logsinthenight | EVENT LOG: HUNGER AND THIRST

Entry tags:

EVENT LOG: HUNGER AND THIRST

characters: everyone.
location: around beacon.
date/time: september 19-30.
content: some new friends - or enemies? - seek offerings, and offer something in return
warnings: memories may involve violence, death, grotesque body horror. please cw as appropriate.

pining for the things i could have been.

Recently, the forest spirits have been agitated. The crooners, those that remain, chatter noisily and strut with purpose. The lunch lady hunches over their station and holds claws to their face, miming peering through dense brush. The skunk judge murmurs about the ones from the countryside. Word has passed beyond the reaches of Beacon's light - there are people in town, and they are mostly good this time. These lantern-bearers have lasted longer than most. They may even want to help.

Seems these spirits will have to see these people with their own eyes, and test those rumors themselves.

For the first two prompts below, please feel free to NPC spirits yourselves. However, if you prefer, you may post your toplevel under the MOD-CONTROLLED SPIRITS header and we will do our best to drop in and out with interactions as time permits. These are not intended to be one-on-one threads with spirits written by the mods, and you will likely not always want to wait for a mod reply at every step and may find yourself doing some minor NPCing all the same, but we will do our best to keep up with you and your thread partners who tag in!

In that header, please specify whether you want a friendly or antagonistic spirit, or if you want a surprise, you can always say "surprise me!"

ALL MY JOYS.

You come home to find spirits in your wardrobe, with socks on their hands and pants tied in daisy chains from wall to wall. Abruptly they squeak and dive for cover, or crash through windows in their attempts to escape. They steal things that are yours, only for you to find them days later, floating in the lake or buried in the greenhouse. Can you chase them down alone? Maybe you need some help.

Not all spirits are so troublesome. Maybe you turn up at The Landmark kitchen to find that one spirit has already gotten the coffee pot started - well, except it has poured instant cheese powder from a box of easy mac into the pot. But at least it's trying to help! Maybe you can show it how the machine works. Others wind up at Solis's labs where they thumb rapidly through books and peck at computer keys, and more than one takes samples from the shelves and shoves them in your face. Did you need this alien foot in a jar? No?

A pack of roving... branches? crawls around town. They have no mouths with which to speak, but instead vibrate and clack their many tangled limbs together. They grow in number and size, making a thicket of live wood that bars you from a doorway, completely fills up a section of the tunnels under the town - or makes an impromptu and convenient bridge, if you think that climbing on someone's limbs is appropriate. Is it?

Largely these spirits seem neutral, even benign. Confused. They might ask for your help, or try their best but they struggle to communicate even more than the usual forest spirits do. They have no sense of what your personal space is, though, and more than one will reach for a lantern to bring it closer and investigate. Awfully uncomfortable, so what are you going to do about it?

ALL MY GRIEF.

At any moment, the above interactions can go south fast if you meet the wrong spirit. The one who took your lantern? Decides to run off with it, leaving you gasping for air and with very few options if you are to survive. The branches constrict and crush you, or drop you suddenly in the river. Are they here to harm you, or just to test your limits?

Others will be malevolent no matter what. The scrapyard dog snarls and pulls at its chain as it watches the thing that stalks and hunts. A small herd of soft, wooly spirits crouch low to the ground, whimper and pant as if sick or starving, only to turn on you with vicious teeth once you seem invested in assisting. Better hope you have someone nearby who can help you fend them off. Or is it better to try to distract them and make an escape? Will they be convinced to stand down, or will they wear your face as a new mask?

ALL MY BONES.

You are directed by the local spirits to the dense curtain of trees where torchlight fades to darkness. The ones you are familiar with hang back, but nod for you to continue ahead alone, or with a friend or two if you prefer. The more people who go together, the stronger the connection - as indicated by the spirits grabbing at your hands and linking them together, and giving a very serious nod. Bring your offerings whether they be food, stories, gifts, or memories of your own, and hope they are sufficient. Place them on the forest floor, or hold them out to the air. The new spirits will find you, they promise; this is not a trick. Make yourselves comfortable on the damp, mossy ground and wait for the sound of footsteps in the leaf litter.

For this prompt, you are welcome to describe your arrival to the site if you like, but all that is required is a comment with the names of the people involved, and the offerings you bring. Characters can make multiple offerings and visit multiple spirits as many times as they wish.

Afterward, a spirit will lead you back to Bonfire Square and encourage you to tell others what you've learned from your new guests. No fair keeping the goods to yourself alone!

LEFT IN THE LONG NIGHT.

After connecting with spirits, you are led back to the bonfire, to recover and recuperate from the joining of hearts, minds, and memories. You will find yourself weary, in a way the flames seem to help. The glow of the campfire is comforting, tempting. It might be difficult not to fall asleep or try to draw others into enjoying the comforting lull of crackling firewood along with you.

The weariness does fade, after some time around the fire. You're not the only one resting from the experience in the glow of firelight — and there's likely things you've seen to share. Ideas and memories and pieces and figments of past to fit into place like puzzle pieces. Now is a good a place as any to share it, isn't it?

Lastly, those that approach a spirit in tandem will find an unseen consequence. A link between them that isn't so easily shaken by a short stay at the fireside. Characters will find that feelings and sensations seem to move from one to the other without warning. Fear, anger, mourning, resentment, joy, love. Touching makes the link stronger, but even distance isn't enough to stop it. Did you want to share night terrors, even a mile apart? Or to taste coffee, even though you're in the middle of brushing your teeth? Well, too bad. The effects will last for two weeks, whether you like it or not.

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( He returns the smile, soft and a little hesitant. He's never known much of happiness, but he knows that this is what it must feel like, and it is not so terrible. It radiates from Soldat as well, and that is perhaps the most surprising thing. Javert trembles at the realization. )

God help us both.

( He says, squeezing Soldat's hand before wiping the tears from his face. There's a part of him that almost wants to feel foolish for having cried so much in front of him, but Soldat has never cared, and he's never seemed to respect him any less. Even so, he reaches for a dish rag. )

We should make ourselves presentable before the others come.

[One more squeeze to his shoulder, and Soldat steps back, too, dabbing their eyes with their sleeve.]

Misty's seen worse. I've fallen apart in her old cabin three or four times, now. I punched a hole in her wall once, back in the old cabin.

[But they'll pull out their handkerchief, which is more effective than a sleeve, and finally retrieve the tin of cocoa off the floor.]

She wouldn't let me fix it. She. Framed it. Ugh.

( Javert wets the dish cloth and uses it to wipe the tears from his face. Had it not been for red around his eyes, it would be impossible to tell that he had wept. He composes himself a little, but he doesn't return to his spot at the kitchen table, hovering near the other man. )

Much of what that woman does mystifies me.

( Though that's something that could be said of many people. They are all much too emotional for him. )

Was there a reason why?

Edited 2020-10-14 00:21 (UTC)

Reminding me not to do it again. And that maybe I'm allowed to be angry sometimes.

[Their nose wrinkles up at that, and they start filling the kettle with water. Cocoa. They're going to fucking make cocoa, and they're both going to drink it and feel better.]

Asset took over, then. The. Loud one that only does one word at a time. That you met during the lantern problems.

So it was not simply a lantern issue?

( He focuses on that. The rest of it is still a little perplexing to him, but he supposes it will always be that way. Best to focus on the more immediate problem, and the thing Soldat was most concerned about him knowing. )

Has it happened since?

[Soldat sets the kettle on the stove and leans over the counter to flip open their lantern's shutters more fully, revealing the panel they usually keep hidden, the one with the small crack leaking green light.]

Ever since the lanterns malfunctioned. This, and the Asset, have been here. It has only come out a handful of times. Once to help me against green-eyes. Or to try to.

( Javert frowns in consternation, eyeing the pane of broken glass. To anyone who doesn't know him well, it would almost seem as if he's become wary of the other man, but his caution is only borne out of concern. He doesn't hide it well. )

Doesn't it terrify you?

( He asks, without looking away from Soldat's lantern. He can scarcely think of anything more horrifying than the thought of losing control, and becoming the man he once was. )

You do not think he will harm anyone?

Yes.

[Not like that's hard. Soldat is terrified of many things, but losing control and becoming the Asset again is pretty high up on the list. They close it up again, gently, as if afraid of doing more damage.]

It hasn't tried to hurt anyone in a long time. It warned Misty it was getting violent. So she could let us go away for a little. It tried to save us from the green-eyes, when they were kidnapping us. Hasn't been out since.

[(No. What is it, Asset? No.) Soldat sighs a little, sure Javert heard that, too.]

I don't know what it means. Most of the time.

( He doesn't seem to understand it either, falling silent for several moments. If there's a reason that the Asset doesn't want to speak, Javert doesn't want to consider it. Thinking is already difficult enough when he's alone in his mind, and he cannot do so when he's compromised by so many emotions. Though he does have to wonder, )

What of the other voices, then? Where did they come from?

Sarge. The, uh. The one who sounds like me but younger, like from Before HYDRA. He's been here almost from the beginning. The one that sounds not like me at all. The Bottomless Pit. That came from one of my deaths.

[They make a bit of a face, taking the teapot off the burner and pouring two mugs. The cocoa goes in next, and they start stirring.]

That's part of why I want to eat everything all the time.

Ah.

( That seems to make some sense to him. He had noticed the other man's penchant to chew on things, and that he ate a little more than he used to, but he had not considered what could have caused it. He feels embarrassed for having not done so, and he lowers his head. )

I do not know how you can stand it. They all speak so incessantly.

[Soldat sets one mug in front of Javert. They keep the other for themselves, and sink down to a seat at the small kitchen table wearily.]

They're worse lately than usual. I'll admit. Usually it's not all the time. I think they get worse the more stressed I am.

[And with emotions bouncing between them all-- Soldat, Misty, and Javert; and also Reiju and Merwen-- it was riling all three up.]

But usually. It's kind of. Okay. I'm never really alone.

( Javert takes the mug into his hands mechanically. It's much too hot for him to drink, and though it may be a little too sweet for his tastes, he uses it to keep his fingers warm. He settles back into his spot at the kitchen table, stacking up his notes and pushing them aside to make more room. )

This is all beyond my comprehension. I'm sorry.

( He makes it sound as if it's a personal failure. It certainly feels that way. )

So long as it doesn't distress you, however, that is what matters. You may not be those men any longer, but they are still very much a part of you.

Don't I know it.

[Soldat sighs a little.]

It's okay. Now that we know what's going on. Maybe it will be a little easier. Won't think I'm necessarily going crazier anymore. And they'll know you can hear them, so.

[They smile faintly.]

And I do sleep sometimes, so. There's that.

I cannot imagine that would help.

( He hasn't experienced Soldat's nightmares, but he's seen enough of them from the outside to know that they are nothing pleasant. He brings the mug up to his lips and takes a cautious sip, his face wrinkling a bit from the taste of the sugar, which echoes across their bond. )

You and the mademoiselle think too much. It is intolerable.

[Soldat manages not to laugh at the problem with the sugar, and pushes over the milk to dilute it a little for him. (Soldat is very fond of sugar, so it's always a little funny when other people aren't.) But they can't quite smother the amusement, maybe a little hysterical, at the statement.]

Really? Sometimes. I'm feel like I must think a lot less than others do. I know I used to.

( It's difficult for Javert not to smile, when he looks up and sees the amusement written plainly across Soldat's face. Why does he think that's so funny? There's a bit confusion radiating from Javert, but the other man's happiness overwhelms it, and he hides his face, busying himself by pouring milk in his cup. )

Neither did I. Perhaps that is why I am still so unused to it.

( And then, before Soldat gets any wrong ideas, he says, )

You do not have to cease thinking on my behalf. I'm glad that you have come so far.

Don't know if I could. Even if I wanted to. Once you start, it's hard to make it stop.

[They're perfectly happy with their own cocoa, and have a sip, feeling better finally now than they have in days. They know what's happening, they know it has an end at some point (all things here do), and Javert isn't angry.]

Thank you. For. Accepting me.

I have done nothing to warrant your praise.

( He answers with a huff, taking a drink of his hot cocoa which is still much too sweet for his liking. He drinks it anyway. There's a twinge of distaste mixed with embarrassment, all of which is radiating from Javert, and he falls silent for several moments before admitting, )

I fear there is very little about you that I won't forgive.

You do things to warrant praise every day. Like saying things like that.

[There's something earnest to their voice, here, and a relieved contentment radiating across the bond between them.]

Might be a little dumb, I'm sure there's things I could do that. Don't deserve forgiveness. But I will try to be worthy of it.

( He almost looks as if he's about to argue, to say that being humble is not worthy of being praised, before he thinks better of it and frowns. It's not something they are going to agree on, and Javert understands very little about why Soldat feels that way. As for the rest, he huffs a bit. )

But you wouldn't. I know how you are. Why do you think I respect you so?

( He may as well admit to it, knowing that he won't keep it a secret with Soldat in his head. His hand twitches for a moment before he fiddles a bit with the handle of the mug, feeling abashed again. )

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EVENT LOG: HUNGER AND THIRST

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