applesaucedream | Tender Lumplings Everywhere, Life's No Fun Without A Good Scare [Open to All]

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Tender Lumplings Everywhere, Life's No Fun Without A Good Scare [Open to All]

The woods are dark and deep, but not particularly lovely. If anything, they feel dangerous, as if something terrible might come lurching out from behind any given tree and tear into the nearest warm body. What that terrible thing might be is anyone's guess. A cat with hands? Slenderman? Stegosaurus? Actual cannibal Shia LaBeouf? All of the above in a horrible mob? It's anyone's guess. But every dreamer will be absolutely convinced that there is something unspeakable out there, and that it's after them.

The dreamers have two things on their side. The first is that there is actually nothing dangerous lurking in these woods (with the possible exception of other dreamers). The pervasive terror the dreamers are feeling is just that: a rift-given feeling, nothing more and nothing less. That snapping twig or rustle in the undergrowth is almost certainly just a squirrel or something else equally harmless.

The second is that no dreamer is alone. They all will be reunited with - or introduced to - their dæmons, a source of comfort in this dark, intimidating wilderness. However frightened the dreamers might be, at least they have someone with them who definitely doesn't want them dead.

[OOC: as ever, any and all are welcome! You don't have to be in the game to join the fun. Dreamers can remember or forget the events of the dream at the players' discretion. And the party only stops when you want it to; feel free to backtag forever.]

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Seth and Sephronia have already gotten used to each other by now, even though this is their first meeting and they don't fully understand what's really going on, except how they are apparently each other somehow. And they know enough to work decently well together.

He's still generally on edge from this forest, even though nothing terrible has happened so far. There's still that lurking feeling that something is, well, lurking. And since they don't want to accidentally stumble into anything dangerous, Sephronia keeps a little way ahead of him. She's got much stronger senses for this kind of environment, able to see, hear and smell much better. And she's a lot lighter on her feet, which makes her a lot harder to notice.

Then she stops suddenly, ears pricked, and Seth slows, coming to a halt. "What?" he asks in a whisper as she returns to his side.

"Someone ahead. I think a person," she answers just as a quietly.

"Well, let's go see who..." he replies, and she nods, then stalks ahead, much quieter now. He feels slowly and quietly - if it's a person, it might not be that dangerous, but then again, it could be Lucifer and something. Plenty of people Seth absolutely doesn't want to meet.

As it is, he can thankfully relax pretty soon. As soon as the young man comes in to Sephronia's vision, she relaxes and steps forward. "Johnny!" she greets to catch his attention, loud enough for Seth to hear in the quiet of the forest, and he grins a little to himself. That's definitely one of his preferred people to meet in these things. He speeds up to a brisk walk, not taking long to catch up.

Okay, that's a cat. Like a big cat. Medium-sized big cat. Johnny realizes it's probably just another animal-soul-thing but he doesn't know who it belongs to, so he doesn't drop his guard for a moment, just stares at her, clutching his bite-sized rabbit.

"Uh, hi?" he says, then startles as the attached person comes into view. "Oh, jesus - Seth! You scared the shit out of me."

"Seth!" In spite of his good-natured berating, Johnny is relieved as fuck to see someone he knows who doesn't want to kill him, and Nova doesn't waste any time showing it. She wriggles until Johnny puts her down, and she immediately bounds over to the cat to sniff her.

"You okay?" Johnny says to Seth, keeping his eyes on their companions for a moment.

"Hey," Seth answers with a small grin, feeling suddenly a lot better about this situation, even though the lingering feeling that there is something out there stays right there in the back of his mind.

"Could be worse, yeah," he answers, giving Johnny a light pat on the arm as hello. Sephronia seems just as pleased to see the little bunny, crouching down to sniff it right back and boop it on the head with her nose. Seth can't help but feel a little instinctual worry about a large tree cat saying hello to a tiny rabbit - which Seth as first takes to be Yarrow, although he quickly realises it isn't. But then this is a highly sentient tree cat and the bunny seems quite happy to greet her, so it's probably fine. "How about you? Met any proper reasons to be scared shitless?"

"Not so far," says Johnny dryly, "but that means absolute fuck-all, as you know." He nods to their animals. "So, um. Were you in the last one of these? This happened once before. I mean not the woods, but the... animal... things. They're like our souls, I think. That's the impression I got from Gabe anyway."

He stuffs his hands into his pockets, still feeling completely on edge, but also strangely lighthearted. Something to do with the animal interaction, he thinks, some kind of... connection interference, or whatever. Like he and Nova share feelings but they can also influence each other's feelings. Philosophical bullshit like that.

"So that's Nova," he says. "Don't tell Peter, okay? He doesn't need anymore reasons to call me 'Rabbit Man'."

Seth shakes his head a little at the question, they raises his eyebrows at the information that... this cat thing is supposed to be his soul? Well, then. Suppose he could've gotten a much worse manifestation of his soul. It's basically a somewhat large, light-footed cat, not all that impressive, but then, cats are pretty all right. (Except for that zombie cat, that one time in his home universe. That was a nasty cat.)

And the news that Johnny's soul is apparently a tiny, adorable, fluffy thing makes Seth feel even more protective of Johnny than he already was, even if he's sure Johnny could take care of himself much better than this rabbit gives the impression of.

He snorts at the comment about Peter. "Well, that's Sephronia," he answers, nodding at the margay. Bit florid name for his (their?) tastes actually, perhaps they ought to find a shorter variant of it. Then again, Seth isn't much of a nick-name person either, so it feels odd to change it.

"He's called a friend of mine Rabbit Man 2.0, actually. I think it's become a thing with him," he adds. But then who can fathom the mind of Peter, really. He doesn't seem to need rational reasons.

"Oh, great. My sympathies to your friend." Johnny smirks half-heartedly, looking around the woods nervously. "So I don't know about you, but I am getting a really bad vibe from this place. I think we should probably keep moving, or something. Or do you think we should stay put? I actually don't know which is better, when you're in the woods."

Apparently done inspecting Sephronia, Nova hops back over to Johnny, and he bends down to pick her up, stroking her fur as comfortingly as he can manage.

Seth frowns thoughtfully. "I think they reason they say to stay put is so rescuers can find you," he replies slowly. "And I sort of don't think there's anyone looking for us. So, keep moving, probably. Maybe we can find someplace slightly less terrible." There's also that whole thing about assessing your surroundings and planning ahead and so on - Seth was never much for the outdoors though, so this is mostly stuff he's learnt from TV, to be honest. He's not sure any of it really applies when it's a dream.

"I came from that direction, so I guess this way?" he says, gesturing. There's really no way to distinguish directions at all, every route looks equally dark and gloomy and potentially dangerous at this point.

Edited 2014-11-08 01:32 (UTC)

"Yeah, I don't think we necessarily want to be found," murmurs Johnny, hugging Nova closely. He nods at the suggestion of direction and starts walking. "Let's just see where we end up, I guess."

He's feeling surly and on edge, but he's really glad Seth's here. He's a better target when he's alone.

"You been doin okay?" he asks for lack of anything else to talk about.

"Uhh," Seth says, not sure how to answer that succinctly. "Yeah, I guess. There's some... stuff going on. Not bad stuff, just... Yeah."

How eloquent. And how very helpful and informative. Seth had kind of wanted to talk to Johnny about all the so-called stuff, but he's not sure now is exactly the time. And they still haven't talked about how Seth drunkenly decided to make out with Johnny two weeks ago. Wow, feels like ages, now. But it seems like that kind of discussion is better suited for when they're not lost in a dark, giant, probably dangerous forest. Then again, what else do they have to talk about?

"Uhh, yeah?" Well, that was obviously some kind of dodge. Johnny raises an eyebrow at his friend, wondering if this is a good time to dig for information, having about the same thought process of 'well, what else are we gonna talk about', before realizing that he might already know some of it.

"Wait, is this about that guy that slept over? Gabe said a guy slept over." It's probably that. Oh Seth. "Sorry. I mean. He didn't tell me much because I was like, 'Gabe I don't care,' but... he did mention that you had a guy over. Is it that?"

Seth blinks in surprise at that. Not so much that Gabe had mentioned it to Johnny, Seth assumes they talk about all sorts of things, and that Gabe came by and made breakfast and there was someone else there would probably warrant a mention. It's just the way it's phrased that gives him pause.

"On the couch. He... He slept on the couch," Seth answers, to clarify. The fact he feels like he has to clarify is kind of the issue here. "But... I mean, kind of," he continues, stuffing his hands into his pockets and hunching his shoulders a little.

He's not exactly sure what to say now. He'd wanted to ease into this, but of course when you're friends with Gabe it becomes pretty difficult to ease into much of anything, or be subtle about it. Seth's barely stopped being in outright denial to himself about it, and here's his friend making it sound like... like... Seth doesn't even want to think about what it sounds like.

Johnny chuckles gently and looks at his feet for a moment, narrowly avoiding tripping on some roots. "Look," he says, "I kinda already figured you were at least, uh. Curious. It's not a big deal."

"It so is," interjects Nova. If rabbits could roll their eyes. "It took you weeks to get used to it!"

"You weren't even there," Johnny counters, though he knows that she was, sort of, albeit tucked inside him where she usually is.

"He kissed Gabe once while he was drunk and then once while he was having a panic attack," Nova informs Seth. "And then they had sex and he's still wondering about 'what it all means'."

"Thank you so much," says Johnny, putting his hand briefly over her face. She nips at him. He can tell her ongoing fear and discomfort with the dreamspace is causing her to act out and say more than either of them ordinarily would, which is fair enough, he guesses. It's not like there's anything to be embarrassed about, not really. Seth already knew most of it.

"What I mean is," he says, "it's fine. It doesn't make you... not... the person you thought you were, or whatever. If that's what you're worried about." Is that what he's worried about? Possibly. "So do you have a thing for this guy, or like, not sure?"

Seth isn't sure if it's a relief or a disappointment that Johnny already knew. But either reaction seems a bit ridiculous anyway, when they've kissed twice. It's not like it would be difficult to catch on to. It's... Seth himself having trouble catching on.

He is also very comforted by Nova betraying Johnny a bit, smiling over at her. It's good to know he's not the only one needing a period of adjustment. He nods in acknowledgement of Johnny's reassurances. It's just... difficult to unite the concept with he feels about various people, especially when someone of them keep offering threesomes.

At the question, he hesitates. He wants to say he's not sure, but when he thinks about it, it kind of feels like he's lying.

"I... Yeah, maybe," he answers slowly. A thing doesn't have to mean too much. A thing could just mean... interest. It doesn't have to be a big thing, and he can still hope that it will just... go away in time. It's probably just Seth making too much out of it now he's starting to realise he actually likes guys.

"He definitely does," comments Sephronia, joining Nova in sharing stuff they would probably rather leave unsaid.

Johnny grins at Sephronia. At least he's not the only one whose soul betrays him regularly.

"Is he, uh," Johnny waves a hand. "Does he swing that way? Do you know? Cause like, at least Gabe made it simpler by hitting on me first."

Meanwhile, Seth just gives Sephronia a small glare, which she seems entirely unbothered by.

"No," he answers, a tad glumly. "I'm pretty sure he doesn't." He sighs and looks upwards at the dark sky, frustrated. He doesn't want it to bother him. Daniel is a great guy. It shouldn't matter.

"And yeah, Gabe hit on him too. A lot. Probably with the sole intention of making me uncomfortable," he continues. Because some of the things he said are still making Seth feel embarrassed. It's quite impressive really. "Gabe called him 'Chippendale'," he adds, reaching up to run a hand down his face. Johnny is probably the only one who would really understand what a surprisingly stressful meal that was.

"For fuck's sake," sighs Johnny. "Of course he did. He's such a dick." He leans over only somewhat awkwardly and gives Seth a firm pat on the shoulder. "Well... you never know, right?" Fuck, that sounds so stupid. He pulls his hand back to rake it through his hair.

"He's a rifty?" he says, grasping for another line of conversation, since he's so fucking helpful with the whole dating advice thing.

Well, at least Seth has someone who knows Gabe and can sympathise. Both with Gabe being a dick, and the confusion of suddenly liking a guy. He shoots Johnny a small smile at his support.

"Yeah, I met him like... last Thursday? He'd been here less than a week at that point," Seth replies. "We've sort of ended up talking, uhh..." He pauses for a bit, trying to count in his head. "Seven times now. Sort of. Some it bled together, cause four of those were dreams." So it's not like they were even making the effort that much, it's just kept happening. But. It's still a lot for a very short space of time, and several of them were pretty intense.

"Fun," says Johnny, mostly dry. Meeting in dreams can be nice, but it usually isn't, as he and Seth ought to know. "Well look, you should probably like... uh, talk to him or whatever. I mean that's, that's the most basic thing." He rubs at the back of his neck awkwardly. Like he's any great fucking expert on talking shit out. He's gotten better at it lately, but...

"I'm not saying you have to do it like, RIGHT NOW," Johnny stresses quickly. "Take your time and whatever, but. At some point you should try to figure out where he, uh, sits on that... fence."

He shrugs. Is any of this helpful? He has no idea.

Seth nods thoughtfully. He's not terrible at talking things through, as long as he gets there in his own time. He needs to suss out his feelings, and figure out how to formulate things, and find the right time to bring things up... At least so far Daniel has proved himself very willing to talk about things, and be almost intensely understanding. When he realistically thinks about it, Seth doesn't really think Daniel will make any of it into a problem, regardless of whether he's interested or not. It's just Seth who makes it a problem, because of all his fucking issues. Rational thinking doesn't make those kind of issues go away though, and sometimes Seth gets lost in them. Like how he just figures even if Daniel likes guys, he wouldn't be interested in Seth.

"Yeah, I will. Thanks," he responds finally. He's pretty sure this 'talk' will be entirely focused on figuring out where Daniel stands on relationships and such, completely unconnected to Seth, and definitely without actually revealing his own interest. Because at the moment that doesn't seem even slightly feasible.

"Anyway," he says, with the air of quite obviously and awkwardly changing the subject while pretending the topic isn't weighing heavy on him. "How are you doing? Things okay with Gabe and everything?"

"Um." The subject shift is totally fair, but it still catches Johnny off guard. "Fine. Yeah. Things are fine." He scans around the woods. "I hope I run into him. His, uh, his thing is a freaking griffin." He grins faintly, remembering the first time. "Last time this happened, uh, we weren't, you know, seeing each other yet, so it was all kinda weird."

Nova noses at him gently, like an acknowledgment of an inside joke, but instead of a joke it's a weird little moment of shared affection. He strokes his thumb over her head. Just like last time, he kind of wishes he always had this point of contact with his - inner self or whatever.

Somehow 'fine' makes Seth think that there's a bit more to that answer, but he's not going to pry. He'd been a little bit worried after that conversation with Gabe about three weeks ago, with Gabe saying they loved each other too much somehow, but he hasn't heard anything about it since then.

"Of course it is," he comments at the news of what Gabe's inner animal is. Seth is just in sort of relaxed self-contained co-existence with his own, Sephronia padding along next to them. Neither of them are really all that vocal, nor eager to seek out affection or give it unwanted. Seth knows that part of is just left over touch aversion from being locked up, when pretty much every physical touch he endured was either outright aggressive, or exploitative use of his power. It's a lot better now, especially with people he trusts, but he knows he's still a lot more withdrawn than he used to be.

"That was like... end of May, wasn't it?" he asks, thinking back to when he heard about it happening. "Like a week after you guys met?" He remembers Johnny telling him about how they'd met during the Godzilla incident, and well, Seth's not about to forget that one in a hurry.

Johnny gives Seth a sideways glance, a little surprised at the accuracy of the date. "Uh, yeah, I think," he says. "Seems like ages ago now. Fuck, it seems like I've been here forever, but it's really just been like... three months." He shakes his head. "Yeah, that was back when he was obviously into me, for like, you know, potential sex. And I was still kind of convincing myself I wasn't interested. Or maybe I wasn't yet. It's sort of hard to... I mean, was it like I always could have been into dudes and no one had really made it possible before, or was it just Gabe? I don't fucking know."

He shrugs. This kind of conversation doesn't come easy but somehow Seth makes it easier. "I can't really remember not being attracted to him?" he says. "I mean, I remember that dream, what he did for me-"

He shuts up briefly. He doesn't want to talk about Zagreus. Not right now. Especially not when there's a chance he could be out there now, with that - that thing. Nova paws at him gently, part comfort and part to remind him to keep talking. He hugs her closer, pulling one arm around himself, his hand going automatically to the shoulder where the snake-head bit him.

"I got into a bad spot and he got me out," he says lamely. "I remember him like, picking me up, sitting really close to me - I mean you know him, he's really handsy. It was sorta weird but sorta nice."

He's getting lost now, mired in his thoughts. God, since when does he talk so much about his fucking feelings? Ridiculous.

"I try not to overthink it," he mumbles, feeling embarrassed.

Seth can really identify with feeling like he's been here forever. Of course, he has actually been here for three quarters of a year now, three times as long as Johnny. And part of that time felt, well, interminable.

He listens quietly and with interest, noddding every now and then. Hearing about Johnny's experiences helps him examine his own too. He knows now, thinking back, that it's not just Daniel. After Johnny had kissed him, and then Gabe had found out and prodded him about it, he had perhaps started to realise he found Johnny attractive, even if he wouldn't really consciously admit it to himself.

He also suddenly realises with a pang that he'd probably found Daniel attractive from the moment he walked into the pub, even before he knew what kind of person he was. It's interesting how those are the two people he's really considered it with though, considering how vastly different they are, both in appearance and personality. Johnny feels a lot more like someone Seth could end up with, both pretty messed up, but Seth doesn't have a crush on Johnny, of that he's pretty certain. He has extremely different reactions to Gabe flirting with Johnny than Gabe flirting with Daniel, after all.

"Something like that happened with me and Daniel too," Seth says. "Except, I mean, he's not...uh, handsy, or you know, flirty."

"Yeah?" Johnny smiles slightly at the thought of someone helping Seth out - someone else, that is, people with dreams like they've got tend to need more than one support friend. Then he hesitates, frowning thoughtfully. "Wait, Daniel. That rings a bell. Big blond white guy? Glasses?"

Yeah, okay. He can see it. Not his 'type', whatever that is (rude magically empowered sassmasters apparently), but it's fair enough.

"I met him in the last party dream," he says. "He seemed like a nice guy."

That dredges up some pretty shit memories. Ugh. Let's just set those aside.

Seth looks up at Johnny apparently recognising him, and nods in affirmation at the description. What with all the shared dreams him and Daniel have been having, it takes him a brief moment to remember which was the big shared one, since Seth didn't really get to interact with anyone else in that one. He was a bit busy dying.

"He is. Very," he answers with a smile, glad Johnny seems positively inclined towards him. Daniel is almost aggressively nice, so Seth has no hesitation in confirming it. Hopefully the two of them had a slightly less traumatic encounter, though Seth wouldn't put money on that hope.

"I met him the day before, so that was our first shared dream. Literally the first thing he did in it was save my life." Not that he'd have died, but they didn't know that at the time, so the intention definitely still stands.

Tender Lumplings Everywhere, Life's No Fun Without A Good Scare [Open to All]

Never apologise for longness

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JOHNNY WILL TALK ABOUT HIS FEELINGS AND THEN BRAID UR HAIR

Seth is a good listener but I don't think he wants braided hair

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