Sweeter than the First Time [Open to All]

[applesaucemod]

Hello, dreamers of Manhattan. The Rift knows that things have been kind of rough, lately. The last dream didn't go as well as it had hoped. Consider this an apology of sorts, and a hearkening back to the good times you've shared.

It's a grand old (and potentially familiar) cabin house that the dreamers will find themselves wandering. The furniture is plentiful and comfortable, the floors are strewn with cushions and blankets, and there are cheerful fires burning in the grates. It seems a little odd that the house still manages to be on the chilly side despite looking so warm, yet it is.

Oh, well. You'll just have to find another dreamer or two and spoon up and fall asleep like little baby cats get cozy. It shouldn't be difficult; most of the dreamers (excepting those with strong telepathic defenses or deeply ingrained cuddle-averse personalities) will find themselves feeling friendlier than usual, along with an almost overwhelming desire to snuggle up to someone. How convenient that the house seems designed for that very purpose!

And if some of the cushions are Hello Kitty themed, well, that's just coincidence.


[OOC: Standard dream party rules apply. Characters will be affected by the dream-whammy to whatever degree makes the most sense for them, and will remember or forget the events of the dream at the player's discretion. Backtag into infinity.]

Comments

[wildmage_daine]

Daine tilts her head a little in wordless approval, fluffing out her feathers contentedly. Well, if you ever need help, just ask one of them to find me. It's not an offer she typically extends to near-strangers, but the dream's atmosphere has made her feel generous. Tim seems like a decent sort of two-legger - how bad could he be if he likes crows?

[erratic_hematic]

"So this is a dream! I was quite worried I'd gone mad there, for a moment." Well, that changes things. Now talking ermine are perfectly acceptable. "I don't believe we've met. But I could be mistaken." He smiles down at the little creature. "My name is William."

[lottawork]

He can't contain his derisive snort.

"You're in a library." The obviously is implicit in the raised eyebrow. He cares very little for how comprehensible he's being, particularly since this dream seems so intent on physical interaction. Somewhat mercifully, this anonymous person doesn't appear to have an interest. "And you're dreaming. Shared consciousnesses, spacetime-warping, all very complicated." He closes that sparse explanation with a dismissive wave of a hand. It covers the situation well enough.

[wentdowntogeorgia]

"I know," he says. "What can I say-- I have terrible PR."

Because clearly his problem here is bad public relations. Though, given that God is supposed to be the 'good guy' here, maybe it's not so far off.

If Lucifer is offended by Daniel's suspicion, he makes no appearance of it.

"And I thought that you were fond of coffee. Is something not to your liking? You bought some for me, so it's only fair that I get some for you."

[postictal]

"Wait, you mean, like - outside? Like, not in a dream?" That clouds his expression for a minute. He should be trying to get used to this - new world, new rules, new things that are possible that shouldn't be.

Things in suits.

Or things that look like things in suits.

He shrugs fractionally and looks down at his hands. "Well I mean, I don't really go out much."

[peacefulexplorer]

Daniel opts to set the cup down the chair's arm as well and makes an effort to carefully ignore it.

"It's the principle of the thing," he says, reining back his wry frustration and reshaping it into something a little more delicate. "I tend to be a little wary of gifts if they happen to be Satanic in origin, dream constructs notwithstanding." That includes the wi-fi. Daniel will only concede to using it once, and that was when he realized that in the effort to lose his conversation partner, he'd managed to get himself completely lost.

[wentdowntogeorgia]

"An arbitrary distinction. I'm an angel, just as my brother Gabriel is. Are you so suspicious of him, as well?"

He really should use the wifi more; it's practically limitless as far as downloading and uploading and whatever other kind of loading you'd like to do on it. And it streams movies like no one's business.

"Besides, I told you that there would be blessings upon you. I'm a being of my word, Daniel, and I don't renege."

[peacefulexplorer]

"Well, that depends. Gabe, for instance, did not threaten to freeze my intestines when I first met him." And then there was the split second where Daniel actually did think Gabe was Lucifer before Seth arrived to clarify, loosely defined sensory capabilities seemingly limited in their distinguishing between angelic beings.

Daniel picks the book back up off the arm but doesn't open it, simply running his fingers up and down its spine in an unconscious display of his fraying nerves. He stills speaks carefully, threading his words cautiously between one another. "For another, has it occurred to you that I might not - want your blessings?"

SHOCK AND AWE

[imashinyboy]

Iman's giggling ratchets Vince's grin up from something calculated and flirty into simple pleasure. 'Shoulda met you here the first time,' he murmurs wryly. He'd liked her well enough when they'd met in the woods, but she'd been properly freaked out at the time; it's sort of nice to know that this flirty, laughing bird was there hiding under all the snark and snap.

Oh, and then she's kissing him, and that, that is even nicer. Vince hums into her mouth, lazily slipping his tongue out to stroke along hers. It's slow and warm, a properly nice snog, and he presses up a little into the tickly touch of her hand on his chest, letting his own sneak up to fall into the dip of her back.

Except that then there's a hand in his hair, and it's pure instinctual reaction that has him jerking away, hard enough to send the mattress wobbling, one hand snapping up defensively. 'Oi, don't touch the hair!'

An instant later, he ducks his head in some embarrassment. 'Sorry, habit.' The amount of time he spends on his hair, he'll fucking go off if someone tries to mess with it when he's not given them permission. He's very aware of these things. But when it comes down to it... He looks back up at Iman, and returns his hand to where it was, fingers rubbing a little along the bumps of her spine he can feel beneath her shirt.

'You can, if you like. I, uh, I quite like it, actually. When I'm expecting it.'

[wentdowntogeorgia]

"You practically asked me to freeze your intestines."

Daniel did pretty much say 'come at me bro' to the Devil. Bad plan. Even Iman had thought it was a poor life decision, and she was drunk at the time.

But he gives Daniel's comment due consideration, standing there and tapping one of his fingers against his lips. He really hadn't bothered giving such a thing as Daniel's preferences on the matter any thought-- who would refuse blessings from an angel? And it's not as though they'd ever asked for permission for blessings. That's now how it worked. You got blessed and you damn well liked it.

"I would think that you'd rather have them than the alternative."

Which would be having Satan pissed at you.

[peacefulexplorer]

Yes, all right, Daniel will be the first to admit that brazenly taunting the Devil may not have been his wisest tactical choice ever. In his defense, he hadn't known he was the Devil, but that's hardly an excuse. He was lucky to have gotten out of there unmaimed, much less alive.

"Is there no middle ground, then?" he can't help but ask, faintly exasperated. "I get shoehorned into either 'blessed by Satan' or 'destructively loathed and therefore probably doomed' but I don't get a neutral option?" That'd be a little too much to ask the universe, almost, given Daniel's experience. It's a bizarre ultimatum that he wishes he'd never gotten involved in but, well, there's no changing that now.

[wentdowntogeorgia]

It would have been a shame if Lucifer had killed him back then, before he had realized how much Daniel is like Sam Winchester. No one can ever be quite like Sam-- he is the only one who is worthy, the only one who was ever truly worthy-- but Daniel bears more than a passing resemblance to him, and that works in his favor.

"For others? Of course. There will always be those who are below my notice," he says, watching the good doctor with his head at a birdlike tilt and his eyes hooded. "But I don't think I could ever be indifferent to you, Daniel Jackson."

[peacefulexplorer]

Daniel's shoulders hunch a little at that one; he won't pretend he didn't get an actual, horrifying chill following those words. He has to scramble to recover his linguistic prowess but finds himself more or less speechless, and not in a great way.

"But, okay," he stammers, well-worded as always, "why?"

He looks at Satan in complete, honest, desperate perplexity, searching eyes that initially seem deceptively human for an answer he doesn't know how to grasp.

"Why are you so interested in me? Are, are anagogical dream roadtrip discussions really so valuable to you? 'Cause, well, no offense, but I don't think that's the only factor at work here." He doesn't know how to justify the Devil's new and unnerving fascination in him. He just knows that it's there, and he doesn't like it.

[wentdowntogeorgia]

"I can take interest in whatever I please."

And that includes anthropologists with specializations in Egyptology who act and sort of look like his former vessel. Sorry, Daniel, it's just the luck of the draw, and you got dealt the genetic hand that makes you Sam Winchester lite.

"And what isn't interesting about a human who has ascended multiple times to a higher plane of existence?"

And also the Sam thing.

[peacefulexplorer]

And oh, how Daniel regrets bringing that up. He really does. Just his luck, being this statistical and scientific anomaly that keeps dying and keeps breathing, surviving even a few ascents up several planes and then some rough demotions back down again. Mentioning that sort of thing offhand to Satan was bound to have some repercussions.

"It's really not very interesting," he lies, completely unconvincingly. "Or maybe it could be, but it's not like I remember." Mostly. There are those on-and-off almost extrasensory capabilities that mostly just ping when, as far as he can tell, he runs into something vaguely higher-plane-ish. But it's sporadic, unknowable - leftover from Ascension? Bolstered by the Rift? Exclusive to the angels from Lucifer's universe? There's no way of knowing, short of maybe letting Lucifer poke around there himself and Daniel is - not entertaining that idea.

[wentdowntogeorgia]

"Of course you don't remember. Your brain would never be able to contain that much information, nevertheless process and comprehend it."

He could go brain-spelunking in Daniel's noggin to try to find the source of his weirdness, but that could also damage him. And with his Grace limited in this universe, he isn't too eager to do damage that he isn't certain that he can repair.

Daniel is interesting. Daniel is potentially useful. And Lucifer has a certain sentimentality when it comes to his vessels, or things associated with them. It's not the same, being stuck here in Nick when he knows what it's like to be in his true vessel-- it's like wearing a suit that doesn't quite fit right. He thinks, if he were ever in a position where he was forced to choose a new vessel, that Daniel would not be a terrible fit. Not Sam, but better than poor Nick.

[peacefulexplorer]

The unfortunate drawback to descending - the loss of all that knowledge. But it when it boiled down to the choice between actively helping and simply knowing he could help, Daniel came down on the side of hard altruism, unsurprisingly. And was promptly exiled, memory-scrubbed, and abandoned for it.

"Right. I can't remember, so I can't exactly be useful in that area, if that's what you're interested in." And he really hopes, for everyone's sake, that it isn't. Ascended beings didn't always stick to their own universes, after all, and the last thing anyone needs is Lucifer of all people figuring out exactly how they managed that. "So I'm back to square one. Nothing special."

Unless he's simply - interesting. Daniel doesn't know what to make of that, seeing as small, exceptionally vocal creatures tend to get quickly crushed beneath one's heel rather than kept alive for amusement's sake.

[wentdowntogeorgia]

"What you remember is immaterial. The things that you have been through have left marks on you that are more than just physical, Daniel."

The sensitivity and enhanced perception, for one thing. Whatever process it is that takes a human and makes them ascend, it fundamentally changes that person in some fashion. Lucifer knows a thing or two about the fundamental alteration of humans, and here is a wholly different specimen for him to look at.

Small, vocal creatures also sometimes get put in cages rather than trod on.

[peacefulexplorer]

"Oh, don't I know it." It's said quietly, fringed with self-disgust. It wasn't just that his body had been restored - it had been left with traces, maybe fragments of knowledge he'd meant to drag to Earth with him and maybe simply pieces that had come along for the ride regardless of intent.

Which makes him more than a little wary over how much Lucifer is willing to invest, for lack of a better word, in examining this. Not that Daniel wouldn't mind knowing what's going on in his head that he can't fully detect, but he doubts he wants the literal Devil performing that cranial examination.

"What's that make me, then? A subject? Your exciting latest project?" he asks, dry as he can make the words without suffusing them in the undercurrent of dread that that's exactly what he is to Satan.

[powerdealer]

"It has a pretty specific area of usage though," Seth answers fairly. "Though, you could've made a bookmark for your book," he suggests. He actually needs office supplies and then declines to make them? Missed opportunity, clearly.

[peacefulexplorer]

He shrugs, glancing at said book with limited interest. Most of the words feel like they've bled out of his skull at this point, in the jumbled, nonsensical way words in dreams are often arranged.

"Eh. Dream book. Not like I'll be able to get back to it once I wake up." But the idea of using his self-generating supply of post-its for bookmarks isn't one that's actually occurred to him before. Daniel's still stretching the limits of the ability itself, testing how long things last and whether object mass has an effect on longevity, but post-its are some of the easiest and longest-lasting since they require so little concentration.

And on that note, Daniel squints at Seth for a minute and pictures a neat stack of them, post-it notes in the standard office yellow, tongue stuck between his teeth.

"Check your pocket." He sounds more curious than anything, to see if a trick like that is possible. Manifesting things at an increased distance from his person has been an interesting challenge.

[boneshaker]

"Oh," he says, but he doesn't sound put off - only sympathetic. That sounds hard to bear, and not her fault at all. It disturbs him a little that she's acting like it's reason to keep away from her.

"I do want to talk to you," he says, and he's a little surprised at how true it is. "I mean, that doesn't scare me, if - if we're dreaming, then you can't hurt me. Right?" He keeps his hand open. "I think you should be able to do whatever you like when you're dreaming."

[etherthief]

Iman jumps at his sudden vehemence, and then smirks at his immediate retraction. "Uh-huh," she says, fiddling gently with the little wispy bits. "It looks nice. I bet you spend a lot of time on it."

She can't wait to mess it up.

"It is practically begging to be fucked with," she says, and pulls her hand into a fist, not tugging, but holding him pretty tightly. "Which is pretty appropriate."

Then she tugs, coaxing his chin up, leaning down to kiss him again with her other hand settled gently at the base of his throat. This is all very fucking hot, except for the part where the mattress is so unstable that she ends up losing her balance and tipping forward, knocking them both over onto Vince's back. She buries her face against his neck and laughs uproariously.

"This is," she says between snorts, "the worst surface I will ever have had sex on. And I've - I've had sex in a desert." What a weird fucking time that was.

[powerdealer]

Seth gives Daniel a dubious look at the way he's squinting at him, unsure what's going on and why he's looking at him like that. But at least he gets an answer to his question pretty quickly. After just a bit more confusion.

He checks one pocket; just his keys. Then the other one; his mp3 player and... a small stack of post-its. Seth smiles with amusement. "So you're doing party tricks now?"

[peacefulexplorer]

"I am practicing," he replies with mock primness, angling his chin at the neat stack with a pleased grin. "Still figuring out if I can manifest them with stuff already written on them, but I'm definitely getting, you know, more control and such."

It's useful. Maybe not life-saving or tremendously utilitarian, but handy in a pinch if he needs to write anything down. And the scissors really did come into good use in the last dream.