Far Side of the Aurora Borealis

[applesaucemod]

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.]

Comments

[has_a_horn]

"Nope." Gabriel answers simply then amends, "Wellll sort of?" He does have a human body, so he figures that it's not unreasonable to claim himself as somewhat human. Venia doesn't seem to agree. The griffin snorts incredulously and Gabe throws an unamused glare in their direction.

"Demi-God is more accurate. A plain ol' god, maybe, depending on the mythology you're working with."

[johnny_truant]

Johnny stops so abruptly that Nova has to scramble to stay upright on his shoulder - although she's shocked too, quivering like crazy.

"Wait, what?" Johnny wheels back on Gabriel. He doesn't know what he'd expected, but apparently it wasn't freaking GOD. "You're a god?"

"Johnny, cool it," hisses Nova next to his ear. "You're sputtering."

"The god of WHAT?" Johnny demands, heedless. A few ridiculous options flash past him: bar sports. Flirting. Alcohol. Wait, that's a real one. He almost seems like a Dionysus, but Johnny keeps this to himself.

What's much, much more absurd is that, if Gabriel is to be believed, this means a fucking deity has been hitting on him, in all his fucked up mortal glory, like he's goddamn Persephone, or - wait, was she even one of the mortal ones? Whatever.

"You're a god and you want to have sex with me?" he says.

"Johnny you just said that out loud!" says Nova, an octave up from her usual voice.

[has_a_horn]

"Abso-fucking-lutely, my friend." He lifts a hand to pat Johnny on the cheek when he gets to him. He doesn't linger there, but the back of his hand brushes softly against Nova's fur as he moves away. He's held souls in his hands before, but part of him is curious just how much difference a soul given shape changes things.

He takes a few more steps before he swivels around to make sure Johnny is following and alright. "People are always asking me god of what, like ya need a specialty before they let you into the pantheon." He laughs and a smirk spreads across his face. "They used to call me the god of mischief. I've got the skill set."

[johnny_truant]

He flinches instinctively when Gabriel's hand transfers from his cheek to Nova's fur; his pulse quickens, anticipating the pain and intense violation he felt when Zagreus held her. But it's not like that at all. It still feels fuckin weird, like Gabriel just casually grabbed his crotch, or... something much more than that, something he doesn't really have an analogue for. But there's something warm and comforting this time, something that, for a moment, draws him inexorably closer (his legs are too stiff to move but he wants to, for that instant).

Nova feels it too. She shivers slightly, not with fear but with a strange sort of exhileration. He's not like Zagreus, she's thinking, transmitting to Johnny, somehow. We trust him.

She's right. Maybe that makes all the difference. Johnny reaches up to stroke absently at her fur, a little bit like a reclamation. This is simple: it feels right when he touches her, and wrong when Zagreus does. Gabe's passing contact was something altogether different.

Words are a struggle; he wants to address what just happened, but at the same time he really, really doesn't. "Well, that sounds appropriate," he says weakly.

He can feel Nova wanting to get down, so he lets her down. For a moment he's irrationally nervous she's going to scurry over to Gabriel, but she cuts for Venia instead, brazenly clambering up on top of the griffin's massive front paw.

[has_a_horn]

"People used to leave me offerings. That was kinda nice. Lots of honey. I liked that."

Venia lowers into a bow, offering their head up as a ladder for Nova to get up onto a higher spot. "Hop up, little one," Venia says kindly. "Wouldn't want you getting underfoot."

When the rabbit is secure and safe, Venia pads over to Johnny. Gabriel is a few steps away, still waiting for both of them, but he's watching this exchange with curiosity. Venia cocks their head to the side and asks, "What'd it feel like? He's curious, but he won't ask."

[johnny_truant]

"Oh, huh," Johnny comments, stupidly, as if he has any remotely insightful thoughts about that.

Nova is delighted to be allowed to climb up on Venia's head, and she wastes no time nestling comfortably in little hollow where feathers meet fur on their back. Johnny watches as Venia approaches him, sort of subconsciously avoiding eye contact with Gabriel.

Venia's question, however, blows that right out of the water.

"Uhhhh," says Johnny, blushing hotly, feeling suddenly and tremendously exposed. "Um, I don't know. Weird. Kind of like... nothing I've ever felt before."

"Zagreus did it too," offers Nova. "He picked me up. That felt horrible. This was different."

"Yeah," says Johnny, stepping in before she can, mortifyingly, say more (and just after she got on his case for blurting things out, god). "Yeah, it was... way different."

He looks at Venia, wondering without asking if Gabe would let him return the gesture.

[has_a_horn]

"You're blushing," Gabriel observes, mostly to see if it'll get any worse if he points it out. He doesn't like the implication that he and Zagreus had the same idea, but Johnny doesn't seem to view it the same way at all, which is good enough for him. "I hope you mean good-different."

Gabriel is a little hesitant about offering the same thing in return. Normally, humans can't even handle seeing his Grace, much less touching it. But this is unprecedented, and he assumes that Venia will be safe for Johnny to touch.

Venia lowers their head to Johnny's level and Gabe says "Go for it, if you want. Turnabout's fair play and all that."

"And he wants to know what it'll feel like," Venia adds.

[johnny_truant]

It definitely does get worse. Johnny lowers his head and pushes his hand over the lower part of his face, momentarily wanting to disappear. This is so, so much more difficult to take in stride now that he knows Gabe is a freaking god.

"O-okay," he says, glancing nervously at Venia. It's kind of nice, having Venia to be straight-forward when Gabe won't. "Um."

He doesn't know what to say. He reaches out slowly, like he's about to touch fire. He's not sure what he expects; much like how Nova feels texturally just like a regular rabbit, Venia's feathers feel like... feathers. Pleasant, soft, tickly. He wants, instinctively, to give them a good stroke, but he pulls his hand back quickly instead, looking at Gabriel for a reaction.

[has_a_horn]

A human touching his Grace is a strange and interesting experience. Gabriel knows that Johnny doesn't have any bad intentions here, so he's not on the defensive, but he's not entirely sure either. It's a warm feeling, and intimate in a way that he's not sure he wants to be with Johnny.

He longs, suddenly, for the TARDIS, for Kali - for someone that he loves to be standing here in Johnny's place ready to dip their fingers in between feathers and fur.

"That's...not bad." He stands a little stiffer than he normally might, but his voice sounds playful, and neither he nor Venia step away.

[johnny_truant]

"Weird, though, right?" Johnny drops his hand quickly, too self-conscious and uncertain about what this gesture actually signifies to continue.

"So, uh." He averts his eyes, looking back at the scene around them. "You mentioned the palace quarter?"

[has_a_horn]

"...Yeah." Gabriel says, belatedly answering the question. He'd been willing to have Johnny explore more at touching Venia, but he's also relieved that he didn't take him up on the offer. He wouldn't have liked to admit that it made him nervous.

Johnny's second question gets a more enthusiastic answer. "Yeah!" he says, and Venia takes the cue to come back around towards him. He reaches a hand up into feathers as they both start down an alleyway. "Come on, we'll take that short cut. You're gonna love this."