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

[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."

[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.

[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."

[eighth]

"Lead the way," he answers, getting up again to save time. They can walk and talk. It seemed a bit urgent.

"Why can't you be the telepath? Is it related to the size thing?" he asks curiously. Because he's pretty sure he won't regenerate into something that small.

[bluesuit_handy]

"It's related to the ish thing," replies Andrew, turning to go -- and not turning his head to look up at the Time Lord, since it's uncomfortable in more than one way. "My name's Andrew, and you're really not meant to know about me yet."

[eighth]

The Doctor is taking an awful lot on faith here, and it could very well by a trap, but, whatever. Getting out of traps can be pretty exciting.

And a future version of him with a name? Who is also tiny? Well, okay, if he's not supposed to know about it...

"Right," he answers, trying to think of something he can ask. "Why do you need a telepath?"

[bluesuit_handy]

Good old Eight -- it'll occur to Andrew later that this must be really early days for the Doctor to trust him so fully, or at least to assume that Andrew can't do him serious harm. He does spare a glance upward now, and the earnestness in his face might help to reassure the Doctor a little. "There's something wrong with a friend of mine -- I think she thinks she's an animal right now, and she's gone and hurt herself. None of it should have an effect when she wakes up, but...."

But he doesn't exactly enjoy seeing Daine hurt and confused.