[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!))

Comments

[exuviiated]

A. Gotham's dark; always is, even during the day. The darkness that falls in the alleyways always makes it hard to tell whether the light at the end of the tunnel is a streetlight or the sun, both a dull white glow that can't penetrate more than a meter.

Senses, here, too, are wrong somehow-- it smells like mold, looks like dark, feels clammy and cold. This place has a taste, too, a bitter one that settles on the back of the tongue and stings.

B. This dream is brighter, a haze of dark greens and bright yellows, blinking lights and red buttons. It's harder to navigate, though; instead of a dark alley, it's long, a maze, complicated and winding and doubling-back and cramped. He's right there, dressed in his uniform and leaning against the wall; waiting.

B :3c

[dustless]

Wow, those are a lot of buttons. Tempting to press, too. But there's something else to do. Aaron's waiting for them, after all.

So they spring to settle beside him, copying his pose with a bright grin. They're wearing something pretty similar.

>:3c

[exuviiated]

Aaron looks slightly miffed that someone so small is there with them, even if they do have their own uniform-- they look happy, anyways, so... no use causing a fuss over it.

He might seem like the only solid thing there; everyone and everything else seems fuzzy and out of focus.

"...hey."

[dustless]

"Hey!"

Maybe that's a little too enthusiastic. This is an important place, clearly, and they probably have an important job. After all, they have goggles. That's pretty scientific.

"What're we doing now?"

[exuviiated]

...might as well keep the kid close so they don't get hurt, especially if there's a battish interruption. "We're going to be ripping files off a server and then wiping the server to make sure it seems like simple equipment failure. You know how to do that, right? If not, that's okay. I can teach you."

[dustless]

They aren't afraid of any bats or any cops!

"...I know how to take the files, but not the deleting. Not so it was like that. Alphys always did that part."

[exuviiated]

"Alright. Then I'll do it and I'll show you so you can help with the rest, okay?"

He's making this kid an accomplice. Dear god.

[dustless]

Is that really so strange in Gotham? At least they're not going to turn out like Prank. Their boss isn't as bad as Joker.

"Right!" They bound forward, despite not having anywhere to go yet. "When do we start?"

aaron: please don't get shot frisk i don't want to be responsible for this

[exuviiated]

...Not really, no, but it still leaves a wrong squirmy feeling low in Aaron's chest. "A minute or two. Strix and some of the others are in there drawing fi-- keeping any interruptions away. Stick close to me and we'll do great, okay?"

frisk: IT'S FINE I'LL BE FINE THIS IS F

[dustless]

"Right!" they repeat, and take 'close' a bit literally, hooking their arm with his at the elbow.

Around them, all the lights are flickering. Frisk doesn't seem to notice.

[exuviiated]

And now the kid is literally attached to him. Fine, okay, he'll deal with this, even though the flickering of the lights makes him uneasy.

"This way."

And then, they venture off into the fuzziness of the rest of the maze-- it sharpens around them, in exchange for the path behind them blurring out.

[dustless]

There are voices echoing from somewhere, around corners they kind of know already are dead-ends.

Though Aaron's the one guiding them, they pick up their pace. They still look pretty cheerful despite it.

[exuviiated]

It smells like a musty storeroom, dust and old things moldering forgotten in corners-- it shouldn't smell like that, and yet it does. Aaron pulls Frisk around a corner that isn't a dead end, but the colors are all different and wrong, and the path is closing up behind them. Up ahead, there's a stack of servers.

"Okay, just right up here. Don't trip."

Because there's holes missing in the ground, apparently.

[dustless]

Well, of course there are. It's a maze, and mazes are traps, and traps have weird things going on with the floor. That's just logic.

They skip around the holes and, as soon as they get to the servers, carefully put their hand on one. It's warm and humming and Frisk thinks they might need to climb up it.

[exuviiated]

Aaron sighs and pulls a flash drive out of his pocket. "Hold on to this. I'll give you a boost, and then you put it in one of the ports. It'll immediately download. Got that?"

If they don't, he presses the drive into their palm anyways; the noises are getting louder.

A

[andthebat]

The gloom isn't really something that bothers the Batman, although it puzzles him that he can't seem to make out corners he normally would be able to. What really bothers him is the smell in the alleyway, which disgusts him enough to make his face scrunch up with displeasure.

Gross as it is, curiosity compels him to take cautious sniffs of the air and tread lightly through the alley, seeking out any particular source for the smell.

the makings of aaron's nightmares: monsters,the past, no sense of time or order. go figure

[exuviiated]

The smell doesn't ease off as the Batman pads closer, but the surroundings sharpen and focus to more than just blurry shapes. He'll see a jumble of things; a yellow prescription bottle, a bundle of knives, broken glass everywhere, to the point of near inconceivability (but this is a dream, after all)-- the Batman will have no issue treading over the crushed glass, but should he try to touch it, the shards would cut just as well as anything.

Time's no issue. If he tries, the Batman will find himself moving faster, slower, maybe even stuck in a single moment as dust hangs frozen in the dreary, dim light.

But for now, he's going to have to deal with Aaron coming up behind him and trying to see if he's going to be chased off (because finding a monster near his stuff was worthy of a nightmare-- it's just the Batman's fault he's the monster.)

have loads of fun, aar.

[andthebat]

The Batman picks his way carefully through the jumble, still unsure of the exact source of the oppressive smell. At one point he stoops to pick up the bottle, and is slightly surprised at how the glass shards surrounding it prick his fingers. It turns out not to have been worth the effort anyway- the label on the bottle is unreadable, and he drops it back into place.

He's not sure how long he's been there, but when Aaron moves behind him the Batman's ear twitches. He neither turns around, nor tries to run away, but instead says, in a perfectly conversational tone: "I see you've been keeping busy."

he won't

[exuviiated]

When the Batman speaks, Aaron freezes. Sucks in a harsh breath through his teeth. But the Batman doesn't sound at all feral, or bearing any ill-will, so Aaron unfreezes enough to walk forwards a step.

"Call me a hoarder." Humor. Dry, sarcastic humor. "Why are you here?"

He sounds younger. Looks it, too, if the Batman cares to turn around. The surroundings stay hazy and blurred but for the objects closest to the Batman. "...what are you?"

aaron u sourpuss

[andthebat]

Batman doesn't turn around. Not at first. Not before answering Aaron's question.

"Working. What else?"

He answers Aaron's second question in a similarly unhelpful manner: "Isn't it obvious?"

Then he turns around, and Aaron will be able to get a good look at his face. The Batman looms, all fur and talons and blue eyes assessing Aaron. A young man, the Batman observes, possibly a teenager or in his early twenties. There's something strangely familiar about him; like the face of a person who lives in your neighborhood, but whom you've never actually spoken to.

Batman adds: "...Or haven't you heard of the Batman before?"

[exuviiated]

Well. He certainly doesn't look like any Batman Aaron's ever seen! "Don't you mean Man-Bat? We have one of those running around." But he's albino, and markedly nastier. "...but. Hello, I guess."

He's obviously not the Batman from Aaron's universe, and, even if he had the right mindset into the future (which makes no sense-- he's seventeen, not a twenty-something where did he get that age and it just doesn't make sense.) he still wouldn't measure up to what he's used to. Will be used to.

Aaron takes a few cautious steps forwards. "Why are you down here? This isn't... the nicest place."

[andthebat]

At the mention of Man-Bat, Aaron will receive the trademark narrowed eyes and Batglare Of Doom And Irritation. He'd run into Dr. Langstrom and... his employer, shortly before he'd arrived at the Castle. (Just how long ago was that now?) Langstrom wasn't the most dangerous opponent he'd ever faced, but Batman still didn't care for the comparison.

Batman doesn't move when Aaron steps forward. "I'm not the nicest person," he says simply. "Why are you down here?"

[exuviiated]

Aaron knows he's made a misstep, but he also doesn't feel much remorse for treading on the Batman's feelings. Apprehension? Well, yes, plenty of that, and it's enough that his response isn't witty or proper at all--

"Well, I asked you first, so..."

[andthebat]

And the Batman's response to that isn't particularly witty or proper either: He leans down, and even though Batman doesn't take any steps forward that's still enough for that look to be only a few inches away from Aaron's nose.

(Adieu, Aaron's personal space.)

RUDE!!! rude aaron

[exuviiated]

Oh, he'll fix that. Aaron takes two step backwards and folds his arms defensively.

"And it's none of your business anyways."

The dream ripples. Aaron's trying to wake up, though he doesn't know it yet; and he won't be successful.

"Stop looking at me like that."