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

[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? ]

[fjorgedinfire]

[Fjord is absolutely going to knock that back because fighting and getting brutally wounded takes a hell of a lot out of you. He uses the action as an excuse to shrug at Sora's commentary, but he does severely appreciate the heal.

Until Sora challenges him on it. Fjord gives him a dry look, meeting Sora's gaze evenly, to counter how his stomach squirms nervously.]

Alright, y'worrying mother hen.

[And he puts both hands on the table to push himself up.

There are two things wrong with this manoeuvre: one, without the bracer-tight bandages from Soldat that he had the first time, he can bend his torso, which crunches the raw, open wounds and his armour and everything unpleasantly grinds together, making him grunt out a sharp curse; and two, his ribs are still sore even with the new ones partially cured - and so the end result is he ends up doubled over, using one hand to support himself against the table and clutching his aching torso far too tight.] Son of a bitch...

[arsarcanum]

[ Sora will absolutely wiggle his eyebrows at Fjord. Challenge accepted, huh? He has zero regrets until it's clear that Fjord did actually hurt himself, and then there's only one regret, but it has NOTHING to do with how right he was. ]

Cluck, cluck. [ He deadpans that, coming around the table to Fjord's side, putting a bracing hand on Fjord's shoulder. Hey, how high up does that Mask of Many Faces go? And how high up did the acid get him? ] Are ya winnin', son?

[fjorgedinfire]

[The Mask of Many Faces completely covers him, all the way from the white streak in his hair to the dirt caked on his boots. He looks completely fit, hale and hearty - even though that level of pain has him actually turning somewhat pale underneath, and he pulls his hand away from his torso to test, gingerly, the area where his armour ends about midway down his chest. Sora won't see the blood and grime on Fjord's hand - but then, neither can Fjord.

he is leaning heavily into soras hand how about that]

You be quiet. [But he doesn't sound too bitter about it.] I might've gotten hurt a bit more than just hitting the tree, alright?

[arsarcanum]

Define a little bit more. [ Well, if Fjord leans, Sora's gonna push right back! But, like, in a bracing way, moving him gently back into his previous position on this lobby couch or wherever they posted him up. ] And how come you didn't say anything? I woulda stayed if I knew you needed help too.

[fjorgedinfire]

[The couch is good, because it allows him to flop gracelessly back against it and nurse his torso.]

Because I wasn't actively dying like the other two. I just got roughed up. [He takes a deep breath, and lets it out slowly.] One of the damn spirits smacked me into the tree. Turns out they have acid for spit.

[He closes his eyes with a slight frown, and the Mask vanishes. Now, Sora can see how pale Fjord is, sweat-soaked and bloodstained and dirty, his torso bare because apparently acid ate through his clothes, leaving raw second-degree burns behind that are oozing clear and bloody liquids. The cure has helped close some of those, but it's leaving pale green, almost yellow skin in its wake as it scars. A few old puncture wounds are still visible from last month, as well.]

[arsarcanum]

[ And all easygoing niceness will drop right off Sora's face for that because bud? Buddy? Pal? Friend? Compadre? That isn't just roughed up.

Sora opens his mouth, then slaps a hand over his mouth. It's not really horror, it's more like he was just about to say something and then realized better. ]

Lay down. [ Is the first thing he says after removing his hand. ] How did you make it here like that, are you - aw, geez. [ Fortunately, there are a few extra clean rags left from either the armfuls Sora brought down or the ones Misty brought with. He seizes one that looks like it was part of a towel once upon a time, pours some water from the pitcher, and starts cleaning anything that doesn't look too raw. ] I can heal things, but I can't, like, disinfect too good, Alisaie hasn't shown me the spell for that. Fjord, are you kidding me?

what a good icon, fjord is so ashamed from it alone

[fjorgedinfire]

I'm not dying, Sora. [But he lies down anyway, because he does feel pretty bad in the pit of his stomach about how much raw concern Sora has bare on his face. When Sora starts washing parts, he has to grit his teeth against the sting, and his voice turns tight.] Javert and Link were gonna bleed out, you didn't need to be worryin' about me when I was just beat up.

[Ignoring that if he'd mentioned this earlier, probably the acid burns would be markedly less raw, and not creeping under his armour from extended exposure. And he wouldn't have hurt himself just now. And his ribs would have gotten fixed sooner.]

thanks, he should be!!! >(

[arsarcanum]

[ Burns feel like dying. Seriously! Sora's splashed himself enough with cooking oil enough to know. Having them all over has got to be rough. ]

I worry about everyone, one more person isn't gonna kill me. [ How long until the recharge? He pats his pocket, pulls out a strange looking pin from it before stashing it away again. Good thing he took that trip back to the restaurant, but it's going to take some time now that he's not doing chores half as often anymore. ]

I can't fix things unless you tell me about them. [ Sora frowns at him. Big guy, older. He should know that, right? ] And I know I kinda. [ Froze up. Deer in the headlights. Especially after he figured out what happened to Soldat. ] But when were you gonna tell me, huh? Was I supposed to bully it outta you five minutes ago?

[fjorgedinfire]

[Big guy, used to being forcibly independent because he has always felt like no-one else wanted him. And still doesn't, to a degree!]

Frankly, if you hadn't fuckin' tried me just then, I probably would've gone back to the Invincible and cleaned up there. [He winces sharply when Sora's ministrations rub over his rib again - but definitely the wrong side, this time, now that the puncture wounds are visible to distinguish.]

[arsarcanum]

[ Oh ho ho. Buddy. If Sora knew that. If only he knew. ]

Yeah, you and your - [ Sora squints at those ribs, makes a big HMMMMM noise ] - no ribs? No ribs not broke left? It's an hour's walk back. And you would've made it back with.... what? Happy thoughts? [ Is Sora... bullying someone? Is this happening? Is he this testy when he's worried about someone getting more injured on his watch? Sir, you'd BETTER BELIEVE IT. ]

[fjorgedinfire]

I thought it was just the acid-- I've been dealing with the broken ribs for a fuckin' month, I figured hittin' the tree just- softened them up a bit or something.

[He's on the defensive now, but it's the kind where he's cowed, not aggressive.]

All I was gonna do was go home and sleep it off, 'fore we all go piling into the church for the next few days.

[arsarcanum]

[ Sora closes his eyes and feels closer to the thirty years he remembers than the twenty years this body is. Not in the sense that he's, like, tired. (Even though he is and he is not able to put a finger on why that might be.)

Sleep it off, huh. ]

Do you heal in your sleep? [ He opens his eyes and says this calmly. ] Some people here do that. [ Soldat did. Not thinking about that right now! ] Are you one of them? Do these things just kind of go away overnight?

[fjorgedinfire]

I'm a half-orc, I'm resilient as shit.

[That's... not a yes. Even though through Dungeons and Dragons the answer is functionally yes it's. Less applicable now they're dead.

He takes a deep breath, winces, and sighs slowly. His voice is a bit softer, trying to reassure Sora.] I would've been fine, Sora. I just didn't want you freaking out over me while the others were worse.

[arsarcanum]

[ Yeah, that's going to get him sort of a flat look, but that reassurance is almost... better? Worse? Bworse.

He bites the inside of his cheek. He'd needed that, is the thing. Or, like, he's not sure if he could have handled one last thing on top of Javert and Link coming in looking like hot garbage and Soldat and Alisaie not being around. Plus, it's Fjord. He hasn't really forgotten that line going slack, dude. ]

I don't think that my peace of mind is worth you getting sick from getting an infection or something. [ There. That's the truth. If Fjord did get sick from all this, it would have been Sora's fault anyway. For not being the kind of person who doesn't crack under pressure. ] Tell me. And if you can't tell me, tell someone else. Take care of yourself. You have to.

[fjorgedinfire]

[He rests his head on the couch, and closes his eyes for a moment.]

Yeah, well. I'm not so sure my wellbeing is worth you completely going out of your gourd and not being able t'help anyone.

[But it's not an argument: frankly, despite his grim tone, it almost sounds like a joke. And when he opens his eyes to look at Sora, his expression is a bit softer under all the pain.]

I'll try and keep a better eye on myself for you.

[arsarcanum]

[ Good that those eyes are closed, because Sora really is going to wince at that. He knows he's not a trained healer, that he's just sort of a stand-in until Misty is around, or Alisaie is back on her feet, so he knows that it's not his responsibility to be totally calm in these kinds of situations. Doesn't mean he can't stop wanting to be. He's just too soft. He hurts when other people are hurt. It's frustrating.

Sora will be back to normal when Fjord opens them peepers, and he'll... laugh softly at that, actually. ]

For me, huh. Does that mean we're friends now? 'Cause that's the only way to make that count. [ He is going to scam you into friendship if it is the last thing he does, ya big lug. ]

[fjorgedinfire]

I'm sure as shit not doing it for myself. [Gaze upon him, Sora, and despair.]

[But he looks at Sora again, giving him an almost appraising look, and a long silence.

That eventually ends in a small huff, because anything louder will hurt himself, and he closes his eyes again.] You are relentless on that, huh.[He gives a sigh, but he's smiling.] Yeah. I think we're friends now.

[arsarcanum]

[ Yesss. Sora will give a light fistpump! Not as energetic as he would if, uh, a lot of his friends hadn't just died or gotten horribly injured on him, but friendship: acquired.

It's also a bit light because, uh, that first sentence may not have been heavy to Fjord, but to Sora? Hm. Bad! He puts his fist away, shakes his head, and... Oh look at that. Recharged. Another green shower of magic plantlife washes over them both. ]

That's good enough for me. Better than good. [ Fjord's got a good smile. Sora's going to have to remember this. Try and make it happen again. ] We can work on you doing it for yourself later. For right now, I want you around. All right?

[fjorgedinfire]

[He grabs a deep lungful of air and holds it when Sora casts the heal spell, just in case setting it while he's lying down makes something go funny and he wants the extra lung capacity, and releases it slowly. His ribs are still aching, but they feel marginally better. His torso looks much less raw, but it's still scarring instead of straight-up healing. So now he's got a weird rash-patterned yellow streak across his pale green torso.]

Can't say I'll be around for too long. Once we're done here we're gonna head back t'the courthouse and see if there's anything useful.

[arsarcanum]

[ Sora scowls and slaps Fjord gently on the knee. Bro, he was like, being emotional and shit! ]

You're staying. If you crawl out on your own, that's none of my business, but let's get you to crawling level first. [ Mutter, mutter. ] What'd you guys need in the courthouse so bad, anyway?

[fjorgedinfire]

[The slap on the knee gets a reflex twitch, but he laughs gently at it. Hey, it hurts less, he barely grimaces!]

Well we killed the fuckers that used to live there, so we're gonna see if we can't learn anything about the people. Maybe find some paperwork on them or somethin'.

[arsarcanum]

[ Then maybe he shoulda slapped him harder!!!! ]

Huh? Paperwork? [ Sorry for the protracted yet completely silent reply, but Sora is just going to sort of stare at Fjord in disbelief. All of this? For paperwork? ]

[fjorgedinfire]

[Sora please.]

Yeah - I mean. We've finally got access t'this place now, might as well see what kind of stuff we can pull out of it. And looking through all their files could tell us stuff about the people that used to live there, you know?