applesaucemod: (Default)
The Big Applesauce Moderators ([personal profile] applesaucemod) wrote in [community profile] applesaucedream2013-06-01 06:24 pm

It's Saturday night and you're hallucinating in your sleep!

It's that time again! The rift has caught the good little dreamers of New York (and beyond) in its currents and washed them ashore on a desert island in a dream wonderland. This time, however, quite a noticeable change has come over each of the attendees of this nocturnal party.

All the people who arrive in this shared mindspace will find that they have been transformed into some sort of animal they find familiar or that resembles them. They will find that they can still communicate with one another and that they still have all their mental faculties, but might be a little…well…influenced by the forms they have taken on.

They will also find that they have been deposited in the middle of the largest, most elaborate playground they have ever seen. Climbing equipment and slides of the sort meant for human children are in evidence, but so are cat trees, meadows, tunnels, pools and ponds, aerial obstacle courses, and anything else the mind can imagine, for as far as the eye can see.



[OOC: The usual dream party rules apply: players apply the party's theme (in this case, transformation) to their characters according to their own discretion, and both members and non-members are more than welcome to use this post to try out characters not yet in the game. Usual dreaming rules also apply, in that players can choose whether or not their characters will remember this in the morning. Have at!]
wildmage_daine: (okay)

[personal profile] wildmage_daine 2013-06-09 08:35 pm (UTC)(link)
Maybe she shouldn't have pushed him so hard, but she's not sure what else she could have done. But if he wants her to leave be for a while, she can. She won't even have to deal with him next time, thanks to Andrew's invitation. Perhaps it'll be better for both of them if she stays away. Or perhaps it'll be bad enough that he'll be willing to reach out to her instead of having her do all the legwork.

Sighing, Daine looks down at her dripping clothes. First things first: she pulls her hair to one side and twists it, trying to squeeze some of the excess water out of her curls. "I didn't know you wrote," she says, a bit surprised by the revelation.
stronglikebear: (.bear | back off)

[personal profile] stronglikebear 2013-06-10 01:51 am (UTC)(link)
Oh. He rests his chin on the dock, looking up at her with eyes that are too wide and calm to be in the face of a predator. He'd forgotten that Daine doesn't know what he does for a living (outside the allowance, anyway); her not knowing sort of confirms his thoughts about them never talking about anything other than his bearness. Yeah. I do some freelance stuff. I was going to be a journalist, if I hadn't ended up here."
wildmage_daine: (questioning)

[personal profile] wildmage_daine 2013-06-10 03:35 am (UTC)(link)
As he explains, she has to tamp down on a twinge of guilt. Does she know anything about him that isn't bear-related? She's spent so much time focused on that, it never really occurred to her to ask about the normal parts of his life.

Well, she can start making up for it, now. "What sort of stuff do you write about?" she asks, giving her hair one last squeeze before concluding that it's as dry as it's going to get without a towel. Now, the shirt. She peels the hem away from her body so she can start wringing out the cloth as best she can without just taking the whole thing off.
stronglikebear: (.bear | back off)

[personal profile] stronglikebear 2013-06-10 04:18 am (UTC)(link)
All sorts of stuff, he shrugs. I started doing sports articles, but I've done descriptions for catalogs, copyediting...I dunno, anything they'll pay me for.

He watches, feeling a little bad again about getting her wet when she doesn't have a change of clothes. When she starts tugging on the hem of her shirt he looks away, thinking she's going to take it off. It's easier to find the work than to find a real job, he admits. But let's just say it's a good thing I've got the allowance.
wildmage_daine: (Default)

[personal profile] wildmage_daine 2013-06-10 12:13 pm (UTC)(link)
"Huh." It's not a job that really exists in Tortall, mostly because parchment isn't as cheap and plentiful as paper is here.

Seeing that Yuri's turned away, she only hesitates for a moment before taking her shirt off. Wringing it out while wearing it wasn't doing the trick, and she still has a breastband on. She holds the sopping mass out over the water and starts to wring it out properly.

"It'd be nice to have some sort of job," she says as she works. "But my magic's the only useful thing I have, and I can't exactly advertise it."
stronglikebear: (.bear | back off)

[personal profile] stronglikebear 2013-06-11 05:16 am (UTC)(link)
What do you do all day? he asks, eyes still carefully averted. It's not a derisive question; he understands why Daine doesn't get a job and move out of the base and take up a 'normal' life. He has a hard enough time maintaining any sort of life outside the work he does for the rebellion, and his only problem is that he turns into a bear every so often.
wildmage_daine: (gonna fix it)

[personal profile] wildmage_daine 2013-06-12 12:12 am (UTC)(link)
Daine makes a face as she continues to twist pond water out of her shirt. "Try to take care of the People, mostly - as much as I can, anyway. Feed strays, heal any injured in the park. Sometimes I take bird shape and visit the menagerie animals." What else can she do?

Deciding the shirt's had enough, she shakes it out and puts it back on. It's still cold and damp, but at least it's not dripping and clinging to her anymore. "Back home, I'd be serving the crown," she says, trying not to sound resentful that this realm affords her no such purpose. Helping the People ought to be enough, but it doesn't fill her days, and it doesn't get her any closer to home. She feels like she's just killing time while she waits for someone smarter than her to figure out how to get her out of here.
stronglikebear: (.bear | back off)

[personal profile] stronglikebear 2013-06-12 02:53 am (UTC)(link)
I'd say you should go help the President, but..."

It's a half-hearted attempt at a bad joke, and Yuri knows it. Surreptitiously glancing to see if she's got her shirt back on, he hefts himself out of the water when he sees that she does. He almost shakes, but catches himself in time and reduces it to a little wag of his head. Even if people don't buy the strays, at least they'd get to come inside for a while, he muses, back to the plan she brought up earlier.
wildmage_daine: (apprehensive)

[personal profile] wildmage_daine 2013-06-16 03:46 am (UTC)(link)
Daine lets out a quiet snort at the suggestion. Even if the president wanted her help, she can't say she owes much in the way of fealty to someone who approved Romac and their methods.

Looking down at her pants, she sighs and begins half-heartedly trying to squeeze at least a little of the surplus water out of the fabric. It's a lost cause, but at least the subject shift is a welcome distraction.

"They'd like that," Daine says with a nod. Of course, they wouldn't appreciate being tossed back out into the cold if no one adopts them. It won't come to that, she decides. Surely there's work they could do for the rebels, enough to justify their presence. They could help guard the place, or catch rats, or something.

Climbing to her feet, Daine gives each of her feet a little shake. It doesn't do much for her overall dampness, and the light breeze that had been pleasant ten minutes ago is a bit chilling, now. She shivers and heads back up the dock, looking for a sunny spot that's out of the wind.
stronglikebear: (.bear | back off)

[personal profile] stronglikebear 2013-06-16 06:11 am (UTC)(link)
Yuri can think of more than a few rebels who might object to the base being full of formerly stray dogs, rat catchers or no. Of course, there are plenty others who would welcome the animals -- some might even want to buy/adopt them from Daine. He stays behind on the end of the dock, watching Daine go, and waits until he thinks she's out of range before giving himself a good, full-bodied shake and lumbering to catch up.

Where are you going to keep them? he asks belatedly. I mean, maybe we could get you a second room or something, but there's not a whole lot of free space.
wildmage_daine: (determined)

[personal profile] wildmage_daine 2013-06-16 02:00 pm (UTC)(link)
Wrapping her arms around herself, Daine pokes around behind a shrub that turns out to be too thin to block much of the breeze. "I don't know," she says with a shrug. Her room certainly isn't big enough, especially now that Aly's here. "But there must be someplace they could stay. They wouldn't even need a proper room; an empty corridor would do as well."
stronglikebear: (.bear | back off)

[personal profile] stronglikebear 2013-06-16 06:23 pm (UTC)(link)
If you moved out into an apartment... Yuri trails off, not sure how open she'll be to that idea. It's not so much that he wants her out of the base (okay, he kind of does, but only a little). It wouldn't be huge, but it'd be more than a room.
wildmage_daine: (sad frown)

[personal profile] wildmage_daine 2013-06-16 08:36 pm (UTC)(link)
Daine flops down behind the inadequate shrubbery with a frustrated huff. She doesn't really want to move out of the base; her friends are there, and getting an apartment feels too much like settling in. If she has no intention of spending any more time here than she must, why get comfortable?

Then again, the practicalities of having a bigger place are getting harder to overlook. She could take in more strays, and Aly would be more comfortable. And if she's not going to be allowed anywhere near Yuri as a bear anymore...

Hugging her knees to her chest, she says, "I suppose I should." But she's not happy or enthusiastic about it.
stronglikebear: (.bear | back off)

[personal profile] stronglikebear 2013-06-17 03:11 am (UTC)(link)
Yuri's going to be surprised when he learns she's sharing that tiny room with Aly. He thinks he doesn't mind cramped spaces, but even he would think twice about sharing a room in the base with another person.

Plopping down beside her (not in a position to block the breeze -- if he realized why she picked this spot, he might arrange himself differently), he gives a little shrug. You don't have to. But if she did, she would be far away enough she couldn't hear him, right?
wildmage_daine: (looking away)

[personal profile] wildmage_daine 2013-06-17 07:28 pm (UTC)(link)
It hasn't been too bad, though it also hasn't been too long. They're both out and about for much of the day, so it's only during the night that they really have to share that little space. Aly had insisted she didn't mind the close quarters, and Daine likes having her niece close by. The disappointment of waking up in her room at the base is eased a little by the comfort of having someone from home there with her.

It's a selfish arrangement that won't work in the long run. Daine knows that much. It's just that she doesn't like to admit, even to herself, that it might be prudent to start thinking with the long run in mind - especially now that Aly's here. It'd be a fine thing for her to insist that they'll be home soon for Aly's benefit and then turn around and get an apartment.

Nor would moving out of the base do much good during the full moon. It's not as if being out of earshot would change what Yuri was going through or enable her to just forget about him.

Not knowing what to say, Daine just shrugs moodily and hugs her knees a bit tighter. She's going to start shivering in earnest in a minute, but unless a change of clothing falls out of the sky, there's not much she can do about it except wait it out.
stronglikebear: (.bear | back off)

[personal profile] stronglikebear 2013-06-18 01:32 am (UTC)(link)
But surely she could just pretend nothing was happening if she was out of earshot. People do it back home every month!

Yuri sinks into silence as well, not sure how to read her reticence. He doesn't want to push her too hard when they're more or less getting along (there haven't been any major outbursts on either side, at least). He's not so obtuse, though, that he doesn't eventually notice her shivering.

Are you cold?
wildmage_daine: (demure)

[personal profile] wildmage_daine 2013-06-18 01:54 am (UTC)(link)
"A bit," she admits with a shrug. And it's his fault, but not so entirely that she feels like rubbing it in. The environment is as much to blame; it could be warmer, or less windy. "I don't think this place was designed with two-legger comfort in mind, elsewise there'd be towels or something." She supposes there are animals that might like playing with (or under) blankets, but she hasn't seen any around.
stronglikebear: (.bear | back off)

[personal profile] stronglikebear 2013-06-18 02:25 am (UTC)(link)
I'm sorry. I didn't really think about it. Even though it was pretty obvious Daine preferred to stay dry. He slouches down to lay beside her, letting out a big sigh. You could -- I mean, if you're really cold, I'm pretty warm, so you could, I dunno. Lean against me.
wildmage_daine: (smile profile)

[personal profile] wildmage_daine 2013-06-18 03:42 am (UTC)(link)
She's chilly enough by this point that she doesn't need much convincing. "It's all right," she says as she uncurls herself and moves to the leeward side of bear mountain. "I mean, it's not as if you designed this place - or stuck me in my human shape." And she's far more bitter about that than she is about the wet, honestly.

Sitting down behind his shoulder takes care of the breeze, at least, and while his fur is still a bit damp, it's warmer than her clothes. "Thanks," she says, leaning back against his side with a sigh of relief.
stronglikebear: (.bear | back off)

[personal profile] stronglikebear 2013-06-18 05:08 am (UTC)(link)
Least I could do, he replies humbly, resting his head on the ground and turning big brown eyes up at her. At least he can be of some use, maybe make up for getting her wet in the first place. He wishes they could just hang out like this (or okay, maybe not exactly like this) without all the were-stuff getting in the way.

What do you think this place is, anyway? he asks. It's not Manhattan.
wildmage_daine: (what in the what)

[personal profile] wildmage_daine 2013-06-18 10:00 am (UTC)(link)
It's probably just as well that Daine's used to Yuri's bear shape, otherwise she'd have a harder time resisting the urge to reach over and scritch behind his ears. "It's not Tortall," she says with certainty, tucking her hands beneath her arms to help warm them faster (and to keep them from doling out any ear-scritches of their own accord; she's not used to being this close to his bear shape, after all, and old habits, etc.). "Beyond that, though..." she trails off with a shrug. She's no expert in other realms. "Could we be somewhere else in New York?" Seems doubtful, but she's never left the island.
stronglikebear: (.bear | back off)

[personal profile] stronglikebear 2013-06-18 01:16 pm (UTC)(link)
Not in the city. You've seen Central Park, that's the closest thing the city has to something like this. I guess we could be upstate or something, but it seems kind of weird for the rift to do that.
wildmage_daine: (haaair)

[personal profile] wildmage_daine 2013-06-18 01:34 pm (UTC)(link)
Daine frowns thoughtfully. The rift isn't exactly in the habit of making sense, but this does seem a good deal stranger than the usual. Why would it muck about with wild magic and transport everyone off the island? It ought to be one or the other, not both.

Vague memories of other large rifty gatherings begin to resurface. "Dream?" she guesses.
stronglikebear: (.bear | back off)

[personal profile] stronglikebear 2013-06-19 12:18 am (UTC)(link)
Yuri furrows his brow at her, surprised at the suggestion...and surprised he didn't think of it sooner. Yeah, he says after a moment. Yeah, it could be, couldn't it?
wildmage_daine: (confident)

[personal profile] wildmage_daine 2013-06-19 12:44 am (UTC)(link)
"Makes more sense than this being real," Daine says. "I suppose the rift could do this sort of thing in reality, but it'd be simpler to make it a dream than to actually turn a bunch of folk into animals and move us all to..." she gestures vaguely at their surroundings, "wherever this is meant to be."

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