birds singing in the sycamore tree

[baedalites]

As night falls on Baedal, the city is almost quiet. The streets have a few last minute workers returning home, but by now, most citizens have already gone by the temples and picked up their vurt, ready to lay down and dream.

After placing a not-feather in one's mouth, there's a moment where it fizzes against the tongue before sliding coolly down the back of the throat and pulling the user down into sleep. A series of impressions, more sensation than anything concrete, appears before the user and this is how one chooses which Dreamer to enter.

Comments

[aldabeyoun]

"You know, I'm not sure whether this looks better on me or you, but I'm biased in my own favour," Njoki says running and hand down the front of 'her' suit before adjusting her tie. While she has no interest in baseball as a pastime, she's pleased by the opportunity spend time with a friend doing something that he's clearly so passionate about. "The suit, I mean, the setting is all yours, Alan."

In dreams, Ki's body type is the same as in the waking world, her teeth a little sharper, her eyes a shade darker, and there's an almost palpable presence of another form contained with her body. It's unusual, but not meant to be unsettling.

[controlledvariable]

"You probably don't have one, it's apparently a pretty rare city, which is probably for the best," She has a lot of conflicting feelings about Gotham, but she knows most people are better off without it. When he raises his hand, she shrugs a shoulder, "If violence worked, the problem would've been solved years ago. The whole city needs a rehaul."

She finds it interesting that this is how she feels about Baedal too, although it's concerning slightly different things; poverty and crime in Gotham, and the corrupt police force in Baedal.

[hehaseatenthepancake]

"Mm." Not especially satisfying to hear, but unsurprising. He lowers his fist, but then strokes at the little tuft of hair at the point of his chin instead. "That reminds me, though. Something I was comparing notes on with a friend a while back. In your world, Nazis: Still a going concern after World War II?"

[controlledvariable]

"Not like you mean, I don't think. We've got like, neo-Nazis around the place, but they're little cults that are mostly powerless," Her expression is wry, but after a second it clears when she remembers something else, "Oh and there was like, Captain Nazi or whatever the fuck his name was, but he got his brain melted by a tazer."

Steph had secretly wanted to high five Jason when she read that in his files. She should go find him tomorow and do that.

"I'm guessing they're still problem in your world?"

[bodilesswarrior]

She didn't intend on doing this, she really didn't. She's not at all fond of the idea of bearing her psyche to the city.

But she can control that, right? She can control anything, if she puts her mind to it.

And Steph was so excited to go. She can't leave her wandering around alone in a dreamscape with god knows what in it.

Instinctively, she reaches for the stars.

In the next moment, she's floating amongst them, and she can't quite repress her grin.

[bodilesswarrior]

That's how Barbara's been justifying this to herself, for the most part. Beyond that, though, beyond looking after Steph - she can't help but be curious.

She fades from one dream into another, and here she's flying.

No, that's not quite true; she watches herself floating several inches above the ground as her cape flows behind her.

Her - what?

She sees herself reach up to feel a mask that isn't there, and glance down to see a bat emblazoned in green.

"Well, at least I'm not conspicuous," she mutters, and she attempts to focus on something different, something normal as she drifts through the vibrant colours - when her gaze leaps to Rex.

Apparently she's not the only one in uniform today.

[controlledvariable]

Steph's been exploring through all the different dreamscapes, but she's in space for now, and as soon as she sees Babs she starts floating/flying towards her, shifting her outfit so that it's a bright yellow dress, the trail of it fluttering behind her like a comet. Fighting her way out of the Black Mercy dreams apparently gave Steph a good control over her subconscious, and she's exploiting it right now.

"You came," It's easy to slow to a stop next to Babs, her own smile wide and warm. She's glad Babs decided to take advantage of the opportunity to play in these dreams.

[bodilesswarrior]

It's an odd place for a throne, really, but it somehow doesn't seem out of place; it fades into the field as if it's always been there.

Barbara sits with a scroll in her hands. She's clothed in pale blue robes, and a horned diadem crowns her head.

Her expression is one of perplexed amusement. "So this was my first thought, huh? I'm kind of full of myself, aren't I."

[bodilesswarrior]

Barbara has to admit that she's impressed.

Well, not out loud.

"Under duress," she says wryly, but her smile lingers as she reaches out to warm her fingers against a distant star. "If this backfires, you're on paperwork for a month."

[controlledvariable]

"Hey, you can't blame me for your overprotectiveness," It's not hard to guess that a lot of Babs' motivation for coming into the dream was to make sure nothing happens to Steph. It'd annoy her if it was anyone but Babs doing it.

She sticks her tongue out, "And you seem to have forgotten you're not actually the boss of me."

[bodilesswarrior]

"Please. I'm the boss of everyone." Barbara doesn't argue the descriptor; she knows very well what she's being.

She'll have to add "childish" to that list, too, because she has the absurd urge to stick her tongue out right back.

She pulls her knees up with her hands, tucking her legs under her as she floats. "...This one is nice, though." She can admit that.

"For now." Almost.

[controlledvariable]

"You know I'm gonna have to stop obeying your orders now, just to spite you," Clearly she won't, because disobeying Babs while in the field could lead to getting dead. But she may be more contrary while they're in situations that aren't life or death.

Steph bumps her shoulder into Babs', "Nothing bad is gonna happen. So far all the holidays here have been exactly what they say on the tin."

She sent out a boat for St Kelley's and she got something in return, and she's heard that the previous holiday worked, too. Steph's actually starting to have a little faith in Baedal's gods.

[thedominatrix]

"Very nice, but I think they'd have to be winged for that," Irene muses, admiring them none the less, one hand on her hip.

She quite likes the idea of someone who finds themselves suspended in the centre of a galaxy...and decides the scenery isn't up to scratch.

She nearly asks how Alter's doing it before she decides to just try for herself. And she doesn't quite mean to very literally write her name in lights for a few seconds, Irene Adler illuminated in distant stars before they flicker out one by one, but her subconscious somewhat gets the better of her. She gives Alter a slightly wild, entirely unabashed grin- "Oops. Self-centred?"

[alan_shore]

Embarrassment flashes across Alan's face--at his own predictability, at having selected, of the worlds upon worlds and lush and tangled imaginings available to him, a place where the grass isn't even overgrown. He rolls onto his side, head tucked into the crook of his elbow, and languidly reaches--looking first to Mycroft, though not for permission--to take the cloth of the other man's suit jacket in his fingers.

He lets it drop and, smirk entirely out of keeping with the words, recites, "I had dressed myself in clothes of a new fiber that never stains or wrinkles, never wears thin."

Alan blinks in surprise, after which his expression relaxes into cautious amusement. "This is the first I've spoken," he admits.

Irrefutable evidence they've divorced themselves from reality as they know it.

[aviophobia]

This is ... definitely weird. And it's got to be something out of Jim's head, because McCoy's never seen trees quite that shade before, and there's things rustling in the underbrush that he suspects he'd never see on Earth, or any of the planets Starfleet's discovered yet.

He catches up to the younger man easily, feeling a smile twitching at his lips despite himself, because this feels pretty damned awesome. He biked a lot in Georgia, but as he'd gotten older, busier, he just hadn't had time for it.

"Nice dream!" he calls over.

[captaincocksure]

"I'm not sure it's all me!" he calls back, grin still turning his lips. "The bike part, yeah--but the rest, I don't know. Never seen anything like it. You?"

Jim's doing fine biking but he has to work at it. He rode bikes back home--motorbikes, not anything he had to power himself. He's fit and it's not an ordeal, but it's clear it's a lot more natural and effortless for his friend.

"I'm kinda reminded of something I wanted to do but I don't think I made up the forest."

[diogenesis]

Despite their casual closeness on the grass, Mycroft had not anticipated Alan's outstretched hand (or the look before his fingers had touched the fabric, or the line of his body under the suit as he'd shifted to his side). No one reaches out to Mycroft. Not even in dreams.

Before he can decide what to make of it, Alan is speaking.

Voices tend to grate on him, but Alan's is different—a voice that exists to be listened to. Somehow that fact has become even more true here, the sound like a balm for the mind. And the words—in any other situation they would sound odd or pretentious, but now they only seem like poetry, wrapping around the sound of his voice to create some kind of siren song.

Mycroft swallows, his lips part, and he takes a slow, deep breath—and in a measured rush, it's as though he's inhaled particles of the hyperreality around him and they're replenishing his blood cells and flowing through his capillaries. Color comes to his skin; new levels of definition appear in his hair and his clothing; his eyes go from dark and muddy to a clear, bright grey. He's still not completely filled in, but the difference is remarkable, and it's obvious Mycroft is aware of it. There's a silence building, he knows, and he should say something—

( umber / russet / sienna / chocolate / sepia / copper / ochre / walnut / amber / gold )

"You have one hundred and seventy-two eyelashes on your left upper eyelid."

Irrefutable evidence, indeed.

(for Ki)

[captainredwhiteblue]

It's... kind of like his armor.

Except for the part where it's painted on.

And that's all he's got.

"...Ki? Uh. What's going on? Where are my pants and stuff?"

[hehaseatenthepancake]

"'Captain Nazi.' That's about the kind of crap I'm talking about," Hellboy chuckles. "Allies won the war, but all Hitler's close buddies? The ones with the crazy science and the occult stuff? Those guys got everywhere, and when the Reich fell, they went into hiding, kept up their crazy crap in secret stashes all over the world."

He sighs and mentally tallies up. "Nearly fifty years with the Bureau, give or take, I'd say maybe... a third of my workload involved Nazis in some fashion. I hope my case is relatively rare."

[controlledvariable]

"I think it might be the crazy science and occult stuff that makes the difference," She sounds sympathetic; having Nazis around would suck, "I think there wasn't much of that involved with World War Two back home, awful eugenics experiments aside."

And that makes her frown, because it's hard to discuss things like this and keep a light mood, "I'm sorry you ave to deal with all that. I'm glad we just have run-of-the-mill supervillains."

[sleaairgid]

Nuada knows very well that in this state, bathed as he is in entropy, he is not welcome among the dreamers, and so it cannot be said that the stealth of his emergence was an accident. Only longing for the whole has brought him, as it always does.

You knew that I would. Hardly a whisper. He is not struggling to repress, but repressing all the same, to give the impression of a mere shadow. It was not so easy this time.

[hehaseatenthepancake]

"It could be worse."

Hellboy had initially chosen to avoid anything built-up or overly populated, but his curiosity finally got the better of him. Given the half of his heritage that he's more recently learned about, the castle seemed like an obvious choice, especially as it's still not quite a city locale. He's starting to regret it now.

Depending on how much she's been creeping on the Network, it's possible she's seen Hellboy around. (He is rather distinctive.) If so, she'd know that the majestic horns that fade into and out of view on his head over his stumps aren't usually there. Also generally absent is his crown, also intermittently visible and wreathed in fire. Over his shorts, he has a golden-handled sword sheathed on a belt at his side -- as opposed to his preferred style of wearing it on his back -- and a fine robe trimmed in fur.

He passes hand through the phantom horns and crown, trying without success to dispel them, then sighs. "Should've known to stay in the forest dream," he says ruefully.

[diogenesis]

Mycroft does catch sight of a handful of the headlines, and many things about Sebastian's world and the war he fought fall into place. There is obviously a large part of the puzzle still missing, but much of it has now been revealed. He is completely distracted from his thoughts of the pensieve.

Being as familiar with world history as he is, he's not as surprised as perhaps he otherwise would be in regards to the wizarding community rejecting the notion of science (and of mingling with non-magical humans).

"All people are afraid of change. Certain climates make for a more perfect storm of willful ignorance than others. Our knowledge and capabilities expand over the years, but we make the same mistakes again and again, even across dimensions. All in the name of familiarity, and comfort, and tradition."

As he speaks, an impression rises up around him of patience, of watching and waiting, of the shifting of the status quo, the changing of the times. One can almost hear the wind and rain slowly eroding the mountains. His avatar gains more clarity, but seems to absorb a bit of the surrounding light instead of reflecting it. It might be an unnerving effect for some.

"Have you ever considered that many people accept science in theory, but not in fact?"

[requiresssacrifice]

Rex relaxes his shoulders when he finds that he's not the only one dressed for the occasion. With the way Barbara looks right now, it could be safe to swing his outfit as a costume-- it's a party, after all. And, really, who cares that he's wearing his dress blues?

Well, Rex cares. He doesn't like it when his history comes back to hit him in the face. But it's not as if it's anyone else's concern, so...

He puts a smile on his face as he approaches Barbara, looking friendly enough. His voice is playful when he speaks. "Do you often dream of being a superhero?"

[aldabeyoun]

"Kiddo, you ever have one of those dreams where you show up for work naked?" Ki's arrived in this dream in a t-shirt, jeans, and barefoot, and she suspects that if she loaned him anything of hers, not only would it fail to fit but he'd be even more embarrassed.