Event: Curses!

[applesaucemod]

The twenty-seventh of August dawns bright and clear, but when your characters wake up, they will immediately notice something wrong. They've woken up the wrong size, or species, or age. Or perhaps everything seems normal until they take a bite of their apple-flavored toaster strudel, or attempt to speak, or wander into the woods, or bump into that old crone in the subway and fail to adequately apologize. However it happens, there's no getting around it: your characters are cursed, like an unfortunate out of a fairy tale.

On the bright side, many curses can be broken. Unfortunately, none of them come with user manuals, so how they might be broken isn't clear. Perhaps true love's kiss will do it, or a heroically sacrificial act, or some serious reflection followed by revelatory insight into your own soul. Or, y'know, whatever. But it's far more likely that your character will just be stuck with whatever it is until sunset, when any and all remaining curses will be broken.

[OOC: Feel free to use this post for initial reactions to whatever curse your character has found themselves suffering. Any additional posts for more specified shenanigans can go up under the 'events: curses' tag. Sunset is a little after 7:30 PM. Backdating and backtagging are the best and you should do both of those things if necessary.]

Comments

[peacefulexplorer]

It's a good thing Daniel's accustomed to simply sprawling over the comforter instead of burrowing under it, because when he opens his eyes to the ceiling being a lot closer to his nose than usual, the covers might have been completely dragged up with him. His hands press neatly across something that doesn't really constitute as a surface - more an invisible barrier that just thought to place him a few feet higher than usual.

He's in the process of working out his probably non-threatening if supremely perplexing situation in calm, methodical bafflement when an earsplitting yowl and a flurry of panicked movement tosses him out of that quiet equilibrium and sends him rocketing to his feet. Which is, as it turns out, an even more disorienting sensation, because Daniel gets an excellent view of his bare feet planted firmly on apparently empty air while beneath - beneath -

"Seth?" he says, because that wriggling, howling bundle in the blankets is distinctly not Seth-sized or Seth-shaped. But then, Daniel's floating, so maybe he should start getting used to things not acting in the typical way.

[powerdealer]

Seth eventually manages to break free, and on pure instinct decides to dart for what he deems the safest space, dark and hidden but not completely enclosed, in other words underneath the couch. It only vaguely registers that he's running on four legs instead of two, and he underestimates his speed, crashing into the wall with another thump, turning around to watch the crack between the couch and the floor, and from there on stays completely still.

His heart is thumping about a mile a minute, he feels light-headed - from the crashing or the panic? Probably a combination. It's making it a bit of a challenge to take stock of the situation.

He is a cat.

He is underneath the couch, his hands have been replaced by paws, he has a fucking tail; he can feel it quivering. He is a cat. How is he a cat? Who even fucking knows. He can also see surprisingly well underneath the couch, even if everything looks sort of wrong. The colours aren't right. And smell. The smell thing is particularly noticeable, all kinds of different smells, of dust and books and previously spilled alcohol, and Daniel, he can smell Daniel--

Right, Daniel. Seth has definitely heard him, he can hear really well, can pinpoint exactly where Daniel is even without looking, but it's taken him this long to actually listen, to factor him into what's going on.

Unsure exactly why or how, keeping completely still though his panic is winding down, Seth starts to whine. Another thing his cat body just does, without him really meaning to. This is awful.

[peacefulexplorer]

He glimpses a distinctive brown streak darting from the bed to under the couch, something with fur and a tail and - feline?

"Seth?" he says again, eyebrows scrunching down in concern. He takes a cautious step toward the couch, glances down at his feet taking strides over what feels solid but what is obviously thin air.

The thin, distressed noise spiraling out from beneath the couch is assuredly not a good sign. Daniel takes a few more tentative steps until he's made it to the couch, then inanely tries to crouch on hands and knees to peer under - which naturally doesn't succeed, because he's a clear two feet above the couch.

"Seth," he says again, slightly more firmly. "I, um. I - are you - ?"

There isn't really a dignified way to say this. He rubs at the back of his neck, sighs, and calmly takes stock of the situation.

"Okay. So I'm - floating and you're, uh. You're - something else. An animal. Right?" He shoots an inquisitive look at the couch.

[powerdealer]

There, okay, words, he can still understand words. He doesn't suddenly have a cat brain, that's good. He stops whining. And..

Daniel is... floating? Like, hovering, but not figuratively? Well, that explains why Seth could hear him move but not see his feet. Through really it raises more questions than it answers. How on earth Daniel is managing to stay calm is a complete mystery to him.

He's also not sure if he were Daniel's position, and his friend had been replaced with a cat, he would think his friend had become the cat. But if Daniel's hovering, then he was probably already aware that something supremely weird was up. Maybe he even saw Seth change? Seth wants to ask, but he doesn't think he can right now.

Okay. Well.

Taking a steadying breath, trying to ignore how every movement brings a new and unfamiliar sensory experience, he crawls slowly out from under the couch and looks up.

Daniel really is hovering. "Fuck," he says, or means to say, but it comes out as a confused and slightly distraught meow.

[peacefulexplorer]

Even while mentally preparing himself, it's still frankly kind of a shock to see it. It's quite clearly a cat, a regular brown tabby, looking up at Daniel in an effort to communicate without a human's vocal capabilities.

"Okay," says Daniel lightly, and sits down. Well, he does his best to sit down, which ultimately results in him simply hovering while appearing to be sitting. But it feels like sitting rather than being suspended in the air, which raises an entire host of frankly not highly relevant questions.

"Seth," he says quietly, meeting the cat's eyes in quiet confirmation. "Right?"

[powerdealer]

Seth nods, slowly and deliberately. At least that's something he can do. Yes and no, he can communicate that much. And he's very relieved Daniel guessed it was him, because he has no idea how he would explain who he is.

Meanwhile, Daniel is huge. The entire apartment is huge, and it looks entirely different, not just because of the perspective, but his eyes work differently. At least Daniel seems the same size relative to the room, just... a bit higher up than usual. It's strangely dizzying to look at, the way he's just sitting in midair.

[peacefulexplorer]

"Okay," he sighs again, reaching up to pinch the bridge of his nose with two fingers. He needs coffee. And his glasses. He can't deal with this without first retrieving those two deeply necessary things. "Okay."

Instead he buries his face in one hand. Clearly he can't go out and ask someone about what might be going on, because despite the general accepting nature of Manhattan's populace, he feels like a man inexplicably hovering two feet in the air is bound to raise some suspicion. And clearly Seth can do that either, given his current - condition, for lack of a better term.

That doesn't leave them with a whole lot of options.

With a low groan of resignation, Daniel rises to retrieve his phone, relieved to find that he can reach down and access objects beneath him, and sends out a text.