logsinthenight | EVENT LOG: TURN THE LIGHTS OFF

EVENT LOG: TURN THE LIGHTS OFF

characters: everyone.
location: around town.
date/time: january 20-29.
content: the lanterns begin to malfunction.
warnings: body horror and psychological horror. please cw tags appropriately.

you'll become one

January 20th arrives the same as all the days before it. There's no great pulse of warning that throbs through the air, no ominous wind that causes the bonfire to shudder. The spirits are neither agitated nor do they hide. You could almost miss the change, if the lanterns weren't always by your side. There's no explanation that comes with the way that it's changed, but it's impossible not to worry when it's happened so suddenly.

Maybe it takes a few days, or maybe it only takes a few hours, but suddenly it isn't just the lanterns that have changed. You, yourself, have become somehow different. It's possible that you won't even have the right state of mind to wonder how long it will last. At the very least, it appears you aren't alone. All across Beacon, lanterns are changing, and changing the people with them.

Out in the distance, the lighthouse's beam has turned green.

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[ So apparently there's a bar down in the restaurant, and apparently, the liquor is free? Sora didn't pay this fact much mind when he was here last week because he's not really one to drown his sorrows in any life, but Skyler has no such scruples and no more varsity sports to keep up appearances for anymore. Basically, if something's gonna be on tap, he wants to be there.

So he's just gonna kick open the door, meander to the bar, and physically lean over it to grab something from behind the bar. Not really worried about who's around. Who knows? With this face, he thinks he could get away with it if he simpers as hard as Sora does for a minute or so. ]

( okay, kicking the door down is a little extra, but, go on and leon scott kennedy your way in here, skyler. truthfully, Carmilla doesn't really care that much, people can come and go and do as they please as long as they don't bug her while they're at it. she's at the bar, because it's far easier to get more booze if she's 2 steps away from the source. that said her drink is a little stagnant, as she's more interested in the book she's reading.

she's always reading something, and apparently, doesn't feel the need to limit herself to the six beds she has at her disposal. again, proximity to booze. super important. especially because it seems like everyone in this town is trying to work her last nerve the past few days. she'd probably be more or less willing to ignore present company in hopes present company ignores her until she notes exactly who it is.

Sora annoys her even without the excuse of an unusually colored lantern, so she's not exactly enthralled to see the familiar head bobbing over the bar. that said, she sighs at the elaborate attempts to get a fix without actually going behind it. )

It's like two more steps to go behind the bar, must you? ( no fake simpering needed, she doesn't care if he wants a drink. he might be underage in america but europe is more lenient and on top of that? a, she's not his mom, and b, he's dead. it's a little late to worry about his health. )

[ From his plank on the bar, without looking, Skyler pulls up his arm and flips her the bird. ]

I must. Also fuck off. [ He withdraws his arm to get back to business. He grabs a random pale wine bottle, studies it, and drops it on the floor unceremoniously before scooting forward to search a different area. ] Why is everyone here the fucking cops? Jesus shitting Christ.

( okay, seriously, that doesn't even make sense. she looks about as far from cop material as you can get, what with the raccoon eyes, dark nails, and grunge aesthetic. her nose even curls in subtle hint she's offended. call her a bitch, call her a bad roommate, call her anything but a cop, apparently.

the wine is decent enough around here, so it's sad to watch it bounce off the floor, but it doesn't break, so she more or less doesn't have much to say about it. however, having dealt with too many fruity pebbles colored lanterns in the past 72 hours, she realizes fairly immediately what is probably going on and doesn't even bother to ask Sora what the fuck is wrong with him. instead, she makes a noise of frustration. )

Seriously, does everyone have a psychotic break in the same damn week? ( she's really, really over it. ) Whatever, do what you fucking want. I hope the mushroom kid comes and sprouts you for being a dick.

[ He's seen worse cops. Sure, she might look a little scraggly, but at least she has the common decency to look like the type of cop to shoot a family and burn the house down to hide the evidence. Shiny do-gooder cops are shit too. He's not going to forget about that too quickly.

He's about to make an incredibly smartass comment about how he did it specifically to piss her off, Avril Lavigne, but the mushroom kid and the sprouts non-sequitur is enough to make him do a doubletake and squint at her. ]

Oh, god, another one of his little fucking friends. [ He ducks back under the counter. Ooh, this decanter's fance. He's going to pop that thing open and sniff it to see if it's evil enough for him to drink. ] I don't even wanna know why you said that. I'm tryna drink to forget, here.

Edited (face) 2020-02-06 05:08 (UTC)

( cops wish they could master her princess goth style. they'd be the best looking cops on the force, ok. she flicks her page, trying to move on to intentionally reading and barely taking note of his existence, one of her classic maneuvers for getting rid of things that annoy her. silent treatment them long enough, they'll find something else to annoy.

but awareness of the jekyll and hyde thing going on is at least mildly intriguing. not that she cares, it's just a soap opera plot gone walking and searching for melt your tastebuds alcohol, so that's interesting in a watch a car crash kinda way. )

He as in the only nominally less annoying personality knocking about in that empty head of yours? ( she doesn't even bother looking up from her book to ask. )

Edited 2020-02-06 17:20 (UTC)

[ He's halfway between taking experimental sips from this decanter - some kind of vodka, he thinks, that'll knock him out, good - and hauling his ass back over the counter to see if there's anything else he can use to make himself forget that this is all happening when the second question hits.

He sighs, slipping back on the stool and letting his eyes slip shut. This is only because he can't think and go looking for more liquor at the same time. Hey, he's not gonna argue the empty head thing. ]

Carmilla. He calls you Carmilla. [ He opens his eyes and snorts. ] Okay, sure. He's the one with the delusions that he's gonna be your friend someday and I'm the annoying one. [ He'll, again, hop onto the counter, but this time backward, holding onto the edge to snag a darker looking wine from the rack. ] What the fuck ever. Can we just drink? I'm trying not to be conscious when he wakes up again.

( it doesn't show on her face save for a slight purse of her lips, but somehow the bald confirmation that Sora wants to be her friend after she's done nothing but be cold, standoffish, and more or less rude to him might sting some vacant, far away part of her. if only sunshine creatures were better at realizing a lost cause when they saw one. a sunshine creature with a gremlin barely hidden in its subconscious is a new one, though. )

Do I look like I'm stopping you?

( she hasn't even gotten up, the only movement she's managed is a flick of a few pages and occasional eyebrow lifts. she's never been one to stand in the way of someone and their vices. in fact, if he's so determined to fuck himself up, )

There's absinthe under the counter. That can put anyone to sleep. ( it's said mildly and distantly, as if she's describing something as banal as the weather. it isn't certainly isn't almost a helpful thing to say, okay, it's not that deep. if he's got something that will fuck him up then maybe he'll go away and leave her alone. it's said in self interest. )

[ Sora giving up on a lost cause? Hm. That'd make his current situation a whole lot easier, actually.

Skyler stops his perusal of the alcohol content of this bottle to look at her for a second. An expression like someone getting hit by a firehose's worth of water but in a mildly pleased sort of way crosses his face for a moment. In a move that one could describe as a classic Sora (if one wanted to be strangled for it), he plunks down the wine, grabs his lantern, and falls off the bar. There's a graceless thump-thump-thump as he lands in a heap on the floor. He didn't even bother to pretend to aim with his feet. He would love to have alcoholic hallucinations, thanks.

He. Does run into a problem, though. ]

Fuck. Dammit. [ His hand reappears and places his lantern back on the counter. It's still spiderwebbed with fine cracks, still poison label green. ] Everything looks fucking green with that. God, fucking, piss, shit...

[ And he'll start pulling bottles from under the counter, indiscriminately, swearing as he goes, making both a ruckus and a mess. Thanks for the tip, Carmilla, you've invited the fucking zoo. ]

( she was almost nice and this is how she's repaid? more scavenging around like a starving, particularly rude animal? she presses dark tipped fingers to her temple, feeling the annoyance migraine just tempting under the skin. she doesn't deserve this, any of this. all those people she's killed and those girls she lured to their traumatic sacrificial deaths still didn't qualify her for this kind of undead suffering. )

Oh my god, you are completely useless. Get out of the way. ( how loving. she stands up, circling the bar in clear stomps and she does not care if the walking identity crisis actually moved or not, she'll shove him aside with her leg to find the green fairy for him.

and she will relinquish it, though she notably takes a finder's fee first. the heavy licorice taste doesn't do that much for her, truthfully, and absinthe hasn't had quite the same kick since the 1800s. but right about now, it'll do, and she takes her glug straight from the bottle. then she then slams the bottle into Skyler's chest, and since he's determined to inflict his presence on her, then he's perfect to air her frustrations toward. ) Why does everyone have to drag me into their psychotic breaks? Green, red, blue, you people are like the worst bag of skittles I've ever had.

[ He's a bit heavier than he should be, but that's just flavor text for a super strong vampire. He'll go a bumpin' down onto his behind and glare up at her. He definitely pulled his hand back, stopping himself from slapping her on the leg in return. They aren't friends like that.

They are, however, friends like that in the sense that she actually found the damn thing for him. Double nice. It's enough to lower his hackles, actually, even after she claims her finder's fee. Hey, a good turn is a good turn, even if it's straight to the chest with a glass bottle.

He will not smile at her. All he does is sit behind the counter and lift the bottle from this chest, watching the liquor swirl around inside. ]

Psychotic break? You think he's the sane one? Okay. [ And he'll stand up, put the bottle on the counter, and haul himself onto it again. ] I'd say that we were doing this to piss you off specifically, but that would mean I gave a fuck about anyone but me, and I am a shiiit liar. [ Aaand that's a swig. He'll make a stinkface. That definitely hits different. ]

No, he's crazy too. That doesn't get you a pass.

( you're both crazy diamonds, shine on you bastards. just shine at a respectable distance from her, please. from the girl that literally pushed him over and shared an open bottle. makes sense.

she doesn't have any more interest in the absinthe, though while she's back here she does fish around for something stronger than her wine. cognac will do, since this place isn't ritzy enough for armagnac. she's not french, but she does have a fondness for french alcohol. it makes her think of swinging through the streets with Mattie, back when she was young and careless. it's almost nostalgic, for that exact reason. )

Not even I'm self centered enough to think it was specifically to annoy me, but honestly it's the same difference. ( she's still annoyed. )

Riddle me this, princess: in what possible way am I not acting like a normal fucking human being who's dead and doesn't want to be?

[ Hm. Vodka and absinthe. Absinthe and vodka. Well... the point isn't to live, is it? It's to not wake back up. He tips the contents of the green bottle into the crystal vodka decanter, watching the liquid go from clear to pale green.

Another experimental sip. Vile, but survivable. More absinthe. Survivable is not the goal. ]

And while I'm at it, what's the fucking point of going outside? Stay in your room.

Mostly it was the crawling over the counter like a gremlin, but being the Hyde of a Jekyll and Hyde situation doesn't bode super well for you either, kid.

( she's not bothering to pull any punches, as per usual. not even when faced with a remarkable psychotic break, which is particularly insensitive of her, but she's far past being concerned about sensitivity. she's truthfully overloaded by all the influx of people losing their shit in her direction. as much as she very much should just walk away and not let herself get involved, it keeps not working out that way. she dug into ugly things she'd rather forget with Xayah. and she is still sensitive about someone she kind of likes trying to stab her. intentional or not, that shit still sucks. )

I do, a majority of the time. It's not a huge ask to want to read a book without someone dragging you into their existential crisis, but nobody around here gets what they want.

( the far uglier truth is she doesn't actually like to be holed up alone all the time, and yet she's not about to admit it. especially not to ... whoever she's even talking to right now, this new facet of Sora's personality has not bothered to introduce themselves. )

It was in the way.

[ That's all he has to say on that front. Hey, the shortest distance from point A to point B is a straight line. Descartes or some other dead fuck. (Also, introductions are for people who pretend to be like, friendly? Does Skyler Veracruz do friendly? Fu-u-uck no.)

This seems like an acceptable absinthe to not-absinthe ratio. Despite all that talk, he seems to be picking at it almost carefully, wincing after every sip. He has gotten black-out wasted before, but man does he hate liquorice. He's just waiting for the part where everything starts tasting good. Wussy.

At least he does not give an absolute flying fuck whether Carmilla's sensitive or not. His not-girlfriend Helene from back home said worse things about him and most of it was actually true. Man, he loved that girl. Probably should have said something before Sora crunched his soul down to nothing and stuffed his comatose consciousness into a box and left him in there. ~*Oh fucking well.*~ ]

"Existential crisis." Look, if you want him back that bad, say so. [ He's not confused, existentially or otherwise. After all, it's Sora who keeps crying about his stupid fucking friends not constantly riding his dick just for existing. As far as Skyler's concerned, he's doing both of them a favor by knocking both their whiny asses out in the kindest way he can think of. ]

I'm the one who's supposed to be here. He's supposed to be more dead than he is. Than we are. [ He scoffs. ] The sooner he figures that out and kills himself because he feels sooo bad for stealing my body, the better. There's no crisis. Don't get it twisted.

( he's gonna be waiting awhile. that astringent licorice taste wasn't going anywhere. not until perhaps when his tastebuds were totally burned down by the brunt of the alcohol. her cognac is a more friendly monster, a fruity spice along with the burn.

existential crisis or some other kind of crisis, whoever this is reminds her of a car crash on legs. there's a crisis of some sort knocking about in there, and it doesn't matter to her what psychological definition he'd like to pin on it. )

Well, good luck with that. Seems like you're more likely to both die, and around here that's not even a promise of staying dead for long.

( she's not sure she buys it, nor that whoever doesn't come back is really and truly dead. but she also isn't leaping toward a more permanent death to find out. she'd been willing to give her life for a reason last time around; just because she can isn't much of a motivator. )

[ A crisis other than the normal? Yeah, he's not going to talk about that. Instead, he's just going to keep nursing this shot glass, finishing it before pouring himself another glass. C'mon, you green fairy fuck, get your ass out here.

He can make him die, he thinks. He just has to get his hands a little dirty. Make sure Sora realizes that he's not playing. Just because that dumbfuck thinks he can still save this doesn't mean he will. Skyler knows better than that now. And if he tries coming back he'll just make him kill himself again. He's got nothing else to do.

Not that he's going to say anything about that. Not relevant to the conversation he was trying not to have. Sigh. ]

I got options. Don't need luck. [ Sip. ] If you know a faster way to kill a bodysnatcher without killing me with it, have at. Otherwise, you'd be better off leaving us alone.

( she doesn't know anything about killing bodysnatchers without killing the host. even if she did, she's not likely to share. not because she's desperate to keep Sora around or anything, more because she's so determined not to be helpful to anyone. even on such a macabre point. )

Already way ahead of you. You are just as bad as he is on taking a hint. ( she's been projecting plenty of "leave me alone" vibes. turns out Skyler is just as bad at noticing them as Sora, or at least, ignoring them. ) Have fun with your fairy and murder contemplation, I just realized I could be literally anywhere else.

( she's taking her book and her cognac and leaving. )

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EVENT LOG: TURN THE LIGHTS OFF

custom order; closed to carmilla

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cw: teenage edginess

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