{ 01. | laboriously typed over the course of half an hour }

[deshabille]

WANTED: Tour guide.
REQUIREMENTS: Consciousness for more than four hours would be helpful.
LOCATIONS OF INTEREST: All of them.

MT

Comments

[deshabille]

[ briskly] Yes, well. If wishes were horses, then beggars would make soup out of them and eat for weeks. In this case, unfortunately . . . We're at the delightful whims of a man with no name.

[trickntreats]

He has a name! We just don't know it.

[He gives her a reckless grin.]

More fun that way, or so they tell me.

[deshabille]

[ dryly ] Oh really. [ She leans against a wall and crosses her arms. He's much more interesting than this tour, which is mostly dull and gray. ] Do elaborate for little old me.

[trickntreats]

Puzzles!

[He waves his hands in mock excitement.]

Tricks! Outwitting the big bad and all that! Isn't it exciting?

[deshabille]

Oh, thrilling. I adore having the wool pulled over my eyes.

[ She rolls her eyes. ]

And if we solve the puzzles, I imagine we are all freed from our city lives and allowed to go back to the dream, rather than simply being silenced in some way.

[trickntreats]

Gotta say it's a new one being the one having it pulled and not doing the pulling.

[Gabriel snorts.]

Well, that's what they'd tell us, I'm sure.

[deshabille]

Maybe you should work on pulling it back up, if you're so talented.

Yes, well. [ This is getting into dangerous territory. Some caution is appropriate, surely. ] I put all my faith in the system, as I always have. [ . . . Statements dripping with sarcasm still count as genuine, yes? ]

[trickntreats]

It's in the works! I just like figuring out what kind of wool it is first.

[Of course it does. Gabriel smirks at her.]

That's probably wise of you. Now, me--my brothers would tell you that I don't know the meaning of the word.

[deshabille]

Thank goodness we have you to save us.

[ She's amused, intrigued, and returns the smirk. ] The word wise, or faith?

[trickntreats]

You'd better thank someone, because otherwise I might just have to leave yah behind.

[The smirk becomes a little twisted, but no less sharp.]

Both. Take your pick.

[deshabille]

Anyone specific?

[ She considers him in silence for a moment. ] Wise is such a sticky word. It's different from intelligent. Still . . . I'll assume you're wiser than you look, and go with faith.

[trickntreats]

Nope. He probably isn't listening anyway.

[That ... is far more observant than he was expecting and it makes his smile flicker.]

Aren't you just a little philosopher?

[deshabille]

[ Oh. Gods. She shakes her head slightly and lets the topic drop. Coming from a largely polytheistic world, she's had more than enough of those for a lifetime. ]

[ She does notice the way his smile fades for a moment and gives a toothy grin. ]

I'm sorry, were you expecting someone stupid?

[trickntreats]

[Coming from a monotheistic world with God as Daddy, so has Gabriel. He lifts a finger, his smirk now firmly planted.]

Just more self-involved. What, don't tell me when you first woke up you didn't think 'what does this mean for me?'

[deshabille]

Oh, of course I did. Don't tell me you didn't.

[trickntreats]

[He makes a 'pffft' sound.]

Who didn't? So! Come to any conclusions about that yet?

[deshabille]

About what it means for me? Well.

I am not everything I dreamed I'd be.

[trickntreats]

[And Gabriel can only laugh.]

None of us are, sweetheart. Though in this case the only thing I can ask is: what did you dream you'd be?

[deshabille]

[ She looks at him evenly. ] I think telling you would be a waste of a potential guessing game.

[trickntreats]

I like you.

[Still grinning.]

So you dreamed you were more than you are, eh? The live sort of more?

[He waggles his fingers in the air. She could've been any number of things, and 'living' was the broadest category. 'Physical' was the next.]

[deshabille]

[ She just grins. She likes you too. ]

[ Okay, Twenty Questions it is. She makes a slight face and waggles her hand from side to side. ]

Depends on your definition of 'live'.

[trickntreats]

[He snaps his fingers at her.]

Undead it is! Corporeal?

[Let's face it, most undead with any intelligence left did have bodies.]

[deshabille]

[ Well, he was quick. And unfazed. ]

Yes.

[trickntreats]

[Hey, he saw dead people all the time. He taps his chin thoughtfully.]

That just means we're down to vampire, zombie or lich, really. There's a few outliers, but those're the most likely.

[He makes a face.]

Hope it was vampire. Dreaming you're a rotting corpse or a skeleton? Can't imagine that would be much fun.

[deshabille]

[ Okay, you got her. She flinches at 'vampire' and adjusts her stance to something a touch more defensive. She didn't think he'd actually figure it out, somehow. ]