Better to Receive than to Give [open to all]

[applesaucemod]

Somewhere in the cosmos, there is something bright, and young, and playful. Somewhere, this being watches over their little flock and does their best to make those people safe and happy. Somewhere, that godling and their flock celebrate the winter holidays in the happiest of dreams.

And somewhere closer at hand, a sleeping giant stirs.

The bright tapestry of dream threads gathered by Zephyr is suddenly yanked hard enough to pull it from its temporary mooring. Something entirely unlike the little godling reels in the dreamers so neatly gathered and packaged up for it, bringing its own toys back to their proper place and taking all the others it can with them. Unsatisfied, it reaches out again and again, dragging in dreamers from all across the multiverse. It will snare them, all of them, and then it will possess them completely.

Perhaps it's fitting that when the stolen dreamers arrive in this new shared mindscape, they'll find they've been designated the Rift's Christmas gifts to itself. Each might awaken inside a dark box, or cocooned in…is that tissue paper? When they claw their way out they'll be greeted by the sight of an enormous evergreen tree laden with twinkling lights and kitschy knickknacks looming overhead. Beyond the shadow of the tree the rest of the world -- that is, the living room -- is just as large. Or is it that the dreamers have just become very small? Giant packages wrapped in bright paper form an obstacle course, but the wooden floor of the room is wide open between the tree and the hearth where an enormous plate of cookies and glass of milk await a cataclysmic Santa Claus.

All in all, things are fairly normal as far as the rift's dream gatherings go…at least on the surface. The more telepathically sensitive among the dreamers may notice an undercurrent of something darker, more urgent, and more possessive than normal. The rift isn't just sampling the wares of other worlds tonight; this time it means to play for keeps.


[OOC: This is the second part of our crossover with wethelost! Part one can be found here. Usual dream party rules apply: all players and characters are welcome regardless of whether they are currently in the game, and characters may remember or forget the events of the dream party at the discretion of their players.

For reference, characters of average human height are roughly four inches tall according to the scale of their current surroundings. There is an entire giant house beyond the living room; characters will find a kitchen and dining room on the same floor, a staircase outside the door of the living room that leads up to a second floor with two bedrooms and a bathroom, and another staircase off the kitchen that goes to an unfinished basement. Feel free to add details as needed!

This event takes place on evening of August 8th/morning of August 9th in Applesauce time, and December 31 in WtL time.]

Comments

[scruffy_mcjackass]

"Isn't it?" For a moment Dustin's brow rises in genuine interest. It's not often that he comes into contact with someone who is invested in the gritty details of he theories, and even less often that the someone is actually willing to talk to him about it. Maybe, if they weren't all in horrible danger, this would be something Dustin would take advantage of.

Ah, right. Dustin gets back down to business. "Essentially. Granted, Zephyr has let people go before--presumably when they find a more suitable location than the one they've created."

There's another pause as Dustin once again considers if this information is relevant. It isn't. But when is he going to find another opportunity to talk about this shit with someone who will listen? Fuck it, Daniel's getting the whole thing. Dustin leans forward slightly.

"Zephyr only appears capable of taking sentients that have undergone interdimensional travel. Specifically, that they've been removed from their universe of origin and don't have a means of easily getting back. Which would imply that the people who leave are able to return to their original universe, or some reasonable replacement. In a year's worth of research I've only noticed one significant deviation from the mean. It's very unusual." Okay, okay, enough of that. Dustin rather awkwardly clears his throat. "--So actual loss of residents might not be such a bad thing, if the Rift could be counted as a 'new universe' to preside in. What's more troubling is if Zephyr themselves gets involved. If we lose Zephyr, we lose the universe."

[peacefulexplorer]

Yeah, okay. That sounds definitively bad.

"Not sure you'd want the Rift as an alternative, to be honest," Daniel admits, scratching the back of his neck with a partial shrug. "It's not - bad, not terrible, I mean, I've been in worse," like actual literal hell for one, but he's not going there, "but it's not really your ideal. The Rift - doesn't care, not like a god or anything. We don't know what it is, just that it affects space, time, and spacetime, and might possibly be sentient. And it likes dumping us in Manhattan."

And it's just as well that Daniel's getting better at recognizing the contemporaneous time-steams of dreams, everything splitting off and reorganizing under a cohesive whole, because his eyes blink shut and he considers for a moment, then frowns.

"Umm. This, this 'Zephyr.' They're not, like - green, all covered in fur, writes stuff down?"

sorry for the wait! university and I stopped cooperating for a bit

[scruffy_mcjackass]

Dustin shakes his head. "Whether or not it's a preferable alternative isn't the point," he says, running a quick hand through his hair. "The point is, it's pulled us here without our permission, likely without Zephyr's permission, and..."

He trails off, looking more than a little alarmed. It seems that Daniel's description has taken a bit to properly click.

"I would say that's accurate, yes," Dustin murmurs. He shoots Daniel a sharp, narrowed stare. "Where did you see them?"

man am I feeling that feel. it's all good!

[peacefulexplorer]

"Uhh." Right, well. Time to explain, if that's even possible. "I think I - it was just now, actually. Or, er, it's kind of difficult to, uh." Daniel scratches the back of his neck, expression settling somewhere between sheepish and baffled. "Dreams and time having a kind of a, a complicated relationship makes that bit hard to, well. I think I've seen them, just not, not specifically here and not specifically now. More like simultaneously." It's not like Daniel has a terribly great grasp of it himself. Don't look at him, he's just the intergalactic archaeologist with mortality issues.

"It was a window, I'm pretty sure." He scans the room, trying to pick up a nagging sensation that he's been there before or something, but it's so poorly defined that he doesn't get much luck. "Or - it is a window? Will be? Tenses." Daniel shrugs, mouth twisting up in a what can you do? grimace. "Either way, I think they need our help getting inside."

[scruffy_mcjackass]

Dustin decides early into this stammered explanation that he needs to settle down for the long haul. He huffs, folds his arms and shifts onto his good leg, and for all the growing impatience creeping into his thin frown, Dustin manages to keep his mouth shut. This is important and Daniel is helping, as much as he can, and that's more than Dustin can expect from most people. He deserves this attention.

In the end, Dustin is glad he didn't cut Daniel off. "Omnipresent dream awareness," he murmurs and nods, slowly. "Interesting...yes, I think I understand. You developed this while you were--?"

Ah, now he's doing it, too. Dustin shakes his head and refocuses with a sharp chop of his hands. "--Never mind. Zephyr needs to get inside. Right." He sweeps his eyes over the surrounding walls. A few windows, very high up, a door outside, some other adjoining rooms...all of them are either very high up or too large to manipulate directly. Dustin hums as he mulls over his options. "A sturdy lever could...yes. Yes, that's doable." Then his attention is back on Daniel. "I'll search for some suitable tools for the task. You can find me if you get more information?"

[peacefulexplorer]

Awareness is a good word for it, though Daniel has no real idea of how he would define it otherwise. Or at all, really. He can only assume it's some byproduct of the Rift, possibly infusing its dreamers with some heightened sense of understanding about how its metaphysical labyrinths of dreams work. He finds it easier to blame most things on the Rift, in any case.

"I can try," Daniel offers with a cautious shrug. "Mostly I've just been trying to get everyone out. Maybe if enough of us pitch in we can get a door or a window open or something."

It's a bit of a long shot, especially if the house is firmly entrenched in the dream's parameters. But while breaking those parameters might be unthinkable, stretching them might not be. It's worth a shot.

[scruffy_mcjackass]

That's a chance Dustin is willing to take, because he sure as hell doesn't plan on staying here. He's invested too much in the Meadous to even consider leaving it now. The Rift isn't going to get in the way of that.

"That's the idea," Dustin says with a curt nod. His eyes drift to the open hall leading to what appears to be a kitchen. Most useful tools will be in there, he figures. "Inform them of the situation, ask them where they came from and what they're capable of, gather more information and we'll regroup. Simple."

He doesn't wait for confirmation or argument--Dustin has decided, at this point, that wasting more time when Zephyr could be in immediate danger is not a good idea. Abruptly he turns and starts stiffly limping away.

[peacefulexplorer]

Daniel mirrors the nod cautiously, eyebrows lifting in faint bemusement as the other man raps out a firm set of orders before abruptly turning and cutting a clear path away. He considers what he's going to carefully categorize as a 'forceful suggestion', decides it's as good a plan as any, and resumes his former task of liberating anyone he can find from their packages.