applesaucedream | Far Side of the Aurora Borealis

Far Side of the Aurora Borealis

Congratulations, dreamers of Manhattan - you get to go to Oxford! It's probably not the Oxford with which any of the dreamers are familiar, though. This one is a bit… different.

The dreamers will find themselves in Jordan College, the oldest and grandest of all the colleges in this version of Oxford, a rambling structure that includes dining halls, libraries, classrooms, chapels, courtyards, a botanical garden, and an extensive network of cellars and tunnels beneath the ground. There are plenty of places to explore!

Sharp-eyed dreamers might notice some subtle architectural quirks. Doors look larger than they'd need to be for solely human use, and every staircase has a little ramp built in - not large enough for a wheelchair, but large enough for, say, a small, scampering animal.

And speaking of - the dreamers are a bit different here, too. Upon arrival, they will realize that they now possess dæmons: physical manifestations of their souls. Be gentle with them; they're undoubtedly confused by being suddenly made manifest. They come with all the side effects and complications inherent with dæmons. They can't travel more than a few yards from their person without it being painful for both parties… and it probably won't take the dreamers long to realize they shouldn't be touching one another's dæmons, what with the shared sensations and all. Still, it's a rare opportunity for the dreamers to chat with their own souls - and the souls of others.

What could possibly go wrong?

[Mod note: you know the drill. All players and characters are welcome, regardless of whether they're current members or not. Characters will remember or forget any and all dream events at players' discretion.]

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That gets a pair of emphatically raised eyebrows from Charley. 'Charming. Well, if nothing else, I can assure you that I've no intentions of killing you.'

Charley, it must be said, is more used than most to people trying to kill her. Perhaps somebody else would react with shock at the news that there are such casually homicidal people running around this New York, but somehow (and it's ridiculous if she thinks about it) that sort of thing seems to have fallen under the category of Inevitable Annoyance in her brain.

Another thought occurs to her, and she turns a curious look on Johnny. 'You say you don't get out much-- where are you living? I only wonder because I just got here, well, today, and very fortunately, I happened to run into someone I know, but everybody else who comes here and doesn't have that-- they can't all just end up sleeping on the street.'

"Whoa," Johnny raises an eyebrow. "Today? Jesus, I'm sorry." The commisseration is more automatic than heartfelt - not that he doesn't sympathize, but he's more concerned with how she seems perfectly adapted to her situation already, and he's still a fish out of water. Well, he's always that, so. Maybe he shouldn't compare.

"I, uhhh." Couldn't have asked a more awkward question if she'd been trying, which of course, she hadn't. "Nowhere, really. I mean obviously somewhere. But it's not. Uhh. A very practical option." He is really not the person to be asking. "There's these two organizaitons, I think. I don't know shit about either of them. But they'll put you up and give you a phone and money and stuff. That's what most people do, I gather." He shrugs. "I sort of ended up... moving in with this guy I don't really know? I mean not with him, just..." Ugh. He really doesn't want to talk about this. "Yeah, it's not... I'm not super helpful."

Ever. With anything. He doesn't add. Nova gives him a little nip for such thoughts and he bats her gently.

His apology gets a little shrug from Charley; a these things happen sort of gesture. Again, she perhaps doesn't realise how odd her apparent cool with things like attempted murder and universe-hopping might seem. It's possible that she's been operating under the misapprehension that most of the people who've been pulled through the Rift are like herself and the Doctor, and used to these things.

And whoops, it seems she's accidentally stumbled upon a bad subject, and Charley lifts her hands as Johnny starts to ramble, palms out in invocation of calm. 'That's fine, really, I was just wondering.'

And then Horatio swoops in to ask the question she isn't, because she's polite. 'Are you always this nervous?'

Charley shoots him a dirty look, and then turns an awkwardly apologetic look on Johnny. 'Sorry. I think he's-- rather less inhibited than I am. Or something. I've not quite got used to this whole... animal-selves thing.'

Edited 2014-03-31 03:57 (UTC)

"No, it's fine," says Johnny dryly, giving Horatio a side-eye. "He's right. And I am. Pathologically."

"We've got lots of baggage," offers Nova helpfully.

"You are NOT HELPFUL," Johnny tells her. She seems fairly pleased with herself.

Charley can't quite stifle her little laugh at Nova's pleased little explanation, but she presses a hand to her mouth in an effort to do so anyway.

'Well, that's all right,' she says kindly once the laugh has retreated into a crooked little smile. 'I daresay we've got our share of baggage as well.' And then, after a pause, 'It is very odd to refer to oneself in the plural.'

"Yeah, it is," says Johnny, relaxing a little. "The whole thing is odd. Or fuckin weird, maybe. That's the phrase I would use."

Nova sniffs. "He's got a very dirty mouth," she says.

"You are an insufferable ball of fur," Johnny retorts, though it's more a statement of fact than anything (and really, so was her remark). Arguing with his animal-self is turning out to be kind of a great time.

He hesitates then. "Are you gonna disappear when I wake up?" Nova obviously has no idea; she quivers a little at the thought. He looks at Charley, as if she might know.

Charley huffs another little laugh at that. Fuckin' weird indeed. 'Quite,' she chuckles, watching the interplay between Johnny and Nova.

She frowns a little when he asks if the animals are going to disappear once they wake up, and Horatio clicks his tongue at her, hopping up to her shoulder with a little flutter and giving her ear a little nibble that's just hard enough to sting a little.

'There's no point being sentimental about it,' he tells her firmly, 'whether or not we'll still be there when you wake up. It's not as if I'm anything you didn't already have, I just was... somewhere inside you before.'

He's got a point, but in the little time she's been dreaming, Charley's already grown terribly fond of this little falcon bit of herself. She shakes her head, looking back to Johnny. 'I don't know. I suppose-- I mean, it would seem the logical thing to assume. Things that appear in dreams don't generally stick around once you've woken up. Though this isn't precisely an ordinary dream.'

"And anyway, what would you do with a rabbit out there?" Nova points out. She's acting tough, maybe to impress Horatio, but Johnny knows better.

"I mean, I know," he mutters. "It's just... a weird thing to have and then... not have. Or have differently, I guess."

'Well, I suppose we'll have to see!' Charley affects a stout cheer she doesn't entirely feel. She supposes her emotions are still running high after the last few weeks, and the unexpected reunion with the Doctor today. Ordinarily, she comforts herself, she'd take the appearance and disappearance of Horatio entirely in her stride. At the moment, she finds herself wishing that he would stay; the comfort of a constant, close companion would really be appreciated just at the moment.

Not that she's about to share this with Johnny. He seems a nice enough fellow, of course, if a little high strung, but she has only just met him.

So she offers a crooked little smile. 'I expect it'd attract all sorts of attention, back in the waking world. Especially if you've got one bigger than the two of us have.' Both Nova and Horatio are small enough that they could be carried in a bulky jacket or tucked into a bag. 'Imagine having to go around New York with a, I don't know, a bear or a horse following one everywhere.'

"Yeah, I can see where that would be a problem." Johnny smiles, affecting an apathetic air: his base state. Nova snuggles up against him, and he picks her back up.

"So where are you from?" he asks. "I mean, like, before the Rift." England, obviously. But time, place, universe... this is like an awkward college orientation, where the conversation starter is always home-state-and-intended-major, and where everyone is probably equally ignorant of everyone else's answers. Maybe a few kids luck out - "oh, we're both from Oregon" or "hey, same freshman seminar" - but mostly, it's just a lot of nodding and polite hmming. Johnny suspects he'll have no idea how to relate to anyone, as that's always been status quo for him, but what else is he going to ask, at this point?

Ah, now that is the question. Having almost literally only just arrived, Charley's got no idea what's normal and what isn't for the other people who've come through the Rift; it's possible that time-travel isn't something that would faze most of them, though it has to be said, Johnny does seem uncommonly jumpy.

She'll try and break it gently, then.

'Well, 1930, originally. Hampshire. But, ah,' she lifts a hand to dig through her hair, 'I've travelled quite a bit since then. Different times, different places. I suppose I can't really say I'm from anywhere at the moment.'

He blinks for a moment, then manages to say, "Oh." This is certainly a much more involved answer than he'd anticipated. He's not entirely sure what to make of it. "1930, damn. And I thought I was out of place."

She seems to fit in pretty well, considering. She's clearly been at this for a while.

"So like... time travel?" he hazards, hoping this doesn't sound idiotic - given what she's just said, he feels mostly secure.

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Far Side of the Aurora Borealis

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