The Fortress of Many Turnings [open]

[applesaucemod]

Welcome to Caerdroia. Though at first glance this world seems calm, even idyllic, closer inspection will reveal a startling lack of linearity. A doorway in one place can suddenly lead to another entirely, the locals going about their business seem totally unaware of your presence, and you may find reminders of home that are less than welcome -- and less than safe.

The countryside seems almost designed to set one at one's ease. Gentle, rolling hills overlook a town in the near distance, and herds of friendly cows cluster here and there (with unknown intent).

The Garden of Curiosities is a walled-off park. Inside, streams and paths wind through beautiful landscaping, and animals can be found on the loose everywhere. For the most part, these creatures are friendly (or at least indifferent) toward visitors, though their appearance might perturb. One might see an animal one has never encountered before, or one might find the garden inhabited by creatures from one's own world that are somehow changed, whether in size, color, or behavior. And, of course, one might find something rather more predatory has taken up residence….

The town hall never seems to be in the same place twice. Finding your way through the streets to any one particular building is an exercise in frustration, as the town seems to shift and change whenever part of it is out of your sight. The hall itself isn't much better once you get inside; stairwells have a habit of appearing on the ceiling, hallways turn into dead ends while your back is turned, and floors are liable to open up into fathomless pits.

The Labyrinth is where many journeys seem destined to end. The way out is, more often than not, the way in. Try to leave one part of Caerdroia, and the doorway might very well open into the labyrinth. And, like any good labyrinth, this one is home to a Minotaur. And, like any good Minotaur, this one would be more than happy to tear you to pieces.

[OOC: Once again, the shared dream is open to all characters, including those not currently in the game and those belonging to players who are not currently members. Once again, too, players are free to choose whether their characters see the dream for what it is, whether they are forced to abide by its rules, and whether they will remember this in the morning.]

Comments

[fucking_ebay]

"No, you wouldn't tell me. You just showed up, drank my whiskey, and told me I was a shitty listener." Which was true, obviously, but Peter's not about to let this go. He likes to think he's not enough of a dick to tell someone whose family has just died that he has no use for him as a friend...provided he actually knows what's going on. "What the hell happened?" he demands.

[has_a_horn]

"Oh, balls." He rubs a finger over a closed eyelid, cursing at himself for giving away information that didn't need to be given away. He aborts the gesture after a moment and tucks his hands into his jacket pockets.

"Someone from my universe came through and he filled me in. He didn't know a lot, but he knew enough." He smirks, trying desperately to keep this light. It's not like this is an old wound yet. The very idea of the angels Falling still makes him want to crumple in on himself. "Lucky me not being at the ol' homestead when it went down or I'd be a splat on the pavement like the rest of them."

[fucking_ebay]

"...Oh."

Now that Peter's received the explanation he demanded, he realizes that he really doesn't know what to do with it other than feel like even more of an asshole as his brain helpfully plays back bits and pieces of that conversation. It had been obvious something had been wrong, but he'd ignored it, having decided that Gabriel was too invulnerable for it to be anything that actually mattered.

"Shit."

[has_a_horn]

"Don't worry your pretty little head about it. I went to you looking for drunken bullshitting, not a shoulder to cry on." He went to the TARDIS for a shoulder to cry on. That went pretty well, actually.

[fucking_ebay]

Gabriel's lucky: Peter really doesn't want to ask for details on this one. He feels like he should, but that doesn't mean he will.

"Yeah, you said that part," he agrees uneasily.

[has_a_horn]

"Right, right." See, this is why Peter should have been drunk too, then they both could details of what happened that night.

He's not exactly sure what Peter wants from him here, but he's going to go ahead and assume that it doesn't involve actually talking about anything important. "You missed out on one hell of a turbulent night." He grins, suddenly, as if he's suddenly thought of something, but the truth is he's trying to quickly distract Peter and change the subject. "Oh! I gave the Doc a good grope later that night, want me to do that same for you? I can do a compare and contrast. I'll tell ya you've got a bigger cock. You'd like that, right?"

[fucking_ebay]

Peter screws up his face, train of thought successfully derailed. "You are not touching my junk," he informs Gabriel staunchly, once again discomfited by being the one on the receiving end of sexual jibes. Rallying, he adds, "Unless you turn into a woman again."

...Crap, is Gabriel going to take him at his word?

[has_a_horn]

Gabriel rolls his eyes at Peter. That was way too easy. "You're one hell of a cheap date, I'll give you that." He snorts out a laugh and leans back against the wall behind him. He's not really taking Peter's request seriously. If Peter wants to be groped, he can come over. "You do realize I'm still me, even when you think I've got tits."

[fucking_ebay]

The phrase triggers a memory, though it's not exactly what was said, and Peter lets out a rueful little huff of laughter. "Get me drunk enough and I'll try anything once," he says. Frowning, he adds, "When you have tits, you mean. I know it's still you in there."

He's not an idiot, Gabe.

[has_a_horn]

He tried getting you drunk, Peter. "I look forward to that."

And hoo boy, does Peter think that Gabriel can actually change his body? "This is a dream," He gestures a hand around, "none of this is real, genius." Not that anything Gabe could do in real life would be real either, but whatever.

[fucking_ebay]

"Yeah, and dream-you had tits that one time," Peter snaps back, annoyed by the slight. "Are we really going to stand here and argue semantics?"

[has_a_horn]

"Alright. Take off your pants, we'll get this thing goin." Gabriel waggles his eyebrows up at him, but it's not a come-on he expects a reaction to. In the next moment he turns around to peek out the window again. "Lets head out front, see if we can find anything that isn't like walking through a hall of mirrors."

[fucking_ebay]

Peter laughs. "I still don't see any tits." To his relief, actually, because he'd rather Gabriel not go all womanly and grope him. It's not like he's totally repulsed by the idea of sex with a man (and even less so by the idea of sex with a man who's currently a woman), but doing kinky shit with Gabe has 'bad idea' written all over it.

He shrugs. "We'll still be in dreamland." But he'll go along with it if Gabriel insists.

[has_a_horn]

He'd prefer just a tad more enthusiasm than 'not totally repulsed' if he and Peter ever do get up to anything kinky, thanks.

"Yeah, well, color me curious." Now, though, he's pulling open the heavy door to the town hall, revealing...definitely not what he'd seen out the window. "Peter? This your labyrinth?" It definitely looks like a labyrinth.

[fucking_ebay]

Well, that's about the level of enthusiasm some of Peter's sexual partners have shown for him.

Peter's all set to stroll through, and stumbles back as if he's afraid the door will pull him in. "Shit. What the hell is that doing there?"

[has_a_horn]

Gabriel slowly closes the door, then pulls it open again, half expecting the scene beyond to change. It doesn't. "It's...being there." He grabs Peter's sleeve and tugs him closer to the doorway. "Come on. Let's go find that Minotaur of yours."

[fucking_ebay]

Peter stumbles a step or two closer before he can dig in his heels, but dig in his heels he does. "I'm not going in there," he says seriously. "Fuck you, this doesn't have to be a nightmare."

[has_a_horn]

"It doesn't have to be a nightmare in there either. You know you're dreaming now." And really, Gabriel just wants to explore a bit more. Which is why he feints like he's going to acquiesce to Peter's wishes before shoving him bodily through the door.

Only, he should have anticipated Peter getting overexcited and going poof the minute he goes through. He follows through and looks around, but he doesn't see Peter anywhere. "Peter! Hello?"

[fucking_ebay]

There's only time for a strangled little sound before Peter loses control and disappears in a burst of flame. He reappears deep in the labyrinth, walls twisting away into darkness around him without any sign of a door. For a second or two there's just the sound of him breathing (hyperventilating, really), and then there's a burst of light and a fft! like the sound of a lighter as he does it again, this time semi-voluntarily. A long string of curses follows when he finds himself in another unidentifiable stretch of maze, no Gabriel and no exit in sight.

[theoldgirl]

The TARDIS can't tell the shape of a dream before she is in the middle of it; if she could, she'd have definitely shied away from this one like a spooked horse. So when she slips into the dreamscape, she isn't prepared for the onslaught of terrible memories, for how accurate and overwhelming the warped dimensions feel, for remembering how terrified she was without the Doctor in this horrible timeless universe, how desperate to get her message through to him, how scared of Rassilon.

The memory is so intense that she doesn't even manifest as a human, but in the shape and place she had been here - the blue box at the center of the maze. It's only when she feels someone bump into her that she's startled out of her moment of shock and quickly changes her appearance to look around and see who else had the misfortune of stepping into this dream.

[fucking_ebay]

Peter doesn't even realize he's bumped into anything other than one of the walls of the labyrinth until the blue surface disappears from under his hand and a figure that wasn't there a moment ago appears beside him. Mind instantly flashing to the minotaur (though if he took even a nanosecond, he'd realize she's much too short to be a minotaur), Peter wills himself as far away as he can get. There's another flash, and he reappears on her other side, his back to her. Looking around again, he soon realizes the error, spins to face her, and stumbles back a step. "Shit!"

[theoldgirl]

Peter's flashy teleportation startles her again and she flinches, but turning to look at him she already realizes who's stumbled into her. It's not a pleasant realization and her first instinct is to glare at him, a glowering look made more dangerous than it's meant to be by the diffuse lighting. "There is no need for insults," she admonishes him icily in lieu of a greeting.

However, having just moments ago experienced much the same terror she's seeing and sensing in him now, she feels just a tad sympathetic, adding a little less stridently, "And no need to be scared, this is only a dream." The reassurance isn't even entirely for his benefit alone. Besides, now that her and Gabriel are once again on good terms, and very good terms at that, she's grudgingly willing to muster a little patience for his friend. Though, are they even still friends? Gabriel's drunken rambling hadn't exactly been clear on that point. Or most points, for that matter.

[fucking_ebay]

"I know that!" If Peter sounds angry and strident, it's because he knows full well he shouldn't be afraid. Knowing it's just a dream and not being afraid of it, though, are two quite different things. And of course it had to be her, didn't it? Straightening when he realizes he's been poised to bolt, Peter gives the TARDIS a distrustful look. He opens his mouth to make some snide remark, but shuts it again, jaw tightening as he looks around at the darkness. Crazy pyromaniac bitch or not, she's the only person in here with him right now, and he finds himself just a little relieved not to be alone with the unknown.

"I can't get out of here," he informs her reluctantly. "I've tried."

[has_a_horn]

While Peter and the TARDIS are bumping into each other, Gabriel continues to search out Peter. If this were a physical maze rather than one in the dreaming, he would be able to find him immediately. As it is, it's difficult- and made more difficult by the odd dimensions here. He feels out for where Peter's mind is strongest and teleports in that direction. When he lands, it's not next to Peter.

He shouts out his name a few more times, hoping that he's landed somewhere close by.

[theoldgirl]

The human doesn't exactly make it easy for her to be patient with him, especially since the dream is still making her feel uncomfortably on edge herself. But she does manage to hold off on any scathing retorts to his completely uncalled for outburst until he addresses her in a more civil manner, and she only raises an eyebrow at his rudeness. "More capable people than you have tried and failed." That might be supposed to be a reassurance, if you squint. She wouldn't be surprised if the dream is twisting in on itself to such an extent that Peter couldn't even easily wake up if he tried, let alone find his way around the place.

She's just in the process of debating whether it would be acceptable to leave Peter to his own devices while she withdraws from the unpleasant memories and the disturbing dimensional warping, when one of the faraway, undefined minds she can feel here suddenly intensifies into the familiar presence of Gabriel. Immediately she reaches out for him, reflexively looking over her shoulder in his direction as though she's heard something.