all_the_gifts: (concerned)
all_the_gifts ([personal profile] all_the_gifts) wrote in [community profile] applesaucedream2014-10-15 08:54 pm

Never Lie, Never Sin, Tell Us What A Mess We're In [Open to Multiple]

Melanie stares at the door to her cell. There is something different about it today. She's having a little trouble placing it, but she knows there's something off. It's concerning. She has been so clear about what ROMAC needs to do to keep everyone else safe from her, and the suspicion that they're messing up somehow makes her very, very nervous.

It's the locks, she realizes after a few moments of intense scrutiny. That is what's wrong. There are supposed to be five, but she only counts four. That can't be right. Melanie approaches the door with a little frown on her face, her fingertips hovering a few inches from the metal, wary of the shock she'll get if she actually touches it. Her hand flits from lock to lock like a hummingbird. Now there are six. How are there six? She counts again, baffled to find that the number has halved itself to three.

She tries to count again, but this time, there are none.

Now she does reach out to touch the door, she can't help it - she can't believe it. They can't have taken the locks away. They're important. Hasn't she made it clear how incredibly important it is that they keep her in here?

The door does not shock her. Instead, it swings open beneath her hand, smooth and silent.

Melanie presses her lips together, her mouth a thin, disapproving line. She doesn't like the thought of leaving her room, but someone has to be told about this so they can get it fixed. Keeping her movements slow and even, as if she's trying to sneak past a group of hungries, Melanie carefully steps out into the hall to look for help.
bibliophale: (nervous | evasive)

[personal profile] bibliophale 2014-10-16 02:59 am (UTC)(link)
Well, now. This is different. It's not like the others, so directionless and all-encompassing, so crowded with mental presence - here, there's only the one. This is a particular dream, one person's mind. How curious.

Once again, he doesn't really remember falling asleep. This has got to stop happening. He frowns sternly at the surroundings and pokes around for a bit. Strange, that he can wander around without directly interacting with the dreamer.

Or - who's that, there? Someone's rounded the corner of the long, vaguely corporate-looking corridor. Someone... not familiar. Someone very small.

She's the dreamer? But who is she? She feels... different, somehow. Something's off, not quite human, not quite a singular mind. He can't pin down what it is he's sensing. Maybe some sort of... dream static. He brushes it aside for now.

"Er," he says. Children. Oh dear. He's not good with children. He rubs his palms on his trousers. "Hello." He bends down a little, trying to appear affable. He has no idea how to approach this - does she know she's dreaming? Should he tell her?

He settles for a straightforward, "Are you all right?"
Edited 2014-10-16 03:01 (UTC)
bibliophale: (prissy as hell | fashionista)

[personal profile] bibliophale 2014-10-16 08:06 am (UTC)(link)
"Oh," he says uncertainly, having absolutely no idea what she means. Out of her head? Out of... this location, presuming she believes the dream to be reality? Difficult to say. It's not exactly what he expected from someone of her apparent age1. In his extremely limited experience, children usually want to make messes and watch telly. They certainly aren't concerned with being out at the wrong time.

Well, better see what she knows. "Do you know where we are?" he asks as kindly as he knows how, which is just shy of full-on patronizing, and mostly avoids being that because he is legitimately asking. Whether he means the dream or the building is up to her, and her answer will be telling.


1 Aziraphale's visual comprehension of human age is rather shaky as it is. If asked, he might put Melanie somewhere in the 3-5 range, though she is quite apparently ten.
bibliophale: (excuse you | no)

[personal profile] bibliophale 2014-10-16 04:27 pm (UTC)(link)
Aziraphale takes a moment to study her, considering her answer. She seems very certain of herself, very aware of her surroundings, fabricated though they may be. He knows humans are capable of creating a great deal in their dreams, but this seems far too specific. From what he's learned of ROMAC from Crowley and general hearsay, it's not at all unlikely that they do have this sort of 'high-security' area, but to what purpose? And why is this little girl dreaming she is there?

Even more confounding is her little theory. She delivers it with a seriousness he's never seen in a child, and he is inclined to match her gravitas, if only to play along.

"What do you mean?" he says, cautious, curious, only a little indulgent. "What might you 'do' to me?"
Edited 2014-10-16 16:30 (UTC)
bibliophale: (oh noooooo)

[personal profile] bibliophale 2014-10-16 05:16 pm (UTC)(link)
Oh dear. Oh no. The child is crying. The child used a very bad word indeed, and is crying. Aziraphale has no idea what has happened, but he straightens up, startled, mildly scandalized, and hugely uncomfortable.

"What?" he blurts unhelpfully. "Wh - no, no, you won't... dismantle me, how silly." Poor thing, what an odd and unfortunate nightmare. He takes a step closer, not knowing what to do, if he should try to make contact, or what - he raises his hands slightly, a bit like he's approaching a strange dog. "There, there. You mustn't worry. This is just a dream, you see."

That'll make everything better, right?
bibliophale: (fond | indulgent)

[personal profile] bibliophale 2014-10-16 06:19 pm (UTC)(link)
He frowns, perplexed by her insistence that she's dangerous, even in spite of the dream explanation. She does not seem confused or irrational, rather she sounds like she knows exactly what she's talking about. But she's so small, and clearly good-hearted, what is it about her that makes her dangerous?

"Nor do I," he says, "dream, that is. Not normally. It's something the rift does, pulls us into dreams together. This is your first time, I take it?" He offers her a faint smile, trying to appear calm and composed for the both of them.

"I promise you won't hurt me," he adds, a little more properly soothing this time. "For one thing, I'm quite a bit stronger than I look. But more importantly, nothing that happens in dreams will affect us when we wake up. We may remember each other, but that's all." He strengthens the smile a bit, encouraging.

"My name's Aziraphale," he says. "What's yours?"

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peacefulexplorer: (endless days finally ending in a blaze)

[personal profile] peacefulexplorer 2014-10-18 03:58 am (UTC)(link)
This place has lots of hallways and cameras and doors and it is perfectly, unnervingly silent, so Daniel decides on principle that he doesn't like it. He can't imagine what possessed him to think that coming here was a good idea in the first place except that - he can't remember how he got here. His understanding of any sort of recent timeline is thoroughly muddled.

A dream, then? Something Rift-related? He can only hypothesize.

In any case, Daniel decides that getting out makes for a solid plan. The place does have the air of something official, strictly functional. So not a military base, but perhaps something along those lines. And Daniel is good with military bases. All right, so he's good with one particular military base. He's still going to put that one in his plus column.

The only issue here is that at least military bases have the good grace to label everything and the halls and walls here are all distressingly identical. Daniel realizes this too late as he enters yet another hallway that looks exactly like all the others he's passed through, and is about to wonder if he can forcefully wake himself up - assuming this is a dream, which he's beginning to suspect it is as it's begun to resemble a few of his less pleasant dreams - when he notices her: a girl, small and alone and probably no more than nine or ten.

Worries about indistinguishable hallways immediately forgotten, Daniel makes a beeline for her.

"Hello?" he calls, slowing as he approaches. Last he checked he didn't think he cut a very intimidating figure, but if this girl has been all alone here for a while there's no way of telling what she might find scary. A strange man showing up out of nowhere might make the list.
peacefulexplorer: (Surprise | Concern | Horror | heartbreak)

[personal profile] peacefulexplorer 2014-10-18 04:30 am (UTC)(link)
"Woah!" Daniel's hands fly up, palms out, and he backs away slowly in what's intended to be a peaceable, reassuring gesture. "Hey, it's okay. It's okay."

All right, so yes. Intimidating. Definitely intimidating. Other than perhaps his stature Daniel can't imagine why - he's lacking even the bare minimum of a sidearm which is really just basic oversight on the part of -

And then he looks down, and realizes.

Yes.

He's back in his old olive green BDUs. Thoroughly militarian in appearance, even if the shirt is unbuttoned in a definitely non-regulatory fashion.

Daniel looks back up, wincing, and concludes that this is definitely a dream. And it's already not going well.

"I'm sorry," he says, voice low and quiet and hopefully consoling. "I didn't mean to startle you."
peacefulexplorer: (Neutral | Reason)

[personal profile] peacefulexplorer 2014-10-18 05:16 am (UTC)(link)
He backs up a few more paces just for good measure. The girl seems intent on putting a good amount of distance between them, so he'll just...help her out with that until she can see that he's quite harmless. He's not even armed and in the same thought he really really hopes that they are the only two people in the vicinity right now.

"It's okay," Daniel repeats, straining to see the small figure peeking out from the other side of the hallway. He doesn't think simple repetition will do any good, so he starts with answering her questions. Perfectly reasonable questions. "My name's Daniel. I just, I came in here, I was lost and I was just looking for a way out. I'm sorry if I startled you."

He keeps his hands away from his sides in an effort to look nonthreatening, though in her defense he can see why a six foot man in BDUs might seem intimidating even if he currently feels like the farthest thing from it.
peacefulexplorer: (Happy | Smile | Nerdery | Interest)

[personal profile] peacefulexplorer 2014-10-18 06:47 pm (UTC)(link)
He smiles a little at the biblical reference, both to continue to look friendly and in bemusement at her immediate association.

"That's right," he replies, "like the lions' den." He'd like to say something about not hurting the lions or the lions not hurting him but that would be drawing false parallels with some rather disturbing implications. He elects to stay where he is while the girl gives him orders with an authority that belies her physical age, though Daniel knows by now that appearances can be deceiving. He obeys in slow, precise movements, worried that any sudden motion could be misconstrued as a threat.

"It's okay," he says again, completely unsure if the words are having their desired effect. "I promise I'm not going to hurt you."
peacefulexplorer: (Neutral | Reason)

[personal profile] peacefulexplorer 2014-10-18 09:00 pm (UTC)(link)
"Okay." All right then, so she clearly knows what she's doing. And seeing as she can't be more than ten Daniel finds that...concerning. She's just a kid. She shouldn't have to know or care about weapons but - okay, he's just going to go along with it if it helps put her at ease.

"I'm unarmed," he says as she draws closer, holding himself as still as he possibly can. Daniel's pretty sure he is, anyway, because he didn't actually check and there's always the chance that the dream could have dropped some of his old gear into the setting along with him. Assuming it is a dream. He's not sure if the girl knows or suspects it. But he's missing the familiar weight of a sidearm or the bulk of the tac vest so he can only stand, proverbial fingers crossed, and pray that the Rift didn't go farther than BDUs.

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interndana: (confused)

[personal profile] interndana 2014-10-18 10:15 pm (UTC)(link)
As far as dreams go, wandering the halls at work seems entirely mundane compared to some of the things Dana's seen. She isn't too concerned, the tile floors have a familiar pattern, even if the hallway is darker than it should be and the color of the paint is slightly off. She turns at a junction, and oh, no, this isn't the kitchen, this is someplace else.

She frowns, looking down the hall for any sign of something familiar. Perhaps she ended up on the wrong floor? Anxiety starts to creep in; Dana doesn't want to get lost here, she doesn't want to be lost ever again. She's just about to turn around and look for an elevator, or a floor map, when she catches sight of movement further down the hall. Oh thank goodness, she's not alone.

Dana hurries walks calmly like a not-lost person toward the other dreamer.

"Excuse me," she calls, trying to catch sight of whoever's there. "Do you know where I am?"
interndana: (smile shy)

[personal profile] interndana 2014-10-20 03:33 am (UTC)(link)
Oh, it's a little girl. And she knows it's a dream at least, that bypasses a lot of potential confusion.

"Thank you," says Dana with a smile. "I've been in dreams like this before. I was only wondering because I thought this was where I work, but it doesn't quite seem right." She wonders for a moment if it's too much a breach of protocol to mention where she works, but dreams, what's the harm. "If...if this is ROMAC, I don't think this is a part of the building I'm familiar with."

She crouches down to be more on the girl's level, it's only polite. "My name's Dana," she says, tilting her head a little. "Is this your dream?"
interndana: (confused)

[personal profile] interndana 2014-10-24 05:44 am (UTC)(link)
"Hmm, I probably don't have access to the basement." Dana wonders just how far down the levels even go. "The most important things I have to do are usually fixing paper jams. Or getting lunch." Being an intern here has so far been a lot less life-threatening than back home, and if Dana's perfectly honest with herself, it's almost kind of boring, not dealing with supernatural horrors every day.1

She wonders why Melanie is down here, though. "Are you familiar with this level at all?" she asks slowly, trying out phrasing in her head before she speaks. "Does one of your parents work here, or..." there is another possibility, of course, she's heard of this circumstance in passing but never actually encountered anyone subject to more restricted living conditions. "Um, did the Rift do something bad to you?"


1 This is not to say that Dana feels as though she were owed mountains of bones, but you have to admit that the idea of Rift monitoring and management holds a little more promise of adventure than the reality of wrangling the Keurig.