⇨ THE REALM OF DREAMS

[ringleaders]

Who: EVERYONE!
When: S1:D8 - S1:D18
Where: Visiting the Realm of Dreams.
What: The carnival arrives at a new location and has its first performance week with the new cast, as outlined here. This is a general mingling log for convenience purposes, but players are welcome to make as many other logs for this purpose as desired.
Warnings: Could be a lot of things, around these parts.

THE REALM OF DREAMS↴ As the carnival arrives at its first stop since its recruitment phase, and prepares to put its new band of workers to the test. In the meantime, there is a whole new world of dreams and nightmares to be explored, and threats to be faced on carnival turf. As of S1:D11, the carnival will be opening its doors to the creatures within, and the carnival will be open daily from noon to midnight, though the connection to the realm will be constant. This is an all purpose mingle log for the full duration of the stay, so please mark top levels with some estimate of what days they'll be occurring on. Please bring any mod questions to the original plotting post.

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[atouts]

[ Which, any other time, would be no easy feat. Childermass blends into this dream far too well, similarly in black, similarly grim and tall. It's only moving against the crowd that makes him stand out at all and he is, as he said, right behind Alois, or as well as he can be. There had been a scant few seconds where he considered leaving this suddenly bossy boy behind to draw the attention of the nightmares away from himself, but, as luck has it, such a notion never had much heart behind it. How much easier life could be if he actually could be that cruel.

So, yes, he's still there, making his way through, this time following the trail Alois has left through the startled masses. There is a quickness to his step, even if he has no intention on running himself. The nightmares still follow, having paused when their smaller target made a run for it. Paused, considered, and realized the bigger one still seemed less work to follow after, still growing and mutating with every step, dropping their shadows over the dream as they go and absorbing the people in their way. Where Childermass and Alois had problems, they do not, leaving a swath of empty space in their wake where there had been nothing but thick crowds before.

He pushes past the last man trying to get to his feet, which sends him back to the ground with another outburst of surprise, though no reaction from Childermass in return. He's going right up the same steps, but he won't be stopping on the landing. It's straight to the door for him, with a brief try at turning the handle. Of course it's locked. ]

Hm... [ No easy escapes from a nightmare. That makes sense. ] Watch them.

[ Because he can't right now. What he does next is produce an old flip knife from one of the pockets in his greatcoat, jamming the tip of the little blade into a particular spot where the door latches and immediately applying weight to the handle right after. It's something he's done before, anyone with an eye for less than legal dealings would know, but it does take a moment. ]

[faking]

[As Childermass reaches the landing, the door, Alois is torn between two instincts: cling and cry, begging for safety; and brutal independence. Alois swallows his quivering breaths, lost in his own labyrinthine longings—he wants to be taken care of, but he doesn't want to need anybody. In the end, he doesn't reattach himself to Childermass' arm. He stares hard at the nightmares as ordered (for once not resisting a simple command), standing with straining legs, holding onto the railing with shaking hands. Some of his violence is giving way again to fear. Only some, though. His heart is a push and pull between determined anger and overwhelming anxieties.

Childermass' endeavor, by the way, is one familiar to Alois. He wasn't an expert lock pick as a child, preferred to bust his way in with tiny but furious fists and feet, but he knows a thing or two about being crafty, or at least he did once. It's almost a weird sort of comfort for Alois, and helps that determined anger stay strong: when Alois is reminded of a time when he was a boy called Jim who was willing to fight anybody or anything, he feels like... he feels like maybe he can fight again. So his voice sounds livid when he narrates:] They're very dark. And they are very hungry, too, I can tell you that much. I think they can eat things just by touching them. And I think they will eat anything, never mind the time to savor, but right now you and I are particularly appealing. Don't know why. Suppose that's just our lot, or maybe because we're such lovely flesh and blood. Anyway, here they come, creeping. You had better finish bloody quick, because they're eating and they want to eat us too, all that darkness, the all-consuming kind, and I— and I—

[He funnels in some rickety breaths, not unlike the creaking of a ship.]

I will not be eaten today.

[atouts]

Then perhaps you should work on catching your breath instead of arranging one final monologue.

[ Even his nerves have begun to wear thin, this time the sarcastic bite to his words showing their teeth. There's no more time for patient words and stern commands. But as it so happens, Childermass can finish bloody quick, if the sound of the door being forced open with a loud crack is proof enough. The handle will be worse for wear, but in a dream, that isn't even a worry. He shoves the door wide open, knife vanishing again, back into a pocket.

And it's all just in time, down to the last seconds, whether by chance or by dream logic. The nightmares are almost at the stairs, fully formed and dragging themselves, quickly now, forward, their shadowy limbs already reaching out to twist their way up the railing towards the two.

Childermass won't even wait for Alois to turn and go on his own power. As soon as he's sure the door will remain open and the knife is away, he's whirling back around to try and seize the boy by an arm, to throw him through, hopefully before a nightmare can latch onto him instead. ]

[faking]

[There's no time for indignation and even Alois can respect that. Contrary to first and fifteenth impressions, he knows when to stop and start. So he forgoes the final monologue; he swallows any half-formed protests, shutting his mouth with secret obedience.

He only opens it again to yelp when Childermass tosses him through the doorway. It's way too close to just in time—Alois can feel a curling finger, grasping in its hunger, graze the back of his knee just before he's jerked forward. He doesn't process it until after Childermass has yanked him to more immediate safety, but as Alois stumbles into the building, skittering on his heels, the fear overwhelms the fight again. He spins round quickly instead of fleeing up the flight of stairs.] Don't leave, [he cries, even if Childermass is right behind him.] Don't make me go by myself! [No, Alois doesn't want to be eaten; but when his phobia of being alone is able to bite into his mind, being eaten might seem preferable to loneliness.]

[atouts]

[ He's not about to waste time on assurances. Childermass is bound to take the same route, provided a nightmare doesn't grab him. He slams the door shut again, right in the face of the closest one, and as he's already busted the door's lock, he chances pausing to take in his immediate surroundings. There's not enough time to move something large in front of the door, so it'll be the coat rack he grabs and turns sideways across the door as far as it'll go, jamming it under the handle and between the narrow entranceway until it's stuck.

The most it'll do is earn them a minute of nerve-wracking slamming against the door, as they try to force it open again, but that's better than nothing at all.

It's up the stairs after, following Alois. ]

What's up ahead? [ He'll ask once he does catch up. ] We don't have long.

[faking]

[Perhaps he should be able to steel himself with the physical assurance that Childermass is still close by, but Alois still feels lightheaded, dazedly skittering up the stairs without really feeling his feet or legs. Everything is a dark fog; he can't process much. He's on autopilot, controlled only by the basest instincts of his overcrowded mind. All his earlier burning bravado has given way to what sounds near to hyperventilation.

Childermass' question lags in the air, taking half a second longer than it should to reach Alois' understanding. Alois shakes his head through his wheezing, trying very hard to connect what he sees to what he's able to say.] Hallway, [he gasps,] coming up into a hallway— [And then he stumbles away from the staircase and into the vague hall.] There are a million fucking doors— [Not quite that many, but they do line the hallway. This looks like a hotel or boarding house, perhaps, a bit old fashioned. Alois peels into the hall and stutters to a stop before a small decorative table pushed up against the wall. The table really is little, with maybe two square feet of surface, and its face is marble or at least imitates it. Atop it sits an ornate vase with nothing in it.

Instead of opting for one of the mysterious doors, Alois tries to grab the vase, but his hands are shaking and so it just clatters a bit against the marble.] You, you take this table and— I'm sure you're strong, you can swing it at them— I'll throw this...

[It seems fear and violence aren't mutually exclusive for him.]

[atouts]

[ Doors, doors, doors, but with the sound of the one downstairs already cracking, he won't dwell too long on finding one that will open. Childermass stares down the hallway once he's reached the same place at Alois, but only for a few seconds. The fumbling with the vase is given a quick glance, along with the table, as the boy makes his own suggestions. ]

That won't do. [ Even if he can swing the table, what's a table to those monsters downstairs? But here, out of the crushing crowd of people, there are other options, and he's already piecing a plan together in his head. If it'll work, he can only pray. There's no telling until they try. He'll gesture to Alois' attention, then point down to the end of the hall. ] Go on, all the way to the end. Pick a side and open every door that will open as you go.

[ It's a distraction, to force them to search every open room, though he does not reveal what he means to do at the end of the hallway. There's nowhere to hide there! ]