applesaucemod: (Default)
The Big Applesauce Moderators ([personal profile] applesaucemod) wrote in [community profile] applesaucedream2014-02-22 03:01 pm

The Tropical Vacation of Your Dreams

The communal dreams of Manhattan have been downright pleasant lately, haven't they? Here's another sunny day for dreamers to enjoy in their sleep, though of course the tropical climate may prove just a little uncomfortable for northerners. The verdant jungle has its own sort of charm, though, teeming as it is with all sorts of exotic animals.

Make that very exotic animals.

Those who arrive close by any of the old buildings or fences will see that it's been a long time since the humans that made them disappeared. Everything here was once sleek, shiny, and state of the art. Now formerly electric fences stand bent and torn, automated SUVs sit rusting on their tracks or lie smashed to pieces where they were thrown by some enormous creature, and the jungle slowly works to reclaim a mildewy hotel and visitors' center.

Whether one finds oneself in the formless jungle that was once paddocks, in the aviary that would have housed a luxury resort, or even in the halls of what should by all rights be the most heavily fortified hotel in the world, one is always in danger here. The barriers that once separated human from dinosaur have long since fallen. Here dinosaurs have eked out a new ecosystem, the carnivores not particularly bothered about eating herbivores from entirely different epochs…or, for that matter, the funny little hairless apes that have appeared here on occasion. Here one is always in danger of running afoul of hungry tyrannosaurs, stampeding triceratops, or cunning deinonychus velociraptors (they're totally velociraptors, yup). Enjoy the eye-searing venom of that strangely undersized dilophosaurus, by the way, as well as the toxic bite of the swarms of compsognathus. Or maybe the dreamers will luck out, and the worst they'll encounter is an indifferent, bumbling brachiosaurus or an unassuming microceratops. Who here is ever that lucky, though?

Welcome to Jurassic Park.



[Mod note: Same drill as always. All players and characters are welcome, current members or no. Characters will remember or forget any and all dream events at players' discretion. Death in the dream does not result in real death.]
heysoulsister: (not the best plan)

[personal profile] heysoulsister 2014-02-27 06:21 am (UTC)(link)
Jodie gives Johnny a level, unimpressed glare. For someone who criticizes her lying skills (or lack thereof), he's not proving himself to be much more adept. Not that there are that many decent excuses to be made here, anyway.

"Yeah," she says, following his dubious lead. Glancing at the Doyle's mode of transport, she adds, "We were gonna try and make it through that fence, so…" it's a safe bet that dinosaur won't fit.

---

It's not a very elegant attempt to extricate themselves from the conversation, and Sadie isn't so drunk that a more subtle attempt would have gone unnoticed. She is drunk enough not to begrudge them, though. It's all well and good, meeting new people, but at the end of the day, Frank is all the company she needs.

"Well, the best of luck to you!" she says, lifting her glass. "And do try to avoid being devoured." Pity they don't have a gun, and she frowns thoughtfully. "What do you think, darling - could we spare one of the rifles?"
johnny_truant: (Default)

[personal profile] johnny_truant 2014-02-27 09:49 am (UTC)(link)
"I don't see why not!" says Frank brightly, and without any warning he tosses his rifle to Johnny, who barely manages, with much fumbling, to catch it without setting it off. "And a merry journey to you both!" He raises his glass, drinks, pours, and then turns his full attention to Sadie as though Jodie and Johnny have already left. "It occurs to me, my dear, to wonder how we plan to transport this felled tyrannosaur, even with the assistance of our faithful cabbie!"

---

Johnny stares at the gun, then, slowly, at Jodie. He hands it over with no hesitation.

"Welp," he says, which about sums it up, and sets off toward the 10,000 volt carrying fence.
heysoulsister: (smile - tiny and begrudging)

[personal profile] heysoulsister 2014-02-27 02:45 pm (UTC)(link)
"Thanks," Jodie says. That was easier than she thought it was going to be. She takes the gun as Sadie suggests obtaining 'additional cabbies,' and then hurries after Johnny.

She waits until they're well out of earshot before saying, "So, that was weird," and risking a glance back. Neither of the Doyles seem to be watching their departure; rather, they're both standing between the dead T-rex and the triceratops, glancing between the two and making the occasional critical gesture. She turns away, shaking her head.
johnny_truant: (actually happy)

[personal profile] johnny_truant 2014-02-27 09:33 pm (UTC)(link)
"Yes, it was," says Johnny, and though he's still shaken with residual incredulity from the whole encounter, the absurdity of it catches up with him and he can't help but smile, sort of, a thin, faint imitation of the expression, like his face doesn't remember how. After a moment he adds, "A step up from my last dream adventure, though, I gotta say."

He even manages a laugh. It might be the vodka, but it feels kind of nice regardless.
heysoulsister: (smile - shy)

[personal profile] heysoulsister 2014-02-28 03:35 am (UTC)(link)
She's not entirely sure how to respond to that. That whole fucked-up thing with Zagreus makes her want to wince... but then he follows it up with the most genuine laugh she's ever heard him produce, and it's kind of hard not to smile in response to that.

"Just about anything would be," she says with cautious good humor. She's not sure if she should really be joking about it, even though he just did. Sobering a little, she adds, "And if you see that Zagreus asshole, be sure to point him out. I have pretty good aim."
johnny_truant: (actually happy)

[personal profile] johnny_truant 2014-02-28 03:40 am (UTC)(link)
This remark kind of surprises him. He's not sure why. Just that it seems surprisingly charitable, or something.

"Heh." He nods, digs his hands into his pockets as he shuffles along behind her. "Okay."
heysoulsister: (game - mild)

[personal profile] heysoulsister 2014-03-01 02:28 am (UTC)(link)
Aiden hums in agreement. Unlike Jodie, he has a more intimate familiarity with what Zagreus was doing to Johnny in that nightmarescape. And he didn't like it. Besides, if anyone is going to fuck Johnny up, it's going to be him, thank you very much.

She'd known the fence was tall, but she's still surprised at how high it looms above them when they finally reach it. "Shit," she says as she tilts her head back, impressed. There's no way the juice is still flowing, but unless they find a gap to crawl through, they're in for a hell of a climb.
johnny_truant: (Default)

[personal profile] johnny_truant 2014-03-01 02:42 am (UTC)(link)
"What if... we just follow it somewhere?" Johnny scans the horizon in both directions. "It's gotta lead to a structure eventually. If I remember the movie right." He squints into the distance. "Can Aiden get high enough to see anything?"
heysoulsister: (intrigued)

[personal profile] heysoulsister 2014-03-01 03:01 am (UTC)(link)
Jodie shrugs. Aiden could reach the top of the fence, but so could she. And she'd much rather deal with the strain of a climb than the strain of Aiden pushing it. It's not a climb is going to leave her too disoriented to run if more goddamn dinosaurs show up.

"I'm going to climb it," she announces before pulling herself up onto the concrete barrier at the base of the fence. There's no hum of a current, and she's not surprised when a cautious poke doesn't result in her getting electrocuted (or woken up). Well, then. She starts to pull herself up.
johnny_truant: (are you fucking serious)

[personal profile] johnny_truant 2014-03-01 03:12 am (UTC)(link)
"O-oh, okay." Johnny watches her, feeling fairly useless. "Well, uh, good luck with that. Don't, uh, don't fall."

Yup. He kicks at a patch of dirt.
heysoulsister: (smile - warm)

[personal profile] heysoulsister 2014-03-01 04:31 am (UTC)(link)
"Wasn't planning on it," she says as she nears the top the fence. Even if she did, though, Aiden would save her - all the more reason for her to climb the fence herself instead of having Aiden do all the recon.

She grabs the topmost wire, pulls herself up, and hooks an arm over it as she looks around. There's a hell of a view from up here; including a veritable shitton of dinosaurs. Most of them look like herbivores, which is some comfort. She looks both ways down the fence line and mostly just sees jungle, but to the north, there's a promising break in the trees. "I think there's something that way," she calls down to Johnny, pointing. "Hang on; I'm coming back down."

Ready, Aiden? she asks. His hum of resigned confirmation makes her smile, and then she jumps. Aiden curls around her, and the shockwave of his protective sphere hits the ground before she does. Jodie straightens, grinning, and says, "It should be a short walk."
johnny_truant: (scared)

[personal profile] johnny_truant 2014-03-01 04:44 am (UTC)(link)
"Wah!" Johnny staggers back as Jodie floats back down. "Whoa. Whoa. Jesus. That was cool."

Recovered, not wanting to look like a TOTAL idiot, he strikes off in the indicated direction. "What kinda something was it? Like a promising something, or a we'll-settle-for-anything something?"
heysoulsister: (explaining a thing)

[personal profile] heysoulsister 2014-03-01 05:04 am (UTC)(link)
"Quicker than climbing," she says with a shrug. And every minute they spend out in the open is a risk, between the dinosaurs and the other dreamers.

As for the buildings she saw… "Maybe promising? It looked pretty sturdy from up there, but god only knows what kind of shape it's really in. I think it's a maintenance building or something, so it's… probably pretty well fortified." As compared to the more touristy spots.
johnny_truant: (Default)

[personal profile] johnny_truant 2014-03-01 05:14 am (UTC)(link)
"Sounds good enough." And it probably will be. As long as it's not crawling with angry prehistoric monsters it'll probably be fine.

"So you really never saw this movie?" he says after several moments of awkward silence and walking.
heysoulsister: (game - downcast)

[personal profile] heysoulsister 2014-03-01 06:08 am (UTC)(link)
Jodie lets out a faint huff of amusement. "Well, when you grow up with an entity who tends to freak out and attack people when you're upset, they don't let you watch movies that might upset you." Of course, they hadn't seemed to mind her reading above her age level, so by the time she was old enough for the movie to be an option, she'd already finished the book years before and moved on.
johnny_truant: (say what now)

[personal profile] johnny_truant 2014-03-01 06:11 am (UTC)(link)
"Huh. Makes sense." And it does, for a second. "Wait. They? Who's they?" As much time as they've spent around each other, they haven't talked much about their respective pasts. "Did your parents know about it?"
heysoulsister: (strained)

[personal profile] heysoulsister 2014-03-01 06:25 am (UTC)(link)
… Great. How in the fuck is she supposed to answer that? Aiden lets out a faint, irritable grumble, and Jodie presses her lips together for a few moments.

"Yeah," she finally says, her voice devoid of any humor. "They did." Emphasis on the past-tense.
johnny_truant: (Default)

[personal profile] johnny_truant 2014-03-01 06:36 am (UTC)(link)
Well that's a pretty definitive shut down. Johnny recognizes the stiffness, the curt refusal to go into detail. To be fair, he's got more than a few things he'd rather avoid talking about.

Try again. "So, um." God damn. Small talk is so hard. This is why he never has friends. It's so much easier when you can just fuck somebody and never speak to them again. "What did you, uh, do? Before you came here?"

She mentioned the army, but that can't be everything, can it?
heysoulsister: (neutral - suspicious)

[personal profile] heysoulsister 2014-03-01 07:18 am (UTC)(link)
Aiden doesn't bother grumbling this time; he just drifts over to Johnny in a vaguely menacing way. There are no mirrors he can write on, here, but if there were, the message would definitely be: SHUT UP.

Jodie gives Johnny an exasperated sidelong glance. It's not his fault her whole damn past is basically off-limits, for both of their sakes, but Christ, couldn't he pick another topic of conversation? "I don't really want to talk about it," she says bluntly. Not least of all because the last thing she did before she came through the rift was destroy a historic downtown district and take out most of a SWAT team.
johnny_truant: (not having it)

[personal profile] johnny_truant 2014-03-01 07:29 am (UTC)(link)
Jesus, Aiden. Johnny raises his hands placatingly, giving him an irritable glance. "Well, what DO you want to talk about," he says, somewaht coolly. "I am open to suggestions."
heysoulsister: (confused)

[personal profile] heysoulsister 2014-03-03 12:32 am (UTC)(link)
Do they have to talk about anything? Hell, they probably should be keeping quiet in case another goddamn tyrannosaurus hears them talking and decides to investigate.

She's about to suggest as much when she hears someone else talking. "Did you hear that?" she asks in an undertone.