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.]

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[postictal]

There is just no way out of this place, is there? That's great, perfect, even, and Tim grunts his frustration as he kicks grumpily at the sod, spitting up clods of earth with the toe of his sneaker. He doesn't like being surrounded by this much green. It's too much of a reminder.

He's not really on the lookout for anyone in particular, which is why it's kind of a shock when he nearly trips over someone.

"Uh," says Tim, immediately shuffling back. "Uh." He raises both hands, half-defensive and half-apologetic. "Didn't mean to interrupt?"

[rae_of_sun]

... Oh. Whoops. She'd sort of taken it for granted that the shadow's owner wouldn't be a complete frigging stranger. Lesson learned, get over yourself, Sunshine, etc.

She cracks her eyes open and peers at him sidelong, examining his shadows. Human, and with a weird, jagged edge that reminds her of something, she just can't place what. And, to his credit, not snapping at her even though she was kind of rude just now. Or, at the very least, kind of weird.

"Sorry," she says, pushing herself up into a sit, propping herself up with her palms against the grass. "I, uh... take sunbathing seriously." Then, with the acute awareness of what a dumb but fitting lead-in that is, she adds, "I'm Sunshine."

[postictal]

She takes sunbathing seriously and her name is Sunshine. Get right outta town.

Or Tim could try not being a dick. That works too.

"Tim," he says. "Uh. Yeah. Sorry about that. Just wasn't watching where I was going. I guess."

Yeah, like that sounds plausible, even if it happens to be true. Half-assed apologies, his goddamn specialty. She seems - all right, not that he can really trust first impressions or anything. Learned that one a long time ago. He can't really judge names like Sunshine when there are people named Aziraphale out in the world.

[rae_of_sun]

Her eyes narrow slightly, as if she can see him thinking snide thoughts about her nickname. Well, she's not the one who almost tripped over a human-sized obstacle in an otherwise empty stretch of greenery. Maybe he was distracted by the heavy burden of being saddled with a deadly dull name like Tim.

At least he apologized, though. Points for manners.

"It's a nickname," she explains flatly as she pushes herself to her feet with some reluctance. "But it's what everyone calls me." Even moreso here than at home. What had started out as a semi-conscious decision to be Sunshine here - because Rae Seddon is who she is at home, where she belongs - has calcified into habit. It's probably reached the point where if someone tossed 'Rae' around within earshot, she'd assume they were talking about someone else.

Ugh. Let's not think about that.

She hasn't seen Tim around, and he's too normal-looking to have the usual excuses for keeping a low profile. "Are you new?" she hazards, scrutinizing his shadows. What is it about them? This is going to bug her.

[postictal]

It's not a nickname that leaves a lot to the imagination in terms of origin story, but all right. It doesn't really concern him.

"Uhh, kinda?" he offers. Could he just not end up pissing off everyone he stumbles over, literally? That'd be great. "It's been like a month, I think. Maybe longer."

Probably longer, now that he thinks about it, but the days slog by and he's not the best at keeping track. Never really has been. Those lengthy stretches of emptiness in his memory have long since seen to that.

"What about you?" He looks at her, mildly uncomfortable with the way she's sort of evaluating him. Like she's double-checking or verifying his story or something. God but please don't let there be mind-readers in Manhattan. That's the last thing he needs.