OPT-OUT EVENT LOG: DREAM A LITTLE DREAM

[asgardmods]

Who: EVERYONE that stayed in Asgard
What: the Dream a Little Dream mingle log
When: Day 515 ( Sept. 25/26 )
Where: all across the city!
Rating: PG-13. Anything higher than that should be taken to a private log, please!

Day 515 ( Sept. 25/26 )

Progress through the ice blockade will be slow and narrow, as they can't possibly hope to clear the entirety of the forest that has been buried under Thiazi's black ice. Now that they know the source of her magic's corruption, it might not come as a great surprise when cracking open the ice unleashes a strange burst of magic.

At the halfway point between Utgard and Asgard, a pulse of energy will move through the entire city, immediately putting every mortal it touches to sleep. This part of the curse is mandatory and your character must fall asleep; the dream effects of it are not mandatory, and can be played with at your discretion. During this first wave, Travellers will be granted a brief dream - that does not belong to them. They will see, from the dreamer's point of view, every hope and goal and aspiration that the dreamer wishes to complete before the end of days. Whether it's simply confessing their love to an old friend or saving their home planet or perfecting an Asgardian pie, your character will see someone else's ideal resolution before Ragnarok. More on plotting this below!

Upon waking, the Travellers will be plagued with the indistinct whispering of several voices overlapping one another and a slight headache. Both symptoms will gradually increase over time until it reaches incapacitating pain and nausea. The only way to assuage the symptoms is to find the owner of the dream and either maintain physical contact for an hour or discuss the subject of the dream until a full confession has been made. After that, the symptoms will fade and the Travellers will be free to carry on with their day.

There will be other pulses of magic at random throughout the day; these are not mandatory and you can feel free to have your character experience as many or as few dreams as you wish. All dream-sharing will cease by the end of the day, as the blockade progresses past that centre-point of magic.

[ OOC NOTES: This is the mingle log for the Dream a Little Dream opt-out event! Random pairings have already been sent out, but you guys can still feel free to plot with each and pair up anywhere you like. Please remember that these dreams are meant to be positive; details can be found here. Please put [OPEN/CLOSED] along with the time and location in the title of your comment. Let us know if you have any questions! ]

Comments

[tonsofpun]

"Probably a little more than six months old by now?"

So still a puppy, mostly. Hell, Ellie's never owned a dog before, so she's kind of winging this.

[robosnack]

"Oh, he's still really young! He'll be easy to train. You just have to be firm with him."

Killua grins, ruffling up the dog's ears and tugging on them gently while Jackson devolves into panting and wagging his tail as hard as he can.

"Isn't that right, boy? You just gotta learn. I bet you're a fast learner."

[tonsofpun]

Despite herself, Ellie laughs. It's weird to think of Killua being nice, but it seems natural with her dog. And after this talk, she's not as inclined to think that he's as much of a brat as she originally thought.

"Oh yeah? Got any tips?"

[robosnack]

"Uh- General tips? Dogs respond well to repetition so do things the same and don't confuse him, while he's learning. And be firm. Dogs know if you're a pushover and they'll totally take advantage of that." He shrugs, moving to stand. Jackson backs up, wagging his tail, apparently thinking they're going to play more.

"Don't give him too many treats so he knows they're only given when he does something right. Dogs respond better to commands and rewards than punishments, but you also have to make it clear something is a reward or it's useless. ...I dunno what else. You'll have to ask when you want something specific."

[tonsofpun]

Listening quietly, Ellie's eyes widen, her expression opening up to become more animated, softer. Killua actually knows what he's talking about.

"... wow. Thanks. Really, that's good stuff."

[robosnack]

"No problem." He rubs the back of his neck, a little awkward, and nudges Jackson gently with his foot.

"I helped train some of the family dogs, back home."

[tonsofpun]

Jackson dances away, comes back and knocks the side of his snout against Killua's foot, flashing his teeth but not biting. This is one thing Ellie broke him of quickly. For all she says, he really is a good dog.

"What kind of dogs?"

[robosnack]

Killua laughs and nudges him again obligingly, encouraging him to play.

"Hm?"

The question makes him think, looking up at the ceiling and trying to figure out the best way to put this.

"Monster dogs."

[tonsofpun]

"Monster dogs," Ellie repeats doubtfully, while Jackson play-growls and dives for Killua's legs, snapping his teeth loudly but never coming close to biting, waving his tail frantically.

He smacks the ground with his paws, butt up in the air. Oh, Killua wrestles with him like Ellie and Riley do! Ellie snatches playfully for this tail and he spins on the spot, barking at her until she starts to laugh.

"Why, do they eat people?"

[robosnack]

"If the people trespass. They're guard dogs," he explains casually, grinning too and nudging at Jackson with his toe again while his back is turned so the dog spins around again.

[tonsofpun]

"Gross."

She wrinkles her nose, then bursts into laughter again as Jackson spins around with a startled bark, looking confused for a moment, then bodily vaulting into Killua's lap and licking his face. He's nearly as big is Killua is, and he seems to forget he's not a lapdog.

[robosnack]

He's not joking at all, but he doesn't clarify. Then again, he is a bit distracted.

Killua laughs and catches Jackson's paws when he jumps on him, not fazed at all despite the fact the dog is nearly as large as he is. It's not like Jackson will be able to knock him down.

"You're really energetic, aren't ya?"

[tonsofpun]

It's kind of nice, seeing Killua smile, especially after all that darkness inside their heads. Having gotten a glimpse, it surprises Ellie how much she really wonders about him, now.

Assassins, he said. Family business.

"Hey, Killua," she asks as they ruffle Jackson up until he play-growls and wriggles around. "What did you mean about taking over the family business?"

This is beyond what they have to talk about, and by the look on her face, she's ready for him to tell her to fuck off.

[robosnack]

"Hm?" He looks up when she says his name, from where he'd ended up sitting on the floor to play with the dog. The question doesn't seem to bother him, at least, though he doesn't quite understand it either.

"I meant what I said. My parents want me to keep training as an assassin because they say I have a lot of potential. I think my dad wants me to be head of the household someday..."

He shrugs, scratching Jackson's chin.

"But that sounded super lame, so I ditched 'em."

[tonsofpun]

"... so you didn't like the idea of killing people?"

Killua doesn't seem to have any sort of problem with violence, but she realizes with a jolt that she has no clue about his morality. Gon seems like a good kid, they both do, but she's always just been assuming they weren't psychopaths.

[robosnack]

Oh. He scowls a little, shrugs again.

Honestly, he has no idea how to answer that question, not really. It's complicated.

"I don't really care. I just don't like being told what to do. They were being really controlling and annoying."

[tonsofpun]

If Ellie hadn't known Riley, she might have questioned it more. But she understands that need, that feeling of wanting nothing more than deciding what to do with her own life. Wanting to fight on her own terms, not blindly following orders and letting someone else decide who she's going to shoot.

"I guess that makes sense. Riley felt like that about being a soldier."

So did Ellie, to some lesser extent. But her options were more limited. She didn't exactly like what the soldiers were doing, but the Fireflies didn't seem completely right, either- and Marlene wouldn't have let her join.

And after learning about how Riley was initiated, Ellie knows it's nothing she wants.

"Did you have any idea what you wanted to do instead?"

[robosnack]

The questions are getting more and more uncomfortable. "What does it matter?" he mutters, looking away.

Jackson has settled a bit since they're not chasing him around anymore, and flops down on his back when Killua keeps scratching his chin like that to hopefully get belly rubs too.

"I just wanted to get out of there. And I did. End of story."

He has no idea what he wants to do now. Well, that's not true-- But apart from staying with Gon, he has no other goals, nothing else he wants. He just wants... what he has, and that's fine. That's okay. As long as Gon lets him and wants him, anyway.

Illumi's words echo in his mind again-- too often, too accurate for comfort. There's nothing he really wants.

[tonsofpun]

Ellie stops, working her fingers together, shrugging her shoulders up.

"Sorry."

This isn't part of making them feel better, this is just because she's curious about him, but hell, she gets not wanting to get into the uncomfortable stuff. It's an unspoken agreement not to talk about certain things.

"Anyway. I guess since I asked that, it's only fair if you want to ask me something."

[robosnack]

"Guess so." He doesn't sound too interested, mostly due to distraction. He seems a little lost in thought, scratching at Jackson's chest for something to do.

"What about you? What did you do, in your world? Riley made it sound like some kind of wasteland."

[tonsofpun]

Ellie bites her lip, hides a smile, and decides to give him the same answer she likes to default to, but with a little bit of honesty thrown in.

"I used to be a soldier in training, but that kind of fell apart when Riley defected. We were both gonna go and do... something else. Don't know what, we never figured it out."

But that's coming close to telling him something that's not hers to talk about.

"Did Riley tell you about the Infected?"