EVENT LOG: A GIRL, A BOY, AND A GRAVEYARD

[nextnightmods]

EVENT LOG:
A GIRL, A BOY, AND A GRAVEYARD

characters: everyone.
location: Helix Station; Solis Labs; Bonfire Square
date/time: February 14-22
content: Preparations are underway for what may be Beacon's final battle, while remaining forest spirits do their best to spread love and cheer. See details here.
warnings: n/a, mark threads as needed

Much remains to be done, and time is of the essence. Somewhere in the darkness to the east, Beacon's greatest threat to its remaining life moves. Will you be ready when the time comes? Will you have made time to let those around you know how much this second shot at life has meant?

helix station

Weaver bounces from group to group, checking in on people. "Anything you need help with? Let me know," she offers - whether that's a hand to hold some part you're trying to weld, or assistance operating the portal to pull in some specialty materials.

You have all the station's resources at your disposal, and backup and escape plans to make. Which is the priority, though? Is it something you even all agree on?

And what is that low, barely-audible buzzing drone? It pulses in and out of detection, settling into your skull. The station's machinery keeping the heat on and the air moving have their own constant drone, but this is different.

Feel free to address Weaver in your replies if you like. Note that any remaining spirits in the station (such as the large one wearing corpses, or any that might have turned up later) have become less-predictable and prone to lashing out in aggression when they're not trying to hide from you.

solis labs

Clara busily retrieves documents and samples as any are requested. While she doesn't know how to work a computer, she does generally understand the file system and is eager to point you to where you might read up on previous portal and lantern tests, find coordinates for worlds that might host key materials, or just enjoy some vintage poetry in the library upstairs.

A pair of badger-like spirits snuffles through the labs, eyeing you and your friends nervously. They don't seem much interested in conversation, but they will stick their noses in anything - your drinks, your sleeve, your ear if you're not careful, and their noses are cold.

If two or more people head outside together for a few minutes, they'll hear a stilted growl and a flash of green eyes in the trees - and then an attempt at a word.

h̶͈͝ẻ̴̢̛͖l̷̛̜̝̉p̴̓͝ͅ

Note that as stated on the ooc post, engaging with the green-eyed spirit carries the risk of violence and death, as always. Do so at your own risk.

stick by me and i will stick by you

There may be defenses to be built, weapons handling to teach to those few remaining who want to learn to defend themselves better, and general plans to make. When the World Eater arrives, who will be on the front lines to try and delay it while the bomb is made ready? Who will defend the rest from any spirits bent on following its instructions to slaughter every one of you? If things go south, how will you make your way to a portal to escape, and who will operate it?

Meanwhile, spirits hand out their cookies with chirps of encouragement. It's not all doom and gloom, they insist - they believe in you! And they want you all to believe in each other, to feel a little lighter and happier, if only just for a short time. The messages on their heart-shaped cookies (the whole candy heart concept didn't quite land right, it seems) are all a little odd and who knows what they do, but it all seems to be in good fun.

Feel free to decide for yourselves what the heart effects are, how long they last, if you can have more than one at a time - so long as they generally follow the ideas on the details post.

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Comments

[theimpatientone]

The rhythm of a waltz is, fortunately, easy to pick up on, and after a few swings around, and a little bit of looking down at her feet as she goes, Merwen falls into it more or less, following Soldat along.

"A kindness," she says, laughing. "Is this how they dance on your world? It shares such fun!"

[worthallthis]

"Oh, Merwen." They grin, actually grin, at the statement. It's a goddamn waltz it's old-fashioned it's only borderline fun. "Merwen. This is one of the slowest, easiest dances I know. Didn't wanna scare ya right off the bat."

If she wants a Lindy, though, they will happily teach her a few steps, right here in the middle of the Invincible common room.

[theimpatientone]

Well, old-fashioned is relative. It's brand new for her!

"Do you think I can't keep up?" Merwen says, with a bit of a challenge and a bit of a laugh. "Am I doing so poorly at this that you need to treat me as a child?" Show her, show her all the steps.

[worthallthis]

"I didn't know if you knew anything about dancing!" they protest with a little laugh, and spin her out into a twirl. They'll be ready to catch her if she stumbles, and ready to pull her back in a moment later. "I'll show you some real dancing, then, if you're so sure you can handle it."

[theimpatientone]

"Real dancing, as though there were false dancing."

The spin catches her off-guard, and for a moment her feet are tangled, but she recovers quickly enough. No worse than trying to find footing in a storm. Laughing, Merwen spins back, without the grace of practice but still enjoying herself.

[worthallthis]

Soldat won't let her fall, either, even if she stumbles. "Well, there's boring dancing. And bad dancing," they say, sending her out again, not in a twirl, but just in a stretching step with a firm grasp on her hand, demonstrating with exaggerated care what one does with one's feet during the step. "And then there's fun dancing. I take it your people dance?"

[theimpatientone]

"Of course. Is that not part of being human?" She smiles. "We dance and sing to celebrate. Are there humans who don't do that?"

And yes, that makes Soldat human by dancing. Yes. No arguing.

"How do you share the joy in your heart without that?"

[worthallthis]

Look "human" and "person" are not necessarily the same thing. They're willing to admit they're biologically human. Mostly. Unless the serum made them something else. Still not a person. Not quite.

"By using their words, mostly, I think. Or else they don't have a lot of joy," Soldat allows. There's definitely some people without much joy. (We might not have that much, ourselves. Just right now it's hard to hold still. Hell, not even sure you know what joy feels like.) "I haven't met a lot of people with joy to share," they admit, turning her back up against his side and wrapping an arm around her waist to show her a side-by-side step.

[theimpatientone]

"Oh!"

This new step has caught her off-guard a little, and once again she's looking down at their feet to see what she's meant to do. For a moment she's off the beat, but she stops for a half second and starts again, trying to find it agian.

"Is joy so rare?" she asks, rather sadly. "There are so many things to share joy over. A beautiful piece of art, the blue of the sky, the birth of a child. I never found a lack of things to share joy with."

[worthallthis]

They pause when she does, patient, and pick up when she's ready again. "I. Frankly, I'm not sure what exactly joy feels like," they admit, thinking of Sarge's silent comment. "But I might be a bad one to ask. I took months to work out what love actually felt like, even though I was feeling it most of that time."

[theimpatientone]

The look she gives them is a sad one. To not know joy, to not know love; there's something obscene about that, as far as she's concerned. "Then we should work on that. I don't know what will happen here, with all of us, but we should find you some small joy before it comes to that."

[worthallthis]

Soldat spins her again gently, smiling a bit. "That'd be nice. What do you suggest we do? What is joy like, for you, Merwen?"

[theimpatientone]

"Well, this, for one."

She smiles at him, laughing. "I share joy in the company of my loved ones, in a bright, clear day with no storm on the horizon, in a long underwater dive surrounded by fish and squid. Is that not enough?"

[worthallthis]

They duck their head a little, shy at being called a source of joy. "If it's that easy. Maybe I have felt it." There's no bright days here, no fish or squid, but there's company of loved ones. There's dancing and learning to cook. Wrist-hugs.

They pause and then drop her gently into a dip back, hand in the small of her back and the other strong on hers, one foot bracing against hers so she'll know she's not getting dropped. "How do you tell the difference between love and joy?"

[theimpatientone]

She gasps with the dip, but she holds on tight to Soldat. She trusts them.

Laughing as she comes back up, she says, "Is there a difference? It's rare for me to share joy in something, or someone, that I don't also love."

[worthallthis]

"Feelings are complicated," Soldat complains, but amiably, pulling her back up and into a match-step, stepping backwards and drawing her with him, before urging her gently back the way they came, keeping their feet moving the same, to the beat. "Trying to work out what is what is so hard. Maybe it doesn't matter, if it's all kind of the same anyway."

[theimpatientone]

"Maybe it doesn't," Merwen says with a half shrug. She briefly glances down at their feet as she follows back. "But most people I've known spend a great deal of time trying to understand their feelings anyway. I think it's a worthwhile pastime."

She gives them a bright smile. "It's a very human pastime."

[worthallthis]

They maybe really roll their eyes a little this time, turn her in a spin, then back in, and then the song's over. Soldat stops and steps back. Not even the cookie can get them entirely over the problem of needing breaks from touch. "I spent a long time not thinking about them at all. I guess having the freedom to is better than not."

[theimpatientone]

"I would agree with that. It seems better than cutting yourself off entirely from it."

She puts a hand over her heart, breathing deeply from the exertion and from faint laughter. "Truthfully, it does me good to see you like this. It's so alien to you, but... you look happy. You should be happy."

[worthallthis]

(Or being cut entirely off from it.)

Soldat ducks their head, a little embarrassed by the comment. Maybe a little sad, knowing that "happy" is a rare thing for them-- worse lately than they were a year ago, they realize. But Merwen hasn't seen them during any of the really good times. "Not very good at being happy, I'll admit," they say sheepishly. "But this was nice. Thanks for playing along, Merwen."