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

[applesaucemod]

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!]

Comments

[fucking_ebay]

"Couldn't see where it was when I flipped," explains Peter, needing to justify his performance despite her reassurances. He clambers onto her hand, ready to be lifted up for another go -- now that he knows how not to fall (usually), practicing isn't so intimidating.

[wildmage_daine]

Once he's on her hand, Daine backs up a few paces so he'll have a slightly longer approach. Hopefully that'll lessen the chances of him needing to circle back around.

"It's tricky," she says with a nod. "You can't really see what your feet are doing, so you just have to make sure you're close enough to grab hold when you flip."

[fucking_ebay]

Peter nods, thinking of how he's learned the timing for countless tricks and stunts. This is a bit different, of course, especially from the sleight of hand he's doing these days...but it boils down to the same instinct. "Timing, yeah."

He takes off again, this time swooping in low so he can take it on his first pass, before he gets himself worked up about it. This time when he flips, one claw catches and he dangles awkwardly for a few seconds, swinging wildly from a single toe before he loses his hold. It's long enough, though, that he can orient himself to open his wings and fly again when he drops, circling back around Daine for another shot at it.

[wildmage_daine]

"Exactly." She watches him approach the cat tree, and sits up a bit straighter when he manages to snag it - but then he drops. He recovers quickly, though, and circles back for another go.

"This time, I bet," she says encouragingly, because he really did almost have it before.

[fucking_ebay]

Remembering to use his echolocation this time, Peter comes in for the third time, swooping upward just so, throwing himself back at what he thinks is just the right moment -- and there!

"Fuck yeah!" he exults as his toes dig deep into the carpeting and hold. There's still a good deal of awkward swinging and wing-fluttering, but his grip is good enough that he can adjust himself for comfort without falling, and he does so.

[wildmage_daine]

"Yes!" Daine leans forward, beaming. "That was perfect!" She gets up so she can crouch next to the cat tree. "Well done."

[fucking_ebay]

He'd preen if he were a bird. He could lick himself, maybe, but it wouldn't have the desired effect.

"I thought so," he agrees, cheerful again now that he's been successful.

[wildmage_daine]

"So you can fly, you can see with your ears, and you can land. Not sure there's much more I can teach you - unless you're sure you don't want to try catching bugs." She grins playfully at him, guessing the answer to that one will be 'no.'

[fucking_ebay]

"Very sure," says Peter firmly. He hasn't actually seen any bugs, so it seems unlikely to come up even if he wanted to. Which he doesn't. "Are you saying you've stopped feeling obligated to spend time with me?"

[wildmage_daine]

"Obligated, yes," she says, because it's no insult to admit at much. "But I'm not saying I'd rather not." She's not trying to chase him away, but she doesn't want him to feel obligated to spend time with her, either.

[fucking_ebay]

"Why is it always teenagers?" Peter wonders suddenly, squinting up at her. Really, though, apart from Lucy and Ginger, it seems like the only people he's befriended in recent history have been teens. "You'd think I'd meet other people. It's not like I set out to do it."

[wildmage_daine]

"Well, there are a few of us around," Daine says with a shrug, assuming he's referring to Luke or Edgar. And she imagines there are plenty of rifties around her age who, like her, can't attend school for various reasons and are at loose ends more often than not.

[fucking_ebay]

"Well, presumably the human race didn't die out due to lack of reproduction starting two decades ago," agrees Peter with more sarcasm than is really necessary.

[wildmage_daine]

Daine huffs and rolls her eyes. Honestly, her age is a coincidence; part of the reason she's getting along with him so well is because his helpless little batling status had given her a reason to continue dealing with him even when he annoyed her.

"Well, now that you're flying properly, you could meet all sorts of people. We're not the only two here."

[fucking_ebay]

Just wait, Daine, he'll drive you away yet. He was surprisingly successful at doing that with Gabriel, after all.

"All sorts of people who currently have teeth and claws, yeah, thanks." Not that Peter's not curious. He just can't imagine who would actually be happy to see him, and not in a way that involved aforementioned teeth and claws.

[wildmage_daine]

"Just because they have 'em doesn't mean they'd use them on you." Canting her head to one side a little, she can't resist adding, "No offense, but I think you're more likely to get hurt by accident. You're too tiny to go after on purpose. Wouldn't be fair."

[fucking_ebay]

"Oh, thanks. That makes me feel so much better." And so very manly, too. Apparently he needs constant reminders that he's in the body of a ladybug. "Anyway, I'm flying well now, you said so yourself."

[wildmage_daine]

"You're welcome," comes the cheerful reply. A bit more soberly, she adds, "You are. And if you remember to squeak, you'll be able to see folk coming well before they could do you any harm." That's not technically true, but she's taking it for granted that none of the 'animals' here would forget themselves so entirely as to just attack Peter on sight and try to eat him.

Daine climbs to her feet and stretches. "Still, you're welcome to stick with me for as long as you like. I think I'm going to go look around a bit more and see who else is here."

[fucking_ebay]

No, they'll just step on him with their gigantic hooves and then tell him off.

He'd shrug but, well. "I'll be fine," he says with a theatrical little sigh. "You go do your mingling."

[wildmage_daine]

She's not sure she believes him, but refusing to leave him alone wouldn't be much of a vote of confidence. "I should be fair easy to find if you change your mind," she says instead as she starts to mosey away. "I think I might be the only two-legger here."

[fucking_ebay]

Peter needs all the votes of confidence he can get. Also, adulation. He could use some adulation.

"I'll squeak until I see someone gawky on two legs," he agrees.

[wildmage_daine]

'Gawky'? That's a bit rich coming from him, but if he doesn't remember their last encounter, she's not about to remind him. She does seriously consider saying that if she needs to find him, she'll just look for the tiniest animal here, but then decides to give him a break. Mithros only knows if anyone else here is going to be nice to him; adorable shape or no, he's a bit abrasive.

"Happy flying," she says instead. "Try not to crash." Again.

[fucking_ebay]

Only a bit? This is the man who struck terror into the hearts of personal assistants. Of course, personal assistants get paid to deal with the likes of him...and can always be replaced. It's a bit more difficult when he has to try to deal with real people.

"Try not to trip," he shoots back cheerfully, as if this is a problem she has.