bee beez in the trap [ partially open ]

[arsarcanum]

characters: Sora, Bucky, Misty, Jason, and you!
location: All over Beacon with a focus on the amusement park exploration!
date/time: Backdated to Feb 27th for the exploration, stretching all the way up to the 19th just before the event.
content: March catch-all! (Even though the amusement park exploration is in February technically!) This is the official Sora gives your character a cupcake for his birthday post! Like the Valentine's chocolate, if you want to handwave your character receiving a cupcake, please do so! They're all chocolate, vanilla, or blueberry (the latter courtesy of Soldat.) That will be on the 9th, so if your character was outside when they got their cupcake from Sora, there's a very good chance they got colorbombed by the Birds of Paradise event on that day as well. Also in this post: a dinner, some stops at the gacha machine and the library, some cooking, some crafting, some note taking, some rain.
warnings: Discussion of the cybernetics and the stuff he had to do to get the cybernetics might get a little gross and scary but everything else should be pretty okay!

[ A: Amusement Park (02/27); closed to Bucky, Misty, and Jason ]

Explorations with Team Wolf Pack are for fun only! Imminent death all around notwithstanding, Sora wants this to be a good time! (And maybe a test run for that unsupervised launch into the unknown him and Jason are still planning. Hey, he'd still like to know how far he and Jason can go into the darkness, just the two of them!)

So, here's him, walking along, occasionally striking up a hiking game or asking questions of his fellow explorers. It's not going to be a long journey, but he'd like to keep their spirits up just in case whatever happens to meet them isn't friendly.

Good thing it is. And boy, isn't the amusement park a treat! It's basically all the games at the Night Market and nothing else except for that eerie old rollercoaster, huh? Very picturesque. Let's enjoy the ambiance while we can before heading back home.


[ B: Misty's Cabin; Closed to Bucky and Misty ]

They're almost done getting Soldat's stuff over to Misty's, so they're having one last "hey we should probably eat some of this food since we're going to be serving three instead of four to five from now on" meal. That's a little depressing, but they're a unit and know how to keep that kind of depressing nonsense out of a conversation by now!

So they talk about other things. Like what they're up to in Beacon these days. The B&B! Their patrols! Dancing lessions! The fistbump report! And, like, you know, more small introductory things that they have missed about each other two months into their weird little group dynamic. Like, how Misty's really into gators? And how Soldat's a little more casual with their language now. (Too casual. Misty chides them for using strong language around the child. Sora's like, man, Misty, I'm twenty now, you can swear around me.)

Anyway, Sora is also a cyborg, right? No arm, though. Sora brings up that his eyes are just for aesthetic at this point. (He may have traded the reticles away during the last Night Market, oops.)

"Yeah, so now it's just my heart and lungs that are metal? And my bones are reinforced. And like, everything else. There's a spike in my brain, too, but I don't think it does anything." Sora takes a bite of his pasta and thinks nothing of it. Sometimes, people just have spikes in their brains? It's 2020, do what you need to cope.


[ C: All over Beacon; Open ]

(i. just kind of everywhere)

[ March 9th is Sora's birthday! Or, well, it's close enough. He's having a quieter celebration with the wolf pack + Jason and Naminé later on, but he and Soldat made a ton of cupcakes and he's assuming everyone attending his birthday is only going to have one or two. So, this is an excited dude here with a big Tupperware tub of cupcakes. He'll be stained with bright colors from the bird spirits chucking colored powder in the air, and once he changes into his novelty bongo card shirt, he'll probably get increasingly giddy about it as the day goes on. Hey, it's fun! ]

Hi! Do you want a cupcake? Today's my birthday, I made too many. Here!

(ii. gacha machine)

[ It's the same prompt as i except your character can comment on Sora putting slices of cupcake into the gacha machine and, like, talking to it? Like it's an actual person? What's up with that? He's also going to put a little party hat on top of its little dome and some festive curled ribbon on its handle for his birthday.

Like, really, he is just chatting at this thing about the finer details of his birthday like it's gonna talk back to him. What's his deal? ]

(iii. library)

[ After delivering the Librarian's cake, Sora can either be caught sweeping up (it's a Monday, and Mondays are for cleaning the library) or seen later at one of the tables, still somewhat colorstained but with arms mostly wiped off so he doesn't have to clean the table. He's got a couple of notebooks with him and he's writing in them - letters, notes, recipes, schedules - and switching between notebooks so he doesn't get too bored with any one task. He also has a couple of weird reports stacked in front of him that he refers to every once in a while, wiggling his pen around in some thought.

However, if he sees another person in the library, he's going to grin and turn away from his work. And yes, he's going to stage whisper at them. ]

Hey! Here! It's my birthday! Have a cupcake!


[ D: The Landmark's restaurant kitchen; Open ]

The spirits are tittering as Sora slides his second pie into the trash, sighing. Okay, so he wants to think he's getting better at this whole pie thing, but clearly the first pie was a fluke. Or maybe he's just gotta make sure he actually pays attention to the pie while it's in the oven? (Good thing no fires can catch in Beacon. That would have been kind of messy.)

There's a passable blueberry pie cooling on the counter nearby, but man, he really did want to have two pies done today so he knows he's got the hang of it before the end of the month. After all, Maes' birthday is important too!

If anyone enters the kitchen and even so much as looks at the pie, Sora will smile at them, looking a little frazzled. "Hey. Want some pie?"


[ E: Patrol (North Beacon); Open ]

[ Sora's doing that weird thing where he collects rocks and stashes them near the torch posts again, except it's only the one near the lake, and he's not doing any further renovations to the torch he already put there. Instead, he's making sort of this weird oblong mound of rocks next to the torch that just keeps getting higher and higher and higher as the days go on. Eventually, it'll start evening out at knee height! What is this thing?

Sora keeps working on it during his patrols, and can also be seen wandering Downtown, checking the storefronts, but the majority of his time will be spent dutifully on patrol, picking up rocks and adding to his weird long pile. Hey, 2020, do what you need to cope, etc.

It also might be raining! ~*Ambiance*~. ]


[ F: Wildcard ]

[ If we set up something for March and want to put it somewhere I'll put it here! Will match format, pm me, etc. ]

Comments

[ A: Getting there! ]

[arsarcanum]

Threads for getting to the amusement park! Hiking games, conversations, shenanigans, go for it.

HIKING GAMES

[arsarcanum]

"Okay, so this one is really easy!" Sora hikes his backpack up on his back. "We all take turns. The first person starts with a category. Let's go with animals! Then they say the name of an animal. The next person in line has to say the name of an animal that starts with the last letter of the first animal. For example, if I start with 'gorilla', the next person in line could say, um. 'Anteater'? And we keep going until one of us gets stuck. That person chooses the next category and we start over again."

Sora nods! "Any questions?"

[worthallthis]

Soldat holds up a hand. Kind of as if they're in school asking a question (weirdly, they do not in fact remember ever doing this; their singular school memory is of getting their left hand whacked for writing with it instead of their right). "Not-real words and animals allowed?"

They may only be asking this to be a troll. Sora and Misty will recognize this, even if Jason might still be kind of new to Soldat-type humor.

[arsarcanum]

"Scrabble rules, gotta be in the dictionary." Skyler got that question a lot from 11 year olds with attitudes, he had the same answer for them. (Oddly enough, he and Sora said it in the exact same way. Huh. It's like they're almost the same person or something.)

Sora pauses thoughtfully. "I'd say only if you've met them, but that'd be unfair." He's met a lot of not-real animals, after all. Dragons. Pegasi. No unicorns, oddly enough, but the Kraken? Absolutely.

[worthallthis]

"Very unfair. I haven't met very many animals," Soldat points out dryly. They remember meeting... a cat. Some very angry squirrels. Stray dogs are probably in there somewhere. "So. Anteater." Ends with an R. R-word animal. "Rabbit?"

[ A: Amusement park! ]

[arsarcanum]

Threads at the amusement park! We made it! They're friendly! What do we think of the coaster? Let's take some pictures! Etc.

[ A: Coming back! ]

[arsarcanum]

Threads for coming back from the trip! Guys, how do we tell the rest of Beacon that the amusement park is okay actually?

B: Cabin

[worthallthis]

Soldat's stuff really isn't that much stuff-- two boxes, one of clothing and toiletries and favorite cooking ware, one of the habitual blankets and extra knives and a few knicknacks, their trunk of weird-but-precious-things. It's the unpacking of the things of Aziraphale and Crowley's that can't just be stored that takes the most work, really. The plants, the books that need taken back to the library, the extra blankets that need to go back to the general store....

But Sora's presence in helping to get those last things taken care of, and his help in settling in at Misty's, has been... really nice. Just the three of them. It's not as bad as it could be. They still have Misty, and they still have Sora. And they also have the little plastic ghost, sitting on the table between them and glowing harmlessly.

The chatter is nice, too, mostly just letting it wash over them. (Even if they're baffled by Misty's problem with words. They're just words, Misty. They're not even the kind that hurt anyone. Clearly they don't retain the Original(tm)'s reticence about swearing around women and children.)

Until they hear the words "spike in my brain" and their head snaps up, the last of their very fine dinner entirely forgotten, expression one of horror and stomach suddenly roiling. It takes two tries to speak, but when they do, it's in a big spill of words: "Kid. Kid. Fuck. No. Whoever told you that lied. No one does brain surgery. Brain surgery. To insert something into a living brain. That does nothing."

[shadowsran]

They need a grace period, Misty has decided, and in that way witches do is silently willing the universe to bend to that. Demanding, really. She can, has, and will eventually endure worse. The suffering of her chosen few is, however, an affront to...

It's tense, is all. The course ahead is projected to be rough, but manageable. What they need is no further disruption. Dust to settle. New stimuli to get footing.

What they do not need is nuclear-level friendly fire, halfway through dinner. She stills, mirroring Soldat's snap. Differing natures. There's no denying him his language now. There's no denying him the first word, period.

"Nothing in there that needs reinforcing. You have a skull, and if bits need tacking on, it'd be skull. Who put it there?"

[arsarcanum]

Sora has been sitting here, eyes wide, the next bite of his food hovering between his dish and his mouth. Uh. Well! That certainly was not the thing he intended to happen when he mentioned that! As with a lot of things in life, it's just something he's woven into the pattern of his life and moved on with. Nothing hurts when you don't put a lot of thought into it, after all.

"I, uh. Sorry, Misty, probably shoulda." He scratches the back of his head. Soldat knows about this, but he's sort of realized she might be a touch out of the loop. "You know the other guy?" She should be vaguely familiar with the idea of the duality of his situation - it's very similar to Soldat's, except Sora's sergeant fell asleep for his own safety. "He got it done about two, three years ago now. Like, I remember what he did to do it too - he was just." Scared. As you do. "A bunch of scientists and doctors with a place called Thunder Corp. It was... risky, not gonna lie."

As for what it does... Sora shrugs. "Well, I mean... They swore up and down that it was just there to keep things running, so I always guessed it had something to do with the eye stuff? Like the infrared and the night vision and stuff. But none of that works anymore, so like. It shouldn't be doing anything, right?"

apologies: cw for potential panic attack?

[worthallthis]

"These being the people. Who convinced a child. To undergo extensive cybernetic surgery. Remember what I said about that? Remember that no decent scientist would experiment on a kid?" Whatever Sora says, Soldat will never believe that Skyler could give properly informed consent to anything like that at his age. No decent doctor-- (There's no such fucking thing. No argument from me, pal. No.)-- would even make the offer. And hearing that they put goddamn metal in his goddamn brain is not helping either assessment.

"Brains are. Kid. Brains are. They're delicate. You mess with them in any way, and it. It fucks shit up. I know. I know." They're inching closer to full-on panic, uneven breathing and fixed staring at the table and arm starting to buzz.

[shadowsran]

On reflex, out spreads a hand in the center of the table. No contact for Soldat, but signals. Approximations. There always ought to be something. Nothing need spiral more than it already is, so soothing him is as much a priority as getting more context. Thus she speaks first to him, in a brittle calm that's born of biting back worry more than anything else, "Breathe. He's okay right now, and this can be fixed. We'll get it out. He'll be right as rain."

Attention then shifts to Sora.

"Let's say best case scenario, yeah? Best case. It did eye stuff, but doesn't anymore. Then it's still a piece of metal in a real tender place, rife to be messed with and knocked around even accidentally. Still machinery near something real delicate and electricity-dependent. Right? Unnecessary. Ought to go."

[ F: jord what the fuck (03/11, after the courthouse raid.) ]

[arsarcanum]

[ It's been a few hours since the rest of the courthouse team has hustled back to the Landmark. After the initial panic and adrenaline (and the freeze - Sora's not proud, but that's what happens when you hustle down to the lobby and most of the people who are injured in the lobby are either familiar faces or friends), it's finally calm and everyone's stable enough for things to get to the "so what now" stage. As they do.

Sora went down to the restaurant to grab more water and food for everyone, and his last visit will be to Fjord, the third least injured of the group. (They really need to get a clinic or something set up here. One more time and Sora's going to have yet another project on his hands.) ]

Fjord, got some water. You want some? [ He can go down and get some coffee too. Mostly this is just a mental check in. ]

[fjorgedinfire]

[Fjord is feeling very shit right now.

Bad enough that he'd been smacked into the tree so hard that he's pretty sure a rib got loosened again; but he's just had to watch two people he's starting to care about get eaten. It almost feels like a trend, with how close he came to the same end less than a month ago. It's not like he's not used to death, he's a fucking adventurer - but that had felt pretty brutal.

Not to mention that most of his torso is still covered in acid burns. His armour and clothing had caught most of it, but there's an uncomfortable, sluggish oozing staining his clothes even darker and making him feel quite raw.

Not that any of it is visible under his Mask of Many Faces, of course. Javert and Link need the healing so much more desperately.

He jumps when Sora approaches, lost in thought as he was, and immediately clutches his ribs as the pain stabs him - but Sora might notice it's not the same side as last time.]

Yeah. Thank you. [Sora gets a wan smile for his troubles.] How're you holdin' up?

[arsarcanum]

[ Yeah, it really isn't. Sora is. Trying his best not to think about that, because that was when he came around with Soldat, and the thought of Soldat leads to the possibility of them not coming back, and - okay nope, no, nope nope no nope no.

He shakes his head furiously. Present. Here and now. Pain is real. Fjord's pain is real. ]

Better. [ Honestly, he'd called Misty as much for the reassurance that she'd be there and that he'd still be okay even if Soldat - hmph. He's better. Not functioning under shock. ] Just had to get into gear. Better things to do than freak out, right?

[ Like this. Business time! ] How are your ribs doing? You shoulda come back for another heal if you were gonna pull something like this. I could've been around.

[fjorgedinfire]

[The concern over him has Fjord try and chuckle dryly - but his torso protests the action most strongly, and he grimaces tightly at the pain rocking his body. When he talks again, it's after taking a deep, careful breath.]

Well, can't say I knew I'd go an' get slammed into a tree. [Though he's aware, vaguely, that's not what did it.] I wouldn't say no to a heal now, if you're not completely tapped out. Feels like some of them came loose again.

[He forces himself to sit up straight despite his body screaming at him.] If you're too tired, I'm fine to just head out. Wouldn't want you feeling as ragged as we all do.

[arsarcanum]

[ Without pause, he nods, sets down the water jug and cup nearby (full, by the way, if Fjord wants to knock that back), and casts another Cure on them both. Which side did Fjord have injured again? Wasn't it the other one...? ]

A tree. [ Sora shakes his head. ] Things get less jumbled around if they're where they're supposed to be, you know. Like, there's less... moving around they have to do if I can keep 'em in the right place.

[ Sora frowns, looks determined. ] If you wanna go, then go. But I'm not helping you up and around. That's how good I want you to be before you leave. [ This is a test, Fjord. How bullshitty can you get, my good fuck? ]

C:i.

[withsadness]

[Yes, Mary will gladly and happily accept a cupcake, thank you very much! She grins brightly as she swipes it.]

Happy Birthday! Did you get any presents? I can get you a present, too!

[It'll probably just be a crayon drawing, but...]

[arsarcanum]

[ Yes, a cupcake makes it out into the wild. He'll watch happily, getting down into a squat so they can talk eye to eye. ]

Naminé drew me a picture! It was a really good present. [ He smiles. ] I haven't gotten anything else, but that's okay. I just want to be with my friends. That means that you being here with me right now is enough of a present, by the way!

[withsadness]

But I can be your friend every day when it isn't your birthday, so it doesn't count as a present!

[She's adamant!]

You should have something special!

[arsarcanum]

[ Gasp! ]

Miss Mary! Are you implying that you aren't a very, very special present every day you're alive? [ Sora puts the lid back on the cupcake container, the smile still on his face. ] I'm not gonna stop you from giving me something, but even if you don't, you're still my friend. That's really, really special to me.

press f to wildcard

[vampirella]

( so, cool thing about vampirism? you don't really get sick. no sniffles, no colds, no upset stomachs, nothing. Carmilla doesn't get sick, ever.

but ever since feeding on that damned spirit, ever since she caught the vibrant green cast to her eyes in the middle of the mundanity of brushing her teeth, she's been waiting for the other shoe to drop. it'd almost been long enough for her to think it might not mean much of anything, especially as the green finally faded. she hasn't been far enough out of her room to check if the spirits are still avoiding her like the plague but maybe the worst of it is over.

however, she's feeling distinctly... wrong. weak. unsteady on her feet. sick isn't the right word for how she feels, frankly, it's definitely worse than that. or maybe it's been so long since she felt this way it's uniquely terrifying when it doesn't need to be.

truthfully, she doesn't know what she's doing as she stumbles down to the lobby of the hotel and then towards the kitchen. human food has never done much for her, but maybe she needs to eat something. maybe there's some aspirin, or something to make her feel a little less lightheaded. she hasn't even noticed the fact that her lantern is dimmed, from where it lingers at her hip. it took an unbelievable amount of energy to get as far as the kitchen, though, and she tries to catch her breath while leaning over the counter, hoping it'll stop the room from spinning.

she doesn't notice that someone is already present. she might have feigned a bit more normality if she'd noticed, but it would have been a spectacularly empty act. she's clearly not feeling the greatest, with bedhead and pajamas and not a lick of fashionable dark eyeliner to be seen. she looks a lot younger, truthfully, but she also looks like she's dying. which isn't great. )

f..........

[arsarcanum]

[ Well, uh, Sora's most certainly here. Staring. He's got a pan in his hand, actually, and there's an egg and some sausage links in there. He's uh. He sure is making food. No apron on, that'd be too much of a stretch.

He hasn't been avoiding her since the whole thing at the bar, but he sure hasn't been making himself available outside of what's normal. That conversation gave him a lot to think about, and most of it was a bit difficult to come to terms with. It was less of a "hey, I am avoiding you", and more of a "hey, I need like twice as much time to think about things as most folks and I need to do it by myself". At least, that's how he's rationalizing it to himself.

Anyway, that doesn't have much to do with Carmilla dragging herself into the kitchen looking like death itself has caught up with her. He's been asleep for four of the past seven days, but he's pretty sure that nothing's happened to make anyone look like they've been slowly smashed down by a steamroller and then half-heartedly re-inflated with a small bike pump. Hm.

He watches her claw her way along. Will she... will she get mad if he says something? He's not necessarily afraid of her getting mad - well, he's a little hesitant about her whacking him - but he's more afraid of her skittering off with her pride and privacy intact if he tries to help. Without looking, he reaches over and slowly turns the stove off, slides the pan to a cold burner, and continues watching her make her way to the cabinets. Oh, how in the heck is he not supposed to feel bad for her?

It's when he notices her lantern, guttering and low, when he decides to step in. Okay, sick is bad, but lantern stuff is something that needs to be addressed. He puts down his spatula which was somehow still in his hand for some reason, then walks around to Carmilla, wondering briefly how to phrase this before kind of just. ]

So, just so you know, I'm a little worried about you right now.

[ Okay, yeah, going for it, right. ]

tw: vomiting

[vampirella]

( it not only looks like death caught up with her (and since it's been chasing her a few centuries, it's probably about time), it feels like it too. which is exactly why she's so distracted. usually, she's very careful. she isn't the type to not notice her surroundings, because keeping on top of them is imperative for surviving as long as she has. it says a lot that she didn't notice him, or the smell in the air, the sound of the running burner.

and he doesn't draw her attention, even in the midst of moving and staring, until he says something. she startles up like something burned her, and that does nothing to help the dizzies. she makes a muttered sound of discomfort, before pressing the heel of her hand to her forehead, eyes squinted closed, as she tries to force back the way the room feels like it is spinning, even as she stands here, still, with her eyes closed.

she really had not wanted to run into anyone. Carmilla is the sort that hates to show even a slight weakness, so showing someone she can barely keep her feet is just about her worst nightmare. it's only making matters worse that it's the kid with at least two personalities, one of which was determined to be nice to her despite how standoffish and dismissive she was. he's stopped of late, and she's bitter enough to think that's for the best.

nothing ever good has come out of trying to be close to her, after all. )

I'm fine, ( she says, and the words are slow and intentional, trying to stitch together some remote sense of normalcy that she can hide behind. ) I just drank... ( the excuse is going to be alcohol, and what Sora knows of her, that'd be plenty believable. but she can't even get the lie out before something chases up her throat and demands to escape, and her only option is to turn and dart the few feet it takes to retch into the sink.

and, of course, throwing up would be a perfectly reasonable thing for someone who drank too much to do. problem is, she's definitely coughed up a heap of black blood, stagnant and coppery as it hangs in the air. Carmilla herself is startled, and standing there barefoot, completely exposed, she almost looks like the eighteen year old she's supposed to be. wide-eyed, young, and terrified. the evidence of what she is and what she's done is spilled all over the sink, and very little terrifies her more than a human finding out she's a vampire. she can play at not caring all she likes, but suffice to say, there's a reason it scares her.

she turns on the sink, after she can will herself into movement, but there's no way to hide the evidence before he notices. let's be real, he already knows. the water doesn't even help much, the blood only barely starting to run into the drain and the rest mocks her as it coats the sides and bottom of the sink. )

[arsarcanum]

[ Oh, no, this is sad. Sora's not really the type to get in the way of someone who's truly capable of taking care of themselves - well, he was, but that was a long time ago - but he can't help but feel for her as she drags herself along. Kicking himself a little for not paying attention, for not actively growing this bond. Why did he feel so nervous about this? Wasn't the goal to make friends with everyone at the Landmark? To make it feel more like home, with friends and family.?And even if it isn't, shouldn't it have been? If only because it would've put him in a better position to help in situations like these.

That was the goal. There are lots of goals. Too many. Was that the goal? ]

Oh -

[ Hm. Screw the goal. Sora's dashing over despite his doubts because he's tired of thinking about it and it doesn't matter what his actual goal was. He's never been great at following a plan from start to finish, anyway. No, Carmilla's at the sink and puking up what she drank, and that's happening now. That's actually what's important.

And - oh, that. Definitely smells like what everything smelled like the night he died.

Black blood swirls down into the sink. He watches it, entranced for a second, then he looks at her, his hand reaching out cautiously before he can think to stop it. He does, though, reins himself back in. Stops right before he touches her. It's a close thing. ]

Hey. [ It's a comforting nothing sound. Sora realizes that he has nothing bright after that to round out an actual idea. No thoughts. Never mind, then.

He closes his mouth instead, turns and opens a nearby drawer, grabbing handfuls of clean dish towels. He wets one under the stream and sort of shoves it at her hand - if she doesn't accept it, he'll just lay it down on the lip of the sink next to her - and then he takes the rest and, starting from the outside of the spill, begins to wipe the sink down, the cloth in his hand loading down with dark coppery liquid quickly. He's not really sure why this is his first reaction. He doesn't know what this is, or what it means. Maybe it's the fear. She's afraid of something about this, so he wants to make it go away. That's about as complex as it gets. ]

We should get you back to your room if you're sick. [ He didn't mean to make that a we statement, but there it is. He grinds his teeth a little, kicking himself, but continues mopping up the mess. ] I'll get you some medicine. That's why you were down here, right? To find something that would help. [ Keeping an eye on her. He doesn't want to be too pushy, but if she doesn't either start moving or sit on the floor, he's going to help her make a decision one way or another. ]