the devil in the details

[isocelesmonster]

Who: Bill Cipher
Broadcast: none
Action: Anywhere in the fleet
When: The night of the 22nd, and ongoing.

Although ostensibly the Golden has a new crew member, there's no new person in attendance at any meals. No new faces in the hall, nothing additional in the laundry. One of the standard crew cabins has been sealed up as tight as a tomb, the brass nameplate on the door unhelpfully scratched out with something sharp. No noises at all come from inside.

It'd take a careful eye to notice the only other change: the same sharp instrument has been used to carve little eyes of providence, no bigger than a fingernail, in strategic public places around the ship. They're shallow markings, not deep enough to interfere with any of the working parts of the craft, and no great works of art - each little scrap of graffiti is a matter of five lines at most. But they're there - and if sometimes the way the gold of the metal hull glints in the pupil is strangely canny, it's probably nothing to be worried about.

(It's not that Bill doesn't care about the flesh puppets that make up his new crew - oh, he does, they're all going to get very careful scrutiny over the coming days - but more important is finding out what his new playground looks like.)

When the fleet sleeps, their minds open and blossom like night-blooming flowers, each one illuminating a new section of the shared dreaming plane. For all of their poetry, few humans realize that the state of dreaming is as real an exploration as whatever meaningless actions they take while awake. It's irrelevant to their survival, most days, so evolution has never sought to provide that particular revelation. They're a young species. Five senses, auditory languages, limited psychic potential, and as far as they know when they dream they're just watching random electrical impulses fire in their brains. Ha!

(There's an expression about a one-eyed man's status in a land of the blind, and Bill intends to make it a reality.)

He steps sideways out of the material world into the closest dream as easily as a three-dimensional being can move along any of their limited axes. He makes himself invisible, at first, just to get his bearings.

[Bill is visiting dreams, as a way of saying hello! His permissions post for this ability is here. I am treating this ability on an opt-in basis. If you didn't give me the okay, he won't be spying on your character at all tonight ~but where's the fun in that~?]
ZOGSLFTS GSRH DVZP ZMW RWOV GSVNV

RH ML NLIV BRVOWRMT YFG Z WIVZN

DSVM NLIMRMT GZPVH BLF UILN NB GSIZOO

YV TOZW R OVG BLF DZPV ZG ZOO

Comments

[goldenglasses]

[Vash has been laughed at by a lot of people with annoying voices in his long lifetime, but as he's out of his element Bill's is particularly annoying at the moment. Not that he shows this at all. Just still looking clueless.]

A deal, huh? Well, this isn't really fair. Up till a little while ago I thought you were just a figment of my imagination. How am I suppose to know what you'd like when it comes to a deal?

Because I can tell you it won't be my friendship if you do something mean like that.

[tetractys]

WHO TOLD YOU ANY OF THIS WAS GOING TO BE FAIR?

[Ha ha! Fair! These are the jokes.]

[goldenglasses]

[Vash stands back up and brushes his knees off with a sigh.] What do you want? Because besides some hair styling tips I really don't have much I can offer while in a dream.

[tetractys]

OH, READY TO TAKE THIS SERIOUSLY NOW, HUH, SUNSHINE? ABOUT TIME.

[The curve of Bill's eye suggests a big, manic grin.]

[goldenglasses]

I didn't realize I wasn't. But does serious mean less things on fire thrown at my head?

[tetractys]

HMM! I'LL MAKE THAT BARGAIN, SURE!

[There are so many other dangerous things he can throw, after all!]

[goldenglasses]

Thanks. I appreciate it. But I still have the same problem. I have nothing to offer you in a dream. Are you somewhere in the fleet?

[tetractys]

I'M E̝͉͢V̦͎̦E̵̴̖ͅR͈̥͇̳̘Y̸̧̮̲͓̞̘̖̪̥W̸̡̳̹̮̟H̺̯̯̱̖̗͢͢͠E͎̪͔̮̘̱̱͙̮͡Ŗ͙̜͖̼͘E̬̱͖̻͔̣̣̰͢͢ IN THE FLEET!

[Bill goes unnaturally still, and images flicker across his flat surface - bunks and kitchens, labs, libraries, people having conversations, passengers occupied quietly in activities without any awareness that they're being watched.

Then he's back to normal, animated and manic.]

DON'T SELL YOURSELF SHORT! KNOWLEDGE IS POWER! EVEN IF YOU DON'T WANT TO TALK ABOUT JULY, I'M SURE YOU HAVE INFORMATION THAT I'D FIND USEFUL!

[goldenglasses]

[Yeah no. Vash may need to make a post about this when he wakes up.]

You mean, the part where I remember going to the city, a bright light, and then waking up with only memories of my early childhood and ruined city as far as the eye can see? You mean that kind of helpful? I can't even remember why I went to that city. This dream starts with me in the city, the light comes, and I wake up. Poof.

[Not a lie! The trauma of using his powers has caused severe memory loss.

...the fact that he recently got those memories back probably doesn't make a difference. Probably.

Vash knows this is a risk. This pesky shape may try to start things up to poke at his subconscious, but Vash didn't want to willingly talk about it. He'll see if this thing is nice enough to not poke at something so traumatic to the point he literally blocked his own mind from it.]

[tetractys]

HEYYY, WAS THAT SO DIFFICULT?

[Bill floats over to noodle his arm around Vash's shoulders again. Invasive? What's invasive? Aren't we buddies?]

EVEN IF YOU MADE IT UP ON THE SPOT, YOU SOLD THAT ONE A LOT BETTER! NOT A LOT OF DETAILS, NOTHING THAT CAN BE VERIFIED - NICE!

[goldenglasses]

That's because I didn't make it up on the spot and it's what I've been trying to tell you this whole time. [Luckily Vash is just happy not to be in the nightmare he doesn't care how close Bill is.

For now.]

Can I wake up now? [Vash didn't realize he could feel so tired in a dream.]

[tetractys]

NO, HEH. IT'S WHAT YOU'VE BEEN AVOIDING TELLING ME!

BUT YOU KNOW WHAT, I LIKE YOU, SUNSHINE! I THINK WE'RE GONNA BE GOOD PALS, IF WE CAN AGREE ON OUR GROUND RULES!

[goldenglasses]

Sorry for not wanting to talk about something that is really upsetting to me. [Bitter? No, Vash isn't bitter at all.]

But, alright. What kind of ground rules were you thinking of?

[tetractys]

LIFE'S UPSETTING! BUT YOU KNOW SOMETHING ELSE? IT HAS A TENDENCY TO FIX ITSELF - WITH A LITTLE NUDGE, ANYWAY!

[Bill opens his hand and a tiny, humming city appears in it - July on a spring evening, intact, its roads busy and its windows lit.]

WHEN I ASK YOU SOMETHING, YOU JUST ANSWER! EASY AS THAT! NO DANCING AROUND AND TALKING ABOUT DONUTS! I'LL DO THE SAME, SO YOU KNOW WE'RE ON LEVEL GROUND!

[goldenglasses]

Well, to be fair, I was dancing around talking about other things to get my mind off what happened.

[But fine. No dancing? Vash can outright lie if he wants to. He just prefers being honest. Even if it is a round about way.]

I'm allowed to say I don't want to talk about a topic, right? Because if so I think I could agree to that.

if they shake on this feel free to BS that the implant cancelled out as much/as little as you want

[tetractys]

HM, SURE, I CAN DO THAT! YOU CAN TELL ME ANY TIME IF YOU DON'T WANT ME TO TALK ABOUT SOMETHING! BUT IN RETURN, YOU CAN'T TALK ABOUT A COUPLE OF TOPICS THAT I'D RATHER DIDN'T GET PICKED AT, EITHER! YOU'RE NOT THE ONLY ONE THAT'S GOT SECRETS, HA HA HA!

[He's deliberately made the wording on this perilous. "You can't talk." He hasn't restricted this limitation to conversations with Bill, or to conversations held inside of this dream. If this becomes a binding deal (and if the implant hasn't restricted him too badly) he can effectively put a magical gag order on Vash trying to warn anyone else about what - and who - he saw here tonight.

Bill has no such limits in what he's agreeing to. Vash can tell Bill about his comfort zone all he wants, sure! Doesn't mean he'll be bound to respect it!]

It's fine! Teach Vash a lesson about being even more careful with what he says.

[goldenglasses]

[Vash shrugs.] Seems only fair. If I have topics I'd rather not talk about then of course I won't ask about yours either. Who doesn't have something that makes them uncomfortable.

[Not that Vash has fully caught on yet that he may be making a deal rather than conversation just yet.]

Anything a clear no-no topic I should know to avoid or just let me know if I stumble on one by mistake?

[Donuts. Donuts. Donuts. Donuts. Testing dream control. Test. Test.

Not that Vash shows outwardly that he's currently testing his lucid dreaming skills. Spoilers. He's terrible and not very good at it. Nothing he does changes the dream. Yet.]

[tetractys]

HMM. I'LL GIVE YOU A LITTLE NUDGE IF YOU'RE GOING IN THE WRONG DIRECTION! HOW ABOUT THAT?

[goldenglasses]

Now, your version of nudge. Is it a: hey, I'd rather not talk about this in words kind of nudge. Or is it the I'm going to throw a baseball that's on fire at your head sort?

[Donut rain. Come on. Donut rain. Eventually for all his silent attempts a single plain donut falls from the sky a little ways from the duo with a soft plop. Vash laughs in embarrassment.] Opps, sorry. Guess I'm hungry.

[He's going to need to work on his dream control a lot more]

[tetractys]

AW, DON'T BE A BABY! A LITTLE FIRE NEVER HURT ANYONE!

[Bill swivels around to watch the donut fall.]

PRETTY VIBRANT IMAGINATION YOU'VE GOT THERE.

[One donut. Whoa there, big spender.]

[goldenglasses]

Maybe not dream people fire doesn't hurt, but it hurts me! I mean, have you ever burnt your tongue before? It makes food taste, well, not bad. But not as good as it should be! And that's just awful.

[It's his first try. He was going for much more.]

Yeah, I've never been very creative I'm afraid. [The embarrassed chuckle perfectly masks the disappointment he feels over his control of his own dream.]

[tetractys]

YOU CAN BURN YOUR TONGUE?

[Whaaaat!

He totally has to try that. That sounds hysterical. Bodies are so fun!]

THE ONE IN YOUR MOUTH?

[That one, right? Not one of the other two?]

[goldenglasses]

Well, any body part can burn re-

...yes. That's the only one most humanoid creatures have.

[Although Vash shouldn't be surprised. This shape has one eye and no mouth so far as he could see.]

[tetractys]

HA! AHAHAHA!

[Some people's laughs are the tinkle of gentle windchimes, or a beautiful melody. Bill's laugh sounds like someone's trying to send morse code signals with an airhorn.]

THAT'S WHY YOU CAN'T TALK WHILE YOU'RE EATING! OH WOW, WHAT A MISTAKE OF NATURE THAT IS! YOUR LUNGS ARE RIGHT NEXT TO THE FOOD!

[He almost folds in half laughing and has to lean his top angle on his cane.]

AND -AND YOU HAVE TO EAT TO SURVIVE!

[h o l y s h i t]

[goldenglasses]

You know, you kinda got a point there. [Vash chuckles along with Bill. It is a bit funny. In an oh god. What the hell am I talking to right now?] You do need to be very careful not to talk while eating or you can choke.

And if humans can't breath they die

[Because you know. They were in space before. Vash is guessing Bill may not know that]