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

[bluesuit_handy]

"...I don't think that helped," the Andrew in back whispers to his counterpart.

The Andrew nearer Daine flaps an arm at the other, smacking him in the chest. "So back off!" he hisses. The one who first spoke draws in an indignant breath, but a look at the state of the Daine convinces him. Reluctantly, he stalks away, hands stuffed in his pockets, and turns to watch from further off.

"Look, Daine -- it's just me. Just little...little me," says the remaining Andrew.

So AIM just shat itself and refuses to work, FYI.

[wildmage_daine]

That's how they do it. One sounds nice, and an angry one waits for her to come out so he can do... something. She doesn't see any weapons, but that doesn't mean anything.

Still, she feels less hemmed in. Keeping the knife aloft, she starts to creep along the fence to her right. Maybe there's an opening if she goes a bit farther, and if nothing else, at least she'll be putting more distance between herself and the two-leggers.

Yeeeeah

[bluesuit_handy]

"She's leaving," the further Andrew points out. At least he's bright enough not to come crowding after her. The nearer Andrew shushes him again, worried that they're going to lose her if she finds a way out.

"Just tell me what's wrong!" he calls, confused and more than a little disturbed by her behavior.

Re: Yeeeeah

[wildmage_daine]

She drops to all fours and tries to pick up a little speed while also glancing back at Andrew, which turns out to be a mistake. It means she's not paying close enough attention to the knife, and she accidentally cuts her own forearm. Yelping, she drops the weapon and backs away from it in fear and suspicion, as if it's gained a life of its own. Then she crouches by the fence, the knife on one side and the Andrews on the other.

She's reluctant to pick up the knife again, but she has just enough sense to know she shouldn't let either of them near it, either. Lifting her injured arm, she sniffs at the wound - which isn't much more than a graze - and begins to lick it clean, her gaze still darting between the two Andrews.

[bluesuit_handy]

Both Andrews take in a sharp breath and step forward, but both check themselves and halt again in the next moment. "Like an animal," says one, realization finally dawning. They're both thinking the same thing: Daine needs telepathic help, and neither of them can properly get into her mind.

"Go find the TARDIS," the one in front orders. The other gives them both a hesitant look, then turns and hurries away. The remaining Andrew watches Daine, worried she'll try to bolt. "Just me now," he tells her. "Daine, you're alright -- err, no, actually, you're not, but I'm not going to hurt you."

[wildmage_daine]

The second Andrew's exit is a little reassuring, at least. Even wounded, she guesses she could hold her own against one little two-legger. He almost looks like a child, and while children can be cruel, they're not as strong as the men who were pursuing her before.

If she was thinking clearly, she'd wonder how he knew her name, as he's a complete stranger to her. Instead, she sinks back onto her haunches, taking the weight off her one good arm. She's ready to run if he comes any closer, but she's hoping he'll follow the other one and leave her alone.

[bluesuit_handy]

"Better?" asks the remaining Andrew, still loitering nearby. He wants to go to her, but is still afraid she'll run if he tries to come close. If the other one can bring the TARDIS, though, that's their best bet of sorting a damaged mind out. "Can you talk to me, Daine? Please?"

[wildmage_daine]

She's been watching him sidelong, using their uneasy truce as an opportunity to continue licking the cut on her arm. He's lucky that she's underfed and exhausted, otherwise she'd be off, wounded arm or no. At his request, she curls her lip in a silent snarl. Leave me alone!

[bluesuit_handy]

"Human saliva really isn't all that good for open wounds," criticizes Andrew. "You've evolved past the point where that'd help. You're not a dog."

He frowns thoughtfully. "At the moment. Is there a reason you're not an animal right now? I mean, if you're already acting like one...."

[wildmage_daine]

Does he ever stop squawking? Why won't he just leave?

... Could she make him leave? She's bigger than he is, and he doesn't have any weapons she can see. Still, she doesn't like the thought of tangling with any more two-leggers. She just wants to get back to the Pack.

Dropping back to all fours, she turns to stare at him directly, growling low in her throat.

[bluesuit_handy]

No. No, he does not.

"Unless this is some sort of reversal -- you did lose the power to transform in another dream, remember? This is a bit more extreme, but it's not entirely unprecedented...why are you looking at me like that?"

[wildmage_daine]

Daine takes a stiff-limbed step forward, teeth bared, still staring at him aggressively - and without a trace of recognition. If she had hackles, they'd be raised. And if he doesn't take a step back, she's going to try bluffing a charge to see if that will get him moving.

[bluesuit_handy]

"Daaaaiine?" It's not that Andrew doesn't recognize the body language for what it is. It's that he assumes that this is still Daine, properly Daine, and she must recognize him deep down. He stands his ground, though his body is tense.

[wildmage_daine]

With a loud bark, she lunges forward. She only means to feint in his direction, hoping it will startle him into running off, but the ground beneath her paws hands is solid and rough. It scrapes her palms and sends fresh pain through the cut on her arm, and she pulls up her arms without thinking. Her legs are still working, though, and they send her plowing right into the two-legger. No! She snaps repeatedly in her panic, though she doesn't actually succeed in biting him, then shoves herself away from him and stumbles back to the fence, her injured arm held close to her body.

This would probably be a good time to bolt, but she's too distracted by how badly that went - and how much it hurt - to do more than shiver and pant for air.

[bluesuit_handy]

This is oddly familiar Andrew sucks in a sharp breath and pivots on one heel, launching himself away before she's even taken two steps. With his titchy legs, though, and with her failure to feint, he's quickly plowed under. Then it's all flailing limbs and snapping teeth, and Andrew can really hardly be faulted for splitting in three and scattering in all directions.

[wildmage_daine]

Daine just stares at the three tiny Andrews, unable to even begin to comprehend what just happened... until a quiet, nearly forgotten part of her suggests, Mage.

Two-leggers with the fire inside are even more dangerous than hunters. They don't need weapons to hurt you. She cringes against the fence, expecting to have fire thrown at her at any moment, and knowing that there's nothing she could do to stop it.

[bluesuit_handy]

The Andrews are too busy fleeing to fling fire at her, even if they could. One of them mistakenly makes a beeline for the fence, not realizing where he's going until he practically runs into one of the posts quite close to Daine.

The others come to a stop further away when they realize they're not being followed. "That could've gone better," comments one. The other steps closer, and by silent agreement they grab each other's hands and merge, the resulting Andrew standing a little over a foot and a half high. "Andrew?" he calls.

The smaller Andrew doesn't answer, but stares at Daine and tries to work out whether he should run back the other way.

[wildmage_daine]

Daine doesn't even notice the other two merging; she's too busy staring in undisguised terror at the tiny Andrew closest to her, waiting for what she assumes is an inevitable attack.

[bluesuit_handy]

"Just stay calm," the tiniest Andrew tells Daine, tiny hands held up. He takes one step backward, then another. "No need to charge again. No need at all."

[wildmage_daine]

She's gone about as still as she can, given that her limbs are shaking with a combination of anxiety and the effort of holding her position without her tired body giving out. When he raises his hands, she flinches, and her trembling intensifies.

[bluesuit_handy]

The nearer Andrew is alright with this -- not happy, since Daine's clearly not happy, but relieved that she at least doesn't seem inclined to grab him or hit him or anything. He keeps backing up slowly, hands still held up to show her he's got nothing in them.

The further Andrew isn't so content to just roll with her fear. "Daine, look at him," he sighs. "He's titchy; what's he going to do to you?"

[wildmage_daine]

Something terrible, obviously; that's what two-leggers do. They murder her family and kidnap women. She doesn't really think Andrew is a bandit, but a mage doesn't bode any better for her. She keeps her eyes on his raised hands.

Her uninjured arm is the first to give out, and her legs soon follow, causing her to awkwardly collapse to the ground. She lets out a low whine, but doesn't try to rise. The Pack is missing, not that they could help her against a mage, and she's exhausted. Where would she run to, even if she could? Shivering, she waits for one of the Andrews to lash out at her.

[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.

[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.

[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."