Just hanging around, looking for fun

Boros looks at him and presses her lips together. There's really nothing he can do for her. Nothing that's worth much to her, at least. But she doesn't like leaving people indebted to her either.

She turns her head to the clock on the wall and pushes up from the couch. "Dream'll be home soon and I don't really want to explain why I'm all this. Unfortunately, there's really not much you can do to help me. Everyone who knew how to fix this are long gone by now." She steps over to her tank and cranks the top door open. "But, you could help me into my tank?" she asks, and then lets go of her form. She drops into a pile on the floor, limbless and coiled up at his feet. She tilts her head up towards him and flicks her tongue his way for good measure.

He blinks at this and tries to pretend he's not freaking out a little bit. A talking snake who can turn into a person is one thing but to see it actually happen? Nah, man. He's good.

Purpled lifts her up and places her back in the tank. "There. Thanks again. I'll, uh...see you later."

He leaves the apartment and finds himself in the laundry room for some reason...of one of the other buildings in the complex. He sighs and starts his trek back home with the book heavy in his bag.

He has no clue if he'll find anything of use but...it's a start.

#((scene ye))

"Thank you. I'll take care of it and get it back to you soon." He looks down at it, then back up. "I should get home before Birdie worries. Thank you for this."

He tucks it into his bag. "Is there anything I can do to help you out? I don't like owing people debts."

Boros looks at him and presses her lips together. There's really nothing he can do for her. Nothing that's worth much to her, at least. But she doesn't like leaving people indebted to her either.

She turns her head to the clock on the wall and pushes up from the couch. "Dream'll be home soon and I don't really want to explain why I'm all this. Unfortunately, there's really not much you can do to help me. Everyone who knew how to fix this are long gone by now." She steps over to her tank and cranks the top door open. "But, you could help me into my tank?" she asks, and then lets go of her form. She drops into a pile on the floor, limbless and coiled up at his feet. She tilts her head up towards him and flicks her tongue his way for good measure.

#.... never again...#vent vibing

ghminerals

Amethyst stalactite 28 cm. Complete all around. Artigas, Uruguay. Inquire for details

trappedinavelociraptor

#don't

sailorsun546

elfwreck

weaselle

the communication on this hellsite (affectionate) is an ecosystem

probablynotonfire

#probablynotonfire #nsfw #out of the vent

Purpled takes the book. "I. Listen, up until a few weeks ago, I was sure I was human. If...if there's a chance that isn't true, I want to know. And who knows, maybe it'll help make sense of things I always brushed off."

He doesn't have a lot of confidence in it but...something is better than nothing.

Boros settles as she sighs. "I don't know what you are. I can taste magic." She flicks her tongue out to make her point. "All I taste from you is that gravity stuff you do, but you don't taste human. That being said, humans taste a hell of lot different than when I was..." She pauses, then gestures at herself. "Not this."

"Magic, these days, is fucking everywhere, and it's hard enough to parse just what's happening in this building. Humans, not humans, close to humans, was humans at first, and never was humans all mesh together for me, but that book, well. It's old, but I've updated it where I can. I don't know what you are, but maybe that book will get you close."

"Okay. Cool. Right." Purpled tosses the book from hand to hand. "But he's not what I am. So...how do I find out what I am? Should I get the hagstone from him or...?"

Having this information about Dream is interesting and answers a lot of questions...but not the ones that buzz in his skull. The ones that have kept him up, night after night.

#boros time #purpledgravity #i'm gonna need that book back sometime

"You that sure you wanna know?" she asks, bristling at the idea of handling that fucking thing. She knows exactly what she'd see through that thing. She knows exactly what things she hides and she doesn't need another fucking reminder of what she's become. "Is it gonna make your life better? Make all your worries vanish? Answer all the questions that keep you up at night?"

She drops her eyes to the book in her hands before handing it to him. It's a book about ancient creatures, old creatures. Gryphons, dragons, basilisks, gorgons, and the beasts that thrive in the deepest oceans. Maybe that will help him. It's heavy, it's full of wisdom and knowledge, and it's full of scribbled notes written in her own hand. Boros meets his gaze when he reaches to take it. "Or is it only going to make your worst fears come to light?"

"Huh...so that thing actually works?" That could be a good clue. He makes a note to ask about it next time he sees Dream. "What is he? Under the 'mask' or whatever?"

Purpled sets the book aside, not finding anything of interest. He floats another one over and starts flipping through it.

Boros gestures at herself, at the form she's settled into. "Something more like me than like you. He studies shapeshifting magic, and he has," she pauses as she tries to pluck the correct word out of the air. "Worn that mask for long enough I don't think he knows how to shift back." She sighs and grabs another book, returning to Purpled as she continues. "He tried to change a lamp, it backfired, and now the apartment moves."

Purpled flicks his fingers and floats a book over to himself to start flipping through it. "Weird. Must suck to have to keep looking for it every few minutes. No wonder he sleeps on our couch so often."

Not that he minds Dream's visits. They make Penelope happy, after all. But still, he always wondered about it.

"I remember he probably saw something but I didn't catch what it was. Was he looking at you? Or himself or something?"

Boros is very good at keeping her secrets to herself, so she doesn't try and offer why he is sleeping over more often. It isn't his business to know anyways. "He saw himself," she says as she pulls out another book to skim through. "You know," she adds with a twirl of her finger. "Under the mask."

"I've always been sensitive to strong magic. The doctors said there wasn't anything wrong, some kids are just like that. Now, though...now I'm wondering if it's related to..." He gestures to himself. "All of this."

He tilts his head. "Why does it do that anyway? Move, I mean. That's kinda weird."

"It might be, yeah. Some people are more sensitive to magic, and some are sensitive to certain types of magic." Boros pulls out a book, flips through a few pages, then tosses it aside. Not what she's looking for. "It's not supposed to. When we moved in, it was a normal fucking apartment."

She pauses and glances over at him. "You remember that hagstone he got from your sister? You know what he saw through it?"

"Is that what that is?" Purpled leans onto the couch for stability. He takes a seat and looks around the apartment to take it all in. "So where's Dream anyway?"

He hadn't seen him in the halls or heard him scrambling through the vents...and while he normally doesn't care what Dream does, it feels weird to be in his apartment without him.

#purpledgravity #boros time

Boros considers Purpled, considers where Dream told her he was going (he didn't), and considers that she can taste him in Penelope's apartment. Then she shrugs. "I think he went out for food. Shopping? I dunno." She continues through the bookcase, then answers his first question.

"For some reason, I can feel when the apartment shifts around. Dream says he doesn't feel it anymore, but he's not stuck in here as often as I am. I'm surprised you're feeling it too."

Purpled sighs. "Yeah. She...Well. Punz used to say she only had us because our dad wanted kids and she wanted to make him happy." He instinctively looks away when she takes off her shirt, but glances back.

"Yo...that's sick." There's a part of him that wants to trace the coils with his fingers but he has some manners (unlike Tommy). He's not going to touch without permission. "Your secret is safe with me."

Boros pulls her shirt on again, breathing out. "Good. No secrets leave here," she says, though it feels unnecessary. Then, as an afterthought, she adds, "I won't tell Dream about yours."

She goes looking through his bookcases, scanning the titles. When the apartment moves again (oh, that was quick), she almost forgets to grab the wall again. She sees Purpled brace for a second and squints at him. "You feel it too, huh? The apartment moving?"

Boros watches him, her eyes furrowing. Her tongue flicks out as he goes into... whatever trance-state he's doing right now. She doesn't really know what's going on, or whatever taste of magic that is. It's not one she recognizes, though... It's like pressing your tongue to ice and letting it melt slowly. That, now that's familiar. Old. She doesn't know what it is, per se, but it is familiar.

"It's not helpful," Boros replies. She's not gonna skirt around the edges, but... "Not in the way you want, at least." She pushes up from the couch and climbs over something, her tongue flicking out as she searches. "Dream has... books on magic--" She cuts herself off, grabbing suddenly onto the wall as she feels the apartment shift. Purpled shouldn't be able to feel it. Dream never does, but he's been caught in his mask for so long that she's surprised he feels anything anymore.

When she feels the apartment settle in its new spot, she breathes out and lets go of the wall. "Before I share any of Dream's secrets, I'll need a secret from you first. For trust, you know."

Purpled feels something, like a sudden sense of vertigo, but it doesn't knock him off balance like it does for Boros. He tucks his hands into his pockets and looks away.

"A secret...alright." He sighs and ruffles his hair. "Okay so...Birdie was meant to inherit a lot of stuff our dad left to us but our mom said it was gone or missing. I knew it was being kept in the attic. So I snuck in, took pictures of a lot of it, and posted it online on an auction site pretending to be my mom. Then I showed my sister so her and her lawyer could work on getting the stuff legally."

He looks out one of the windows and rocks on his heels. "I didn't expect her to spend months upon months fighting to hold onto it."

Boros hums. She almost regrets knowing that secrets won't leave here, knowing she won't reveal someone else's secrets. "Your mom sounds like a dick," she replies instead. For her secret, she goes with one that feels... on the same level. It does require her to take off her shirt though.

A sprawling tattoo covers her back, a mass of shifting, coiling snake bodies all tied up in knots. Their heads and tails are nowhere to be seen. One snake seems to shed its skin and another seems to be freshly shedded. Bones, decay, and birth take their place on her back, and when she speaks again, it's with a note of vulnerability.

"There's a reason my name is Ouroboros."

Purpled tilts his head back and thinks about it. He thinks about his earliest memories and while he shouldn't be able to remember that far back...but there's a memory, hazy and distant. "I remember being really, really cold. And then there's a light and I see...I see Birdie. She's picking me up and I feel like I'm going to be okay. Like everything feels right." It's like a puzzle clicking into place or solving a difficult equation. Like he's home.

He pulls himself back into focus and shakes his head, trying to clear it from the sudden fog. "Sorry, that. I don't know where that came from. Or if it's helpful."

Boros watches him, her eyes furrowing. Her tongue flicks out as he goes into... whatever trance-state he's doing right now. She doesn't really know what's going on, or whatever taste of magic that is. It's not one she recognizes, though... It's like pressing your tongue to ice and letting it melt slowly. That, now that's familiar. Old. She doesn't know what it is, per se, but it is familiar.

"It's not helpful," Boros replies. She's not gonna skirt around the edges, but... "Not in the way you want, at least." She pushes up from the couch and climbs over something, her tongue flicking out as she searches. "Dream has... books on magic--" She cuts herself off, grabbing suddenly onto the wall as she feels the apartment shift. Purpled shouldn't be able to feel it. Dream never does, but he's been caught in his mask for so long that she's surprised he feels anything anymore.

When she feels the apartment settle in its new spot, she breathes out and lets go of the wall. "Before I share any of Dream's secrets, I'll need a secret from you first. For trust, you know."

"I thought I was human. But...since I've been thinking about it, some things haven't been adding up." He reaches into his hoodie pocket and pulls out a small, leather-bound journal. "I found this with my dad's stuff and saw something that kinda...made me question that."

He flips through some pages and pulls out a pair of Polaroid pictures. One is of a normal-looking baby, a few weeks old with pudgy cheeks and dark gray eyes, the barest amount of fuzz on its bald head. The second picture shows a baby that more clearly looks like Purpled with the bright purple eyes, a full head of hair, and slightly different facial features.

"These pictures...were taken two days apart. According to the dates on the back."

#purpledgravity #boros time

Boros takes the picture showing the one that looked like Purpled, inspecting it. "Well, that's certainly interesting. Do you remember anything from back then? I know it's a long shot, but anything at all could be helpful."

Her tongue flicks out, but there's nothing special that she can take from a picture. Especially one that isn't enchanted.

Boros blinks at Purpled for a moment, then easily steps over him as she goes into the apartment. Not her doing and not her problem, honestly. "The apartment stays still as long as the door is open, so better get in quick before you're left behind!" she calls back to Tommy. Her mind is focused first and foremost on something to sate her before she burns through the rest of her form.

Dream's apartment is dim and a mess of blankets, pillows, and other knickknacks he's stolen. She moves easily through them to the kitchen, which is much cleaner, then to the pantry, which is still stocked. She reaches in, grabs the bag labeled BOROS SNACKS and returns to the other two, elbow-deep in a bag that should definitely not be big enough to fit her entire forearm. She plops down on the couch, giving a triumphant whoop as she drags out a rodent of some kind that's still struggling and somewhat glowing. She sinks her fangs into it, drinking out the magic embedded into it. She'll eat it too afterwards, but she needs this hit first.

@purpledgravity

Purpled pushes himself up, scowls, and gets to his feet. He turns to face Tommy (who is still outside of the apartment) and huffs. He snaps his fingers and with a flash of gravity magic, he sticks Tommy's feet to the floor. He smirks and places his hand on the doorknob. "Goodbye, Innit."

He then closes the door firmly in Tommy's face.

With that done, he turns back to Boros. He winces at the fangs in the body of the rodent and shudders. "So. First of all, ew. Second, never tell anyone I fell, especially not Dream. Third, what the fuck am I?"

@s-tier-redditor

s-tier-redditor

What the FUCK. Tommy stares at the closed door. Where the door was. The currently blank wall. "What the FUCK," he says outloud, and then tries to dig his fingers into the wall to see if there's an edge he's missing. Nothing.

"Purpled you fucking dick," he yells to vent his feelings. Nothing.

Well, he did successfully curse Purpled, which-- flawless success for Tommyinnit. Nothing but Ws. FUCK WHERE DID THE DOOR GO. Okay, no. He's been closed out of Dream's apartment. Which is fine-- good, even. He doesn't care. He's fine with this. He's gonna go for a snack, maybe.

Tommy heads upstairs to see if the old-key-and-jiggle-the-lock trick still works on Techno's apartment.

@dreamwasinthevents

"Aw, but I was having fun," she says half-heartedly. Her scales (which were climbing up more of her body) settle down as magic courses back through her veins. She puts the rodent back into the bag (it'll keep) and sets the bag aside.

When Purpled asks his question, she blinks slowly. "... is that all you're here for?" she asks, then shrugs. "You're human, aren't you? Or you say you are. You definitely act like you believe it." Her tongue flicks out. "Dream says he's human, though he doesn't really act like he believes it. It takes a long time to shake that feeling, that knowledge that all you wear in front of people is a mask." She hums, then leans towards him, her eyelids nictating. "I know I'm not human. Never have been and I surely don't want to pretend to be one again. But I'm sure you can guess by now, I'm not really just a snake either."

@purpledgravity

Purpled watches the display of magic with palpable awe. He's not too shabby at it, if he does say so himself, but the power is as intimidating as it is impressive. He barely spares Tommy a look as he slowly enters, a bit nervous. This is it. His chance to learn more about what he is. Where he came from. And as he takes this first major step toward revealing all of these hidden truths...The laces on his shoes snap and he pitches forward, eating absolute shit as he lands face-first on the floor.

"Ow."

@s-tier-redditor

s-tier-redditor

Okay so the magic was AMAZING and a tiny bit terrifying, Tommy says "fuck yeah" out loud and completely involuntarily. And then several things happened that competed violently for front of brain. The nameless hot older woman got fuckin' scaly (was that a TAIL?) leading to the urgent question as to if he's like, into scales. At about the same time, Purpled tried to knock his own fuckin' teeth out on the floor. (Wilbur made the BEST charms. He's just so good at this.)

Tommy split the difference by saying "HAHHAHAH IDIOT" very loudly from where he stood in the hallway, eyeing the snake-woman nervously. Did she eat people, and importantly, was he into that?

@dreamwasinthevents