Caught in the Current (open to multiple)

[fucking_ebay]

Peter's having a fairly ordinary dream -- that is, he's onstage in front of an audience, doing his old Vegas show in the nude, and none of the fire effects are working. He's not actually bothered by the nudity, which his dreaming mind seems to think is just part of the act, but he keeps getting confused about what part they're on. He hasn't rehearsed in weeks, and he's stumbling through all his lines and illusions.

Around the time the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino (TM) melts away to be replaced by Central Park, Peter's remembered that he doesn't live in Vegas anymore, and his befuddled mind is well on its way to working out that he's dreaming. He doesn't get a chance to come to his senses and enjoy his shot at lucid dreaming, though, before something goes terribly wrong. This time as the backdrop melts away, there's nothing to replace it. He feels himself being pulled, drawn away somehow -- and, helpless to resist, his sleeping mind is sent spinning off into the ether of the Dreaming. Flailing at nothing, he's carried away -- until, of course, he collides with another mind and finds himself in another person's dream.


[OOC: Peter's been carried off like a twig in a river -- and he's going to smack into a few rocks other minds before the night's through. He can still be naked for the first one if desired. Have at!]

Comments

[has_a_horn]

[Naked Peter? How could he refuse?]

Gabriel is wandering through a market in Rio de Janeiro, the stalls around him heaped with everything a human could possibly want, and crowds of people weaving to and fro enjoying the warm and pleasant day. When he feels the new-familiar tug of another consciousness entering his dream-space, he turns around just in time to see Peter stumbling in.

He grins and yanks a touristy, bright red and green poncho down from one of the stalls and walks over, handing it to him.

[fucking_ebay]

"Fuck." Peter's shaken by his journey -- and when he arrives, he really does literally stumble in, hitting the ground in the middle of the market with what feels like real momentum. He spins in place to gape at his new surroundings even before he's really caught his balance.

And then...Gabriel. Peter frowns at the poncho, not getting why Gabriel's holding it out to him. Then he frowns more deeply at Gabriel, because ugh, why did it have to be Gabriel -- and then his eyes widen and he looks down at himself in surprise as he finds that he's still stark naked. "Oh, shit," he says, taking the poncho.

[has_a_horn]

"Yeah, shit. I take it you didn't mean to bring me a naked surprise." Because, really? He doesn't expect that Peter came here on any sort of purpose.

[fucking_ebay]

"Why the fuck would I want to visit you?" asks Peter -- not gruffly, like he means it as an insult, but pitched as an actual question. He tugs on the poncho, giving it another dirty look for being so brightly colored. "I was doing a show," he explains by way of non-explanation.

[essentiallyharmless]

Lucy's having a fairly ordinary dream as well. But for her, that usually includes being back on the Valiant, and could probably qualify as a nightmare. There's no terror, but there's a general feeling of anxiety and unhappiness that's difficult to ignore.

She doesn't notice Peter's arrival immediately. She's on the main observation deck, slow-dancing with the Master, while 'Lady in Red' plays around them. Indeed she is in red, wearing one of the Master's favourite silk dresses, her hair coiffed, though her appearance is slight marred by the few fading bruises on her face and arms. Though the song might also be referring to the blood covering much of the floor, random bodies littered around them.

[has_a_horn]

"My charm and winning smile, for starters." He's not particularly bothered by the crudeness of the question, just nods Peter a little away from the crowd to a little area set aside with white plastic chairs and tables. Not far off is a little cart selling street tacos, scenting the entire area with the smell of cooking meat and fresh cilantro. It's lovely, in it's own way.

"In your dreams? You do know this is a dream, right?" It's good to clear these things up right away, make sure Peter know's what's up.

Mostly. He's taking bets with himself on how long it takes Peter to realise he can just zap himself some fresh clothes instead of wandering around with his skinny legs sticking out of a brightly colored poncho.

[fucking_ebay]

Peter's knees wobble under him as he hits the deck unfairly hard, and he grabs for the railing he finds in front of him. There's a moment or two of panting, and then a squeaking gasp. "Holy shit," he says. "Oh, fuck. Fuck, fuck fuck."

He hasn't even realized whose dream this is -- he's aware of the dancing couple, but he's rather more aware of the carnage and of the oppressive anxiety seeping over into his mind. He's not really aware of his own appearance at all -- which is why he's likely to appear in whatever Lucy's mind supplies for him.

[fucking_ebay]

Peter toddles along, mostly to get out of the throng of people. He sniffs the air, stomach suddenly feeling empty at the reminder of food (thanks, Gabriel, and here he'd managed to forget going to bed hungry). He shoots Gabriel a look. "Of course I know it's a dream," he says sharply, though he wasn't entirely sure of that just a moment ago. "Do you think I give shows bare-arsed in the park?"

[essentiallyharmless]

Lucy turns to look when she hears his voice, and because of the setting, she assumes it's the Doctor, therefore Peter will find himself wearing a brown pinstriped suit and converses. It doesn't occur to her until a few moments later that he's not acting anything like he would imagine the Doctor to do. "Peter?" she asks, confused why he'd be here. She doesn't walk over to him - the Master has a firm grip on her wrist, anchoring her.

[fucking_ebay]

"...Lucy?" Peter squints at her, lip pulling up to show his teeth. His gaze flicks over to the man holding onto her. "Oh, no. No. Tell me that's not your husband."

Something's not right with his arms -- when he glances down at them, he sees that they're covered in brown, pinstriped fabric. Letting go of the rail and stepping back, arms raising to feel down the front of the neatly buttoned jacket, he lets out a baffled, "And what am I wearing?!"

[has_a_horn]

"The weather the way it's been, maybe not." He chuckles. "You should totally reconsider in the summer. Give it some thought." You know what? He's getting tacos. He wanders over and converses briefly with the vendor in Spanish before receiving a paper plate full of small soft-shell tacos. He brings it over to the open table and sits down, shoving an entire taco into his mouth as soon as he sits down. "Want one?"

[essentiallyharmless]

As Peter watches, the Master wraps his arms around Lucy's waist from behind, face against her hair like he's smelling it. Combined with the scene, it should be answer enough.

At the question regarding his clothing, the Master steps forward, doing exactly what Lucy would imagine him to do, while she watches, frozen. "My dear Doctor," he says, his voice silky but punctuated by something almost a growl. "So nice of you to join us."

And then Peter will find himself inside a large metal birdcage, roomy enough to stand, though small enough that he can reach from one side to the other.

[fucking_ebay]

"I am not him," says Peter stridently. He poises to run, but finds himself all but rooted to the floor by the Master's gaze. "Lucy, tell him --" he starts, but then the scene shifts around him -- more or less -- and the words die in his throat. He startles at the bars in front of him, backing away too late and running into the ones behind him.

[fucking_ebay]

That actually gets a chuckle out of Peter. "Be a hell of a hook," he admits. "Bit hard to pull anything out of your sleeves when you're in your birthday suit, though, and I'm not going to start stowing cards up my arsehole."

He flops down into a seat when Gabriel departs for the stand, gazing about at all the colorful bullshit around him. Gabriel's offer is naturally of interest, but it draws a frown from him nonetheless. "It's a dream, remember? Won't do any good." But he reaches to take one anyway.

[essentiallyharmless]

"What this?" the Master asks of Lucy. "Have you been cozying up to our guest?" She doesn't answer, unable to move even though nothing but the dream is holding her, feeling helpless. "In bed with my enemy?" he all but shouts, and backhands her across the face - the pain of if ringing through the dream so even Peter might feel it - and making her fall to the floor. The Master hardly seems aware of Peter's presence, but at the same time it's almost like a show he's putting on.

"Now, there there," he cooes, bending down and putting his hand on Lucy's throat, making her stand back up. "Don't be sad, my pet. Would you like to go talk to your little friend? I'm sure he'd be fascinated to hear all the things you've done for me." Lucy shakes her head in fright, looking up at Peter. She doesn't want him to know about any of that.

[fucking_ebay]

Peter flinches, Lucy's feelings -- and her pain -- echoing through the mental space and into him. He has no control, no way to block her out, and it would seem she lacks the control to avoid passing it on. Or, well, any control. He grips the bars at the back of the cage, not sure if he's more afraid for himself...or for Lucy. He still knows, in the back of his mind, that this is a dream. With his heart rate increasing, though, it's hard to remember or to try to do anything about it.

Something snaps inside him. "Don't you fucking touch her!" he shouts at the Master...while still clinging to the back of the cage.

[essentiallyharmless]

The Master lets go of Lucy when Peter shouts. Hearing someone wanting to stand up for her somehow makes her less afraid, the dream less like a nightmare, and consequently the Master backs off, leaving the room - or perhaps simply fading out of the dream, it's difficult to tell.

Lucy seems to realise that it doesn't make sense for Peter to be here, or shout at the Master. The few times he's made an appearance in her dreams, he hadn't been there to help. Rather his dismissal or anger or whatever her mind had decided to cook up was the source of the worry, not a remedy.

"Peter," she repeats, now a statement rather than a question, and she walks over to the cage to look at him.

[fucking_ebay]

That worked? Peter looks quickly around the room, as if he expects the Master to reappear dangling from the ceiling or something. His grip on the bars continues to turn his knuckles white, and when he looks at Lucy his eyes are wide. "Lucy," he acknowledges back.

[has_a_horn]

"Still tastes good." He shoves another taco into his mouth and makes a show of enjoying it, chewing messily as he does. It actually is pretty damn good.

When he finished, he raises his eyebrows at Peter. "I'd feed you in person if you bothered to call. I'm hurt, really."

[essentiallyharmless]

"I'm sorry," she tells him, though it's unclear exactly what she's apologising for. She leans against the outside of the cage, reaching through the bars for him. She doesn't want him to have to be here, but at the same time it's something of a comfort.

[fucking_ebay]

Peter snorts as he digs into the taco, knowing he's just going to wake up frustrated from having dreamed of eating. "Again, why the fuck would I call you?" he asks even as he grabs another taco. Would he really, though? That might be a thing to keep in mind next time Lucy doesn't answer her phone...except no, he doesn't want to fucking talk to Gabriel. If he were a little brighter, too, he might catch on that he keeps getting goaded into doing things he doesn't want to by the promise of food.

[fucking_ebay]

Peter finally releases the bars to toddle to the front of the cage and take her hand. "Let me out of here," he instructs her, somehow not doubting that she'll do as he says. It's not so frightening now, with the Master gone and Lucy actually talking to him, but the cage makes him uneasy.

[essentiallyharmless]

"There's no door," she points out, reaching up with her other hand to brush away some of his hair. Her hands are still stained with blood from falling on the floor. "There's never a way out." She seems quite different from the Lucy that Peter's used to. Not just the differences in her appearance, but she's much more distant, disconnected, with a lost look in her eyes, rather than the more self-assured look she usually wears while around him. She still feels like this on the inside quite often.

[has_a_horn]

"Hellooo." He makes a general gesture to his own face. "I'm awesome, that's why the fuck." Seriously, is Peter still upset about that whole kidnapping him thing? He was really only trying to get to know him.

As an afterthought, he adds, "And tacos. Tacos are a good reason, too."

[wildmage_daine]

Given the approaching full moon, it's no great surprise that Daine is dreaming of caged bears. Not Yuri, though - instead, she's in the polar bear cage at the Central Park Zoo. In the waking world, she had finally flown through in starling shape, keeping her mind closed, for the most part. She hadn't been able to resist talking to Gus, though. She'd never seen a polar bear before.

And that's the shape she's in, now. Daine paces along a wall of bars that better resembles Yuri's cage than the zoo. She's hardly expecting visitors, so when Peter appears directly in front of her, she lets out a huff of surprise and sits back on her haunches, forepaws raised in case she has to defend herself.