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

[eliotwaugh]

What, is he drunk or something? Eliot wants to shove Gabe away, tell him to fuck off, but the questions give him pause. He had thought, he had hoped that things were okay with Johnny, that Johnny didn't blame him for what had happened. But now he has doubts, and that makes wisps of fear coil up again in him. Eliot shivers.

"Why, do you have spiritual counsel to offer?" He smirks humorlessly and sighs. He should keep this to himself. Better still, he should get up and leave, but he was here first, and he is fairly comfortable.

"Listen it was...just something, a stupid mashup of a kids' fantasy book world and..." and his worst nightmare, being that helpless in the face of suffering. "This thing that happened a few years ago at my school, a bad thing, and it..." No. No, he's not going to say it, he keeps trying not to see it in his head. "Johnny died," He says finally, rubbing a hand over his head. "But I mean he said, afterward, like he's died a million times in dreams, he said he was okay, so could it really have been that much worse than the other times?"

Aw shit, apparently this turned into angel therapy after all. Eliot really wishes he had a drink.

[has_a_horn]

From how Johnny was acting, this isn't really what he was expecting. He's seen Johnny after dreams like that. He actively sought out company. He was willing to talk about it. To have him stick to himself after something similar just seems strange.

"That's true. I wish it didn't happen as often as it does. Or that he'd call me to come fix it. He can be very stubborn." There have probably been a few times that it's happened any Johnny didn't want to bother him with it, but he doesn't like that thought. He'd like to think that someone would be there for Johnny when he's upset. If not him, then Eliot.

"How bad was it?"

[eliotwaugh]

Eliot likes how stubborn Johnny is, he doesn't see it as a problem. It certainly made him come over at three in the morning to help Eliot process the nightmare, and for that Eliot's going to be grateful for a damn long time. But he supposes that same stubbornness made Johnny go after the Beast in the first place. Eliot frowns for a moment, considering, like he's done a thousand times since the nightmare, what could have happened differently, if they both could have made it out alive. But he doesn't think so.

"Listen," he says, taking his irritation with himself out on Gabe a little bit. Unfair? Yes. But the angel did ask. "I don't know what kind of cosmic shit you've been through, and I'm sure if we held some sort of trauma pissing contest you'd win, whatever, I don't care, but for me? This was pretty fucking bad."

And he wants to leave it at that, he wants to, if only to sit in stoic silence for a while and see what kind of glib comeback Gabe can come up with, but just making an oblique reference to the nightmare was bad enough, and now he can't help it thinking about it, he has to keep talking to keep from getting overwhelmed by it.

"This thing ate him," he continues, his voice getting quieter as he stares at his lap and tightens the blankets around himself. "And there was nothing I could do, it stopped--it kept me from moving and I just had to watch it happen."

There you have it, buddy. Eliot's not sure what kind of response he expects from Gabe, like how do you even respond to something like that, other than maybe confirmation that Eliot is bad and he should feel bad. That's probably the best he can hope for.