A Dream Is A Wish Your Heart Makes

[these_balls]

Who: The participants of the Dream Plot!
Where: A mysterious dream castle far away!
When: All day and night on April 19th!
Summary: The journey is over, and at last you've arrived. Looks as though there's a reception waiting for you, too; maybe it was worth the trouble, after all...
Rating: PG, and please warn for threads that may go higher!
Log:

[After a period of dreamlike travel, the journey has finally drawn to a close; at last, you've arrived at your destination for the next twenty-four hours...

...a Majestic Dream Castle™ filled with light and music, standing out like a gleaming jewel amid a light white mist.

And it looks as though you're just in time! There's a party underway, and when you look down you may just discover that you're dressed for the occasion as well. So go on in, have a ball, and dance the night away; there's no telling what lies beyond tomorrow morning, after all!]

~
THE VENUE


KEY:

• AREA A — the Fountain Garden.
The obvious object of note here is the pretty fountain bubbling merrily away, nestled in the center of this odd little patch of indoor flora; it's made of white marble and is your standard three-tier affair, surrounded by a modest "courtyard" of grass and wildflowers. Something of an oddity to come across in the middle of a castle, but if you're looking for a quiet place to unwind, to sit with someone you're fond of, or even just to cast P10 into the waters to make a wish, this is probably the place for you.

• AREA B — the Grand Ballroom.
While there's music audible all throughout the areas that fall within the boundaries of this dream, this is the part of the place that's going to look the most like a traditional ballroom. The floor is polished wood and the decor is classic; there are chandeliers overhead and plenty of room for mingling and making merry with your fellow dreamers. Good luck not chipping those glass slippers!

• AREA C — the Pristine Palace.
The least-defined and most freeform part of the dream, this wide expanse of the dream castle is consequently the most likely to become subject to the whims of the people wandering through it. Though the general size and shape won't change much, the way it looks may well vary from person to person. Is that grass beneath your feet, or is it concrete? Hardwood? Rose petals? The details are in the eye of the beholder; here's hoping that won't lead to too much confusion!

• AREA D — the Terrace.
Accessible solely by the not-so-secret passage marked on the map in brown, the Terrace is pretty much exactly that: a big open patio ringed with mist and fairy lights along the railings that run along its perimeter. Occasionally, a gentle breeze seems to waft by; though it's impossible to see further than a foot or two into the mist, this part of the castle feels more like it's legitimately outdoors than any of the others.

If you decide to hop the fence off the terrace, you will find yourself returned to the Fountain Garden in the blink of an eye. Don't you know it's impolite to go wandering off when there's party taking place?

• AREA E — the Banquet Hall.
Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow you...aren't likely to be here, anyway! This area of the castle is entirely dedicated to meeting its guests' demands for food and drink; it's filled with buffet tables piled high with just about anything you could dream up, and those platters never seem to empty no matter how much the guests take from them.

Oh, and there's no need to BYOB; age-appropriate characters in Route will be able to find alcoholic beverages, though underage characters cannot. If an over-age character attempts to give an alcoholic beverage to a minor, they'll quickly find that it's turned to water instead.

• AREA F — the Overgrown Bower.
Watch your head as you enter this room; the ceiling is surprisingly low, and the dangling vines might give you a fright if you walk into one without paying attention! There isn't much of note in this room, outside of the plants seeping through the cracks in the cool gray stone and the delicate scent of flowers lingering in the air; that said, if you're tired of all the merriment and are looking for a quiet place to wind down, this is a pretty little alcove that's just perfect for some solitude — or some quality time alone with a special someone.

Comments

[a_sin_for_him]

"I don't now. Maybe in some other world, those that fell have their reward. There are thousands, from what I understand. The rest will rebuild and go on. But you're one man, Scar, you can't carry the burden of an entire people all your life. Survivor's guilt is irrational and unfair. Some greater power chose to give you this." Lust gestured around them. Her voice was soft, that honest tone she used almost only with Scar.

"You've suffered enough."

[envy_the_sinners]

"You wouldn't understand," he muttered, looking dead ahead to avoid eye contact. Regardless of her origins, Lust didn't have a lifelong allegiance the way Scar did. It wasn't survivor's guilt, to him. It was personal duty. They were his brothers and sisters, regardless of whether or not he had a right to share in their lives anymore.

"I didn't ask for any of this. I wouldn't have, if given the choice. I haven't 'earned' anything."

[a_sin_for_him]

"We don't get to decide that for ourselves. If this experience has taught me anything, it's that we can't hope to comprehend the workings of the universe greater then ourselves. In the eyes of whatever makes these choices, you did." Lust shrugged. Thinking about it only led to headaches and more questions.

It didn't matter what Scar felt or believed. He'd been given this second chance, there was nothing he could do about it. But her tone stayed calm and soft, by now used to Scar's passionate reactions to sensitive topics.

"And no, maybe I can't understand. I hardly know anything about the people I first came from. But I know suffering. And I've been told we can't let the past poison our minds. It's good advice."

[envy_the_sinners]

Scar's frown deepened as he grew more uncomfortable. His shoulders slumped as he retreated inward, subconsciously making himself smaller.

"It's not the past. And it doesn't matter how I reconsider, I'll never be at peace. I haven't spent the last year trying to dwell in anything. This is just the way it is." It wasn't going to change. It wasn't going to get better, and neither was he.

[a_sin_for_him]

"For now," Lust agreed. "But I don't think a man alone can pull himself from the depths in which you've been driven in a single year."

She wanted to lay her hand on his shoulder, but she hesitated. He was so strange about touch. But one hand lifted part of the way anyhow, before dropping to her lap. It was such a difficult course to navigating, speaking on these things with him.

"You're closer to some sort of peace than you were. A small and faltering step is still a step. It isn't as though I've made great strides either."

[envy_the_sinners]

Scar only continued to stare ahead, his fists curled tightly around the cloth Lust had handed him.

"You have." Anything to stray this away from himself, and he wasn't lying. She was much different now than she had been.

[a_sin_for_him]

"I recently told a small child I hoped he broke every bone in his body. An evil, evil child, but the point stands. I have a long way yet to go."

They both did. But they had the chance to change, to grow, to heal. At least to try. Maybe Scar never would, completely, but he could come closer. He would, even if he couldn't see it.

"I did apologize," she added. "A few weeks later."

[envy_the_sinners]

"...That boy is a special case," he grumbled. Scar didn't like how Lust treated Wrath (he assumed it was Wrath) but it was damn near impossible to keep patience with him on the best of days.

[a_sin_for_him]

"You have no idea." Lust shook her head. "I know I should be more patient with him, but I can't help myself sometimes. Maybe if he hadn't been the one to cut short my last life I'd be more amenable. I know it's not really his fault, and he doesn't remember it, but...."

She still remembered it too clearly. It wasn't even a year gone since it had happened.

If Scar had hoped to turn the conversation away from him he'd done so.

[envy_the_sinners]

"I've been speaking with him, on and off. We'll figure something out. The boy needs proper people to take care of him, but there is no one to actually do that."

Proper people. Scar wouldn't dream of suggesting that they put him in the house with all the homunculi.

[a_sin_for_him]

"I'm sure there is somewhere, it's only a matter of finding them and bring them together. At least he isn't living on the street." Wrath's situation wasn't ideal, but it was better than it could have been.

"He's known no kindness, I think, in his short life. And he's still painfully loyal to our old master."

[envy_the_sinners]

"Where is he living?" Because that is a detail Scar has definitely never been privy to.

His lips tightened at the mention of Wrath's loyalty. That would be a difficult thing to break him out of, but at least he was still young. The boy had something of a chance, Scar liked to hope.

[a_sin_for_him]

Lust offered a small shrug in response. She knew Scar wasn't going to like the answer.

"I don't know if it's my place to say. We keep an eye on him, though. I don't know what can be done, but...he's one of us. He deserves the same chance we all have, if his mind can be unpoisoned. I suppose this is what it's like to have family you don't like."

She didn't like Wrath, or have any personal attachment to him, but...she still felt some strange sense of responsibility to him anyway, simply because he was her own kind.

[envy_the_sinners]

Scar couldn't understand the homunculi's strange loyalty to each other, but he had his own warped perspective on family bonds getting in the way.

"He needs a real family." Someone who at least loved him and can take care of him.

Scar finally gave up with his heavy, soaked jacket and slipped it off.

[a_sin_for_him]

"We need what we need, we get what we get. Wrath...."

Oh. Lust lost her train of thought momentarily when Scar suddenly removed his jacket. Not that it should be surprising, he was soaking wet.

Which was much more apparent with his jacket removed and his wet dress shirt fitting against him. He favored loose clothing, and fully covering clothing. Even in summer's heat, he was covered. A wet white shirt left little to the imagination, and she couldn't help but let her eyes linger. It wasn't as though their relationship was built on anything physical, but she had eyes and Scar was built as though he'd been carved from a chunk of stone by some master craftsman. She couldn't deny the little flutter in her belly caused by his wet shirt stretched across his shoulders.

"He's not an easy creature to be family to," she finally finished, looking suddenly down at her hands in her lap.

[envy_the_sinners]

Oh... Scar was still for a moment when Lust trailed off, then immediately contemplated putting the jacket back on. No, that would be even more obvious...

He was grateful when she looked away, though he also felt a small swell of pride he wasn't familiar with. He hadn't been looking for a reaction, but he'd gotten one.

His face remained blank, though.

Wrath. They were talking about Wrath. Scar watched her now that her eyes were averted. There was the temptation to reach out and touch her, comfortingly or... just because he wanted to, Scar didn't really know. He did turn on the bench to face her more properly.

"It will get easier. He's still a child, he can be convinced."

[a_sin_for_him]

"He does have people who look after him. People he's found here. I pay attention to who he talks to on the network, he doesn't seem to understand privacy filters." Her eyes kept darting now and again back to Scar. Her fingers twisted in her lap, absently twining and untwining. She didn't even think about it. But when would she have another chance to see him like this?

"It will take time, but nothing can be pushed. He's fine for now."

As fine as a feral homunculus child with destructive tendencies could be.

[envy_the_sinners]

"Is he?" It was an honest question. Scar wasn't sure if Lust was saying that to feel better, or because she genuinely thought so.

And he really was glad to know that he wasn't the only one stealing looks, tonight. He shouldn't be so distracted in the middle of a serious discussion, but... It nearly felt as if two conversations are happening at once.

[a_sin_for_him]

"For now. He's not on the street, he's not without other people. It's a start." Not as good a one as she or Envy or Greed had gotten, but it was something. A foundation. Maybe enough of one for him to let go of some of the old ways and embrace new ones.

God, it was difficult to keep her mind on topic. She wasn't so usually effected by something as simple as visual stimulus, but tonight was proving an exception. She'd felt his shoulders, briefly, beneath his clothes. She wondered what it would feel like to lay her hands on them now, feel him through the damp shirt. It didn't help that he'd turned toward her, that they were facing each other directly and properly. His shirt clung to his chest, too.

What was wrong with her?

[envy_the_sinners]

Scar only nodded and fell silent. There wasn't anything left to say on the subject of the boy, given how tight-lipped Lust was being about even his location.

But that only left the elephant in the room.

His teeth clinched lightly. Somehow, he hadn't shrunk away yet, hadn't broken eye contact in favor of staring at the nearest inanimate object. He hadn't messed up, yet. His hands had been wringing dry in that cloth she'd given him. He could...

The heaviness in Scar's brow relaxed as he made up his mind. It had been long enough. His hands lifted to cup her cheeks and jaw as he sank to her height and kissed her, full on her lips.

[a_sin_for_him]

She expected perhaps more mild conversation. Perhaps Scar making some excuse to slip away. She wasn't unaware of that strange energy quietly humming between them while they spoke. It had never been quite this strong before.

Maybe it was this place, where physical laws were looser. Things were closer to the surface.

The last thing she expected was for him to gently take her face in his hands and kiss her. For an instant she froze, caught entirely off guard. It was something she'd thought about so often, sometimes idly, sometimes intently. But it had seemed like such a far off thing, closer to fantasy than a near possibility.

But here he was, kissing her. Everything inside of her felt suddenly made of restless water. Her heart was beating very fast and her mind was spinning. Her hands went to his chest, resting against him.

Her head tilted to seal their lips together.

[envy_the_sinners]

There wasn't any one sensation Scar could force himself to focus on. Her lips, her skin, her warmth, the tickle of her bangs against his forehead...

No, he had never kissed anyone before. All of the nervous and ridiculous reactions were new. His hands didn't wander from where they were, and his lips barely moved against hers until he drew away slowly. He didn't remember closing his eyes, but they opened, just a sliver, to watch her.

[a_sin_for_him]

It seemed to last too long and not long enough at once. Lust was breathless when Scar drew back, and her hands stayed where they were on his chest. Despite his wet clothes, he was warm under her touch.

She let out a soft sigh and leaned her forehead against his. It was just a kiss, but it did things to her she'd never felt before. She'd never been kissed with emotion before, or wanted to kiss someone else so badly.

She was all giddy restless nervousness now, wound up and down at the same time.

[envy_the_sinners]

Scar felt the first rush of true nervousness when Lust leaned her forehead against his. He knew the rough skin was unpleasant to the touch, but... then she didn't seem to mind. That thought alone brought another rush of an emotion he couldn't place.

Just that he was wanted as he was.

Scar sat still, save for lightly stroking Lust's cheeks with his fingertips.

[a_sin_for_him]

The scarred skin against her own didn't bother Lust at all. It only registered as another part of him. Her hands slipped up to clasp his neck, not wanting to pull away just yet. It was so quiet and good right now, between them. It had never been like this before.

She did't speak for fear of shattering that.