Halfway

[applesaucemod]

Tonight each dreamer of Manhattan will find out they're half the person they used to be.

No, really. Or at least, they're half the human[oid] they used to be. One way or another, each dreamer has been transformed into a hybrid creature from mythology. Fortunately, they find themselves at stunning fjord where those of the more aquatic persuasion can relax in the calm waters (unless, of course, the rift decides to beach them for fun) while others remain on dry ground (then again, who says a centaur can't swim?). There are trees in which bird-people can roost and warm rocks on which the cold-blooded can sun themselves, and the water of the fjord is cool, clear, and inviting. There's nothing man-made to be seen, no hint of civilization other than the dreamers themselves…and in this state, are they really so civilized?


[OOC: The usual dream party rules apply: all players and characters welcome, regardless of whether or not the character (or any character of yours) is in the game. Despite the wording, characters who did not start out looking human are welcome. Characters may remember or forget everything that happens in the Dreaming at players' discretion.]

Comments

[has_a_horn]

Forgiveness might be too strong a term for what the TARDIS has given him. She hadn't told him about Topher being alive, so he has a hard time believing that she will ever trust him again. Acceptance is probably closer to the truth, and then only because she still loves him. It's not what he wants for them, but he'll take what he can get.

"Not really," he answers, with a shrug that sends a ripple through the feathers up over his shoulders and back though his wings.

He swallows and his head tilts to the side briefly in a bird-like twitch. "If you have revenge on your mind, bring it to me. Not my friends, and not the TARDIS." He takes in a shaky breath, thinking of what Topher had put Johnny through in the dreaming. "Johnny didn't deserve to feel your torture. He didn't do anything to you."

[brink]

Topher is about to argue that he has no interest in doing anything bad to the TARDIS, nor any of Gabe's other friends, for that matter. He cares a lot about the TARDIS and would never intentionally do anything to hurt her. As for whoever else Gabe hangs out with, well, Topher has little interest in them in general.

At the mention of Johnny however, he lets out an incredulous laugh at the phrasing. "My torture? I think you might've forgotten who did that stuff in the first place," he answers, gesturing with pent-up frustration, his tail twitching. "And if I wanted revenge, I would've taken it long ago. What I want is for you to stay away from me, and preferably not hurt anyone else."

There is a voice in Topher's head saying he should probably stop talking, just leave, not engage with someone who did actually try to murder him, but he was never all that good with caution. "See, I wasn't trying to hurt Johnny - like you said, he didn't do anything to me, much like I didn't do anything to you." He pauses briefly, to give his next words a bit more weight. "I wanted to warn him away from you. I was doing him a favour."

[has_a_horn]

"You little shit. You think you were doing him a favor? Your torture...my torture on you, whatever the fuck you want to call it- You deserved it. For what you did to me and for what you did to all of those people back in your little dollhouse - for however many people you knew about and kept imprisoned here."

Anger, intense and burning, flares inside of him and he takes a step forward, fists clenched. "What you did to him was exactly what I did to you. If your purpose was to convince him, poison him against me, you could have shown him! You tortured him for your own satisfaction. It was for you, so don't talk to me about doing him fucking favors."

His face, up till this moment tense and controlled, breaks out into an expression of genuine anger. His wings appear rougher than they had been, and spread wider, as if preparing to attack. "You don't know him and you won't, because if you touch him again I'll break your mind and let you live out the rest of your miserable days in a padded cell."

[brink]

Topher takes a single step back at Gabriel's response, but mostly manages to stand his ground at first. Which is pretty miraculous, actually, but this is neutral dreamspace, which can't be manipulated all that much by either of them, and Topher knows he can duck out at a moment's notice. If this was an actual physical Gabe, he would be long gone.

"I fucking saved you--" he answers, but Gabe isn't done yet. And now he is doing a pretty good job of scaring Topher. He has plenty of arguments against what Gabe is saying, but it's difficult to actually make them when he's so close to being gone. If Gabriel isn't too consumed by his anger at the moment, he might even feel how Topher's presence is almost flickering a little. And by the time Gabe's finished his last threat, Topher's gone from the Dreaming.

He sits up sharply in the dim light of his bedroom, breathing heavily, his body full of adrenaline, his chest tight. For a long while afterwards, he finds himself incapable of doing much but wrap his arms tightly around a pillow and rock back and forth. He doesn't enter the Dreaming for quite a few hours, worried Gabe will track him down.