Caritas, Thursday

[wrongkindofsith]

There was mistletoe. It was annoying, and it was being very insistent about Tino and her.

Luckily, Cara had managed to find a chef's blowtorch under the bar, though what it was doing there was probably a question best left unanswered.

Problem solved.

[open]

In Dreams, All Across The Island, Friday Early Morning

[endsthegame]

It spread across the island like a wave, invisible, tangling fingers into sleeping minds and pressing tight. Into the minds of the dreamers, a vision appeared: a small, white candle, burning... burning...

...the flame opening black eyes and staring...

It winked out.

But it had spit its flame into each scar that it could find, and it pulled on it gladly; nightmares descended upon Fandom's minds, as they would on the island itself when morning broke.

At sunrise, they would be flesh.

JGOB, Friday morning

[trigons_child]

Raven had decided to do some holiday shopping in Fandom, and she had several of her charges in tow, as they had clamored for a chance to go to the island. Karina, Finn, and Tilda had all been in Fandom for Halloween, but this was Jens's first trip.

They'd arrived the night before fairly late, so Raven had gone directly to the hotel. After tucking the children into bed, she'd crawled into her own, and soon ( fell into a restless sleep. )

Come morning she was exhausted, but once the children had woken up, she sent a text to Karla to let her know their plans, then took them out to breakfast. And tea for herself, lots and lots of tea. The unease hadn't entirely faded, but she was smiling as she sipped her drink and watched the children try to decide what pastries they wanted.

[Open for all your pastry or Raven needs!]

The Devil's Nest, Friday Evening

[allie-vamp.livejournal.com]

Allie had spent the day restlessly dreaming of Zeke's final screams and the blood soaked room they'd found at the hospital in New Covington. She'd woken with a start, Sarren's mocking voice echoing in her ear. "Little bird," he called. "I will find you and we will sing a glorious song."

She'd made it to work. How long she was actually going to stay there was the question.

[OCD free!]

The Perk- Friday afternoon

[solo_sword]

Jaina had not slept well. It wasn't like she didn't have plenty in her life to have nightmares about, but yesterday had been a doozy. She'd been all set to leave today, and was kind of glad that if it happened again tonight at least she could whine at Jag.

But she had a bad feeling about this. After sitting with her bags at the Perk, waiting for her portal, she suddenly pulled the app up and cancełed it.

Now she was on hold with customer service, trying to sort out the she hadn't changed her reservation to take her to Mars by way of the frozen tundra.

[Making BDE Decisions on the fly! Open!]

Streets of Fandom near Turtle & Canary, Friday Morning

[rebelseekspizza]

Dante had had a real shitty night. And morning. So you know what? Dante needed some comfort food. Maybe a comfort drink. He hadn't decided yet.

Not that he got as far as he needed to for either. He was halfway down the block towards the grocery store when he first heard it-- the sound that made him pause. Snarling, not like a creature, but like a chainsaw. A real familiar chainsaw.

No bright lights. No limbo in the air. No twisting geometry. That? That was fucking weird. Still. He didn't need to turn around to see it. Instead, his shoulders squared, his feet steadied. The mark on his back glowed brightly. "Guess it's a day for trimming hedges," he said.

Then he spun, catching a mook demon's blade right across the edge of his sword. "Need a shave?" he snapped.

[[ open, and full of dmc-verse demons. ]]

The Park, Friday Afternoon

[furnaceface]

Jonothon had awoken from a nightmare this morning. That much... that was nothing new. Of course he'd awoken from a nightmare. He rarely slept for the nightmares. That had been a constant for nearly as far back as he could remember, several lifetimes over. It was just... that particular nightmare had seemed all too real, the faces of people that he'd wronged, lives he'd destroyed, and even upon blinking a few times in the morning he hadn't quite been able to clear his head of them.

Nightmares, it seemed, were the order of the morning. And while Jono's telepathic walls were generally pretty good, the general feeling of uncertainty that was wafting around the island was still enough to nag at him when the island was in one of her moods.

And so he'd done the one thing that never seemed to fail, when his head was in a fog this way. He'd grabbed a loaf of bread in the hopes that the ducks hadn't all taken off for the winter, and he made his way to the park, to sit on the bench by the duck pond.

Once he cleared his mind again, once he got those walls back up and managed to shake the feeling that something was lingering just a few steps away, waiting to step in and remind him of what he was, he'd head back home. Maybe play with the cat, or play his guitar, or try to figure out his Christmas shopping for the year, or... or something.

Something.

For now, though, he'd settle for feeding the ducks and ignoring the chill in the air.

[OOC: Jono hasn't had a moping post in a while. Open post is open! For passers-by or attacky things or whatever, I'm easy tonight.]

Outside of Chilly Boulder, Friday night

[bestatmystery]

Lottie had been in a weird mood all day, after strange dreams all night full of aliens and hunters and chicken-faced beasts that called her "mommy".

And onions. So many onions.

And then she kept finding more onions around the dorms all day. Just looking at them made her stomach hurt.

So sometime around sunset, she'd decided she needed ice cream. There was little in this world that couldn't be fixed with ice cream! So she headed off to Chilly Boulder, ate her fill of banana splits, and already felt better by the time it was full dark.

Of course, that meant walking home. In the dark. While weird screams echoed in the distance. And she had the weirdest feeling like something was following her. . . .

She glanced back over her shoulder towards the alley, catching the streetlights glinting yellow green off a crooked grin, and shrieked.

"NIGHTSTALKER!!!!!"

[ooc: because I love my creepy hope-eating pre-walnut. Open!]

Around Town, Early Friday Evening

[soniaroadsqueen]

Ringo wasn't used to not sleeping well, but this morning she'd woken up pretty out of sorts. By the time she was done with class for the day, she was feeling uncharacteristically introspective enough that it was actively uncomfortable.

Fortunately, Ringo knew a sure-fire way to shake off any bad mood. So she'd been out riding the town for hours, running rooftop to rooftop. It was cold, but she barely noticed as she pushed herself to move faster and faster, making longer jumps and more precise landings so that her mind was laser-focused on the ride and there was no room to think about the memories stirred by her dreams.

Then, suddenly, Ringo skidded to a stop.

The girl in front of her couldn't be there. No one from back home had ever visited the island as far as Ringo knew, least of all her. Tall, long-legged, curvaceous, with pink hair hanging down past her hips, there was no mistaking Simca. Except that Simca hadn't worn her hair long like that for over a year. Not since--

Ringo shivered, afraid to look back over her shoulder, but her body seemed to turn of its own accord. And she saw what she'd know she would: herself.

Anyone who knew Ringo would know that something was off. It wasn't the fact that this other Ringo's hair was down, or that she wasn't wearing glasses. Those were superficial. No, there was something else. The way she stood. The expression on her face. The way that smile didn't reach her eyes.

Ringo, the real Ringo, wanted to close her eyes, but she couldn't. She couldn't even seem to move. She just stood there, watching, as history repeated itself.

( Crazy Apple decided to come out here herself? I feel so honored. )

Between one heartbeat and the next, the vision, or whatever it was, disappeared, and Ringo came back to herself. Tears burned trails down her cheeks, and she glanced down to find her hands clenched into fists. She had to concentrate to uncurl her fingers, a tiny trickle of blood running across each palm from where her nails had dug into the flesh.

Her breathing was coming fast and panicked, pupils wide and unseeing. She stumbled backward, a couple of awkward steps just barely managing to keep her feet under her.

But each time she shifted her weight, the unforgettable feeling of bone breaking beneath her feet shuddered through her body. Ringo's legs froze at the remembered horror and she fell to the ground. Her hands scrambled, pulling the ATs from her feet and throwing them as far from herself as she could manage. Then, hugging herself tightly, she stumbled back toward the dorms.

By the time she got back to her room, her socks were totally shredded, and she was shivering uncontrollably. She wasn't sure she wanted to sleep because she was afraid of the potential dreams, but she wasn't sure she could stay awake with those memories bouncing around her head, either.

[ooc: Warning for literally gratuitous violence perpetrated against a defenseless person. Open if anyone wants to catch Ringo on her way back to her room.]