What's Stopping Us From Breathing Easy [Open to All]

[applesaucemod]

Dreamers of Manhattan, you've lucked out. Rather than finding yourselves in some kind of dystopian nightmare, you'll end up in a series of formal gardens on a lovely day, the air filled with birdsong and a cloud-scattered sky arching overhead. Some of the gardens look a bit wilder than others, in an artful sort of way, but it's clear that all of the gardens are well kept and frequently tended. Aside from each other, dreamers aren't likely to run into any creature larger than a rabbit. True, there are no actual exits - every doorway or arbor leads to another garden - but that's hardly a problem. It's beautiful, it's safe... what could go wrong?

Well, that depends on the dreamer's honesty. No uncomfortable truths will drop unbidden from anyone's mouths like last time, but the dreamers will find that any time they attempt to lie or prevaricate, they'll be beset by a sneezing fit. A tiny lie by omission might only prompt that uncomfortable feeling of an impending sneeze; a larger, more significant (or more stubborn) fib will lead to a sneeze attack so crippling that the dreamer might just need to sit down for a minute.

You could try to pass it off as allergies, if you could get the words out without making everything worse. But while telling the truth is not compulsory, lying is punishable - and pretty well obscured - by sneezes.

[OOC: Usual dream party rules apply. All are welcome to participate regardless of whether they've been apped in the game or not. Dreamers can remember or forget the events of the dream at the players' discretion.]

Comments

[postictal]

He snorts, trying and failing to picture Jay in some oversized sweater that probably resembled a goddamn carnival tent on the stick of a guy in comparison to Brian's broad-shouldered frame. God. A Kralie film stoner sequence. He would pay to see the footage for that. Why didn't Jay put any of that up.

"Documentaries on hotels." Tim leans back, his smirk broadening. "I mean, to your credit, it was technically true. And your camera work's not half-bad." He almost snickers, looking at Jay archly. "When you're not pointing it at your feet, that is."

[deadeyedchild]

"Don't remind me," groans Jay, covering his face. He peeks through his fingers at his feet, remembering how much of his footage, from the early days especially, was practically unusable.

"Part of me wants to try and pick something up now," he murmurs. "But I'm..." He swallows, knowing there's no point trying to get around his feelings on this. "I'm kinda scared to."

[postictal]

Tim doesn't look at him, but his mouth tightens. He can't say he blames Jay for that. He'd tossed the battered camera the first chance he got, abandoned the YouTube channel and its anxious viewers, guiltily burned out any trace the man had once existed. He doubts he'll ever look at cameras the same way again. Too much pain rooted there. Too much paranoia.

"Well," says Tim, shrugging, "you've certainly got no shortage of cameras. And we know, now." He pauses, waiting for the itch in his nostrils, but it never comes. "We know that - thing, it, it never followed us here."

Not yet, anyway. But he's not thinking about that.

[deadeyedchild]

"Yeah." He keeps his eyes on his feet for a few moments, and then he looks back up at Tim. "Thanks."

He's not even sure what for precisely. There's just a wealth of gratitude for this, the little vote of confidence, the conversation, all of it; for being allowed to feel a little normal. He wishes it were easy to verbalize that. If he tries he's pretty sure he'll end up stammering into oblivion.

He looks back over the garden and breathes out slowly, smiling to himself.

[postictal]

"Hey." He tips his head back and breathes. It feels good to breathe, even if it's fake dream air. It feels good to not be on edge. Eventually they'll wake up and the dream will be over, but until it does he'll enjoy it while it lasts. "We're in this together."

Took them a long damn time to come to terms with it.

But now that they have, it feels pretty good.