A Day Late and a Dollar Short

[applesaucemod]

As far as dreams go, this seems surprisingly...normal. True, the dreamers of Manhattan and beyond will find themselves stranded in the middle of the ocean on a fairly deserted rocky island, but it's nothing so unusual as the labyrinth from last time, and no one appears to have become an animal or reverted to an insane past (or future) version of themself. Besides, well, rocks and grass, there's nothing here but an abandoned lighthouse, the doors and windows broken, and the spare furniture worn by the weather. You can go up the spiral staircase to look at the view, but there's nothing to see but the endless ocean. One might almost think tonight was a night for simple socializing via the telepathic current.

As if anything to do with the rift is ever that simple, you silly bumpkin. How quickly each person realizes what is unusual about tonight's dream will depend in large part on their personality. Some might go the entire night without noticing (except from the distress of others, naturally), but some will find out the instant they open their mouths to converse with another dreamer. You see, each and every dreamer will be completely unable to tell a lie for as long as the dream lasts. The truth might be evaded by omission, but any attempt to say that which is untrue will result in the corresponding truth emerging instead.

Good thing it's just a dream and everyone's going to forget in the morning, right? Right??


[Mod note: As usual, players can choose to have their characters remember or forget anything that happens in the Dreaming. As per usual party rules, both members and non-members are welcome to play any character in this post, regardless of whether that character is currently in the game. Unlike usual, tonight's theme is not optional; all characters will be subject to the enforced truth-telling. Have fun!]

Comments

[i_jones]

The third of April. Ten days. He's missing ten days. He's lost days, here and there, but always with some reasonable explanation (usually retcon or aliens). Never so many at once.

"Are, ha--" Hey. Ianto jerks and pulls away, kicking at the sand, and pushes himself to his feet, clutching at his arm like he's been burnt. "Don't do that." Bad TARDIS. He laughs once, quickly, nervously, and takes a few steps away to create the illusion of distance. "This is a dream, isn't it?" Okay, well, yeah. "This isn't real. You're not... you."

[theoldgirl]

For a moment she looks contrite at his violent reaction, sorry that she had to upset him so. But it's quickly overtaken by her surprise and worry at the state of his mind. She remains seated in the sand to give him (the illusion of) space, but fixes him with an intent look.

"I am me, Ianto. You know this is a shared dream." She's trying to sound calm and reasonable, even though what she saw wasn't reassuring in the least and it probably shows. "I am sorry I startled you, but I thought I could see what happened to you..." Here she struggles, as she always does when trying to put telepathic matters into words. "Something is very wrong. You are... disconnected. Incomplete. Parts of you are dormant, or... not there." She stops, too anxious to be frustrated. Whatever is wrong with Ianto is much harder to diagnose than Topher's problem when he was stuck in the telepathic current; his mind had been all twisted up, but at least it was still obviously healthy.