I'll See You in My Dreams [WIDE-OPEN PARTY THREAD]

[applesaucemod]

Sometimes the rift only gives the denizens of Manhattan strange dreams. Sometimes, two people will find themselves together in the Dreaming. And other times? Other times, the Dreaming takes hold of dozens of people at once, throwing them all together into one shared mental space while they sleep.

Tonight is one of those nights -- what's more, the rift has outdone itself this time, telepathic tendrils reaching out through the rift into other universes to pull in even those who haven't been physically transported to this world...yet. You might meet a stranger from another world, or you might run into your next-door neighbor. You might notice right away that this isn't the waking world and that you are not alone, or you may drift through blissfully unaware that anything is out of the ordinary. You might not even remember this in the morning at all.

And that's probably going to be fortunate for at least a few people, because what you will notice is the overwhelming desire to get cozy with someone. It's chilly in this big house where you've found yourself, but luckily for you, there are beds, beanbags, and blankets galore, all of them just perfect for getting cuddly with your new friends. Consider yourself lucky that dream-world cameras can't upload photos to the real-world internet.


[It's a Dreaming party, and everyone is welcome! Tag a friend, tag a stranger, whatever! Everyone who's been pulled in will be feeling unusually friendly and cuddly, so get a-snuggling. Some characters (particularly those with strong telepathic defenses) may not be as strongly affected as others; the extent of the Dreaming's effect on each character is up to the mun's discretion.

Also, when we say everyone, we mean everyone. Non-members are welcome to tag into this post, so feel free to voice-test new characters here, and to invite friends who aren't in the game to come do some meeting and greeting. If you've come upon this post and aren't a member of this game, you are welcome to tag into this post.

For those who are familiar with the brbG parties, this is basically like that. Post a tag with your character's arrival and await replies. Time is bendy in here, so each character can have multiple replies/threads. Have fun!]

Comments

[has_a_horn]

Oh, did she not know about that one? Whoops, sorry, Peter. "He goes poof when he gets upset. Big ball of flame and everything. It looks pretty impressive."

[essentiallyharmless]

She's sure Gabriel is deeply sorry for spilling Peter's secrets.

"Huh," she answers thoughtfully. She hasn't really discussed powers much with Peter - as far as she knows, Peter doesn't know about her ability either. "...He should put that in his show."

Great minds think alike?

[has_a_horn]

"That's what I said!" He grins, gesturing forward emphatically with both hands.

And, y'know what? He's just going to lie down instead. He scrunches himself down with a few plush pillows propping him up. "Even said I'd help him learn how to use it without ending up under a lake or something. But nooo." He sighs dramatically. "I like him, really, but he'd be better off not being scared of his own shadow."

[essentiallyharmless]

Lucy smiles a little at that. "He's a tad defensive," she agrees. "Though I can understand not wanting to end up under a lake." And it's not like he doesn't have reasons to be a bit guarded.

"I hope you'll keep information about my ability to yourself," she adds. Not that she expects him to, given how freely he gave away information about Peter. But one can hope.

[has_a_horn]

"My lips are sealed." Was keeping powers secret a thing he should have been doing? Ah well, hoe probably won't bother. He smiles. "And if they aren't you can jump back and seal them yourself."

[essentiallyharmless]

Well, the people with the powers would probably mostly prefer it remaining a sort of secret. Though it's unlikely to happen, especially long-term.

"Well," she answers consideringly. "That depends." She (unlike Peter) has actually be practicing her power a fair bit, and has found them to have certain limitations.

[has_a_horn]

"Oh?" He raises his eyebrows at her. "On what?"

[essentiallyharmless]

She debates how much to answer. On one hand, she's not sure giving Gabriel too much information is a great idea, but on the other, she hasn't actually discussed her power with anyone but him. He already helped her figure out a bit of it.

"I'd probably have to be there. There's only so far I can go back, and it's largely reactional rather than intentional," she answers. She's sort of managed to do it intentionally, but it's tricky, and it only worked when she got frustrated with it not working. "And probably emotional, too."

[has_a_horn]

Gabriel hums, considering the new information. "Have you tried working on it yet?"

[essentiallyharmless]

"Yeah," she answers. "Though there's limits to how bad situations I want to throw myself into if I don't manage to do it." Like, say, she's not about to throw herself off a bridge.

"Mostly I've been stealing things. If I get caught, that's enough for me to be able to do it. Plus, it pays well." Hey, she has to earn money somehow. Not like she's got qualifications to get a real job. Nor would she be any good or reliable in it.

[has_a_horn]

He raises an eyebrow at her, already considering the logistics of having one item of her own disappearing for every item she steals. It'd be time-consuming to do it that way, but definitely more interesting.

He voice is still playful when he says, "In the old days, they'd cut off your hands."

[essentiallyharmless]

"Yeah, well, I'm only taking from people who deserve it or who have enough to spare," she answers. Honestly, she's kind of doing the same thing Gabriel does. Karma, and everything.

"Plus, who would supply Peter with alcohol and actual meals?" Because it turns out he's really bad at budgeting his money, even though he's the one who grew up poor (or at least poor-ish).

[has_a_horn]

"Hey, I gave him a whole chocolate bar." Gabriel may be having a little trouble with the 'meal' concept, here. And he may have technically stolen it. You know what, let's not go into his list of hypocrisies at the moment.

[essentiallyharmless]

"Admirable though that is, the nutritional value is limited," she answers. And yeah, Gabriel definitely shouldn't get on her case about stealing.

[has_a_horn]

"Next time I'll take him out for a steak dinner. How's that?" Not Peter would go out to dinner with Gabriel, but it's the thought that counts?

[essentiallyharmless]

"I think his dislike of you would win out against the offer of a meal," she answers. So probably Gabriel shouldn't have pissed Peter off so badly in the first place. Not that it isn't fairly easy to do so.

[has_a_horn]

"Why doesn't he like me?" Really, he's having some genuine trouble with this one. "Enlighten me."

[essentiallyharmless]

"Honestly, he wasn't particularly specific. He said you took him somewhere, and that you used illusions, that was about it. But he was very insistent that you were an asshole," she answers. Lucy isn't that keen on Gabriel yet, but he's quite bearable. But then she isn't as easily freaked out by non-human stuff.

[has_a_horn]

"I was incredibly kind and considerate." He shrugs, his entire face making the motion along with his shoulders. "We were talking about shows, so I took him to a theatre. He didn't like that, so we switched venues to somewhere he'd be more comfortable. That's all."

Yup. That's reallly all. Totally.

[essentiallyharmless]

"He doesn't like paranormal, magical, alien stuff," she informs him. "If you had walked him there, he might've been more friendly." She doesn't know about tweaking his show to begin with, though.

[has_a_horn]

He nods. This is constructive criticism as far as he's concerned. "Possible, but it'd probably have the same effect. Neither of those places exist in this universe." He smiles. "And he should have thanked me for improving his act." He smiles. "You should have heard the gasps of surprise."

[essentiallyharmless]

Ah. Now it makes more sense. On both counts, both the illusion and just how annoyed Peter was. "You interfered with his show? And it didn't occur to you that you might be damaging his pride?" she asks. No one likes to be upstaged by an audience member, and she's fairly sure Peter definitely doesn't take something like that well.

[has_a_horn]

"Hey, no." He points at her, trying to make himself understood. Whether or not his point is a valid one is another question altogether. "I do have some honor. I didn't upstage him. I made him look better." So really, it wasn't the crowd he was playing, it was Peter.

[essentiallyharmless]

She still looks rather doubtful. "Yeah, but it wasn't his achievement. Plus, you probably did it with actual magic, rather than just sleight of hand. I did already say he doesn't like magic," she points out. And she can't imagine Peter enjoying being played.

[has_a_horn]

Look, his attempt at making a friend backfired horribly. Lets not talk about it.

Do you hear those screeching tires? Yeah, that's the emergency U-Turn this conversation is taking. "How did you get to know Peter so well?"