[mingle] what's the dream and what's the reality?

[lovetheme]

Lately the castle's nights have been very clear and almost warm, even up so high among the clouds as they are. But regardless of the weather, they are generally peaceful nights, and few things seem to stir during them...apart from the castle's inhabitants, be it with late-night roving or with sleep. The dreams, by extension, are at least undisturbed...if maybe not always pleasant. That sort of thing tends to vary by the person, of course.

But now--and for several nights, consecutively--the castle residents may find their dreams starting to take on stranger shapes: memories they've never had, friends that don't usually arrive, strangers they've never seen. These odd impressions might cling and continue to confuse even upon waking, vivid as they were; was it really just a dream, or maybe something more...? Does that newcomer in your dream remember you there too, in the daytime?

Either way, there seems to be an strange energy in the air during these nights. And it's bringing dreams together.

((ooc: And here's the catch-all post for the dream-sharing event! Feel free to top-level with your character's dreams here, or thread around in others! The event should only last about a week, but backtagging is eternal c: The ooc planning post can be found here!))

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[lightofthestars]

Yet again, she shakes her head, her hair whipping back and forth with the force of her movement.

"It does not matter now. Whatever--whatever you did, it is now past. You are here. You are nowhere else."

And she cannot believe, in her heart of hearts, that Ryoji is evil. He may have been born to such a purpose (she cannot forget that night she healed him) but the Ryoji she knows--even Thanatos--has been nothing but kind.

[notsogrimreaper]

"But I could have come here for a reason! And maybe that reason involves your destruction. I... I don't want to see you suffer. Don't you understand?"

Why don't people accept that if he really is 'nothing but kind', he should be keeping them away from him rather than tricking them and becoming their friend without letting them know the truth?

[andthebat]

Indignation briefly flashes across Batman's face, just before Frisk lands in the puddle. The splash hits the Batman, enough to leave his legs wet. Great. Why does this kid have to be so stubborn?

"Can't keep yourself dry, though," he says. His legs are wet already so he sits down on the edge of the puddle Frisk is sitting in, letting his legs dangle in the water. It feels nicer when he's not being suddenly sprayed with it. "And what if you got shot?"

[dustless]

"I don't mind. It isn't a swamp. Could use more flowers."

They shove their arms through the water, aiming to splash him again.

"Then I'd redo it. Just like if the time ran out and my jetpack broke." Duh.

[lightofthestars]

She understands, for she believes with all her heart in his goodness. Yet: "Maybe you are meant to cause our destruction--but maybe you are not. Maybe this is to be a place of rest for you. Should you not take this gift that has been offered to you?"

[notsogrimreaper]

“Should I really take a chance when being wrong could mean sacrificing all of your lives? That’s hardly fair, when this is supposed to be a place of rest for everyone else as well.”

[andthebat]

The Batman doesn't want to be scared, and he's not sure if he is- but maybe it's there, mixed in with the shame that keeps him from meeting Grune's eyes and the anger that has his talons flexing against the floor of the cage.

He wants to tell Grune to go, get out of here, that he'll be fine, that he can handle this himself. But whenever he tries to speak the words somehow get stuck in his throat, and the only sounds he's able to choke out are growls.

The guards let him embarrass himself for a few moments, producing wretched animal noises instead of words, before one smacks the bars of the cage with a baton. Batman flinches back, the clang echoing through the area.

"Typical," the guard says. "Too mulish to even talk back."

[lostinmyway]

Grune doesn't so much as blink as her friend growls at her. He must be very upset.

She does, however, frown at the man who hits the cage.

"That wasn't very nice at all," she tells him. "You scared him."

[lightofthestars]

"But where would you go to save us?" she asks. "There is no way to escape this island that we know."

[buttercup_eater]

Chara shakes their head. They keep shaking it, even as they take a step back.

"No," they say. "No. I don't feel like eating." Their throat's all tight anyway, and they're not sure they even could.

[andthebat]

Grune's light movements make it easy for the boy to pull her along, racing along the cobbled streets. For all their speed though, it's hard to tell if they're making any progress; the fog obscures the buildings, making them hazy and indistinguishable from one another.

Despite this, the boy only pauses when Grune asks her question. He stares straight ahead, but his gaze is unfocused. Numbly, he states the facts:

"We were leaving the Monarch Theatre, and we were going to take a cab home. But the theater was full so we decided to take a shortcut through Park Row while looking for a payphone."

A pause.

"...I don't remember what happened next. I know what happened, though."

[notsogrimreaper]

“I… I don’t know. But I should at least stay away from everyone. Isolate myself.”

[lightofthestars]

She shakes her head. "I see no sense in this. Do you seek to punish yourself?"

It is the only reason of which she can think.

[buttercup_eater]

"You're just being ridiculous!" Chara's mother scolds them. "They're long gone, there's no reason to care!" Still digging, still clawing.

Chara grips onto the edge of the table. * You don't know! they think, * But you've got to! Or else-

They let out a yelp as Frisk's wrist rips open, and hasten to cover their mouth with their hand. Chara's mother twists towards them and frowns, her fingers still flexing. "Now look what you've done!" she says, "Why do you a͔̟̦͍ͅl͈͕̣̱̮̯w̹̗a̘y̪͓̬̟͉̝͚s̲̖͖ ̖̠͇̦̗̣͚h̲̖a͉̬͉͙̰̣v͓͇̞̥̳e̠ ̘̺t̹̪̭̻͎͍o ̯̩͓̣̞͖̖m̫̙͇a̞̖͔͍̹̤̫k̯͓̤e̱ ̬̘̮͚͖̣ͅs͓̠̱̳̹͈̳uc̻̦̦͚̯h̘̬ ̪̥̤̰͕̹a͈̹̪̝̱̓ͧ̆͛͊͗ ̮ͭ̿ͩͭb͈i̲͊̓̊ͬͬ̃g͇̺̥̺̱̪̈ͫ͌ͨ̂̚̚ ̒̊f̰͈̯̞̰u̹͚̣̮ͅs̼͎͓̃͐̇̃̃s̜̐́͋ ͕̬̜̭ͦͨ̌ͨ̏͑̓o̮̦̜͍̺̪ͅv͕ͤe͔̙̜̞̙ͅr͕̯͇̥͌ͭ̓ ̞̝ͣ͂͛͛̓E̝ͣ̐̓ͪ̓V̺̱̼͕̿̓ͦE̝͉̠͙ͦR̺̔ͭͩ̋̆͌͗Y͉͈̩̠̳͗T͕̮̟͔̼͇̪ͥ̚H̠͋͆ͧͬI̺̬̞͊̅ͯ͌ͯ͗N̗̙̜̩̺̔̓ͤĞ̳?͍̥̱͕͋͐͌͂ͪ͌ͅ"͇̗͚̟͈̰͋̓̍̄ͯͫ


With a sigh, Chara's mother gracefully drops into a chair at the head of the table. "Just be quiet and eat your dinner," she says.

The real Chara stares at their bowl. Small green plants are starting to sprout through it.

[dustless]

"Yes it is. It always is."

It occurs to them that they can struggle too late, glove and hand tearing and flaking, badly-sewn cloth and old peeling paint together at once.

What a nasty woman.

"I'm not hungry," Frisk says flatly, shaking what's left of their hand over the table until it finally drops off with the sound of torn tissue paper, and red spills out.

Not blood. Leaves. Everywhere. And they're left flexing the needles that made up the bones of it. Rude, making it all exposed like that.

[notsogrimreaper]

“I’m only giving myself what I deserve. If you think it’s a punishment, then that’s what it is. But I don’t really see it that way.”

[lightofthestars]

She forgets her place enough to say, "You should not be doing this. Please, do not make yourself suffer for no reason."

She cannot stand by and let him do this to himself. It would be cruel.

[buttercup_eater]

Chara flinches at the sound, but manages to catch one of the leaves drifting past them before it falls onto the floor. They slip it into their pocket for safekeeping, and shoot a wary glance at the needles that are all that remains of Frisk's hand.

(Rude, perhaps. But it's only natural; your leaves always fall out eventually.)

Their mother, in the mean time, looks stern. "You can't leave until you finish your plate," she says, then suddenly looks at Chara- the real Chara. "Both of you."

Chara manages not to jump in their seat, and gives her a jerky nod. When they look back at their dish, the small green plants are starting to bloom with yellow blossoms.

* Not this again...

They risk a peek at Frisk; what did they get?

[dustless]

* You leave with the plate.

Frisk leaves with the plate.

Or starts to, standing up. Their plate looks like chipped china, but it feels the same as the rest of the room, oozing. Their fingertips sink into one side, their needles puncture the other, adding the scent of burnt meat to the already-filthy odor of the room, and they drop it.

All the bits of twisted metal on it rattle and spill out onto the table, grey gleaming dully in the room's light over their leaves. Mostly. Some of the pieces seem to have a label stuck to them. Looks like a soup can shoved into a grinder.

[notsogrimreaper]

“There is a reason,” Ryoji states. His voice is firm, but just a bit of desperate emotion breaks through it.

“Tauriel, please. I do not want to hurt you. Before you ask me to ensure I do not suffer for no reason, perhaps you should take your own advice.”

[buttercup_eater]

"I said you're not leaving."

Chara's mother stands up at about the same time that Frisk does. Chara, on the other hand, still isn't getting up, but they watch the plate puncture and spill its contents with wide red eyes and a wrinkled nose. (* You can feel your heart pounding in your throat.) Just what does Frisk think they're doing?

Whatever it is, Frisk had best do it fast, as Chara's mother is reaching for them once again, this time to grab at their hair.

[dustless]

It's weird, how this lady thinks she can control them--

Ow, ow, ow her nails scrape against their scalp. It's not the worst pain they've endured, but it's still unpleasant, especially with the sound it makes. Like dragging scissors through sackcloth.

* You return the favor.

Frisk reaches up and grabs her wrist with both of their hands, normal one encircling it, needle fingers puncturing her skin as easily as the plate's.

"I said I'm not hungry."

[buttercup_eater]

Warm white foam spills out of the puncture wounds in Chara's mother's wrist, (* Smells like mothballs.) and she shrieks at Frisk:

"Stop it! You're hurting me!"

...But she doesn't let go of Frisk either, continuing to wrestle with them and trying to force their head closer to their plate. And at the other end of the table Chara raises their arms in front of them, though they keep staring at Frisk and their mother with a tense face. They'd bolt if they could, but...

(The buttercups, at least, are momentarily forgotten thanks to the fight unfolding in front of them.)

[dustless]

Their nose wrinkles. Gross.

You're hurting me, and stupid, stupid, that makes them falter, just for a second, fingers and needles slipping loose.

Their head slams into the table. The metal rips through half their face, each individual edge making prolonged blade-through-cloth noises as it pierces their cheek and tongue.



* Tastes like copper and dirt. Chara sounds unsettlingly calm, now.

Frisk shoves their hands towards the woman's oversized eyes.

[lightofthestars]

His pain is answered within her heart.

"Being with you does not cause me suffering. You have always been truly kind." Her gaze is unwavering. "I am not afraid that you will hurt me, no more than I was when your shape was different. I know that you will do all you can to shield me, and everyone else in this place."