applesaucedream | Sweeter than the First Time [Open to All]

Current Music: Evening of August 14th/Morning of August 15th, 2013

Sweeter than the First Time [Open to All]

photo dream party visual_zpsua3sjlqf.jpg

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.]

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He lets that sentence trail off the way it does. Whatever it is, sounds like Seth isn't up for discussing it, though that leads Daniel to believe there is, probably, an it that could potentially be discussed. Though probably not now, and likely not with Daniel. Johnny, maybe, though Daniel won't say his curiosity isn't a little piqued.

"Hmm. High school, huh?" He frowns a little. "Can't say I see that as much of a progenitor for fond memories but, hey, I could be wrong."

Seth would probably answer if prompted, it just seems a bit strange to just bring up out of the blue. He's not a hundred percent comfortable with it still, and at the time he was still trying to pretend to himself that it was nothing. And, well, Daniel's the reason that Seth's had to stop pretending it's nothing, because it's very clearly not. So there's... a lot of confusing emotions involved in bringing something like that up.

"Well, nor for me, but it was a party and nothing was trying to kill us," he answers, giving a half shrug and sinking a little down his the seat, giving in to the relaxing atmosphere of the place. It's a little sad that 'no immediate threat of death' is the minimum requirement for a nice dream, but...

"Before that, um..." He considers, licking his lips, thinking back. "Mythological creatures, I think? Um, we were. We became hybrid creatures. Very strange, but not outright bad." Some people probably had more issue with it than he did. He just... tried not to focus on how weird it was to have plants growing out of him. At least in a dream it's easier to ignore that sort of stuff.

"What, really?" Now that actually sounds halfway interesting. Maybe not comfortable, per se, but that lands a little more in Daniel's area of expertise.

"I mean, this right here is about as close to a 'nice dream' as I'll expect from the Rift any day but, uh." He gestures at the bookcase and the hearth with an easy shrug then leans forward a little, a smile quirking up one side of his mouth. "Why, what were you?"

"Um, one of those..." He trails off, frowning, trying to remember the name. Mythology isn't one of his strongest suits. Unlike Daniel, who could probably ramble for hours about something like that.

"Like a tree spirit? Covered in plants and leaves, growing out of my skin," he says, making a slight face. The word he's looking for is dryad, but it's eluding him.

After a while he had decided it was sort of like hair, since even if it was growing out of him, it wasn't like he had any sensation in it, and it didn't hurt him to have any of it torn off. But it was also the only thing that was covering him, so he hadn't tried to remove it, since walking around outside naked would be even more awkward and embarrassing.

Daniel executes a small double-take at that, eyebrows shooting upward.

"You mean like a, a nymph or a dryad?" Maybe it wasn't a whole lot of fun for Seth, but Daniel mostly seems fascinated by the entire idea. "Tree spirit? 'Cause that's, that's straight out of classical Greek mythology." He's been supplied with a tangent, and now he's taken off at full speed. "Most were closely associated with oak trees but there were others, subspecies almost, that related to different kinds of trees like ash, elm, apple, walnut, etc. And most were, erm, female, but that's, that's not strictly a concrete fact given the, ah, scope. Of Greek mythology."

He coughs lightly and goes back to observing the cabin and adamantly not thinking about dryads in Greek mythology and what the Rift might have picked him to be if it were drawing out of historical mythology as a resource. He's not sure he wants the answer to that one.

Seth can't help the grin that slowly grows on his face as Daniel goes off on a small ramble, as expected. It's one of the things he ~~loves~~ likes about him, his ability to get excited and interested in almost anything.

The last bit gives him a little pause, though he's mostly just amused. "Well, it didn't make me into a woman if that's what you're wondering." Although should he be worried about some of the implications of that? Was the Rift making a point about his romantic inclinations or something? He's going to abandon that thought.

"No, no, I just, ah." Seth's smirking again, which is highly distracting, but Daniel can't help but grin crookedly back. "Well, just wondering what it'd turn me into, given the chance. Not that I'd want to be turned into anything, really, but, y'know. Curious. You'd think that's happened to me before given all the wormhole-jumping I've done but, nope."

Which goes to show that there's always something the Rift can spring on him if he ever feels like he's getting too comfy. Keeping things exciting, or maybe just frustrating. Or, no, exciting a little, he'll admit it, because the Rift is a bit fascinating all on its own, random and often frustrating machinations included.

"Weeell," he says slowly, thinking back to the dream and what he'd seen walking around there. There was a good variety, though Seth had mostly just seen them from afar. He hadn't particularly wanted to socialise too much that day - feeling a little awkward wearing nothing but leaves - but thankfully he had pretty easily blended into the surroundings and could escape notice.

"Lots of half-animal variations. Centaurs, and the like. And, what are those, with the goat legs - fauns!" See, he does know some things. "And uh, mermaids. And.. something part lion, but with a scorpion tail? And... Something... half mermaid, half centaur, I guess?" He could mostly recognise the ingredients, so to speak, just not the names for everything.

"Huh." Daniel leans back, apparently unaware that one arm is still flung over the back of the armchair and therefore not very far from dropping around Seth's shoulders and stretching the meaning of 'companionable proximity'. "Well, lion-scorpion sounds a bit like a manticore, but that's out of Persian legend and they aren't typically mashed together with human physiology. Hmm. The 'water horse' description is reminiscent of a kelpie but I'd say that's more, um, ichthyocentaur, if the Rift was keeping with a general human-hybrid theme. It's a bit like an aquatic centaur."

He doesn't know why he's devoting a great deal of thought to this, but it's...comfortable. It's talking for talking's sake, no distracting from the agony of withdrawal, just a nice, pleasant dream with some nice, pleasant chatter.

At this point Seth finds himself completely unbothered by the proximity, companionable or not, and just enjoying the close contact. In fact he rather wants more of it. Not that that's particularly uncommon, but it's stronger right now, in a way he doesn't quite question. He doesn't mind the way the softness of their seating makes him lean against Daniel even without meaning to. It's comfortable.

And of course Daniel would know the names of those things. It's like having his own little lexicon, at least when it comes to historical stuff.

"Well, maybe it'll happen again. We do sometimes get repeats," he answers a shrug, stuffing his hands into his pockets. "Maybe you'll end up some kind of centaur, those seemed pretty popular. I saw a part-llama one!" The last bit gets accompanied by a lazy, crooked grin.

"Mm, really?" He looks at Seth, amusement eliciting a broader smile. "Something about me really just, just screams centaur?" He looks down at himself, almost picturing the lower body of the horse and he wonders briefly what it'd be like to have to manage six limbs instead of four. It seems like it might be a mechanical overload, but who knows?

"I can see it now." He tilts his head to one side in mock wistfulness, dangerously close to collapsing entirely on Seth's shoulder. "Daniel Jackson, onocentuar - that's part donkey, mind. You know, cause I can be an ass sometimes." His grin widens, cheekily unrepentant.

Seth gives a soft snort and elbows Daniel gently in the side. He's still smiling though, so clearly he's not exactly bothered. He shakes his head in amused exasparation, then leans it backwards, resting partly on the back of the seat and partly on Daniel's arm.

"Stop horsing around," he says, closing his eyes in mild disgust at himself for making that joke.

Even better, Seth's playing along. Daniel's head lolls onto his shoulder, the dream's mildly soporific effect leaving him a little less cautious of kinesic suggestion than is typical for him.

"Would you rather I just hoof it?" he asks, barely able to keep the utter delight from his voice.

"Oh god, stop it," he replies immediately, though there's definitely laughter in his voice, and a silly grin on his face, even if Daniel can't really see it. He lifts his head again to look down on where Daniel is resting his head, and the sight leaves a warm but nervous feeling in his stomach.

He gives a small, involuntary shiver, noticing the chill despite the body heat Daniel is giving off. Thankfully there's a blanket right over the arm of the chair. Seth picks it up with the arm Daniel isn't currently leaning on, holding onto one corner and letting gravity unfold it for him, before draping it over their laps. Much better.

Oh yeah, that's actually way better. Daniel didn't even realize he was cold until the blanket goes over both of them, and this is really nice and really cozy, comfortably reminiscent of his past two non-shared dreams without any of the confusing associations.

"I was gonna say you started it," he answers, blithely unabashed, "but then I realized I started it. Which makes me kind of a hypocrite. But, y'know, I feel like that's a fairly self-informed flaw."

Besides, exchanges of puns are perfectly neutral things. Perfectly neutral, even if the exchanging of puns happens to occur...beneath a blanket. While sort-of maybe cuddling. Hmm. Well. Daniel's just not going to touch that.

If they're cuddling, it's definitely only the setting-appropriate platonic kind. The dream seems to push them towards this kind of interaction and proximity - Seth passed a few other ~~couples~~ pairs cozied up together on his way here. So it doesn't necessarily mean anything, if it's just the default mode in this particularly dream.

It's nice though. It's very nice.

Except Seth is having a problem wherein he keeps having these terrible impulses. Like he wants to turn his head to kiss Daniel's hair, or even just lean his head against Daniel's. Or he wants to reach over and take his hand, winding their fingers together, or maybe just draping it around Daniel's waist.

It's a constant barrage of affectionate impulses he needs to keep a lid on, and probably large part of the reason he's still managing it is because he doesn't want to jostle Daniel, doesn't want him to lift his head. So he stays still, nervous energy - thankfully somewhat mitigated by the drowsy feeling of the dream, with the crackling of the fire - only manifesting as minor fiddling with his hand, picking at the edge of the blanket.

"Could present in much worse ways than making puns, I suppose," he answers, smiling still. Unable to really stop smiling, currently. "In better ways too, though." He can't be seen to be too approving of the puns, clearly.

Seth's fidgeting wouldn't be so distracting if it didn't happen to be the only part of either of them that's moving. Daniel rearranges himself slightly, into a position that maybe doesn't elicit so much hesitant twitching from his impromptu apparent partner in cuddling, but it doesn't seem to be working.

"Puns," says Daniel with a concentrated, grandiose deadpan that nearly slips at the completion of the syllable, "are an extremely sophisticated sense of humor. They are," and he has to bite his lip to keep from dissolving into extremely undignified snickers, but his amusement is still painfully obvious from the thickness in his voice, "a paragon of linguistic ingenuity."

And, ah, he can't do it. The straight face collapses and his face cracks into another broad grin. "A punagon, even." That was terrible, and even Daniel will admit it.

Seth's fidgeting stops at that, but only because he's too busy closing his eyes and leaning his head forward in defeat as he lets out a small groan. He pretends there isn't still a smile pulling at his lips.

"If you keep this up, I'm revoking your book privileges," he jokes.

He regrets it almost immediately, reminding himself he's actually had that both threatened and carried out against him, to rather impressive effect, when book privileges were one of the few only good things he had. He's even sort of received the threat from Daniel himself, although even within the context of the dream it was just for pretend.

He's suddenly strangely frustrated with himself, letting himself feel so safe that he completely forgot for a moment. Even if he knows he should be glad. But even after all this time, it still feels a little bit like he doesn't deserve to forget.

Something about Seth's demeanor decreases after that, an odd melancholic dampener on their formerly comfortable rapport. Daniel lifts his head off his shoulder properly to give him a searching, evenly quizzical look.

"What's up?" He says it quietly, lightly, implicitly asking Seth's permission to delve into whatever topic he hasn't disclosed while allowing him the equally tacit opt-out.

Oh, and now he made Daniel move, too. Damnit.

"Mm," he answers, glancing over at Daniel and giving him a tiny, reassuring smile. "Book privileges..." he replies meaningfully, feeling a bit muted suddenly. He shouldn't though, they're having such a pleasant time, and he feels a bit guilty bringing the mood down. He's such a mess, why can't he just enjoy a situation while he's in it, instead of dwelling on what's long gone?

He shakes his head a fraction, indicating they don't really need to pursue it. There's not all that much to pursue anyway.

Daniel searches Seth's expression for a minute, wondering where that tangent could possibly lead that would be uncomfortable for him to discuss. Privileges has a darker connotation, and - but Seth shakes his head and Daniel takes that as his cue to let the topic drop. It's a little upsetting, but it's such a pleasant atmosphere and if Seth doesn't want to pursue it, Daniel won't force him.

So instead he stretches, arcing both arms behind his head and tensing his neck back to let the dream-muscles loosen a bit.

"Well, I'm definitely liking this dream better than the last one," he remarks, partially to Seth and partially to the ceiling, as if hoping the Rift may overhear. "I vote we get more of these. Nice dreams, you know. They're not half bad."

Seth turns his head to look at him, and suddenly he's reminded of the dream with their.. inner animal spirits, or whatever it was, Daniel's stretching being vaguely reminiscent of that of a cat. The thought makes him smile, a bit less forced.

"Which last one?" he asks, curious if Daniel's had a more recent one. His previous shared one was almost a week ago, though that one had been pretty terrible at times. There were some okay bits in the middle, but between the gift-wrapped claustrophobia and the abduction by giant cats in a giant crumbling house, well, it wasn't exactly as pleasant as this. But since then, Seth's troubles have been mostly rooted in the waking world.

The first example Daniel's mind flies to is the bit with the cats and the wrapping paper and all the associated terror besides, but that, unfortunately, doesn't really count as the most recent.

Like a sledgehammer the memory hits him all over again and his stretching abruptly shrinks, his eyes dropping, downcast. It's warm and pleasant by the fireplace, surrounded by books and blankets and Seth, but ice creeps into his veins regardless, Daniel being made to relive things he never wanted to relive.

Daniel swallows hard, suddenly wishing very hard that he hadn't brought it up. He hadn't been thinking.

"Just," he says, and the word comes out a little too pained so he swallows, breathes, and starts over. "Just a, um. Bad dream. Bad memories."

That's close enough.

Daniel's demeanour changes so rapidly it would be impossible for Seth not to notice. He seems to crumple, and despite being both taller and broader than Seth, he suddenly doesn't seem it.

Seth knows that Daniel has just as many unpleasant memories as Seth does, if not more. Even just the ones Seth knows about would be enough to cause this sort of reaction, and Daniel probably has plenty more where that came from. It's not particularly important which one it is, unless Daniel wants to talk about it.

Daniel sounds so upset that Seth feels completely justified in lifting his arm and putting it around Daniel's shoulders, giving him a little squeeze of support. He has no idea what to say, but he wants Daniel to know that Seth is there for him, like Daniel has been for him. Only a couple days ago had Daniel been holding Seth like this while he was going through a bad time, though the circumstances were pretty different.

He remains quiet for a little while in case Daniel wants to elaborate, vent some of his worries, but it doesn't seem like he wants to. Which is also fine.

"We're hopeless, huh?" he says finally, voice soft. "Rift finally gives us a setting like this, and neither of us even manages to reliably take advantage of it."

The gentle pressure around his shoulders is welcome, even if Daniel can't lift his gaze from the seam on the blanket Seth pulled over both of them, toying with a loose thread that seems to have sprang up specifically so he could fiddle with it.

"We really are," he says in a stumbling attempt to jar himself back into the formerly warm atmosphere they'd been sharing before. The smile he tries to form quickly flutters and fades. "Well, hey. It's what happens when you take us someplace nice for once."

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