2143/Nexus

Nexus
Date of Scene:	01 May 2015
Location:	Dreamer's Nexus
Synopsis:	A sojourn into the dreams of an odd little girl begins.
Cast of Characters:	151, 168, 176, Riva Banari, 619, 691, 747, 756, 758, 763

---

Madotsuki (763) has posed:
It's actually far easier than some may have surmised to pinpoint Madotsuki's position. Entering is likewise pretty simple -- maybe unnervingly so considering the fact that it links directly to someone's mind, in theory -- and so it should take the group no time at all to find their way here.

    The Door Room is the epicenter of the Dreamworld, providing access to every major subsection in this colossal maze of surreality. Still, it doesn't have a whole lot to show for being such an integral realm of transit -- that's to say, there's almost literally nothing here besides the eponymous entryways that ring around the warpgate. And when I say nothing, I -mean- nothing; there is no floor, and the only things that exists to serve as a reference for where one should see fit to walk are the tessellated, bizarre drawings of people etched impossibly on the shrouded 'soil'. The more interesting facets of this place are presumably deeper inside, or at least one would hope. There's really not a lot to see here so far.

    Well, not a lot aside from the person who is presumably Madotsuki themselves. In the flesh at last is the dreamer, clad in her most luxurious faded skirt and ruffled pink jacket. The lighting (mercifully) obscures it, but were things a bit more clear someone would likely be able to make out some splotches from times when food or drink have spilled on to her. The dream is a generous reproduction, however, so the visitors are not likely to be shown firsthand just how long it's been since her clothes last passed through a washing machine. She's silent for the first several seconds after people start to appear, keeping her arms folded in front of herself.

    Could it be that she's nervous? Maybe, maybe -- or maybe she really doesn't give a crap. It's kinda hard to tell the difference with her, something people may have already begun to understand after assorted radio chatter. Either way, the way she speaks certainly hints more at the latter. "Yo," Is her abundantly eloquent and succinct greeting. She offers no more and no less, as though waiting for the Multiversals to introduce themselves first. Or, y'know, to get scared by something; she might cop a subtle grin at the thought. Oh man, it's been too long since the last time she's seen someone have a hardcore flipout over her dreamworld, and that time... that time it was her having the spazz attack, wasn't it? Yeah, it's not like she's ever had anyone else here before.

    She really should probably make an -attempt- to be a better host, though, at least. "You guys can just go wherever, I guess," She mumbles, waving her hand in a nebulous gesture that seems to indicate the entire room. "All of the doors are full of surprises. If you don't like surprises, though, I guess I could tell you what's behind each one. Or I will if I feel like it." Such stirring magnanimity this realm's custodian exhibits.

    If and when people start to reply, she pulls a package of pocky out of... wait, where did that come from? Well, whatever. She takes pocky from /somewhere/, nibbling off the edge of one and balancing the remainder between her lips. If she would, she would totally put her hands in her pockets and strike a coolkid pose.

Shin Tokuyama (756) has posed:
    Shin managed to get a motorcycle in here. For the people that weren't here when it arrived, you can ask Madotsuki and it was pretty amazing. Like, the coolest thing that has possibly ever been done on a motorcycle happened just before you got here when Shin first arrived. He'll never do it again and you'll never get to see what it was. (Spoilers: He rode in and parked the bike.)
    As he steps off the motorcycle, he adjusts the backpack he's wearing and fixes his tie. His fingers come up to push the sunglasses up the bridge of his nose, "Yoooo, Madotsuki, right?" He asks, shooting her a look and a finger-gun greeting, "Shin Tokuyama. We talked on the radio, briefly. Combat Vagrant. I'm sure you probably forgot because of all the Gods and shit making introductions, which is fine. You don't seem like the type to be big into either Combat or Vagrancy, so it's pretty unimportant." He pauses to take a breath after that long-going intro.
    He continues, "But hey, you said you were bored. I brought you stuff, spent some of my fighting cash on it," He explains as he sets the backpack down and opens it, "Got a uh... handheld Supaboy here. Some cartridges, mostly RPGs. Temporal Prompt, Last Legacy, Myths of Mother Earth." He holds out a plastic bag from Akihabara to her, "And some batteries, too."

Krezentia Einjager (758) has posed:
    "Dreams! We can go into someone's head, funya~!"
    "OK? But we have a TV. Defysatan is on."
    "DREAMS, FUNYA~!"
    "Fuck you, I'm not missing an episode of this. I want to see what happens with Lordtack. Besides, I made popcorn."
    "KREZ! If I can balance your baseball cap upright on your head, we have to go, funya~! OK? OK! Watch me!"
    "You can't balance a fucking cap like that."

    NOW:

    "How the fuck did you even balance the god damn cap."
    "Static, funya~!"

    Krezentia and Kopie have come, the blonde Magi and her fairy companion standing in the center of the Door Room. That is a lot of doors. She walks to Madotsuki, Kopie floating along, nibbling on a piece of candy basically half her size. "Uh... yo to you too. I have no idea. My fairy wanted to come. "So you uh. Seriously, this is your dreams? You're just letting random assholes walk in?"
    "Krez, be nice, funya~!"
    "Yeah, yeah. Case in point."

Sanae Kochiya (619) has posed:
    Remember those old Bugs Bunny cartoons, where Bugs enters a nemesis' dream sequence in order to disturb their peaceful log sawing? Sadly, Sanae Kochiya couldn't quite pull that kind of entrance off, since Madotsuki's physical body is presumably not as easily traced as the warp gate to this dreamscape was, but it's still what comes to her mind as she takes the first bold step into a new frontier. Having worn her old school uniform, which still fits - mostly, since it's likely going to be a casual hang out, she's smiling warmly as she walks in. The smile doesn't vanish, but it does fade into a slightly confused pursing of her lips, as she puts a finger to them thoughtfully. Who knew dreams could be this empty-seeming? And perhaps a bit lonely, at least for the time being.

    Nonetheless, she perks up again as she beholds Madotsuki in all her unkempt glory. As she was the only one here when she first entered, this must be their presumed hostess. "Oh, hello! Lovely place you have here." With her genuine-looking expression, it might be hard to gauge whether it's insincere flattery. A new entrant, namely Shin, appears on a motorcycle, which gives her just the lightest jolt. While he's introducing himself, she'll pause for a moment, eyeing the non-ground with a testing scuff of a shoe. She brightens again as he's brought merchandise. "I should really check out some of the shops again soon. But, hmm..so all these doors lead to different places, then?" If it's just a dream, what harm could a surprise really have?

Ainsley (151) has posed:
    When Ainsley steps through the warp gate, it's into an incredibly sparse dreamscape. She steps along a floor that she cannot readily see, and seems more interested in the environment around her than the source of it -- Madotsuki seems to be ignored until she speaks up toward them, the lizard woman then looking at her with that neutral gaze. "Hello," she says, and lets Madotsuki's memory work from there, not willing to introduce herself again. The others are acknowledged with a similar look, and a slow blink.

    Ainsley looks at the Eyeball door when she's told she can go wherever, and blinks at it once. Then, wordlessly, she turns to walk toward it. She doesn't even wait for a discussion from the others. She doesn't seem to be much of a social butterfly most days, but today she's practically robotic in her behavior, letting her curiosity guide her wherever.

Madotsuki (763) has posed:
    As far as that motorcycle thing is concerned, yeah. Without saying anything specific, it was the most atomic, radical, transcendental, awesomerific, righteous, totes insane biznasty that this particular girl has ever laid her eyes on. Sparks flew. In the instant Shin appeared, she could have sworn that a tiny singularity of pure, unmitigated, unadulterated ill-ness gathered over Shin's head. Unfortunately, though, it only lasted for that specific moment, and she is not inclined to share this treasure with the larger world. Still, she might subtly reflect on Shin's killer moves by offering him a fistbump when he's got his bearings before coolly nodding her approval.

    Sick, dude.

    Once she's received some reply on her offered bump, she mimics the fingerguns, and echoes the 'Yooo'. "Yep, you got it: Madotsuki. Really, though, Mado's fine. Lots easier to say and whatever." She's quick to shake her head when he says it's alright if she had forgotten about him, though. "Nah, nah, I couldn't forget you. But I do have one question." She holds out her hand. "Where's my comics at?"

    Probably referring to Garfield from last night.

    He does her one better, though: he unloads a bunch of games and a... Supaboy? Well, that's a new one. Still, she gladly accepts it all, taking the plastic bag. A minute later, there's a sort of playful, reverberant chime, a flash of triangular light, and the sudden appearance... of a bicycle. She chunks the plastic bag in the carrying net at the front of the bike before staring at Shin a moment, nodding her head, and flashing a thumbs-up.

    You've done well.

Yari Takane (691) has posed:
Yari Takane arrives, the one-armed Au Ra sporting a midnight-blue kimono dotted with white star-shaped decorations. There's even a big blue bow around the middle, through which she's tucked her sword. Just in case. It's best not to walk into a new world unarmed, after all.

Despite the traditional clothing, she walks with purpose and grace. Pausing before the young woman that's their host, she snaps a sharp salute that's utterly out of place with her clothing.

"Centurion Yari Takane, XIV Legion of the Garlean Empire! Thank you for allowing us to explore your world, Ma'am!" Greets Yari equally sharply, before going to an at-ease position. She just /stares/ at Madotsuki for a few moments. Blink. Blink. This is slightly awkward.

Then gives a lighter salute. "I'll be taking aetheric readings of your world, if that's alright. You mentioned that this world was your dream. Do you know how it is constructed? Is this some form of aether-craft...ah, more commonly known as 'magic'? Or is this a naturally occuring phenomena?" Interrogates the soldier, already tapping away on her armlet. She doesn't yet choose a door. Everyone else gathered does get a salute, however.

Scarlet Everille (747) has posed:
    To be honest, there isn't a lot of reason for Scarlet to be here. Madotsuki doesn't seem like the kind of person who will pay to befriend with powerful connections or big favours. The idea of visiting a literal dream, existing when someone is asleep and entirely in their mind, made into a place that a warpgate can access, is really just too interesting. Besides, it sounds like there will be a lot of other people there. Socializing with the movers and shakers of the Multiverse is rarely ever a waste of time.

    Scarletcouldn't stand out as further down the personal appearance spectrum from Madotsuki if she tried. Well, she is trying regardless. Having had just barely enough time to dress up for the occasion with her designer spring wardrobe, washed and pressed by dedicated household staff, she engages in the usual task of enhancing her reception with magic. Regardless of what liberties the dream might take with her appearance, she should communicate intelligence and refinement just by looks alone, not to mention looking just a little bit prettier. Regardless of whether she's going somewhere completely unreal, she's brought her everpresent messenger bag and wearable computing solution with her.

    "Do these lead to different dreams, or are they all facets of the same one?" she asks curiously, gazing around at the doors with an appraising stare. "I can vaguely guess at what might be behind some of them, if only based on thematics." She then looks down to the nothingness between her feet, specifically at the drawings scribbled across it. "...did you draw these?"

Riva Banari has posed:
WHAT'S THIS? Another unusual person who live in a dreamworld? LOOK OUT, HWERE COMES RIVA.

Riva arrives in the Door Room with a glance around, seeming to try to take it all in. With her experience with dreamworlds, she has a habit of trying to make impressions of them.

This has no relation to previous experiences with them whatsoever. Nope. Not at all.

Either way, the mid-twenties American steps around the room and presents a paper bag on top of a box. The bag holds some burgers and fries, while the box contains a small tin tray of takeout ravioli. "I wasn't sure what you might like, so I got a couple things! I'm Riva, from the radio." She says, smiling as she then presents a large cola. "So, looks like you have a bunch of new friends!" Riva says, stepping back to give her a little space, glancing over at the Combat Vagabond's offering. She arches an eyebrow. "Nice." She says, grinning and nodding in approval. She looks considerably more confused at the chatty Au Ra, and just shrugs, getting out her own drink and taking a long, pointed slurrrrrrp to puncutate things before she look over at the drawings. Scarlet pointed them out too, and Riva naturally is drawn to art of all kinds. She looks back to Mado for her response.

Madotsuki (763) has posed:
    Madotsuki turns from Shin to Krezentia. Her expression remains completely even at all times, but the trajectory of her eyes does not linger on Krezentia's face for very long -- rather, they're drawn directly to the massive container of candy she's holding. For a painfully long period of time, Madotsuki says absolutely nothing in response, though if Krezentia doesn't make any comments she might eventually begin to cycle her gaze between the sweets and Krezentia's eyes. The meaning of the gesture is extremely, perhaps annoyingly obvious:

    'Give a girl some candy?'

    Man, it's your dream, why don't you just dream some into existence or something?

    Meh. Too preoccupied.

Nathan Hall (168) has posed:
    Nathan Hall looks... Well, if you knew him from the old days, he looks rather like that now. Of course, in the old adventuring outfit, but he no longer looks particularly famished, tired, stressed, or emotional. Back to simple stoicism. His arrival is slow, shuffling in a gradual, robotic, deliberate sort of way. As before, it's a very nonthreatening sort of look for the librarian. He looks around, showing no reaction to the strange environment as he walks through it.

    "Hello. Hello, thanks for having us, thanks for having us visit. Madotsuki. Or did you prefer Mado? Can't tell how familiar people would rather be, sometimes. A pleasure to meet you. Name's Nathan Hall. Librarian. Holistic Librarian, of course." He'll offer a handshake. "Anywhere we'd like? Wander anywhere... Ought to pick something as a group. Me, I'd vote this one, or maybe..." He looks towards the Candle World door and the Block World door. He seems attracted naturally towards monochromatic things.

Nathan Hall (168) has posed:
    Shin gets regarded with a passive, unreactive look from Nathan. "Can't say I brought gifts. Maybe should have, maybe could have brought some interesting reading. Maybe it'll persist when you're back to sleep. Who knows. Heard you're a bit of a fighter. Good to make social connections, good to get known. Good to meet you too."

Nathan Hall (168) has posed:
    Nathan tilts his head at Krezentia now. "Odd, sure. Could be resistant to change. Resilient to change. You'd be surprised who you can let in your dreams harmlessly. Or with enough harm that it's fine to let it happen, just to get a little insight, a little company. Get some meetings out of the way. Can't imagine she's got anyone wanting to do any harm here, can't really imagine that."

Madotsuki (763) has posed:
    Sanae's the next to get a response, likely after a seamless swivel of Madotsuki's head to face her. In fact, maybe even before -- she's hasn't even achieved full eye contact before she starts talking. "Dude, this 'place' is an infinite, black vortex of jack-freaking-nothing." She stares her down for another awkward moment before adding, conclusively, "Yeah, it's pretty nice. Glad it's got your approval." Do the doors all lead to different places, though? Yep yep. She nods. "Yeah, all of 'em are different, but you can't always tell which is which. I mean, I can because I've been here forever, but some of them might look really samey to you. Oh, and," She gestures to a bright pink door to her left, "you probably don't wanna go in there. It's too dark to see. Guess that doesn't matter if you're superheroes or whatever, but just thought I'd say."

    No stores around here, though. Sorry.

Madotsuki (763) has posed:
    Madotsuki exchanges looks with Ainsley for a bit. The long stare might communicate -some- familiarity, so she probably recognizes her voice at least. Likewise, she doesn't seem willing to say much when she isn't addressed first, so instead she just... holds out her box of pocky, shaking it a bit so that a few straws will slide out far enough for her to take one if she elects to.

    She'll wait until she gets some sort of further reply to say or do anything else.

Krezentia Einjager (758) has posed:
    'Give me candy.' is a valid visual expression.
    It's Kopie's typical look, so Krezentia is good at spotting it. She reaches into her coat and produces a wrapped candy ball an inch in diameter. You know, the kind of candy you'd stuff in your mouth and then lament it's too hard to bite into, so you have to let it melt forever. She tosses it at Mado. Seems to be the same sort the fairy is nibbling on. Just, you know, for a fairy that's a foot tall that's a god damn lot of candy.

    "So... every door's, what, a different dream?"

    She rudely stares at Ainsley, mostly because LIZARD GIRL. She'll get over it, but in the meantime, either she's never been told it's rude to stare, or she doesn't care.

Sanae Kochiya (619) has posed:
    Oh, it's that ninja girl from the other day! Sanae is stirred from examining the doors a bit more closely - the one with an eye on it in particular, which someone already entered, it seems - and gives her a smile, "Ah, Miss Takane! I somehow didn't expect to meet you in a place like this!" Her eyes refocus, and she gets a look of mock serious consideration, as she raises a hand to rub at her chin, "Hmm. That's a good look for you. But it doesn't really suit such a business-like attitude. This is a dream, it's going to be fun, okay? Just set your aetheric dohickeys to passive scan." Despite the void they're in, there's certain to be a lot of fun things to do here. Speaking of which.

    With Madotsuki's attention on her, she doesn't flinch at all to her seemingly questioning her tastes, or at least it's how it seems at first. It even gets a light laugh out of her. She can live with this. "Hmm," she hums agreeably! "I actually admire it. I doubt my dreams are this compartmentalized, anyway. It all just kind of runs together." She overhears a suggestion that they should go exploring, which while her heart strings tug at video games, especially that NASU one that she heard mentioned over the public bands..also sounds like it could be fun. "Well, someone already went into the one with an eye on it, I think," she mentions, "..hopefully they won't get lost!"

Hastur (176) has posed:
    Hastur, of course, hadn't said anything to the dream hostess that currently welcomes all these strange people into her world. Normally she would be all chattiness and verbosity with something this interesting, but these days, she's found herself inspired to be a little...quieter. There's more to think about than there usually is.

    Today, however, she's decided to take some initiative for once and wander out of Boston to explore this new world of dreams. The Dreamlands of her own world are fascinating enough, so this shouldn't be a disappointing trip.

    Of course, she hasn't bothered to shift out of her usual tattered yellow robes and scarf, the hood tugged a little over her eyes. It might be a little strange, therefore, to see a figure in bright yellow with a very /unnatural/ air about them just wandering in from where the others came, ethereal red eyes flitting here and there to try and take in the various aspects of this strange landscape. Whatever there are to see right now, at least; the drawings are the most attention-grabbing thing so far.

    Rather than gravitate toward Madotsuki first, however, Hastur instead comes to a halt not far behind Nathan, arms folded behind her back and gaze lowered to the astonishingly nondescript man. Her neutral expression isn't very easy to read, but at least her tone is polite enough: "Nathan. Good to see you getting out again. Maybe I should've come with you instead of wandering in myself."

    A nod is given in greeting to Ainsley, then Riva, the only two people she actually recognizes here so far, before her attention shifts down to Madotsuki. At least /she/ gets a courteous smile. "Madotsuki, right? Forgive me for not saying anything earlier, but hearing you talk about this interested me and I thought I'd pay a visit. I am Hastur."

    Another glance at the various doors. Are any of them yellow? That's probably a good place to start.

Shin Tokuyama (756) has posed:
    Madotsuki's thumbs up is returned by Shin, glad she seems content with his gift, "Comics are gonna take a bit. Japanese Garfield is a pain in the ass to come by," He notes, rubbing the back of his head, "Pretty obscure, and it's not like I can order it online without an address."

    His thumbs up is turned onto Nathan, "It does its job, I guess. Fight people, get stronger, people want fights when your stronger. But it's hardly for everyone. There's salarymen, workers, and all sorts of people. I just have a weird thing I do for a living because it fits me. Good to meet you too, though, guy."

    Otherwise, though, he seems pretty passive on where to go. He's hanging out in the junction area with his hands in his pockets and rocking on his feet a bit, looking around at things. He's not the brightest in terms of taking the initiative on investigating a world, so he'll stave off boredom by looking at the landscape.

Nathan Hall (168) has posed:
    Yari gets Nathan's slowly swiveling gaze on her after a while. "I've doubts, doubts that this particular dreamer understands that sort of thing. Wouldn't fuss too much about it, would say, it's better to figure out yourself, probably. Can't expect a regular girl to know too much about things like magic, things like temporospatial unification mechanics..." He says, descending into a bit of rambling muttering.

Madotsuki (763) has posed:
    Madotsuki's reply to Yari? Awkward? /Naaaaah/, not unless her copping a frown and quirking her brow in stark quiet qualifies as 'awkward' for you. She doesn't really know what to make of the flashy military intro, so she... doesn't, frankly; that is, she doesn't really respond to it. At most, she might nod her head. When she mentions 'aetheric readings', though, she shrugs. "You would probably take readings even if I told you not to, right? Whatever. I don't care." Is... is her dream made of /magic/, though? That gets another, even more pronounced browquirk. She ponders a reply for several moments before holding out her hands, waggling her fingers in a wavelike pattern, and quietly saying,

    "Psychology -is- magic, bro."

    What the hell is that supposed to mean.

Ainsley (151) has posed:
    Ainsley accepts some pocky wordlessly, and shows a strange, warm smile toward Mado, coupled with faintly tired eyes. The look is maintained for a while, but it doesn't seem that she has much to say today. It's an odd exchange.

    A glance toward Nathan when he suggests putting it up to a vote, and Krezentia when she realizes she's being stared at. Another slow blink at either of them. She waves at Krezentia in particular, the stare evidently not bothering her. "Hello," she greets, hoping to snap her out of the look.

    Hastur's presence gets a silent look, and a matching silent nod.

    And then Ainsley just completely ignores Nathan's suggestion of putting it to a vote and tries to open and enter the Eyeball Door anyways, to explore this dreamscape.

Nathan Hall (168) has posed:
    Nathan gives a short bow-like nod to Hastur when she arrives. "Unspeakable One. A pleasure to see you again, always a pleasure. We're both busy these days, busy busy busy. Need more chances to talk properly. Hope your work's finding you a little better than my work's finding me. Hope things have been well. If you ever want to come along, ever want to come see things like this, I'm always happy to have the company. Helps." His whispery monotone is more unlike he normally is to Hastur than to anyone else here, definitely.

Yari Takane (691) has posed:
Yari blinks, and turns. It's Sanae! "Ah! Glory and honor, Miss Kochiya! It's a pleasure to see you again!"

Cough! Yari clears her throat. "It's part of my duties to scout newly converged worlds and bring back data to the Legion." Then she blushes a bit, turning away. Sanae might just catch a pleased smile though.

"It's not that special..." She mumbles, just a bit.

Still, Sanae actually has a point. Yari straightens up.

"Right, of course. How foolish of me, if I'm focused on the scan then I won't get to properly scout the area. My thanks, Miss Kochiya!" Cue another sharp salute! Even her tail's straight when she does so. Seems that Yari's having trouble turning off that businesslike demeanor.

Blink. Nathan gets a look, and a similar salute.

"Ah, yes, fair point. She looks a bit too young for that anyway." Yari actually listens in on the man's rambling for a perhaps admirable amount of time. She even makes /notes/. Efficient, this one. But soon she's distracted by their host.

Madotsuki gets a quirk of Yari's own brow in return. "So...ah! I understand." Her hand smacks her tail.

"Of /course/ a dream, a reflection of our inner selves, would manifest through magically based on our psychology." Comes Yari as though she's had some kind of epiphany. With her scanner on passive, she then looks to the doors.

"I'll be exploring then! Glory and honor!"

What's behind Neon Door number 3!?

Madotsuki (763) has posed:
    At Krezentia's and Scarlet's collective inquiry -- that is, are they multiple dreams or all parts of the same one -- she just gives another shrug. "I'unno. Maybe they're different dreams, but it sure feels like they're one, big, cohesive blob. Either-or, I guess, but either way you slice it they're functionally the same. They're never gonna separate, or at least they never have before, so it doesn't really matter if they're the same or not." As prompted by the former, though, Mado looks down at her feet alongside Scarlet. After about a second, she shakes her head. "Nah. These things have been here ever since I've been dreaming this dream. Weird things like that pop up everywhere, though. Like, in the forest world there's another, similar guy in the background. He watches me while I putter around and pet the frogs." Play-ominously, she points her fingers at Scarlet and swirls her fingers.

    "They stare into your sooouuulll."

    Then, Krezentia. She catches the candy with all due dexterity -- she can always spare what little motor coordination she has when food is involved. She immediately unwraps the thing and pops it into her mouth. Of course, she tries to bite it first. Ow. Once she's through wincing, though, she mutters a 'Thanks'. "You can have some pocky if you want, but I'm guessing you're good with what you already have." She glances to the fairy, too, to extend the offer to both of them.

    Spread those bad habits, yo!

Sanae Kochiya (619) has posed:
    Most of the other visitors don't register 'too' strongly on her radars, but for some reason, the appearance of this mysterious stranger in yellow silently trips some of Sanae's internal alarms. Hastur, huh? It seems like a name she should know, from some place. Pushing that to the back of her mind for now, she gives a soft laugh at Ainsley's unashamed spirit of exploration. "It looks like the path is decided, then. ..huh, hey." What's with that guy mumbling over there? It looks like he's not having any fun, and that is dangerous on a field trip, you know. The shrine maiden crosses her arms behind her back, sliding on her heels in a very obvious way toward Nathan, and leans forward to smile directly into his face if he hasn't already shrunk away from it.

    "My name is Sanae Kochiya. If you're worried or something, don't be. Dreams aren't real, you know?" She is completely misreading his quiet monotone, most likely. She then boasts confidently, "If some monster we can't see suddenly comes out, and starts chasing us, and we can never seem to run away fast enough, we can just beat it up." Either way, she'll leave him be for now, giving a slight sigh to Yari's only slightly relaxed demeanor. If that's the best she can do, then that's still a lot better. "Well then, I'm heading in. An eye on the door..it could be symbolic of many things. Or, it could just be there because it looks cool? After this, I want to see NASU." As promised, she moves to follow Ainsley.

Madotsuki (763) has posed:
    Then, Riva. In contrast to what she has done with all others before, her turn is fairly gradual, and her response is anything but immediate. That's because she's -planning-. She flexes her hand as though they're somehow locked in a Western-style showdown, and when she finally chooses her moment, she leaps! She twirls through the air before there's another flash of light and series of chiming sounds like those that accompanied the appearance of her bike. This time, she's accrued a witch's uniform and a broomstick which she hops across to land by the bag containing the burger. She attempts to snatch away her prize with all do haste, snaking her hand into the bag, opening whatever foil or box it may be contained in, and taking a bite. All this comes with completely unnecessary grace and fluidity.

    Once she's finished half of it, her witch's uniform flashes back out of existence and she actually turns to acknowledge Riva. Oh, so she probably grabs the soda, too. Siiiip. But, wait -- based on what she said... oh. "Oh, you got this stuff for me? I thought you were gonna eat it. Guess things all worked out okay then." She takes another bite. Nom.

    That's quite a way to say thank you.

    Once she finishes the burger, she looks back down at one of the drawings with Riva. Eventually, she mumbles, "Geez, why do you guys care about these stupid things? ... meh, to each their own I guess. I mean, there are plenty more to see, so you're in luck."

Nathan Hall (168) has posed:
    Nathan keeps completely stoic at Sanae's invasion of his personal space. Internally, this involved a lot of intentional counteraction against his immediate reflex to pull away from Sanae, and only after his poor reflexes even made him aware of the fact in the first place. "I'm always worried." He says, simply. "Because there's always something worth worrying about, always something on the horizon. I have some experience in the realm of dreams, you know. Some experience, some history examining the dreams of other people, and I always find it a little worrying. As for beating up monsters, certainly. I'm sure many of the people here can, many of them. Not me, I'm not very tough. Not very strong at all, really. Can't do much for a monster. Just depend on the people around me."

    He lets her head on out to the eyeball door. He's likely as anything to follow, since more people seem to be heading that way, but he'll probably go where the more familiar people here do. Wherever Hastur and Riva are going, his two more familiar friends here.

Madotsuki (763) has posed:
    To Nathan, "Mado's fine. It's not really about familiarity, it's just a lot less cumbersome." All these people and their titles! She doesn't really know how to respond to any of them, but man, she should really come up with one of her own one of these days. 'Anti-Insomniac' might suit her! Or Narcolpetic. Or, or... she'll think of something eventually. Hopefully something a little less offensive.

    As Nathan regards his chosen doors, though, Madotsuki nods her head. "Ooooh, both good choices. Blockland seems kinda your speed. Candle World...? Meh, that one's okay. Not as cozy as Snowland, though." Seems like her vote's for Blockland right now, or at least until other people come up with some ideas.

Sanae Kochiya (619) has posed:
    Not quite out of earshot yet, it seems she had Nathan pinned down a little more than she might have imagined. A worry wart, huh. As she's stepping away, she turns back and smiles again, though this time seemingly a bit more honest than her glaringly bright version. "Worrying has its place, but if you're constantly worried about the weather forecast for tomorrow, you'll never appreciate how sunny it is today." Kind of a funny choice of metaphor, since they're currently in a void of scattered doors with some stylized drawings for what passes for a floor in here. "Just promise that you'll try to have some fun, okay?" Without really making him commit to the idea, she finally does enter the door. No regrets!

Madotsuki (763) has posed:
    Hastur... actually earns a bit of a blink from Madotsuki; if she weren't so good at masking things, her jaw might drop. Best not to jump to conclusions, but she has to clarify this quickly: "Okay, okay. Is that name just a coincidence? Oorrrr..." She's not going to clarify that, but she miiiight've read some Lovecraft, once upon a time. Certainly enough to know that name when she hears it.

    She fixates on the sleeves of her robe for a minute. She's probably connecting the color with the... other hints. Yeeaaahhh. Last she checked, though, -that- Hastur wasn't human.

Madotsuki (763) has posed:
    To Shin, Mado... actually purses her lips a bit. Her best attempt at a poutyface, or something. "Can'tcha get the -English- ones? I can read some English. At least enough to read a comic, c'mon." How she manages to remain this insistent after all the gifts she's already received is a phenomenal mystery, but whatever.

Scarlet Everille (747) has posed:
    With her questions satisfied as far as they're going to be, Scarlet drops a little of the businesslike attitude and flashes Madotsuki a smile, briefly considering, but refraining from, offering her hand. The girl in front of her doesn't seem like the type to stand on formalities like that. "My apologies for not introducing myself earlier. I'm Scarlet Everille, fifth year at Heliosanctus University. Charmed~" She shrugs the bag a little further over her shoulder to re-settle it. "It's very generous of you to allow us to poke around in your head like this. I doubt I'd ever do the same. Are you sure this isn't too personal? Or is everything here just too nonsensical for anyone to make anything of it~?" She has a feeling the latter is correct. There doesn't seem to be any indication of a possibility of finding deep secrets or sensitive memories here. It's already too surreal for that.

    Riva is already someone Scarlet is quite familiar with, and so gets a casual greeting. Nathan she knows only in passing, and so she feels the need to make the obligatory politeness of "General Hall, are you sure you're alright? If it helps, I'd suggest stepping into a dream to be an indicator to leave the worries by the door for the time being. You can always pick them back up on the way out.". Hastur immediately strikes her in ways that are both familiar and alien, owing to her otherworldly air being vaguely reminescent of looking into Nowhere. She's heard about this one though. "The King in Yellow, I presume? It's a pleasure to meet you. I haven't had the fortune of seeing you around the office yet." She turns to Sanae as she joins in trying to reassure Nathan. "I'll hold you to that~ I don't think that scenario is likely here though. It seems a little too...typical."

    Ainsley and Yari seem a little preoccupied doing their own things, and so she leaves them to it. Krezentia seems like someone she'd best approach carefully at an opportune moment, probably being the type to have little patience for real introductions. That leaves Shin, who she does actually offer a handshake. "The infamous Combat Vagrant~ Don't worry, more than a few people have been paying attention to you. Your story is a little more interesting than the usual theatrics on the broadband." That said, it's time to pick a world. "Quaint names. I'm interested in seeing what candles or blocks could do to be a theme all on their own." Snowland seems like it could be any kind of snowy vista. Best to try and angle for the more abstract.

Nathan Hall (168) has posed:
    "Blockland. Hmmm. Sounds nice, sounds properly ordered. Sounds worth exploring, if you want. You've got a mind that keeps itself organized. I like that, think that's a good way of thinking." Nathan says, still in the same surrealistically dreamlike way of monotonously speaking.
    Sanae gets a look as she passes on elsewhere. "Sure." Is about all Nathan seems to commit to things, but it's better than nothing.
    Back to Madotsuki. "Oh, no. No no, no coincidence. She's the real deal, she's the genuine article. Presenting to you, his eternal wisdom, Hastur, the King in Yellow, the Unspeakable One." He does a little bit of a bow-like nod again, but it's sardonic in a way. His deadpan delivery doesn't make it entirely clear if he's being authentic. "A good friend at times. Knows a thing or two about dreams, just a thing or two."

Krezentia Einjager (758) has posed:
    Krezentia takes a stick of pocky.

    Lazily, she gives the room another glance now that it's been explained. Well, kinda sorta explained. That's a lotta doors, still. Lots of different motifs. Most of them don't really mean much to the Magi, or to her fairy, really. Well, alright, the snow one is quickly fielded in the 'fuck that' list. Snow levels, god damn. No one likes snow levels. Ugh.

    Eyeballs, though, you can't go wrong.

    "We'll go explore, I guess."

    Krezentia and Kopie wander towards the EYEBALL DOOR, following after the others headed there too. She does not quite return Ainsley's wave, so much as stop staring rudely. "Yo. So lizard. Can you like, breathe fire?"

Ainsley (151) has posed:
    Krezentia's remark toward her gets Ainsley to say another word. She glances at Krezentia and just tells her, "No." A dull-toned voice and barely any thought given to the question.

Shin Tokuyama (756) has posed:
    "Aheh," Shin lets out an embarassed laugh to Scarlet as she mentions having heard of him in some way, "Embarassing, but encouraging. That's me, yeah. Shin Tokuyama," He takes the hand and squeezes it, "A pleasure to meet you, you seem very classy." He squeezes the hand once more and then releases it, "I didn't expect people to get so involved. All the fights, and that lady offering me some weird narrative job, are pretty cool."
    To Madotsuki's demands, Shin gives a nod of his head, "RIGHT! I'll check out a book store or something and get right on that. I won't let you down on this topic!" He's pretty patient at weathering the slightly demanding attitude. He's not following people through doors, weirdly. He's just kind of standing there watching people go.

Hastur (176) has posed:
    Hastur's brow raises slightly to Nathan when he responds to her. "Yes, we do need more chances. I shut myself up in my studies a lot these days. I can't really say that things have gone well or poorly, all things considered, though what regrets I have with my time spent don't mean much." Her head tilts slightly to one side as she stares at him for a moment more. "Maybe we should talk a little more in private later."

    Sanae gets a curious stare when she comes up to interrupt Nathan's monotony. Interesting girl, that one, but Hastur doesn't remark on her presence for now.

    Then there's Madotsuki again, and that trailing question manages to draw a brief smirk to the Great Old One's features. It's been a while since she had that sort of reaction. "No, not a coincidence. Just assume that it means absolutely everything you think it means. Or...most things, at least. A lot gets lost in translation when you rely on humans to talk for you." That smirk only widens when Nathan, of all people, gives that theatrical greeting; Hastur can't help laughing a little before bowing her head to him. "You flatter me, Nathan. Learning a little theatricality these days?"

    Back to Madotsuki: "If you don't mind, I think I'll just wander around a bit. I have some things on my mind, but this is proving a little too interesting not to examine. The Dreamlands are curious enough, but this seems a little more...abstract."

Madotsuki (763) has posed:
    As Ainsley peeks her head through the door to the Eyeball World, well... suffice it to say, it earns its name fairly quickly. Just a few paces in front of the entrance, an eyeball, severed and out of its socket, stares blankly at the entrance. Its sclera is misted over with the color of blindness or outright death, and though there's no further decay on that particular one, a number of other eyeballs next to it look noticeably more deformed. The aqueous humors of several of them are showing a good deal of wear, so the liquid-containing portions of the eye in front of the lens are... sagging; veiny. It looks like plastic bags are wrapped around the organs, and the pupils seem somehow loose.

    Beyond that, there's another drawing here: a similar Aztecian image scrolls by in the background, this one depicting a figure with small eyes, an unnerving smile, a sort of stone crown, a skull in its hand, and a tongue which extends so far that it seems to transform into a serpent. This figure is clearly far, far in the background in the second dimension, and yet it still feels like it may attempt to drag her off someplace at any second.

    Further off, more dismembered body parts, namely arms, can be seen grasping from the darkness of the floor. Long story short, this place is abundantly perverse and inhospitable.

Riva Banari has posed:
The arrival of Hastur, Scarlet, and even Nathan brings Riva a blink of surprise. She didn't expect a lot of these peopel to be here, but on reflection /it makes total sense/. The dramatic snaffling from Madotsuki causes Riva to look at her in surprise, and she giggles a bit. "That was hella flashy, Mado. Very cool." She takes a moment to wave to Scarlet and Nathan, and give a small bow to Hastur. It pays to show proper respect to a being like that.

She looks back to Mado, and shrugs. "Well, I'm an artist, so I'm always interested in what other people draw, especially in their dreams. Do you think it might be kind of like a Rorschach Test of the Soul?" She chuckles again. "Either way, it's new. I like new things! I hope you don't mind us crashing in like this." Riva is still puttering around the Door Room, looking over each of the potential areas they might go. The recommendations from Nathan are notable. Blockland, huh? "If you guys want to check out Blockland, we can do that." She offers to what seems to be rapidly clumping into a group.

Madotsuki (763) has posed:
    To Scarlet, Madotsuki deadpans, "Oh, I'm an open book." Something... something about the way she said that makes it seem like sarcasm. Kinda sorta, anyway. She opens her mouth to clarify that in /non/ tongue-and-cheek lingo, but before she can do so Scarlet answers her own question. So Mado just nods. "Yep, you got it. Most people have no idea what the heck to make of my dreams, even me. And if I can't figure them out -with- context, I don't really know what you guys are gonna do without any. It's totally innocuous having you here -- you just bumble around, see the sights, bring me cool stuff, and bail. It's a win-win, for me; no reason /not/ to have you all come. And besides," She wraps her hands behind her head, cradling it in them, "it gets kinda boring here. Always see the same people, never have any new company. Sucks."

Sanae Kochiya (619) has posed:
    She's bold, certainly. There might have been just the barest of perceptible shivers with Hastur's gaze upon her, but if it halted her steps, it's hard to say. She's currently journeying with her new best friends, Ainsley and this magi, though it turns out to be a somewhat short trip - at least, for the time being. Her eyebrow twitches, for just a moment, as her vision adjusts to the slight difference in light, allowing her to see what looks like a gore film killer's personal chop shop. A hand comes to her mouth, and one might even expect a gasp of shock, instead, her eyes squeeze closed and she begins to..laugh? Yes, one raising a pitch as she finally belts one out. If she were less composed, a skirted knee might even get slapped, but thankfully it doesn't come to that, as she simply wipes a tear from her eye.

    "Well," she says with amusement, "What should we have expected from the door with an eyeball on it?" It seems like things get a good deal less friendly, after a cursory scan of what little, admittedly, she can see from this vantage point still close to the door, so she'll leave it to the apparent group instinct, glancing between Ainsley and Krezentia, pointedly, "Something tells me it'll just be more guts further in, but who knows? Dreams have a way of morphing over time. ..sort of reminds me of some descriptions I've heard of some of the underworlds."

Ainsley (151) has posed:
    Ainsley looks at the sight of the eyeball for a while. The gorey display doesn't seem to shock her, but she does frown at it with a vague disapproval. Beyond that, she steps further into Eyeball World, and just picks a direction and starts walking. She doesn't feel inclined to spare much effort to determine which is the 'correct' direction to go. She also spares very little thought on who is following her, just moving according to her whimsy.

    She pauses to prod one of the severed limbs with a foot, careful not to get close enough to get grabbed, if it's going to do that. She's very mindful of her tail here, and she keeps looking toward the 'Aztec' picture that's staring at the party.

    Her frown down at the Aztec figure is the most disapproving, looking down her nose at it. Mostly so she doesn't lose track of where she's going, but partly because she's grown sick of the mesoamerican culture symbology in her own world in general. She's only glad that this one isn't immediately trying to eviscerate her.

    She's prepared for it, if it attempts to do so.

    "I had not expecting such strong symbolism from a Japanese girl's dreams," she thinks aloud, because of Sanae's observations, "Such a morbid source for her dreams to draw from... And only the negative aspects, so far." She looks around pointedly. "No stars, no corn fields... No sunlight."

Krezentia Einjager (758) has posed:
    "Boring. So what cool lizard powers do you have?" Krezentia asks, as she idly picks up one of the arms laying around. She extends it towards Ainsley, with a stupid grin on her face. "Need a hand collecting body parts, while at it?"

    Kopie, much more skittish, has actually landed on the Magi's shoulder and is hiding behind one of her blonde bangs. "I take it back, I don't like being in people's dreams, funya~."
    "Hey you're the one who wanted to come."
    "I DON'T ANYMORE, FUNYA~!"
    "Too bad, I got interested. Wonder if we can catch the wandering drawing." More of a musing. Although, she keeps an eye on the thing, because that's unnerving no matter how you look at it.

Madotsuki (763) has posed:
    Next, Mado looks back to Nathan and Hastur. And Nathan's little display, his ostentatious presentation which ambles nebulously between candor and sarcasm, elicits the first, or perhaps the second laugh that the Multiverse has ever gotten out of her. She literally snerks, allowing her eyes to scroll to both of their faces as they will. Eventually, she responds, "-WELL-, I really wasn't expecting to meet a God today. Goddess? Don't think I've ever seen you in that getup before, and I've read some pretty bad Cthulhu spinoffs. And," She glances to Nathan, "didn't know that the Unspeakable One made a habit of befriending fast-talking nerds." Yeeeaaahhh, she went there. It's kinda unclear whether she's trying to be mean or chummy. Maybe both? Eh.

    But, uh. Eldritch God, wandering around her dreams? "Hey, sure. Just don't, like, drive me insane somehow, okay? Or, more insane at least. And hey, you can tag along with the 'Holy Librarian' and I, if you want. Seems like he wants to hit up Boxworld." Speaking of, she takes off in that direction without another word, meandering toward that door. She slides it open, holding it for Nathan and any others who might fancy a look-see.

Madotsuki (763) has posed:
    Before passing through the door herself, Madotsuki asides to Riva, "If it -is- like an inkblot test, I promise that it's just as useless. None of the junk means anything, or if it does, it has too many meanings for it to be helpful to any of us. My suggestion? Come up with whatever crazy conspiracy theories you want, but don't try proving them to anybody. That'll just make people upset." Wild mass guessing does that sometimes.

Sanae Kochiya (619) has posed:
    After she's had a chance to more properly compose herself, and once it's certain that Ainsley is going to press ahead, she joins her in her wanderings, since no objections seem to have been voiced. "Symbolism, or she just really likes horror movies," which is what she's going to guess, since while she seemed nice enough, Madotsuki didn't seem to want or need to veil her feelings very much. That 'gimme candy' earlier made that obvious enough. The comment about sources of dark feelings does finally get a more thoughtful look from her, rather than that theme park amusement. "I didn't want to say this, since I wouldn't want to hurt her feelings, but..did you notice that our hostess has a bit of a certain aesthetic?"

    Not well trained in subtlety, the priestess shortly follows up by answering her own posed question. "She looks like what we would call a NEET in my old world. Someone that..doesn't get out of the house much. But I'm sure she has her," she pauses to shake a bit of entrail away from her shoe, "Reasons!" Then her tone lowers, with a trace of sadness to it, "Someone that has retired from the world wouldn't have things like corn fields in their dreams."

The meandering drawing manages to catch her attention, now. Unnerving, perhaps a little, but that seems to be all it is for now. To Krezentia's suggestion, though, her mouth quirks into an odd sort of grin, "So we'd be the ones chasing the dream beast, for once. With all this..stuff around, it'd be easy to lose footing though. I wonder.." She hadn't tried to fly since she entered the dream, but she clasps her hands together, and attempts to gather some of the still air around her.

Nathan Hall (168) has posed:
    Nathan says, "If you would like to speak privately, no objection to that, no objections at all to a chat. Given recent events, it's the least you deserve. It is good, in any case, that your studies go uninterrupted. That's the best one can hope for at times." He has approximately no reaction at all to the commentary about his dramatics. "I have no idea what you mean."

    Then Hastur mentions a little curiosity. "Had a chance, recently, had a chance to look into this sort of thing. Had a chance to take a look around someone's dreams. Tend to be... Partitioned. Experienced by way of a set of choices, a set of geographically disparate decisions we can make. Spatial matters are irrelevant, really. Certain kinds of thoughts get categorized, pigeonholed really, into a specific partition. Worth investigating each type, worth understanding the rules, the specific rules that govern the way people categorize their dreams."

    He's gonna follow along to Boxworld, shuffling slowly and deliberately. "Tough habit to break, tough habit to kick once you get into it, or so I hear. The Unspeakable One is alright. You just need to get to know them. Get to know just enough of them that they're alright, without destroying your mind." It's still not entirely clear if he's trying to be humorous. "'Holistic' Librarian." He clarifies one more time, as he heads on through the door, giving a small passing return wave to Riva.

Madotsuki (763) has posed:
    The Serpent Eater in the world's backdrop at first returns Krezentia's and Aisnley's looks with... nothing. Its eyes continue to fix on some indeterminate point far, far in the distance, though should they ever once move their eyes away... its eyes would shift to face them. They slant perfectly in their direction and remain facing them the next time they look... and every time thereafter. Ominously, several of the flexing hands cease their rhythmic clasps for a moment as the Mesoamerican etching shifts its view. Rather than opening their palms, they squeeze them tighter for a moment, and the next time they open much more gradually. It's as though this entire subsection of the dream is an organism, and each visual is one of its constituent parts -- there's a sort of kinesthesis between everything that's going on at any given point in time.

    Once that moment of tension has passed, however, Sanae... Sanae might notice an odd, almost wet sensation at her leg. It tickles! And then it might sting, slightly. Should she look down, she would notice a rotund dumple -- a mound of flesh that seems to undulate and flap about as though it were fat, or some sort of exceptionally viscous goo. The only very concrete portion of its body is its mouth, and it clearly has its teeth clasped around her leg. Should probably make that thing go away somehow.

Hastur (176) has posed:
    The mention of /Cthulhu/ of all people is enough to visibly sour Hastur's mood, but despite her obvious frown, she lifts her hand to wave it off with a dismissive huff. "It's a long story. One I don't have quite the interest in telling at the moment. Maybe in the future I'll feel more like regaling you with the tale of why I'm in this form, but for now, just rest assured that I have no interest in driving you insane. Insanity wears down fascinating minds into dull ruin, more often than not, and I imagine you have quite some fascinating things to show."

    A glance to Nathan, then, on the question of her befriending of him. "He's usually an extremely interesting scholar on the literary and creative works of humanity and beyond. One of the few I could say keeps up with me. It's only natural I'd have some interest in him."

    As the trio begin heading over to Boxworld, Hastur gives Madotsuki a brief nod of thanks and follows along, hovering quietly near the back as they proceed onward. Seems she's content just to look for the moment.

Riva Banari has posed:
Riva waves to Ainsley too since she noticed the lizardbrarian too, as she passes them to stick with Nathan and Hastur. Mado seems to have taken a shine to them too which is a bonus, since that's basically all of her DARK AND SECRET OBJECTIVES in one place.

Riva shrugs at Mado's recommendation. "It's your mind, I certainly have no room to judge. Mine would be probably be really weird and silly. I'm just interested in learning more about you." And other things.

Riva glances over to Nathan as he gives his analysis of prior experiences. "You really think so? I wouldn't think most dream worlds would be so organized... But you would have more experience than me." She smiles pleasantly.

Madotsuki (763) has posed:
    Before passing through the door to Blockland, Madotsuki pauses a moment to look back at Shin. She's... earnestly kind of bewildered that she hasn't annoyed him yet, somehow. She usually annoys people by now. In fact, come to think of it, -no one- seems to overtly dislike her yet. Weird! So she says the only thing that she really can say to him: "Thanks. I owe ya. I doubt I'll ever have anything you want, but if I ever do, lemme know. Like, if you ever need an umbrella, I've always got an umbrella." Pretty off-the-wall example, but she assumes he won't mind it. Also, because she has to, "And, yo. If you want, you should come to Blockland with us. This place gets kinda creepy when there's no one else around."

    And she should know.

Ainsley (151) has posed:
    Ainsley looks back down at the Aztec being's gaze and her frown fades. His stare is met with a curious scrunch of her brow, taking in his apparent acknowledgement of their presence. Her head raises to turn and look at Krezentia again, the inquiry about 'lizard powers' momentarily confusing her. "I can fly," she tells Krezentia, which, with the revelation of hungry gross blob monsters, she demonstrates by hovering off the largely invisible floor and casually drifting through the air, not overtly concerned about Sanae just judging by harmlessly it seems to be harassing her. Hardly a 'lizard power,' but it would make more sense if Krezentia knew where she came from.

    "Hmm." She's out of insightful things to say about the dreamscape. She's just trying to track down sights that stand out among the field of eyes and limbs.

Madotsuki (763) has posed:
    As Yari steps through the neon door, she's greeted by a sight far more forgiving than those of the Eyeball World. Sure, the colors are garish, but after seeing the door's own vivid hues what was she expecting? The floor here is black as it was in the Nexus, but this palette is contrasted nicely by a myriad of blinking, bright walls and inhabitants which are equally hard to train one's vision on. Polygons with faces meander around aimlessly, but quickly, as if involved in some sort of incomprehensible dance with one another. The kinesthesis here is similar to the eyeball world: all their moves are synchronized, and even the blinks of the colors on the walls seem to happen in simultaneity.

    After some time, a rather unique entity -- a neon bird -- land on Yari's shoulder. It idly pecks at its feet.

    Oddly, this creature seems removed from the otherwise constant worldly rhythm.

Krezentia Einjager (758) has posed:
    "You're basically the most boring lizard person I've ever met," the Magi answers Ainsley, glancing as she takes off. "Ugh. Really gotta learn to fly one day. ZWEI!"

    A black, purple and gold hoverboard, with glowing purple wings at the rear, appears out of thin air, and Krezentia hops onto it. "Oh well, this is good enough. Anyway, -I- am going to go talk to... whatever the fuck that is. Whoever. That thing. Person. Drawing. I don't even know."

    She discards the arm she'd picked up, and then the hoverboard starts speeding towards the Serpent Eater. Or, at least, it attempts to. Maybe it's too far. Maybe this place mocks the concept of physics as we know it. Maybe she won't even be able to speed here. Let's find out.

Sanae Kochiya (619) has posed:
    All this quivering flesh, an engraving that seems almost alive, and trying to conjure up her own magic amidst the thrill of a dream land..or is it a nightmare? Regardless, one might expect Sanae to be distracted with all the multitasking her brain is having to do at the moment, and that would be correct. Squishy slithering is easily dismissed at first, since honestly, what in here *doesn't* seem to be moving to the Mesoamerican beat? Then the tickling starts, and whatever dead air she'd managed to stir up dissipates with the break in her concentration. She emits an audible 'grk' of slight annoyance, rather than pain, and at first just tries to dissuade whatever grimy thing is too close with a sharp nudge of her foot.

    Then the tickling sensation turns into needly pokes, as it begins to nibble, perhaps even making obnoxious 'omnom' slurpy sounds as it does so. That does it, blob, you had your chance. If she were in her usual attire, and not a guest in this world, she might aim to just cut it down. Instead, as it didn't get the more subtle hint, she draws up her ungnawed leg, and stomps on the blob with enough force that it might well rupture, regardless. "They could have at least sent a cuter looking slime," she grumbles, somehow still sounding in fairly good spirits. If that alone doesn't manage to wrest it free, she'll give it a few good shakes, before she again attempts to take to the air, herself. It seems she also has lizard powers. "Is it just my imagination, or do these things seem..coordinates?" Now that she's got a bit more of a bird's eye view.

Shin Tokuyama (756) has posed:
    As Madotsuki talks to him, Shin looks at her and occasionally nods. But he has managed to stave off the boredom of being utterly alien to any and all dynamics related to a dream world. He has an inner dialogue going in which he talks to himself in his own head. It goes something like:
    "Hey Shin, what should we punch tomorrow?"
    "I dunno, that blonde girl from a week ago was here, right? Maybe she brought Claw Punch Girl with her?"
    "Oh man, Claw Punch Girl was AWESOME. I'd love to punch her again. But the blonde girl also looked tough."
    "Dude, she did look tough, I didn't realize that. She even has a fairy sidekick, so she must be some kind of adventurer? Or another hero?"
    "Yeah, that makes sense. Or a DARK HERO. Oooh."
    "Dude, that would be amazing."
    "I know, right?"
    "She seems like she'd have an umbrella of people to cover her if we wanted to fight her, though."
    "Why the hell did umbrellas just pop into my head while I was thinking of blonde girl?"
    "Maybe we saw her wield an umbrella?"
    "Did we see her wield an umbrella?"
    Abruptly, Shin kinda shakes his head a couple times and comes back to this plane of reality, "Huhwha? Oh, sure, I can come along if you want. Creepy places don't really bother me much. I once crashed in an abandoned hospital because free bed."

Madotsuki (763) has posed:
    To Hastur, Madotsuki says, "Sounds like a story I might wanna hear. Another time, though, yeah. Some time when I don't have dozens of people running around in my head and making me really tired." /Is/ their presence making her feel more lethargic? It would be strange for her to feel sleepy in a dream, but the machinations of this place have certainly proven themselves to be mysterious in other ways already, so that very well may be. To her clarification of why she's interested in Nathan, though, she shrugs. "I don't know. It just seems weird for you to be walking around with a Holy Man." Immediately, she looks back to Nathan. She's going to milk this awful, terrible, Ungodly 'pun' for all that it's worth, and for as long as she can. She's a bit of a sadist that way. But, hey! Riva's right. This -is- her mind, and she's gonna show 'em around however she sees fit. So she ushers Nathan, Riva, and Hastur through the door to Blockworld.

    Unlike the horrific Eyeball World or the more positively slanted Neon Area, Blockworld is... quite a lot more neutral. The colors are all iterations of a halcyon blue which shifts from something closer to indigo, to cyan, and back. The myriad blocks that give this place its name sit arranged in various ways, and come in an even wider variety of sizes. While some are small enough for one of the new arrivals to stand upon, others are as large as skyscrapers. Then there are even more of them large enough to form Polygonal archways. Someone more astute may notice a woolly hat and scary floating at eye level on top of one of those archways, beside a faded green gateway with eyes above its entrance so that the entire door appears to be a mouth of some kind.

    It would seem there's an invisible creature, presumably a human, wearing that hat and scarf. Whatever it is, it's actively watching them, its articles of clothing turning just slightly as they navigate the area.

Yari Takane (691) has posed:
Yari feels her eyes burning slightly from the bright colors that assault her eyeballs. It takes a moment for her to adjust. After she does, however, she calms down quite a bit. Taking a deep breath, she pauses as the bird lands on her shoulder.

"...A bird?" Yari reaches up, gently trying to pet the creature. All the while, she looks at those dancing polygons.

"What strange beings. Ah...greetings!" She offers to them, a bit nervously.

Scarlet Everille (747) has posed:
    Yari has Scarlet a little curious as to how this dream could be manifesting, and if it is by magic, what kind. Surreptitiously, she ups the amplitude of her passive sight magic, shifting through higher and higher dimensions like an optician's lens set. She doesn't expect to find much, but she might as well while Madotsuki leads them into Blockland. "I appreciate the compliment~" she says to Shin. "As it seems, fighting is a well favoured pastime around here. You'll find no shortage of opponents. There's no need to be embarassed though! You've done the least to embarrass yourself on the broadband out of anyone for weeks! Besides, it can only work to your advantage. If you get more of a name for yourself, you'll attract more and stronger opponents, right?" For someone who has zero interest in ever punching someone, she certainly sounds genuine.

    She renews her magical examination on the seemingly floating winterwear, using her more considerable expertise with invisible and intangible beings. It seems to be the feature most worthy of note in the otherwise strange but seemingly completely harmless vista. Her eyes shift several shades brighter from the use of further magic. "Well, I see how this place got its name. Tell me though, what exactly lives here? Do the things that inhabit these doors ever come out, or do they stay to their own rooms? Are they consistent enough that you can encounter them multiple times?"

Nathan Hall (168) has posed:
    Nathan heads on through the door and into the area beyond. The continued misunderstanding gets a complete lack of reaction from Nathan, though it's obvious that that's intentional because he looks right back at her. "Holistic Librarian." He says, monotoned. "Knew a holy man pretty well, once. Priest, you know, priest of... He was a priest of something." Nathan says, muttering as he examines the environment beyond.

    When Riva comments, he says, half to Hastur, "When the internal subconscious intersects with outside observation forces, outside observers like us, or like... Mado, and her particularly lucid state of semi-disassociated experience, it categorizes. I think it's like a metaphor, like a symbolic representation of the ordered conscious perception of the unordered subconscious world. Who knows? Who knows how it works, I don't know how it works. Might just be a weird little law of nature, a strange mode of parallel REM-state processing." And he examines the environment as he speaks, giving every inch of it a sort of passive, unreactive attention.

    And then, he gives it active, interacting attention. Nathan knows how environments like this are meant to be interacted with. Walk around, examine everything closely, poke at things, prod at things. He eventually comes to the faded winterwear, examining it in parallel with Scarlet. He doesn't question it though, standing at the base of its archway. "Hi." He says, simply, nodding a brief greeting to see if it might nod back, and that seems to be enough. He'll wander on under the archway and through the gateway unless stopped. Or unless the odd invisible scarf-being responds.

Madotsuki (763) has posed:
    For her part, Krezentia makes seems to make progress in the direction of the Serpent Eater at first, but after several moments something strange would begin to happen. A phenomenal amount of force gathers in front of her hoverboard and actively attempts to repulse her. Like a rubberband, this pressure becomes continually more severe the harder and longer she tries to move toward the serpent creature. All the while its eyes continue to fix on her, and if she ever gets a point where her view is distorted by her speed its tongue might seem to flick, a bit. In the blink of an eye it seems to grow closer, and should she notice the area around her she would see that several of those grasping arms have moved closer to her. Oddly enough, they're also grasping -in her direction- now rather than skyward. The way they've gathered, it seems like there's a circular flower field of limbs encircling her person.

    Somehow she might get the impression that 'they', whatever in the world 'they' is in this case, don't like it when she tries to reach the Serpent Eater.

    Any who might have been watching Krezentia might struggle to perceive just what happens as she's moving against the 'current' of the dream. She rises and falls in the air several times as though she's going through two connecting portals which set her to infinitely fall on the same course. Bizzarely, if and when she decides to stop she's delivered to a seemingly arbitrary point away from them. They would be able to see the 'garden of hands' from where they are as well, though whether or not they do anything about her being moved there is up to them. Particularly since there doesn't seem to be any... immediate dangers involved. Just foreboding sensations.

    As for the 'uncute slime', that single kick from Sanae is enough to make it splatter. It explodes with a sound similar to a water balloon, revealing within itself something... gold, almost. Its previously hideous body is converted into something like ichor, and flecks of gold may well spot themselves across her outfit and hair. Oddly enough, though, should these bits of goop touch any exposed skin, they would... burn. They don't seem to have any acidic effects on the other facets of her person that they touch, but it still hurts her for some reason or another. As it was with Krezentia, a swarm of grasping hands appears in a circle around Sanae afterwards. Unlike with Krezentia, one hand, larger than all the others and bearing an eye in its palm, attempts to grab her.

    Ainsley can try to help one of them, if she so chooses.

Riva Banari has posed:
"An abandoned hospital? Man, that would be /mega-creepy/." Riva comments over to Shin. "You need better places to crash. But then, you're a kung-Fu worldwalker so...." Riva shrugs. "I guess you can't always choose your crash pads."

The Blockworld causes Riva to look around in interest. Color, shape, texture, Riva immediately starts shuffling around and poking things, trying to see if the blocks are small enough to move. Or reactive at all. Every so often, she turns to look up at the invisible, floating hat and scarf. Staring at it silently. After the second or third time, she shudders, and mouths to herself, "Creepy."

The movement of Nathan keeps Riva moving however. She doesn't want to be left behindby the Librarian for some reason. "Or maybe it's some reaction to an outside conscious observer intersecting with the unconscious? A waking mind tends to be pretty ordered while dreams seem kind of random and uncontrolled. A conscious mind observing them might cause them to snap into an order that people can understand." Riva suggests, possibly surprising some people.

Riva then shrugs, and giggles. "Or maybe it's just all a mystery~"

Meanwhile, she stands by Nathan, looking to the invisible person and clambering closer to watch the invisible guy.

Slowly, she begins reaching out to try to poke at the invisible figure.

Ainsley (151) has posed:
    Ainsley turns to regard both Krezentia and Sanae as they encounter Difficulties in the dreamscape. Her gaze travels between the two of them, and seem to find preference in Sanae, who has encountered what Ainsley was looking for, and Sanae is at least not nearly as rude as Krezentia was about all of this. The lizard woman hovers on over to try to grab at Sanae and lift her up and away from the hands helpfully, and set her down away from the hands. Then she approaches the differing hand.

    "Come now. Don't do that," she urges the hands, gently, "They don't mean any harm." She is almost motherly about it, hoping that maybe some force in the dream will recognize it. She is staying outside of grabbing range, at any rate. She's not about to learn what it's like to get manhandled by a bunch of disembodied hands. Especially one with an eye in its palm.

    "You look different," she remarks, "I should tell Mado about you..."

Madotsuki (763) has posed:
    Back with Shin, Hastur, Nathan, and Scarlet, the invisible entity -does- respond, though only the lattermost individual may notice how. Scarlet's senses allow them to become visible, and she can see as they raise one of their hands to wave in response to Nathan. Their lips move as if they were attempting to speak, but no sound emerges, and as soon as she notices that she will not be receiving any sort of reply her look becomes noticeably more forlorn. Riva's utterance of the word 'creepy' seems to be the tipping point for her as it elicits a teleportation from her present position to... another one. One that is not anywhere nearby, but likely within the same area.

    Madotsuki looks back to the group afterwards with a particular focus on Riva. "Nah," She begins, "Mafurako's not creepy -- just really, really shy. She gets really upset sometimes because most people can't see or hear her. That's also why she wears the hat and scarf, you know? So people will at least know she's there." While she's at it, she clarifies another interesting tidbit: "She's... actually a bit different than most things in this world. Like, most of the things you see wandering around aren't like people; they can't think. But Mafurako is one of the things here that seems like it could almost, maybe, kinda, be another person. So I like them. They make me feel less lonely." That's... some unusual candor, coming from her.

    "Anyway," Her hands meander back behind her head, "I think you guys scared her off. She's probably still around here somewhere if you want to try to find her. I don't really care one way or the other."

Krezentia Einjager (758) has posed:
    Unfortunately Krezentia is oblivious to the fact Shin and his inner voice are having a meaningful conversation.

    For the moment, she's surrounded by HANDS. Also that big thing might be pissed? It's very difficult to tell what exactly happened. This place evidently does not play like a regular one. The Magi looks down at the ground-- then at the Serpent Eater, assuming it is still visible. No doubt, still out of her reach.

    Her hair, eyes and shirt suddenly change color, taking a fiery red coloration. A massive spiked hammer appears in one of her hands, its surface flowing like lava. Sulfuras lets off uncomfortable heat, although since nothing is coming straight at her yet, she doesn't actually attack. She's just on edge, now.

    "Okay. So. Trying to reach the giant thing, possibly a bad idea? POSSIBLY a lot of fun in the making, too." She should probably not look quite so happy as she does right now. Kopie will be the voice of reason.
    "Um, maybe we should leave, funya~."
    "Oh come on, we just got here."
    "WE DIDN'T HAVE TO PICK THE EYEBALL DOOR, FUNYA~!"
    "Yeah but we didn't have to pick another either."
    "LET'S JUST GO BACK TO THE ROOM WITH DOORS, FUNYA~!!!"
    "Tch, crybaby. Fine, fine."

    Though still armed with a large two-handed lava hammer, the Magi flips the hoverboard around, and attempts to return to Ainsley. Maybe speeding in the opposite direction will do.

Sanae Kochiya (619) has posed:
    Apparently this section of Madotsuki's dream doesn't like being kicked, or called uncute. She could expect a bit of retaliation for stomping their little friend, but she didn't expect it to come in the form of a painful filling. As it sputters like the meat sack it was, she momentarily turns to a weird dream she had just a few weeks prior, where a lot of her friends in Gensokyo had turned into these strange, marshmallowy heads. Those were filled with edible things - don't ask how she knows, it's a dream okay - not whatever this gross, golden goo is. It takes a few moments, as she was focusing on just getting airborne, but when the sensation finally hits she gives a light and undignified yelp!

    It was enough to momentarily distract her, enough that she gapes slightly as the larger, eye-bearing hand emerges. Is she frightened? That's not quite the word. Whatever the case, it is likely a good thing in the end, that Ainsley is there to yank her out of the way, and she quickly utters, "Thanks!" That is, once she snaps out of it. Once they're clear, she's able to fly and then land mainly under her own power, at least. Trying her best to get her one good school uniform a bit more presentable, she quirks an eyebrow as Ainsley approaches. But, then she gives a smile of her own, "Yes..I'm sorry! I was just startled is all." She's definitely not used to having flesh blobs chew on her leg, unsolicited. "I guess I'd be a little curious, too, if people just wandered in."

Shin Tokuyama (756) has posed:
    "A free bed is a free bed," Shin points out to Riva, "Better than sleeping on a rock, I think. Plus, I was hoping the death bed ghost of an aging Master would come to me in the night and offer to teach me more karate," He remarks with a shrug of his shoulders to the red-headed woman.
    He absently adjusts his cuffs and then his tie as he follows along, looking around and watching the scenes change in front of him. He rocks on his feet a little bit and admits to Madotsuki, "Not gonna lie, unless you want me to cook something or punch something, I'm not that great at stuff. I probably can't find her that easily." It doesn't stop him from looking around, though. It's pretty ineffectual since the kinds of places he checks are like: Under his foot, behind Nathan, and above Riva.

Madotsuki (763) has posed:
    Back in the Neon World, Yari... receives no response whatsoever from the neon denizens. They simply continue to shift, mingle, and shamble as silhouettes across the pulsing walls. However, the bird perched upon the budding ninja's shoulder has other plans. It flies away from her, cutting around a sharp corner within a maze of the vivid walls. If Yari elects to follow, she would have to be careful whilst navigating through the 'dancers' -- they're everywhere, and it's as if they can't even see her to correct their course, so it's up to her entirely to prevent collisions. The bird travels gradually, so if and when she catches up she would see it depart through a standard, human-sized doorway.

    Beyond it she can faintly make out flashes of static.

Madotsuki (763) has posed:
    To Shin, Mado posits succinctly, "Try punching one of the buildings then. If you can make things shake around enough she may come out of hiding." Kind of a mean tactic, but hey, she's trying to work within the panoply of his skills here.

Riva Banari has posed:
The disappearance of the person causes Riva to blink. Mado's explanation causes Riva to flush in embarassment, too. "Oh God, I'm sorry. I'll have to go find them and apologize." She covers her mouth for a moment with a nervous tic, and then she nods to Shin. "I see. That's a thing, for sure. Maybe you can find some rival or something." She seems a little... deflated at this point, her exuberance dampened a bit. While Shin is just sort of fiddling around, Riva is looking around with more direct, definitive motions, trying to find paths to areas they haven't seen yet. When Mado suggests shaking, Riva turns and starts helping.

Unlike Shin, Riva isn't nearly as full of kung-fu awesome,but the thought counts, right?

Yari Takane (691) has posed:
Yari sighs. No response! The ninja can't lean on her social graces, what little she has, here. Instead, she catches the bird as it starts to fly off! Time to follow the neon bird!

But between her and her feathery compatriot, there's a ton of dancing neon polygons that are a pure offense to her sense of color. She is far more subdued and proper! As one of the dancers moves towards her, she's forced to spin and dance away! Another nearly bumps into her back, to which she rolls out of the way! It's a series of leaps, tumbles, and other acrobatic displays that has her moving through the crowd, caught up in their dance.

At least until she just gets tired of it. Pulling out a Kunai attached to a rope, she'll toss it hard at the 'ceiling'! Then she'll try to climb up to the cieling, using another kunai and general ninja spiked-shoe cheating to use the wall to move after that bird. Not exactly her fastest method of travel, but it's quicker than avoiding dancers.

"Come back, little bird! I...I have bread and rations! They'll improve your morale!"

Scarlet Everille (747) has posed:
    Scarlet gives away the tiniest fraction of her surprise with an off-timed blink. Despite having not expected there to be an actual person there, she is quick thinking and on-task enough to smile and wave back before Riva manages to offend her. "Mafurako? She seems oddly normal." Scarlet concludes, some of the unnatural light leaving her eyes. "I take it you can see her normally? But then that leaves the question of who she's wearing the hat and scarf for. Are there others here? How much do they interact? I think I assumed that their existence revolved entirely around you. It hadn't entered my mind that the things, and people, that live here could have their own ecosystem." It's interesting to think about at least. What does the dream do while the dreamer isn't dreaming?

    "I'll see if I can locate her again." Scarlet concludes, briefly closing her eyes to commune with her familiars. Just as invisible as the girl who had teleported off, both of her generic standbyes go their separate ways, one flying and one running at high speed in opposite directions, linked to their master with remote viewing. If one of them finds a floating hat and scarf, she'll have a good idea of where the girl is. It momentarily occurs to her that Mafurako might be able to see her familiars in return.

Nathan Hall (168) has posed:
    "Shyness." Nathan says. "No, no. Retreating. Social isolation. Personified, anthropomorphized, enforced. Personality's not the same, but... It's like a psychological ecosystem, like a mental landscape. It's not meant for the viewer because the viewer wants it to be meant for itself. They don't want conversation, they don't want direct contact, they want to be on the outside looking in, or they need to be on he outside looking in, and...." Nathan rambles, and rambles, and rambles, muttering under his breath.

    "Could be. Could be the other way around, could be the way the subconsciuous responds to the introduction of controlled lucidity. Who knows? I don't have any idea. Fascinating subject, really." Nathan says, continuing to ramble. Shin of all people gets an odd bit of an aside. "Skill, skill doesn't matter. Skill doesn't matter at all in this kind of thing. What matters is, the right place, the right times, the right thoughts. Don't think it through too logically. It's a dream, just a dream so you sort of go with the flow of things, go where things look interesting. And you remember that you can try again another night, don't get too stressed by what happens in one night. Always time for another try."

    He takes a few steps back. "Ought to get her a book. Mafurako, I mean, Can't get company from the land of the tangible, the visible, best you can do is some company from authors. Try that out next time, ought to work." He scratches his head. "Little abstract for me though, need some time to... Think, some time to work it out. Maybe I ought to consider this a quick scouting, a quick recon, come back another time after that. Figure that might be the best way to do it. Let's do that for now." He seems honestly ready to just sort of hang out here, but leaving's also a fine option he seems to be putting on the table.

Madotsuki (763) has posed:
    With Krezentia, Ainsley, and Sanae, the soothing words seem to do the trick. The grasping of the hand-army becomes more gradually again, their grips collectively moving back to face the ceiling. Krezentia, from her position in the air, might even notice as droves of them leave their impromptu 'flocks', returning to more isolated positions at extremes of the world. That unusual hand with the eye in its palm, however, does not disperse -- in fact, its eye seems to watch the lot of them. Its palm gradually, continually flattens to give it a more clear look, which may make it more difficult to notice as it slowly grows... larger in size. Eventually it would grow much more exponentially, inflating its knuckles to nearly twice the girth of one of the group member's whole arms, and lengthening itself so that it stands as tall as all of them stacked on top of one another.

    It attempts to use any element of surprise it might've accrued in its sudden growth to grab at all of them together. If it is successful in entirely shutting its finger around them, their vision would go dark a moment... before they would find themselves back in the Nexus. It's simple as that, really, and suddenly it's as though that whole episode in the Eyeball Realm had never even happened. The door is still there as before, but should any of them look upon it, it seems to repulse more than to beckon. It seems that something would really prefer to keep them out of there, for some reason.

    If they are able to evade the rush of the palm, however, or if someone draws a weapon on it, then those hands from before return in droves. They grasp at whomever remains in the area with intent to force them out of the door -- by carrying them, if need be.

    In either case, the eyes of the Serpent Eater seem to narrow. The sky, odd as it may sound, seems to dye itself a faintly red color.

Madotsuki (763) has posed:
    With Yari, now the bird is not responding either. She can see it flitting around beyond that doorway it had entered, but for the time being it does nothing else. It just continues to fly around and around in circles, refusing to come to her and almost seeming to insist that she come to it instead.

    Is it trying to lead her somewhere?

    ... oddly, many of the dancers on the floors seem to have stopped to watch Yari. It almost seems like there's a schism here -- figments that want to lead her on, figments that want to keep her out, and figments that don't care one way or the other all. Maybe there's less unity than some others had at first thought? Or maybe that's just endemic to this particular world?

Ainsley (151) has posed:
    Ainsley watches the Eye Hand with nothing but a mild discomfort, the horror of its appearance not lost on her. But she doesn't judge it for that, until it tries to grab at her. She tries to recoil away from it, but doesn't manage it, and that's when she's preparing to retaliate, electricity coursing across her body as if to discourage trying to crush her, or perhaps ruin its ability to squeeze down on her.

    Which leaves her sparking harmlessly in the middle of the Nexus. She looks around with wide eyes for a second, and then to the 'floor,' which she soon lands on. "Mmh..." She looks around at the rest of the doors. "How artistic," she remarks, "Harmless, as well." She rubs her cheek thoughtfully.

    "I think I have had quite enough for one evening." Ainsley steps over to the warpgate and wait, prepared to depart. Her arms cross, and one of her hands flex slowly, opened and closed, while she thinks about all of those grasping hands.

Yari Takane (691) has posed:
Yari is being led around by a bird. She's the lizard here, shouldn't she be capturing and eating it!? Yari sighs, and leaps down from the ceiling. Some of those odd polygonal people get all but shoved aside as she speeds up, a blurr as she follows the circling creature! ANything's better than dealing with those burning colors, strange people, and pure senselessness of the world.

"Lead me to a place of order, bird!" She commands, as useless as it is. Still she follows, blurring in ninja speed!

Madotsuki (763) has posed:
    Madotsuki seems... thoroughly surprised at the next few statements she hears from Nathan. She mulls them over, her normally even expression becoming almost distressed as he begins to craft his own interpretation of Mafurako's existence. She lets go of a breath she did not even realize that she had been holding as he reiterates that this is 'just a dream' and 'too abstract to be reasoned'. She nods along to encourage that thought process, as if she's somehow afraid of being associated with Mafurako's shyness herself. This isn't for quite the reason one might think, though -- it's more because she doesn't want to be seen as melodramatic. She doesn't -want- to be the needy little girl who shies away from friends and acts like Mafurako does. It's all very well to observe that in others, but imagining that for herself... bleh. It makes her sick to her stomach and she can't even be sure why.

    Meanwhile, Scarlet's familiars quickly locate Mafurako. The only issue is, when they do, they would notice that she's huddled within a tunnel formed by one, large block. She's still invisible, of course, but even the familiars would be able to tell that her articles of clothing are quivering along with her body. It seems that something about this whole situation has scared her, so if they're capable of relaying this information to Scarlet they might collectively decide that, like Nathan's said, it might be better to hazard this interaction some other time. When she's less upset.

    "... hey," Madotsuki speaks up, finally letting her arms fall from behind her head to more neutral positions at her sides, "I'm... actually kinda bushed, so I'm with the nerd. I'd appreciate it if we could pick this up another time. I mean, Mafu's not going anywhere. Nothing here is going anywhere, so it would be easy to just come back here and find her another time." Between those two fairly overt suggestions, a break might be best.

Sanae Kochiya (619) has posed:
    Even when her leg was being bitten, now that Sanae thinks of it..it feels like it wasn't really trying to harm her. If it wanted to, certainly it could have gummed and nibbled even harder. Maybe it's all a self-defense? It's hard to say, but as Sanae finally notices the One Hand, she as before doesn't really feel that afraid of it. 'It's all a dream, anyway,' is what she'd earlier to Nathan. Maybe it's time to put that to the test.

    When the hand makes its grab, it comes suddenly and quickly. She might not have even been able to manage an escape if she had been intending to. Certainly, if there seems to be imminent danger, she'd put up her struggle then, since there's still plenty of cards up her sleeve. Instead, when it encloses, there's a moment of even more complete bleakness - and her eyes open again to the nexus of dream doors. Shaking her head to clear it, and moving a hand up to consciously reposition her frog-shaped hairpin that had become jostled in the experience, she then stands and takes a deep breath. "I guess..all's well that ends well! I hope they weren't mad with us." Her eyes trail over to the eye door, certainly that it's glaring at her is just her own imagination, overlaying the dream.

    No matter, though. There are plenty of other doors that might be more welcoming. For now, though, she's content to hang out here, to perhaps catch Madotsuki on her way out, and grill her for details on NASU before the dream world finally dissipates. To the departing Ainsley, she calls, "Hopefully we can explore a bit further next time! Goodbye, for now." She'll also stand by to make sure their other companion managed to make it out, should Krezentia not have materialized immediately. It also gives her time to muse, mostly to herself, "So strange.. I guess they just wanted to be left alone."

Madotsuki (763) has posed:
    Yari enters the room.

    The neon denizens crowd the entrance, and the door shuts fast behind her.

    For a moment, she can't see anything. It's perfectly dark, and even the bird seems to have disappeared. After a period of latency, however, static flashes begin to come with increasing frequency throughout the passage. If she meanders about, she'll find herself running into invisible walls. The flashes of light become more and more frequent, more and more intense until, finally...

    ... she may blink once, only to find herself back in the Nexus as well. What just happened? She... she may have to find her bird friend again another time.

Yari Takane (691) has posed:
WHUMP! Yari falls to the ground back at the nexus, blinking. Lights flicker in her eyes, the remains of those flashing lights. Her dark skin is reddened from constantly smacking into those darn invisible walls. She groans a little bit. Her fist clenches.

"I am going to find that bird, and make /roast bird soup/ out of them!" Promises Yari to the room at large.

The start of a beautiful avian-reptillian friendship.

Krezentia Einjager (758) has posed:
    Well, it's a giant hand, and she's still kind of speeding. Most likely, straight into it. If the hand had been hostile, this would not play in Krezentia's favor, at all; but fortunately, it's just there to escort them out. In creepy giant hand with eyeball ways. Fuck this door so much.

    Krezentia reappears in the Nexus alright, Sulfuras in one hand, hair, eyes and shirt (under that black jacket) still a fiery red, rather than their prior colors of blonde, red and purple. That might look weird, but on the other hand everyone here should be acclimated to people doing weird stuff already.

    "Well, eyeball door rule number whatever, don't go after the giant guy I guess? I kinda want to try that again more violently now."

Scarlet Everille (747) has posed:
    Scarlet frowns slightly at the image of the trembling articles of clothing. She can't quite tell whether the girl is simply that upset at Riva, or freaked out by something else. Potentially her. Reluctantly, she decides to go with Madotsuki and Nathan's suggesting, recalling her familiars. She'll make better contact another time, without the invisible entourage in case that's what had scared her. "Oh of course." she says to Madotsuki, opening her eyes. "I think she's a little upset anyways, so now wouldn't be the best time. Besides, I wouldn't want to overstay my welcome." The gears are turning in her head pertaining to what to make of all this, and more importantly, how it could be advantageous to her, but it'll be some time before she has concrete conclusions, and she'd like to hear from the others who had gone the eyeball route as well. Those thoughts keep her busy on the way back out.

Nathan Hall (168) has posed:
    Nathan nods firmly. "We shouldn't push to far, push too far in a dream and you wind up frustrated. Best for the mentality, best for the motivation. Best for the dream too. I'll let you go ahead, you know, and dream normally, dream the way you usually do. Seem to do a lot of it, best we let you do what you enjoy. What you like." He says, rambling again. "Let's take a break, take a bit of a respite I think."

    He heads on back to the door, turning in place rather quick and shuffling slowly, ponderously, deliberately towards the exit. "It's been interesting meeting you, Mado. A pleasure. Hope to see you more around, love to hear if the strange properties of your dreamworld get an explanation, get some... Investigation. Please give us a call on the radio, we're always in touch you know, always available to help out." He's gonna head back to the nexus and out. He's very aware that introversion works best with small groups or short bursts, so he's going to keep this brief.

Riva Banari has posed:
Riva can't find the invisible boy? Girl? She didn't quite catch what was up with her. Guilt is obvious in her expression as she searches with a direct intensity. But she can't find her. She doesn't have the mobility Scarlet's familiars do. And finally, when Mado and Nathan suggest breaking and handling it later, she looks reluctant.

But then she sighs, and nods. "All right. I'll come back later." She looks to Mado and Nathan, thinking for a minute, before she folds her arms. "All right, let's stop invading your dreams and let you get some rest."

Madotsuki (763) has posed:
    After all's said and done, Madotsuki herself pops back into the Door Room, hopefully before the others can take their leave. "Hey, uh," She gently rubs the back of her neck with a hand, "I know I was kinda sarcastic or whatever earlier, but I did want to thank you guys for coming. It was cool to have some company. These dreams can be kind lonely, you know? And I'm sure you guys have seen why," She gives a particular glance in the direction of the Eye World group here, "it can kinda suck to be alone here sometimes." Again, pretty unusually candid for her, but apparently she's capable of sensitivity too! In her own, weird way. "I think it'd be cool if you guys could come back some time. If you wanted, I mean. There are actually a lot more worlds than the ones you just saw, but they're all hidden deeper down. Like, you have to go through these doors to get to them."

    But, she waves a hand to stop herself. "I shouldn't hold you up with that, though. You guys go ahead and leave. I'm gonna wake myself up once you're out; probably time for me to eat anyway."

    Man, this is gonna make quite the journal entry.