Let's Do the Time Warp (Again)

[applesaucemod]

It's that time again, but time seems to be a bit muddled. As usual, people from all over the multiverse are being drawn into the Dreaming by the rift. This time, in addition to (or sometimes instead of) picking up the residents of Manhattan, they take them from their home universe but from a different point in time. You may find yourself suddenly encountering a future version of yourself, or perhaps you bump into a friend taken from long before you met them.

Tonight's setting is also time-twisted. You're still in Manhattan, but it seems to be closer to the 1930s. Specifically, you're in an old hotel. There's the dimly lit lobby, with chairs and tables for relaxed mingling. The bar, where tables are front of a stage, on which a band is playing various hits of the 30s. There's also an outdoor area if you need fresh air. Or you could explore the hotel, but it's mostly corridors, unless you stumble upon an unlocked room.



[Mod note: Usual dream-party rules apply. Both members and non-members are welcome to use any character, be they already in the game or no.

For game-specific characters, you can choose whether or not they will remember their time in Manhattan if they're taken from the future. You can take your character from multiple different points in time, if you want.]

Comments

[has_a_horn]

Gabriel is unabashedly excited to try out the treats when the TARDIS offers them to him. He selects one carefully and brings it up to his mouth to taste. With his first bite he lets his eyes close for a moment, all the better to focus on the taste.

He makes an appreciative noise and pushes the other half of the tart into his mouth. When he finishes, he smiles back at her. "That's wonderful, thank you." He eyes the plate, wondering if he might take another. "You are very good with dream manipulation. Did I teach you?"

[has_a_horn]

"It's a..." He looks over his shoulder as she walks around him. "metaphor. You've got me confused. Shaken up. Bewitched, bothered, and bewildered."

When she seems to lose interest in him (should he be feeling disappointed? He does, a bit) he follows her stare, wondering what she's looking at. It doesn't seem like she's looking at anything in particular, so his gaze falls back on her instead.

"This is dream space. I don't..." He's about to say that he doesn't know who her 'thief' is, but if this is the TARDIS, there's a good chance he can guess who she's asking after. " Do you mean the Doctor?"

[theoldgirl]

At hearing her thief's name, she looks at Gabriel as though he just asked a very stupid question. "Of course I mean the Doctor. My Doctor. They put me in here," she explains, pressing her long fingers to her cheeks for emphasis, "and now he doesn't know me! But House eats TARDISes--" Involuntarily, she interrupts herself to supply a bit of an entirely different conversation, head cocked to the side and gaze empty. "Do fish have fingers?"

Then her tenuous focus is back and she continues seamlessly, talking faster and faster in an increasingly desperate effort to make sense of events she both has and hasn't experienced yet. "And we are looking at their corpses, and I'm going to blow the casing in no time, and there is something so sad..." With a sudden, deep breath she comes to a verbal halt as though she's scared herself silent, staring somewhere at Gabriel's chest, looking utterly lost and near tears. She can feel herself losing her mind, everything she is slipping away while the human body around her is dying, and it's terrifying her.

[wildmage_daine]

At 'Tortall,' Daine glances up at Aly. Just as quickly, she looks away, not wanting her to see the hope and envy in her eyes. Tortall might be a good place for Daine to go, seeing as going home back to Snowsdale isn't an option.

She sets aside the remains of the sandwich, her appetite gone. "D'you..." she hesitates for a moment, wondering if she's being too forward, then plows ahead. "Could I come with you? I wouldn't be a burden. I do well enough at hunting and tracking." And she can't stay in Galla.

[fucking_ebay]

If she's leaving, that suits him just fine. Except then there's movement down on the floor, and --

"FUCK!" That'll be Peter discovering the presence of the Quarkbeast. Panicking, he grabs the nearest thing to hand and lobs it at the beast's face. Unfortunately for him, the closest thing to hand turns out to be a couple of keys off the pegs.

[jennifer_strange]

"Quark!" In an alarming flash of teeth, the beast catches the keys in its mouth and crunches them down, tail wagging in pleasure at the offering. Few people are nice enough to give it treats upon first meeting.

"Don't feed him; you'll only encourage him to pester you," Jennifer advises, casually leaning against the counter so she can watch the action. She could call the beast off, but Peter's been a prat. More to the point, she's not sure the beast would listen if it thinks more keys are forthcoming. Apparently, it does: it steps forward and glances hopefully from Peter's face to the wall of keys again.

[fucking_ebay]

An older Peter would probably poof over what just happened. This one, however, only has his own two legs to help him flee. He lets out a strangled sound, throws another handful of keys despite her warning, and turns to scramble up onto the counter like a treed cat.

[aly_brighteyes]

"Of course you can." Aly's mind and heart hurt at how fearful and nervous Daine is. She's not yet the confident Wild Mage that Aly will come to trust and adore.

Right now, Aly may as well be the big sister and that frightens her more than a little bit.

[jennifer_strange]

"Stop that," Jennifer says sternly, scowling up at Peter. "The beast hasn't hurt you - hasn't even tried, despite the fact you're chucking keys at it. I know twelve-year-olds who put up far less fuss when they first met him."

The Quarkbeast, meanwhile, shuts its eyes as a few keys bounce off its head. Once they've landed on the floor, it opens its eyes and commences gobbling them up. With a sigh of resignation, Jennifer adds 'replace keys' to her list. She'll have to apologize to the owner for this.

[wildmage_daine]

She lets out a breath she didn't know she'd been holding and smiles. It's a little smile, but it's genuine. "Thank you." Realizing she hasn't introduced herself, she adds, "I'm Daine." She's conveniently forgotten that Aly said her name a few times already.

[fucking_ebay]

"It's a fucking chainsaw with legs!" retorts Peter, not giving up his perch on the counter. He crouches there, ready to spring into fail-tastic action at any moment.

[bluesuit_handy]

The tiny Andrew drops his arms and starts forward, forgetting himself in his concern. He knows full well this is a dream, but that doesn't make the sight of an injured friend much less distressing. He stops short again, practically quivering with the effort not to run to her side.

"Come on," says the larger one to him, holding out a hand. "It isn't helping -- better if there were fewer of us." With a doubtful glance, the little one reluctantly starts moving toward him again, away from Daine.

Meanwhile, the larger (though larger as in a whopping 2'9") Andrew is hurrying through the rooms he's seen in search of a trusted telepath -- specifically, the TARDIS. It's not the TARDIS he first runs into, though.

[jennifer_strange]

"True," Jennifer allows. "But it still hasn't hurt you."

To the beast, she adds, "Come on out from there." After snuffling around to make sure it hasn't missed any fallen keys, the beast complies.

[fucking_ebay]

"It hasn't had the chance yet," he replies, slightly less hysterical now. He's still not coming down, though, not when that thing is scuttling around on the floor. "What the fuck is it?" he demands stridently once more.

[jennifer_strange]

"It's a Quarkbeast, as I've said. Twice." She flips the notepad shut and stuffs it back into her pocket. "And it only eats dog food, various metals, and the occasional bunny. Not people. Look." Crouching, she runs a hand along the beast's side. The Quarkbeast gives a pleased little shiver, tail wagging.

[fucking_ebay]

"Shit," breathes Peter, watching. How is it not eating her hand off? Tearing his eyes away to look at her, he asks almost calmly, "What the fuck's a Quarkbeast?"

[jennifer_strange]

It's a good question, and not one she can really answer in depth. It's also a strange question: doesn't everyone know about Quarkbeasts? "They're one of the creatures created by the Mighty Shandar," she says, as if explaining that the sky is blue. "They're magic."

[fucking_ebay]

Peter gives her the blankest of blank looks. "If you don't want to tell me, just fucking say so," he huffs, offended.

[jennifer_strange]

Has he been living under a rock? She treats him to an incredulous stare of her own, but after a moment's consideration, she shrugs it off. His education isn't her responsibility, and she has more important things to do with her time. "If you've somehow made it this far without even the most rudimentary understanding of magic, that's... impressive," she says, straightening and brushing nonexistent dust off of her pants. "But it's not my problem. When I find the owner, I'll be sure to let them know that you were mucking about behind their counter and feeding their keys to my Quarkbeast."

And with that, she turns to take her leave.

[eighth]

Hopefully, this guy will be able to help instead. He is a trusted telepath and all. The only problem, of course, is he has no idea who Andrew is.

The Doctor jumps a bit at pummeled into by something that... barely reaches his waist. And this isn't even one of the taller Doctors.

"Hello there," he greets the tiny man, once he realises it's an actual person, even if a half-sized one.

[fucking_ebay]

"...Huh?" She's making fun of him, isn't she? Peter glowers, not thinking to wonder how she would even know he's into the occult. "Fuck you!" he squawks. Later, he'll think of all sorts of things he should have said about his expertise and his collection.

[bluesuit_handy]

Quarter-sized would be more accurate. Andrew rebounds, dazed, and takes a moment to remember that he needs to look up -- no, farther up than that -- in order to meet the gaze of the person he trotted into. He gives the larger man a blank stare, actually unsure for a moment or two why that face looks so familiar. As often as he saw it in mirrors, after all, he wasn't used to seeing it from this angle.

"...Oh," he says, not sure how he feels about this. "You."

[eighth]

Weeell, 2'9" is sooort of half of 6ish. Whatever. Tiny man, looking at him with some semblance of recognition.

"Me?" he asks curiously. And you know what, he's just gonna kneel now, to be on slightly more eye-level. "You know me?"

Just be glad it's not Zagreus that he's bumped into.

[jennifer_strange]

It's probably just as well; his collection and expertise would be foreign enough to her ears that she wouldn't find either very impressive. Besides, everyone knows that vampires aren't real.

Without turning around, she lifts a hand in a sarcastic little wave. Then she lowers it and claps it against her leg, encouraging the Quarkbeast to follow her. The beast glances over its shoulder at Peter, as if to make sure that he's not going to throw any more treats its way, then reluctantly follows.

[bluesuit_handy]

If it were Zagreus, he might actually have recognized him more quickly. That sort of insanity gives off a very distinct aura. Or, you know, if he were awake and his brain properly focused.

"You," he repeats with a sigh. "I was looking for the TARDIS," he explains without explaining. "But you'll probably have to do -- I'm you, from the future. Ish. I'll explain later, but I need a telepath right now."