august mingle;

[thecommissary]

This is the general mingle log for August. Feel free to post open top levels for: new arrivals, job duties, general hanging out in common spaces, bonding with your block, and anything else you can think of. There will not be a catch all for the event, so you can put event starters here or in their own separate log!

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[killersong]

Dinah shrugged. Sionis' club was the only one she ever went to -and whenever she went, she was working. And being largely ignored. But hell, the pay checks had been good.

"I dunno how it works. I thought I was going mad. Night after night, just... here. Now? At least there's whiskey."

She took the bottle back and swigged again.

"You're the first person who's talked to me here. They don't even look."

[shinra_dog]

"Night after..." The disappointment was obvious in his face as the truth dawned on him. Reno sighed heavily and became considerably more sour.

"Well. So much for clearing my mind and having some fun. I was really hoping this was real this time and the prison part was the lucid dream. But nope! Still dreaming, just a new place this time, and apparently my subconscious is reminding me how fucking horny I am by conjuring you up. Fuck, this is why I need a damn drink, because this shit happens when I'm sober too long with my thoughts."

He continued to grumble himself while glaring at the dancers as if Dinah really was a figment of his imagination.

[killersong]

Dinah nodded grimly. "Shit when it hits you, isn't it? And bloody worse when you wake up staring at bars."

She held her hand out in greeting. "Dinah."
His tirade made her laugh and she reached over to pinch Reno hard."I dunno what imagination you've got, but it must be bad if you think I'm part of it. And just gonna have sex with you in the middle of a club?" She shook her head. "That's some messed up shit, man. But anyway, I'm real. And this... this place is real."

She gulped some whiskey again and looked over at Reno, amused.
"The best part is waking up without the hangover." She nodded towards the bar. "Help yourself. He won't blink an eyelid."

[shinra_dog]

"Ow!" He jolted and rubbed his arm where she'd pinched him and shot her an incredulous look. But once the reality of the situation sank in -- that the situation was, in fact, a reality -- he began to appraise her more seriously. And then he smirked.

"Is it so unreasonable? It's just a dream, ain't it?" he teased.

Shaking his head, Reno chuckled with amused disbelief. "Sharing a dream -- really sharing a dream. What kinda transcendental bullshit is that? I mean, unless it's -- " He cut himself off but couldn't help a nervous giggle from escaping. He cracked his knuckles on his left hand, shaking his head again.

After a moment, he started again. "... So you can dream-drink all you want, dream-feel it, and no hangover, huh?"

[killersong]

Dinh rolled her eyes and necked her drink again. In truth, she wasn't noticed often enough to have many people asking her. But not dream sex. And not in a club.

"Unless it's what?" She might have been new to the prison but she'd heard whispers already. Dinah wasn't about to suggest anything though. She wanted to hear it. It seemed stupid, and yet... yet this whole thing was fucked up.

"That's right. Fucking brilliant," she muttered. "Go on. They won't see you. Haven't you noticed that no one's looking our way?"

[shinra_dog]

"It's nothing."

The words came out fast, practiced, habitual. After another moment, though, Reno rolled his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Actually, fuck it."

He sighed, squared his shoulders, and shifted on the stairs to better face her where he sat. "Okay, Shinra -- where I worked -- we had some pretty advanced VR systems in the works. They were still prototypes, but they could connect multiple people in a single simulation. Usually it was just used for combat training sims..."

He shrugged. "Now just 'cause Shinra is gone doesn't mean that sort a' tech doesn't still exist, and... well that's the only thing I can think of that makes sense."

[killersong]

"So in English, that would be..." Dinah's not down with all the tech talk. She's not exactly ever been in the position to have computers and stuff. But she's beginning to grasp what he means."So like a computer program?"
Maybe not?

"So this is all a computer game?" She swigs her drink again. "The hell would they put a load of criminals in a computer game for?"

[shinra_dog]

"Well..." Reno squinted, then visibly gave up. "Close enough. And I dunno. Free research? We ain't exactly paid participants. There must be some kinda purpose to it."

He glanced around the club again, looking at the lights, the dancers, the different structures.

"I mean, why else would we be having this shared experience? You don't really believe people can naturally share dreams, do you?"

[killersong]

"Can the prison do that? Force us to take part in their fucking research?"

Without even asking any of the prisoners if they want to do it? Isn't that a violation of privacy? Then again, they've all been strip searched god knows how many times. Perhaps privacy isn't a thing in prison?

"I don't know what to think any more. I thought I was a good person for a long time... or at least, not a bad person." She shrugs unhappily. "I guess that's not true either."

[shinra_dog]

He shrugged again. "Might makes right, an' all that. You have enough power an' influence, you can do whatever you want -- 'til you don't anymore." He scoffed. "I know I ain't a good person. I sure as fuck belong here."

Aquamarine eyes looked back over Dinah with curiosity. "So why would a not-bad person end up in a place like Obsidian? What's your story?"