Harley, Leader of the Vanguards

Effects: Happiness and contentment. ♥ ...and then it devolves into a whole lot of confusion and doubt.

A darkened room. A view of the ceiling. Light blue paint, and spots of pale yellow, the kind that should glow in the dark, visible near the tiny slivers of the early morning sun barely peeking in over the curtains' tops, a strong yellow that turns the blue into green. The spots are stars, if anyone recognizes the patterns -- the Big Dipper, Draco, Cassiopeia, the Little Dipper with a light bulb where Polaris should be, the fixture taken out and replaced with a smaller dome just for that reason. Around the dreamer, soft sheets. Warmth. Someone else's warmth, and soft skin, a body's welcome weight on the dreamer's arm.

( Don't worry, it's G-rated, just cut for length. :) )

Harley pulled the Dreamberry out from under the pillow again, now finally awake. He pushed himself up to sitting, freeing himself of his sheets, his expression somewhere between confused beyond belief and stressed out.

"Abel? Rise?" He looked over to his bedroom door, unaware that the Dreamberry had broadcast anything, not thinking about it yet as he wiped his eyes and made a halfhearted effort to brush his wild orange hair back with a hand before getting up to peek out into the hall. Confirming what house he was in, at least, he went back to the bed to sit down again, not paying any attention to how he rubbed at the faintly-glowing mark on the back of his left hand.

In a whisper to himself, obviously not expecting anyone else to hear him, "What the hell was that?"

((For those curious: the ringtone would be the Rainbow Connection. I could not resist. ♥))

*Harley's in his kitchen, a thick book on the counter near him, and although he's washed up a bit, he's still got a bit of dust, and some blood, on his t-shirt. He looks to be unharmed, though -- it isn't his.*

*a slight frown to himself, flipping the thick book closed again as he looks up to the Dreamberry camera*

All right... This book isn't helping. Does anyone know how to cook up a sand shark, from that desert outside the city?

*guess who managed to hunt a baby sand shark thing!*

((Effects: Curiosity, hunger, some mild sense of accomplishment, and a sort of warmth and fondness turning to sadness at the end, missing the big guy.
Note: First-person as usual. And the food smells will likely make someone hungry! Also, if it's in the narrative, you're free to assume your char gets that info as they watch.))

Harley was in the kitchen again. Bacon and eggs were in pans on the stovetop, one of each. He knocked an egg on the side of the pan and stuck his fingers into the crack, pulling it apart and letting the egg itself drop down onto the frying pan, where it began to turn white on the bottom, where it touched. He dropped the pieces of shell into the trash can nearby, and picked up the spatula to turn over the bacon, those browning strips of marbled meat, the smell of which was getting to him, making his stomach growl a little louder and the mark on the back of his left hand glow faintly.

( Someone had been there, teaching him to do this, once. )

Harley watched as the last piece in the pan landed halfway outside it, and lifted it up to put it back inside.

"See, you're getting it already."

Noireau, now well grown, watched him calmly from where she lay, in the living room, one of her toys between her paws. Rise was still upstairs this early in the morning, probably sleeping in. The kitchen was empty, save for him. Abel's presence hadn't graced the kitchen for months now, but some part of the back of Harley's mind still half expected him to step in, to peek over at what Harley was doing, to give him that subtle smile of approval which only seemed to touch his eyes.

Harley sighed and set down the spatula, bringing his hands up to wipe the leaking -- the tears, as he always had to correct himself still -- away.

((Dream effects: Uncertainty and a bit of confusion, mostly, but some measure of contentment, too, and embarrassment.
OR: Interactive for the event/moon phase this week. Come in and help pretty up the little pony? ♥
Style: Either. And please mark as viewing or jumping in, yes? :D ))

Harley sat, looking down at the furry, pink rug over the linoleum floor. He barely saw it, even as he lowered his nose nearly down to it, exhaling a sigh in a snuff out through his nose, almost a snort, and sulked.

Something about this just wasn't right.

( Harley, Rise's bathroom, and pink bows. You know you want this. )

((And if you don't want to do the interactive thing--))

Harley blinked, and rubbed his eyes -- and then quickly looked at his hand, turning it over. It was a hand, not a hoof again. Oh good, so that was just a dream.

...

Wait, if it was a dream, then--

...

Harley hurriedly reached over to the nightstand, grabbing the Dreamberry to shut it off. Maybe not everyone had seen that?

( I can't believe he ate THE WHOLE THING. :| )

He was in no hurry to wake up. The sun was already high in the sky by the time he yawned and peeked over at where his Dreamberry lay on the nightstand. The fact that it was on puzzled him a little, and he moved to reach for it, to turn it off... only to quickly realize that doing so would require moving more than he was comfortable with. He made a face and curled up again instead, and once it connected that the device's activity meant it'd broadcast what had just gone through his mind, pulled a pillow over his head. At least the mark on his hand had quit glowing.

((OOC: Seen pretty much through his eyes, and visible to all. The failpony STILL hasn't figured out filters. :|

City pass payment 2/2!))

( Cut for length, is all. )

The Dreamberry's screen jerked as it was moved, then showed, on its side at an angle, the morning sky with its colorful sunrise over a landscape of Espoir rooftops and streets. The sound that hadn't quite died out yet wasn't any human scream, though... more like a high-pitched squeal from an animal. More interestingly, the Dreamberry's view trembled with the sound of something heavy tumbling down the thatched roof it lay on, until it stopped with a thud on the soft grass-covered ground of the back yard, just below. The movements were too much for the device to manage to keep its odd perch for long, though, and it slides down after, the straw of the roof turning it around, and tilting the view back up, then sideways more, nearly upside down as it makes its way... probably enough to give anyone the impression of tumbling down themselves. There's a second or two in which it gives a very clear view, however, of where it's headed.

The thatched roof nearly extended down to the grass here, and a couple feet past it, was what surely took the spill, now lying there dazedly, very much not sleeping any longer, despite making no move to get back up yet. In the brief moment it's in view, it looks for all the world like a horse... an incredibly skinny one, white with black tigerstripes and wide yellow eyes, and no front legs to be seen.

And then the little device tips and flips again, skittering backwards and upside down, tumbling over itself as it bounces off the bottom of the thatching... and then bounces off the creature's stomach, earning a startled little sound. It closes when it lands in the grass, and cuts off there.

Harley regarded the small brown creature.

It didn't look threatening. It looked... soft? And it had such large eyes, and funny things on its head that flopped down. Were those its ears? He watched the way its nose twitched as it sniffed around between the rocks, looking for something.

He was pretty sure that it wouldn't be able to eat him. Couldn't be a threat. It was actually quite... what was the word? He sort of wanted to try petting it, to see if it felt how it looked. He found himself liking it more and more as he watched it. He found himself crouching down. He found himself extending a hand to the little thing, his mouth daring to form a sadly rare, honest smile.

He also found himself with the creature's teeth in his finger shortly thereafter.

He yelped, jerking his hand back and springing to his feet. "Would everything quit trying to eat me!"

With a few choice words more as it stepped after him, he sprinted away, only pausing when the building he had been near was nowhere in sight, and he was once again completely lost. Not as though he hadn't been lost before, of course, but he was lost once again, and if he couldn't find the small, furry monster that had wanted him for dinner, maybe the small, furry monster couldn't find him, either.

Or so the logic went.

Unfortunately for him, he was so intent on watching to make certain it wasn't following him, that he managed to completely neglect to watch what he was approaching, and bumped right into something else. Something vaguely resembling the first creature he'd encountered here that had tried to eat him, brown and soft and fluffy, with dark eyes, and four legs, and holy crap that was the biggest... whatever it was... he had ever seen. And it made a sound at him, a bleating one, as it lifted its head, its nose and mouth coming closer, sniffing at him...

He barely managed to choke out a scream as he turned and ran once again.



((Here, have some more fail! Laena said this kind of "dream" post was allowed -- let me know if I'm getting this wrong, please, Lae? -- so here you all go! And if everyone can conveniently forget to mention about the scarecrows, you'll get another fun bit soon too. ♥))

( Cut for nightmare content (purposely vague descriptions of violence/gore/scariness?) )

...

*Harley makes a sound, a terrified, choked little gasp as he wakes up and pushes himself up off the ground and into a sitting position, pulling his knees up in front of him. It's too dark to make out anything much, but the glow from the Dreamberry shows that his back's to a wall somewhere, perhaps in an alleyway, or inside a building, with its lights off. It's hard to tell. He's still for a second, eyes wide, and then reaches a shaking hand up to check over himself, probably for sign of injuries. There aren't any, which confuses the heck out of him. He looks around him, not sure what to make of this, and finally catches sight of the Dreamberry sitting on the ground in front of him. It takes him a second before he reaches to pick it up and look it over. He doesn't look like he's ever seen it before, but that doesn't stop him from turning it off without a word.*


((...apologies to any chars totally disturbed by a nightmare like that. ♥

...yeah, that was through his eyes, just to make it clear. *only just now realized*

Also, yes, this is his intro. He's totally confused now. YAY BRAINBREAK!))