Hijinks Mingle

[potentite]

Who: Everyone!
Where: Anywhere around the hub!
When: Days 103-105
Open/Closed: Open mingle!
Notes: See this post for details on the moon prompt and this one for the telepathy/dream/spirit prompts!



[A | Flower Gleam and Glow]
[The nearby moon is still passing close to the hub island, meaning the effects are still in play. Perhaps now is the time to stop and smell the large lit up sparkling moonflowers that have bloomed? Or be annoyed by the mosquito-like insects that came with them.

Alternatively, the deer seem to draw some sort of energy from the moon's light. Given their size, at least their sudden aggression and proximity to the base camp isn't the worst thing in the world but a kick would still break a rib or other bone so be careful! Possibly help each other deal with these cute but troublesome fauna.]



[B | Eavesdropping]
[For some reason, the telepathy will suddenly get rather wonky. Characters won't know why it's happening, though of course no doubt there will be ponderings, but it means characters won't be in control of their ability to broadcast — or more specifically, not broadcast — their thoughts. Time to find out secrets of an embarrassing nature. Or maybe something sadder is going on in your character's head.

If this wasn't bad enough, the area around the signet might experience burning or tingling. Just try to keep a lid on your brain for the day and distract yourself from any annoying pain.]



[C | Talking In Your Sleep]
[Or maybe your character just doesn't have the most interesting thoughts. Maybe they're busy thinking about pie instead of their upsetting childhood. That's fair. Pie is great.

But surely sometimes it haunts their dreams. With the telepathy running amuck, it's no wonder dreams and nightmares are leaking through, too. Of course, it doesn't have to be an accident. Feel free to grab a friend and share a fanciful dreamscape together on purpose! But for those nuts that are tougher to crack, accidents can and will happen.]



[D | Who You Gonna Call]
[Last but not least, as Friday rolls around, there seems to be something odd going on with the island. If your character is inclined towards the spiritual or supernatural, they'll no doubt notice the strange heavy thickness hanging around. There are whispers in the air and all of new energy just feels solemn. Might be good to give people a heads up and keep an eye on it.]

Comments

[splinten]

[There's a pause. His free hand goes for the hair ruffle.]

You know, you're definitely a fast learner.

[soulcomet]

[hey hey hey, that's her 'do — no, wait, she's just beaming, not even minding the way her hair is now sticking up very slightly.]

Having good examples to follow helped a lot. I — [she's interrupted by a sizable glob of whatever has been snaking across the ceiling suddenly drops, splattering all over the book on Houston that she'd been holding onto. she's surprised enough to drop it, and the book bounces once on the edge of its spine before landing in another sizable puddle.]

[but landing isn't really the right word. the book simply falls right through the floor, as if it had been dropped through a hole, and sinks on down to the infinite stars and pinkish glow below.]

[so that's where that's going. admittedly, though she is uniquely qualified to handle dreams, she's never had to deal with her own at the same time.]

[splinten]

[He reflexively puts her hand on her and pulls her back from the drop, like a brave knight on the defence or like a mom stopping their kid from crossing the road when a car is coming. He follows its descent, uneasy. It doesn't feel like it's him. At least, he thinks it isn't.]

Is this from you?

[soulcomet]

— I'm really sorry. I'm still trying to figure out how to stop it.

[she has to stand on her toes to get a better look at the book as it eventually disappears, but she won't try to step closer to the muck on the floor, either. she will stay where she's been pulled.]

[but don't be silly, Madoka. it probably can't be stopped, not permanently. much like fate and whatever secrets are hidden beyond the bounds of their realities, it'll always catch up eventually.]

[splinten]

Dreams are usually resistant to our best efforts to control them. It's one of the annoying side effects of them being dreams.

[He keeps his hand on her, in case she decides to move. He leans forward.]

I'm going to fly us out. [It's the warning he gives her before he picks her up, full in his arms. His clothing flickers, to purple pjs, and he flies out to the window and into the world that has appeared beyond.]

[soulcomet]

[those are some rad pajamas — if Madoka didn't already have a million other questions, interspersed with strong, perhaps tangible feelings of relief that they're escaping the apartment and anxiety over wherever they're heading, she'd be commenting on them immediately.]

[she shifts a little, and wraps an arm around him to hold herself steady.]

Do you dream like this often? [of the ocean — of loneliness. and minus her own contribution.]

[splinten]

Dreaming at all, in the sense of a true dream, is relatively new. People who play Sburb have a unique relationship with the sleeping mind.

[Don't worry, he's got her close. Is it the water that surrounds him, or is it still space?]

[soulcomet]

[it is rather hard for her to really tell for certain. though, if the apartment were at all still visible, wherever they are, it probably isn't anymore — once they'd left, Madoka had stopped thinking so hard about it, and now, there's only an oblivion left behind.]

[though, that may be less a reflection of fate and more that she can't stand that it was his reality for so long. and, much like she subconsciously removed it from this dream, she's trying to hide that feeling, if only because Dirk has already tried so hard to make sure she doesn't worry about it.]

[she may or may not be failing at that, though.]

You still have to play the game, even when you're sleeping? That doesn't sound very restful at all.

[splinten]

[He feels the concern. He keeps her close, flying through the stars. He keeps his mind on her, too. No glitches and star dust: just Madoka, kept close.]

Sburb wasn't designed to give its players a break. Every person destined to play Sburb has a waking self that lives on their planet. We also get a dream self that lives on one of two moons. The normal rule is that when one body is awake, the other is asleep, but first the dream self has to wake up through some kind of self-realization.

[As he speaks, the sky around them seems to shift. A purple world emerges from space: dazzling towers and long stretches of wall, all in that shade, populated by strange black carapace-covered humanoids.]

I was a dreamer on Derse's moon with my friend Roxy.

[soulcomet]

It's beautiful. [it strikes her as a bit gloomy, maybe, but beautiful all the same. and Madoka could use something to focus on other than her own concerns, too — this is working out well.]

What sort of things do you do here?

[splinten]

Spy on the Queen's agents, mainly. I spent most of my dreamwaking life pretending I was a sleepwalker like Roxy.

[Speaking of—there's a dream of Roxy, floating on by. She is drooling, bless her drunken heart. Out of habit, Dirk grabs her hand and pulls her along with him back towards his tower on Derse's moon.]

[soulcomet]

[okay, Madoka can't help but think that Roxy is incredibly cute, and maybe that thought is projecting a bit more than she'd like. she would be so embarrassed.]

[and there's something oddly familiar about this scenario, too. helping lead her Mama to bed after a long day of work, and an even longer night of socializing with work superiors. staying in good standing with them. such is the life of a salarywoman.]

So there's royalty here, then? Have you met the Queen before?

[splinten]

[Roxy is adorable, so Dirk won't be disagreeing. He brings them to a tower and leads them in; inside is probably a room that looks a lot like this, but more in this kind of palette.]

I tried to punch the Queen in the face and she sent a brainwashed kid to teleport me away

[soulcomet]

[......]

I ... think I should probably be surprised at that, but. I'm not. [it's said affectionately - she's seen him fight sharks falling from the sky; it stands to reason that he would also try to fight a ruling monarch, if she deserved it.]

[splinten]

[Dirk sets down Madoka, so she can stand herself. He then pulls Roxy towards the bed. As he talks, he is carefully tucking her in under her sheets, like he's done so many times before. It's only the dream of Roxy, and he knows that. But still, he loves her.]

You kind of get over the surprise at one point. The Queen is the Condesce, who wiped out my entire species and killed my Bro, and sent agents after me and my friends, so I'm not entirely inclined to feel positive towards her.

[soulcomet]

[Madoka doesn't really know what to say to that; she just looks crestfallen, and is quiet for a moment. her own dreams are largely absent from here, at least for now - there has to be something she can do to help.]

... Is there even one thing about Sburb that's remotely fair?

[splinten]

Not that comes to mind. Her Imperial Condescension's thing wasn't especially related to the game, except in the way everything is. The Batterwitch just likes to get her mass murder on.

[soulcomet]

[it sounds like the Batterwitch and Walpurgisnacht would have a grand time together.]

[she doesn't like that answer (she very nearly doesn't like any answer she gets when she asks a question about Sburb), and she's quiet again, wracking her brain for something, anything she could say that might help make it at least a little better.]

[and then she suddenly starts, as if she'd been hit — wait, no, she just has an idea.]

Would it be all right if I tried something?

[splinten]

[With Roxy safely tucked in, Dirk turns around to look at Madoka. His shades hide his expression, but he's curious.]

Go for it.

[soulcomet]

All right. But, let me ask you something first — answer honestly, okay?

Would you say you're happy when you come here? [that might seem like a silly question, considering what he just told her, but he's here with Roxy, isn't he? and Madoka doesn't want to mess this up.]

[splinten]

I wouldn't call this 'coming here.'

[Dirk lingers a moment longer. He strokes back Roxy's hair, and then walks over to Madoka.]

You can go ahead with it, Madoka. I don't dream Derse or my apartment because I like them particularly. They're just familiar places to me. Do what you want to with the dream.

[soulcomet]

[Madoka tilts her head, considering both him, and what he's said, for a long moment.]

[then she smiles, and summons her Soul Gem in her raised palm, with little more fanfare than a burst of pink light, she transforms.]

All right. I'll do my best! But, I need to get back down.

[she can just hop off where they entered the tower, right? it seems like a long drop, but she is, after all, used to heights. and this is important to her.]

[splinten]

[Well. That's not entirely safe. After this long chasing after Roxy, though, he is more than in the habit of leaping out windows after flighty broads.

MADOKA DON'T GET HURT]

[soulcomet]

[it is starting to sound a bit like Madoka and Roxy would get along smashingly, actually.]

[in any case, he doesn't need to worry, because although she is not capable of flying, she is extremely well versed in the art of falling with style. and once they're out in the open again, it's suddenly obvious where she's heading: a spot within the city that's illuminated by a familiar pink starlight.]

[whatever it was that consumed the apartment never actually left completely, of course; Madoka had only tried her best to not think about it. now, it's falling from a single point way up in the sky (look close enough, and one might see that it's actually being poured by the faint shadow of a giant teapot), cascading down buildings and creeping menacingly across the ground.]

[the first step in this plan, she thinks, is to address her own dream — and so, she lands as closely as she figures she can safely without accidentally stumbling in. hmm.]

[splinten]

[That was, admittedly, a really well done fall. Dirk lands after her, watching the....

...Tea?]

You had a childhood trauma with Earl Grey.