fh_trips | Backpacking Trip: London Below, Thursday

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graduate backpacking 2010

Backpacking Trip: London Below, Thursday

If the House Without Doors actually had rooms that connected to each other and shared airflow, the whole place would smell delicious today instead of just the kitchen and dining room, because Ingress is cooking roast beef with Yorkshire puddings.

Oh, fine, tinned beef with Yorkshire puddings.

[Open! Last full day in London Below. There will be a goodbye post tomorrow, though!]

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And no airflow, since all of the rooms are scattered around London, if they even exist in the real world at all anymore.

The tinned beef is... tinned, but pretty tasty when roasted a bit and mixed with gravy, and the Yorkshire puddings (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yorkshire_pudding) are omnomnom.

For reading and relaxing.

For swimming.

Or for putting your feet in the pool and sipping tea, after you've had a really weird dream.

For bedding.

Taking the drink of dream seemed like a good idea before the group moved on to somewhere less safe to be playing with her subconscious....

She opened her eyes to... sun. Bright green grass. The soft smell of laundry detergent, and wind.

Dinah was standing between a long column of-- sheets. White bedsheets, dazzling in the light.

She started laughing. Betwixt The Sheets. "So much for that," she said aloud.

"So much for what?"

Dinah whirled around, and beamed at the guy behind her. "Jak!" She ran and leaped up on him, expecting him to catch her; he did, and she grinned down into his face as he grinned back. "Just a gorgeous day...."

It is! he thought back at her, and she leaned down for a kiss.

Some part of her was thinking, I missed this, but didn't know why.

When she stopped kissing him, it was because of a crackling, zinging feeling all around her.

She pulled back, and sadly studied the purple-and-white fanged and horned Jak in front of her.

He nodded abruptly, then turned and ducked under a sheet, out of view.

"Dinah?" She turned and saw Priestly (http://pics.livejournal.com/showmetheproof/pic/00001t7s) in a yoga pose, floating over the grass, fingers up in little circles.

Wandering over, she climbed up on air to sit next to him. "What are you doing?"

"Dreaming in allegories. Or similes." He frowned, eyes still closed. "Dude. One of those things."

"Ahh." The sheets waved around them in the breeze, and she tilted her head back to the sun. "I was never good at those."

"Words are what you make them," Priestly responded.

"Rather do than talk, rather be than do." Dinah leaned over and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "Find me laters."

"Always."

She ducked under the sheets, looking for Jak, and found... another corridor of sheets. With people sleeping. (http://pics.livejournal.com/showmetheproof/pic/00002tch) Tony was one of them. She wandered over and patted his cheek; he rolled over toward her and yawned, mumbling. "Lights up full. Stage west. Cue sandstorm."

Giggling, Dinah shook her head, and made her way between the sleeping people, down the corridor, in between pink sheets and blue, green and gold, white and purple....

"Hey." Jaime stood at the end of the corridor, on a beach, squinting at her in the sun. "There you are."

"Here I am." She stood in between the two lines of laundry as the wind kicked up, swaying the lines, and blowing his hair out of his face.

"Coming with me?" He held out his hand.

Dinah reached forward to take it, smiling, thinking of course, yes, exactly-- and he dissolved like a heat mirage, or a spray of seawater.

She sighed.

Then walked out toward the water, and then on top of it, and danced (http://pics.livejournal.com/showmetheproof/pic/00003001)....

Waking up wasn't the jolt it had been two nights before, but it was still disorienting, and she sighed, got up, and went in search of milk or tea. Tea. Definitely tea.

It's the last one before you're scheduled to leave, and tonight it's being held on the walkway above Tower Bridge (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tower_Bridge), out under the bright night sky. Don't worry, there's a lift. It sometimes only works with a crank, depending who you are, but it's there.

Tonight, Candyfloss is working on her own skin, just dotting in the outlines for a new tattoo (http://i373.photobucket.com/albums/oo180/flamingobex/cupcake_tattoo1.jpg) on her arm, but she's happy to take a break for a customer.

[Mod your service or ping in OOC for an NPC - MP won't be around until the evening, but anyone else is welcome to pick them up.]

Who's fashioning a rather impressive metal corset today. Judging by the size of the breastplate, it's probably for Serpentine (http://www.iambicnut.com/rpg/door/serpentine.jpg).

[Mod your service or ping in OOC for an NPC - MP won't be around until the evening, but anyone else is welcome to pick them up.]

Which made Dinah remember Karla, and the souvenir she wanted to get her. "Hi, um, can you do a necklace to hold a jewel about so big?" she asked, holding her fingers up in a circle. "More of a collar, really." To avoid strangling.

...Cabbage Curry?

You might be better off with leftover Yorkshire Pudding back at the House.

[Mod your service or ping in OOC for an NPC - MP won't be around until the evening, but anyone else is welcome to pick them up.]

Manders is back with the pigeons today, and humming I'll Be Seeing You as she moves about the stall. You've caught her in a good mood - you might get a discount!

[This one's definitely a mod-your-own, and it's where you get to not be incommunicado. Want to send a message back to Fandom? Home? Go for it. It'll arrive by pigeon, who'll wait for a reply then return with one, if there is one. So be sure to let the recipient know so they can handwave or mod the receipt, as they choose!]

Edited 2010-06-10 17:13 (UTC)

Dinah squeaked loud enough to scare the pigeons when she got a message back (http://blondecanary.livejournal.com/637.html?thread=1736573#t1736573), and sent one last one in response:

{{It's below the city! Mazes and weird tunnels and lots of little factions. Safe within the House of Arch. We leave tomorrow, should be able to phone after that. Got you a souvenir! - Dinah}}

Clown-bloke is still there, this time with a rainbow wig. It's glittery. So are the dream-vials he's brought tonight.

[Be modding your ooooown. Feel free to play out the effects later on; none of them will harm you, but they might not be exactly what you thought you were asking for, leaning toward the wacky or creepy, with maybe a side of Things You Don't Want To Admit When You're Awake.]

For general shopping and handwaved haggling while you converse with your friends or roving NPCs.

The Marquis de Carabas is in a rather amused mood.

You'll find him people watching, as normal.

I'll be offline until later in the evening, but Lovely NPC's, feel free to be wherever you'd like! Or I can pick up NPC requests tonight.

Edited 2010-06-10 17:17 (UTC)

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Backpacking Trip: London Below, Thursday

The House With No Doors

House - Dining Room

House - Library

House - Pool

Re: House - Pool

House - Bedrooms

Re: House - Bedrooms

The Floating Market

Market - Tattoo and Piercing Artist

Market - Blacksmith

Re: Market - Blacksmith

Market - Curry Stall

Market - Message Stall

Re: Market - Message Stall

Market - Dreams By the Dram

Market - Shop Amongst Yourselves

Re: Market - Shop Amongst Yourselves

OOC