.

[watcher_giles]

Giles pauses in scanning the room to watch with interest as Sunshine magics the door lock. He isn't in a position to see out into the hall once she has the door open, but he can't miss the figures who appear in the doorway a split second later. He gets an overwhelming sense of evil, just before Sunshine slams the door in their faces and stumbles backward into him.

"Was that...?" he asks as he steadies her. He's pretty sure they were vampires, and not the ones he knows. Nothing at all like the ones currently existing as dust on his clothes.

[rae_of_sun]

"Vampires," she confirms, shuddering. "My universe's vampires." She's a little surprised that they haven't come in, yet, but she reminds herself that at least some of the house isn't abandoned. Which means they might require an invitation.

That's only a small comfort, though; a larger one would be getting back into a room with some sunlight. "We need another way out."