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idream_ofmemes2023-04-05 09:59 pm
perchancetodreammods) wrote in idream_ofmemes2023-04-05 09:59 pm
Entry tags:
TDM #7 - April Showers (and Other Weather Conditions)
April Showers (and Other Weather Conditions)
New Arrivals
You wake from what should have been a normal night of sleep bolting upright from what is very clearly the bed you went to sleep in that night, but in a strange place. A tower, high in the air, with huge open windows that clouds could lazily float through. Before you is a massive oaken double door, emblazoned with a carving of an eye, and a note on black lies atop your bedsheets. The note instructs you to go through the door and come to a place called the Torn Oak for more answers, and is signed by someone called "the Outsider." You climb out of bed, pull on the door handle, and step out into an ethereal, mysterious, ever-shifting world of dreams.
─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───
Welcome to the Dreamscape. A beautiful, endless dream where you and a bunch of other unique and interesting minds from across the multiverse have been gathered to connect, commiserate, and make the impossible... possible! There are many fantastical locales to explore and even more to come, and you are given your very own Nimbus Cloud to serve as your home. This puffy pink cloud will host a pocket dimension just for you where the only limit to what you can create is your own imagination. Missing personal items or locations from the waking world? No problem--- the only thing you have to do in order to earn feathers, the local currency, is make meaningful connections with others. In fact, making these meaningful connections seems to be the only task assigned to you by your mysterious host, the Outsider.
In order to make your way in this weird and whimsical world, you'll need to form lasting bonds with your fellow dreamers, learn more about the Outsider and their intentions, and stay on your toes. There is something very strange happening here, and despite their jolly demeanor, they are clearly struggling to maintain control of their own domain--- something that could land all of you in danger.
─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───
Welcome to the Dreamscape. A beautiful, endless dream where you and a bunch of other unique and interesting minds from across the multiverse have been gathered to connect, commiserate, and make the impossible... possible! There are many fantastical locales to explore and even more to come, and you are given your very own Nimbus Cloud to serve as your home. This puffy pink cloud will host a pocket dimension just for you where the only limit to what you can create is your own imagination. Missing personal items or locations from the waking world? No problem--- the only thing you have to do in order to earn feathers, the local currency, is make meaningful connections with others. In fact, making these meaningful connections seems to be the only task assigned to you by your mysterious host, the Outsider.
In order to make your way in this weird and whimsical world, you'll need to form lasting bonds with your fellow dreamers, learn more about the Outsider and their intentions, and stay on your toes. There is something very strange happening here, and despite their jolly demeanor, they are clearly struggling to maintain control of their own domain--- something that could land all of you in danger.
DATE
4/5/2023
THEME
Weather-themed music and springtime!
QUICK NAV
Constellations
When you join the Dreamscape, you will receive a magical Constellation pendant, allowing you to connect to the DreamNet! The star-shaped pendant, which varies depending on your personal style, lights up and projects a hologram screen that will allow you to send messages, videos, and voice calls. A handy way to stay connected with fellow dreamers on the go that is intuitive enough for anyone to understand, whether you come from a world where email has been invented or not!
Mr. Blue Sky
{Electric Light Orchestra} ♫♪♩♬
Do you have a television in your Nimbus Cloud? Or perhaps you just have the screen of light that can be displayed from your Constellation charm. Whatever the case may be, it flicks on, and the Outsider is in a suit. No, not their usual ornate body suit, but a poorly-tailored black and white business suit, completed with a cloud-print tie. They are standing in front of a map of the Dreamscape, holding a pointing stick. They look ridiculous, even a bit disheveled. As they begin to speak, both their tone and their smile appear to be more forced than usual.
“Good afternoon, Dreamscape residents! It’s spring time here, which means we are officially clear of snowstorm territory and on to warm breezes, lovely flowers, and fresh leaves on all the trees. And of course it wouldn’t be spring without a little unpredictable weather!”
Cloud formations ranging from green to yellow to red began forming on their map, moving slowly across it from left to right.
“As you can see, we have some rather unique weather conditions rolling in! They’ll be rotating through all the locations in the Dreamscape, and changing every few hours, so I recommend that all of you stay up to date. I’ve provided resources on your Constellations and on any electronic devices in the Dreamscape to help you get the latest information on what weather will be impacting you, and what impact it will have on your location! Good luck out there, and whatever the weather, it’s better together!”
The Outsider’s rather cheesy presentation of the newest Dreamscape event, while amusing, seems out of character with their normally heartfelt or enthusiastic monologues. But before you have time to really dwell on that, the sky above you begins to shift and change. The spring time weather conditions are quickly arriving, affecting every location in the Dreamscape, and each type of weather has a magical effect of some kind that is influenced by the location itself and the people in it. You can choose whether to look up these effects and stay prepared or fly blind and hope for the best, but these weather conditions will be affecting every location except inside Nimbus Clouds!
Here Comes the Sun
{The Beatles} ♫♪♩♬
Everyone loves a sunny day, especially during a rainy season like early spring! If you’re in a place with sunshine, you’re in luck.
Clouds part above you, warmth filling the air as the sun’s golden rays envelop you and the landscape around you in a honey glow. As sunlight touches the ground, flowers begin to bloom in droves on any surface it might be reasonable to find them, and fresh green leaves sprout from the branches of every tree present. The sweet scent of nectar and florals fills the air everywhere that this light graces the ground, but the effects are particularly potent in the botanical gardens. The warm and almost heavenly glow from the celestial body above seems to soften the whole world, as if everything is faded slightly like an old photograph.
Breathe in. Take that sweetness into your lungs. Feel the warmth on your skin. You can feel a strange, calm euphoria rise up from your core so strongly that you feel compelled to exhale it out. With the dreamy light of the sun, you are instilled with a nearly overpowering joy. What will you do with this unexpected moment of bliss? Who will you spend it with? Will you reminisce about your favorite times, discover who you are without your burdens, or just allow yourself to float through the merry fields of flowers and forget? And of course, all this begs another important question--- how will you cope when it ends?
Northern Downpour
{Panic! at the Disco} ♫♪♩♬
One of the milder ones on the roster, light rains are the most common weather conditions you will encounter. Ranging from fading drizzles with a bit of sun to gloomy but calm showers, these peaceful storms have a large spread, change intensity often, and last longer than the other weather conditions. Occasionally, these storms can impact a single location for days at a time rather than just a few hours. If waiting out the rain doesn’t suit your schedule, there’s a shop in the Twisted City having a half off sale on umbrellas (making them only one feather, instead of two), but finding the shop is another matter. As with most shops in the Twisted City, it has a habit of disappearing, and reappearing elsewhere… But it’ll turn up eventually. (Probably.)
Whether you’re out in the rain or sheltered inside, the effect of the light rain is the same. As the persistent, musical sound of water droplets striking every surface fills the air and thrums in your ears, you begin to feel profoundly nostalgic, and feelings that you’ve been hiding or ignoring bubble to the surface. While it is up to you if this is enough to compel you to speak on these feelings, you will find that they nag at you, affecting your mood and plaguing your idle thoughts. Perhaps this is the time to have a conversation you’ve been avoiding?
Thunderclouds
{LSD} ♫♪♩♬
Another particularly common weather event that you’ll come across is heavy thunderstorms scattered in amongst the light rain. Much like the former, less intense version, these storms can linger, though not as long, and feature darker skies, heavier showers reaching up to the point of torrential downpours and even flooding, and the distant rumbling of thunder and flashes of lightning. The electricity is usually far enough in the distance that the rain is safe to walk in if you have an umbrella or don’t mind getting wet. Maybe you’re even the sort who likes to play in the rain--- in which case you’re in luck, these puddles are HUGE. However, this is also a great opportunity to huddle up and stay inside where it’s cozy.
Unlike the light rain, however, the heavy thunderstorms don’t influence your emotions. Instead, they are influenced by yours. Those in calm, playful, or romantic moods might see the storms grow a little lighter, the skies a brighter shade of gray, while Dreamers dealing with sadness might find the rain around them to be colder and heavier, or perhaps the clouds above you are darker and crackling with more lightning if you’re angry or scared. If you’re looking to change the vibe, start by changing the mood. Whether the severity of the storm is affected by you or the person next to you, a conversation could be enough to change the weather, and the state of the skies could be an indicator that someone around you could use a friend.
Jump Into the Fog
{The Wombats} ♫♪♩♬
More common at night or early in the morning, there is a slightly rarer chance that you’ll run into a patch of thick fog as you wander the Dreamscape. Dense, soupy, and gray, this fog is so intense it makes it hard to see more than a few feet in front of you, and will chill you down to your bones. Where fog is present, the sounds of the world will be duller, and everything will be eerily still.
This fog is not as innocent as the rain, however, and this is a very severe weather condition. As the cold sets in, sinking through your skin and making you shiver, so does a pervasive sense of anxiety, and a fear of the unknown. Listen closely and you’ll hear strange, unsettling sounds or barely-audible murmurs in the distance. What’s out there? It sounds so close, and yet you can’t see it.
What lurks in the fog is drawn from your own fears, and if you stray too far into the dense clouds, you’ll be met with a source of deep fear or stress from your own mind. Whether that’s monsters, people, places---you’ll find yourself among things that distress you. However, if you find another Dreamer to walk with, you may be able to escape the clutches of the fog. All you have to do is maintain physical contact with your companion. Hold hands, link arms, stand shoulder to shoulder or back to back, whatever works best for you, and as you proceed you’ll find that the fog is confused by the pairing, resulting in a fusion of your fears with those of your companion. Perhaps they conflict with one another, form something altogether new, or even result in something comical. Either way, this will allow you to share your burden with a friend, creating a situation that is easier to handle for both of you. Face your fears together, and the fog will lift, revealing the way forward. Or, if confrontation isn’t in the cards, you can always find somewhere indoors to hunker down and comfort each other until the danger passes instead.
Eye of the Storm
{MARINA} ♫♪♩♬
There is one more weather condition that it’s possible to run into, though this one is far less common and far more severe than any of the others. You almost won’t notice it at first as clouds loom overhead, threatening you with rain but never committing to it, and a brisk breeze blows through. However, the once-gentle gusts will escalate quickly, evolving into high winds with nearly enough force to bowl someone over.
As your hair and clothes whip in the wind, debris from the area begins to swirl around near the ground, and a piece of paper, fluttering in the breeze, flies up and slaps you, sticking to your body with the force of the gales. You peel it away from you and can barely make out the words printed on its surface before the rough winds rip it out of your hands and send it tumbling off into the distance.
Catch me if you can.
The page disappears from view, and there is a moment of complete, terrifying stillness as the tempest gales that seemed fit to carry you off just moments ago just drop off into nothing.
The paper, you realize, is cursed, having chosen you as its target, and from your mind a crisis of some kind is selected from your fears or memories and inflicted upon the surrounding area. This can be a natural disaster, an attacking army or monster, a chaotic mishap, or any other manner of catastrophe big enough to afflict the area you’re in, and it can range from comical to terrifying, all while massive gusts of wind bluster through the area. There are only two ways to end the disastrous effects of the high winds--- either resolve the crisis by overcoming the problem itself, or find that piece of paper and destroy it while the effects of the crisis attempt to keep you away from it, and the winds will persist until one of these things happens. Good luck out there! Maybe if you have an Emergency Wish, that could help you out?
Rain on Me
{Lady Gaga} ♫♪♩♬
As rotating weather effects impact the Dreamscape, this may be a good time to explore previous locations and see how they’ve changed with the weather and seasons. Investigate original locations like the Glass Lake and Twisted City, take the ferry over to Marrow Isle and see how Pumpkin Hollow looks in the spring, or visit your friends’ additions from last month’s wishing contest. Peruse the Locations page if you need ideas on where to go!
With all this rain, we’re sure to see some build-up over the course of this month, which will undoubtedly influence what’s to come, so stay tuned!
Additional Info!
-The Feather Info pages have yet to be updated with this information, but going forward we will be adding a new feather gain category: Shared Joy! You can earn this feather by meaningfully deepening your bond with another person over a shared wonderful moment of bliss. This is a fairly flexible category, but carries some weight. The rule of thumb is that it will count for any joyful interaction that brings characters significantly closer. Cannot be applied retroactively.
- Don't forget that we have a birthday chart for both players and characters!
-Reminder that activity check for March going into April has been waived. Existing players did not need to do AC this past week. Barring incident, it should resume as normal next month.
-NEW PLAYERS! Feel free to request a Discord link!
And last but not least, we have the winners of the wishing contest from last month's members-only event. Votes for first place were given 3 points, second place for 2, and third place for 1, ensuring that each vote was weighted according to priority.
In Third Place was Little Inkopolis & the ColisSeaum. Pearl Houzuki is awarded a free jumbo umbrella big enough for two people to stand under!
In Second Place was Blood Moon Library. Lioriley and Astarion are awarded a pair of stylish raincoats and a two-person umbrella of their own, to share.
In First Place is Rainbow Road. Princess Peach Toadstool and Lucas Kovach are awarded their own bespoke raincoats and colorful umbrellas respectively, as well as a letter informing that they will have the privilege of assisting in the planning of next month's Steamboat Gala. Details on that to be announced at the end of April!
An honorable mention to CB Ranch and Ambrosia Lounge, which tied for fourth place and were not far behind! A huge huge HUGE thank you to everyone who participated in making last month's event fun and filled with player participation!
Lucas Kovach || OC || OTA
In the shadow of the Torn Oak large puddles pool. Lucas claims one, his sneakers set at the edge as if to save them from the water. At least that was the intent until the rain kept coming down. Now they're just a drenched as the young man is, who stands barefoot in the middle of the puddle. His jeans rolled up but now heavy with water, thin shirt plastered to his lean frame, normally fluffy hair dangles in wet strings around his face.
He doesn't mind a single bit. In fact, a weirdly nostalgic feeling has Lucas's current thoughts wrapped up around him like a cold blanket. Thoughts of home, thoughts of Max and Rowan, of the future and moving forward towards it instead of waiting for it to simply happen. The longer he stays out here the more intense these thoughts become.
Spinning in a slow circle, Lucas turns just enough to spy someone close by. Offering a wave and a soft smile, he stops mid-turn but remains fixed in the middle of the puddle as the rain plinks down and creates an unending tune. "Pretty cool sounding weather, right?"
.•♫•♬• Jump Into The Fog •♬•♫•.
Future CW warning: cult activity and suicide. These topics could crop up in this thread so if you would prefer a toned down version or entirely censored please reach out by DM to the journal or my discord: daranon #3932
"Shit." Lucas curses under his breath, hugging his arms tight around himself. Not even his hoodie seems to be effective armor against the cold, but more concerning to the Medium is how dense the fog is. Not even his retrocognition can help navigate the thick soupy clouds as they seem to press in close around him.
It's also why Lucas nearly stumbles over a small object. It skitters off to the edge of fog wall where his feet kicked it. A styrofoam cup.
"Shit!" Lucas says, louder this time. Breath catches in his throat as fear grips it tight. Another small shape. And another. And another. More cups dot the shrouded landscape, in whatever direction the Medium turns in. "No. Fuck no, no no no. This can't be happening--!"
In a moment of absolute panic Lucas picks a direction and bolts. Styrofoam crunches under his sneakers but Lucas doesn't dare stop. He won't until someone else calls out for him or he rushes headlong into another Dreamer in his hasty, fear-induced rush to escape.
Hit me up for a customer starter if you'd rather! daranon #3932
Fog {{CW: unreality and allusions to hallucination, non-gory body horror imagery}}
"Breathe. Feel."
The quiet instruction is given by a deep, gravelly voice, and given by a taller man with broad shoulders and bright blue eyes that are darting around, watching everything with the twitchy unrest of someone just as scared, but focusing on nothing--not even on the younger man's face when he finally looks at him.
Ellis Moorhaven can feel the fog crawling inside his bones. Ants and butterflies, little insect legs dancing around inside where his marrow oughta be, and the kid he's trying to calm down?
Well, calm down--not his forte. Still, he looks like shit even for a cadaver. Waxy pallor, blue lips and tongue...no, guy's got eyes. Glowing, wide and white and fucking blinding, so much so he has to wince even in the fog.
Spirit medium, poor bastard.
When he's relatively sure the kid won't bolt, Ellis lets him go and crouches to pick up one of the styrofoam cups rolling around. Holding it by the edge, between thumb and forefinger, he regards it like a particularly interesting insect. Maybe one of the butterflies in his bones...nah, a moth, not as pretty.
"What's this?" He asks the kid, gesturing with the cup. "And can I kill it?"
The monster behind it, the creature that turned it into an object of horror--bad enough to be stuck dreaming so hard it feels like reality, if he can fuck up someone? Least it'll be fun going nuts again...
CW: dead bodies
The wind is knocked from his lungs the moment he realizes those hands on his shoulders are real. Breathe? How can he, surrounded by trinkets of a past he always denies remembering. It's not an Other Memory, but his own. No where to hide from it, not behind the usual tricks and mental containment taught to him by IOPSA trained Mediums.
"Fuck," he says quieter, more ragged as lungs scream for air. "Sorry...sorry, I didn't think anyone was out here, you know?"
As the gruff man inspects the cup, offers it towards him, Lucas can't help but shrink back. "I mean, y...yeah? You can kill a ghoul, but I hope to fuck there's not one out here."
The fog knows. It shrinks back, too. Just enough that larger slumped shapes start to come into being, laying amongst the scattered cups like forgotten bags of trash. Bodies, face twisted in their last horrible moments. And a whisper, too faint to make out just yet.
"Who are you?" Lucas forces himself to ask, to focus on the man in front of him. Anything but the cups.
CW: lewd language, allusions to necrophilia
Whether he’s talking to Lucas or himself? It’s hard to say.
“Long as you give ‘em direction, anyway—and the chill? Hoo, baby—better ‘n an Altoid hummer, that shit’s a load of crap. Vampires’re good too, but only if you’re careful of the teeth—dudes blow ya better…”
Ellis stands abruptly, mind working far afield to make connections and sort through information amidst the screaming chaos that tries to overwhelm him every second. A heartbeat later, he’s whirling on Lucas with the cup still in his hand.
“You do this? Or you see it? I know you know them bodies, which end were you on?”
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"Look dude, I dunno what ghouls look like where you're from, but you do not want those chompers anywhere near your dick." No comment about a vampire blowjob, though. A thought for another, less horrific time.
The motion is so sudden that Lucas isn't expecting it. He jerks back and trips over a slumped body. Pinwheeling his arms to no avail, Lucas lands solidly on his ass a moment later.
"Fuckin' hell, dude! Don't shove that shit at me, alright? I didn't do a goddamn thing to them!" The words are snarled but it does little to mask his fear or the tears welling in his eyes. The whispers grow louder, frantic. Pleading. Words just on the edge of understanding.
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Ellis blinks, head abruptly on a swivel as he connects the dots--seeing, hearing, feeling fucking everything but it's always just him, it's never other people...
Kid could hear the voices, too.
Dropping the cup, Ellis steps over the body and takes a knee beside the kid. Curling a hand around the back of his neck, he looks him in the eye--this time, those bright blue eyes are laser focused, intense to the point of being tangible.
"Easy, 'kay? Easy, I gotcha. Ain't just you, I hear 'em, too. Always hear 'em, s' always just me. I didn't realize. We're gonna get over the hump together, 'kay? Name's Ellis--what's yours?"
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"I...yeah." Muttering the reply Lucas tries to put up his mental walls again. Seeing this place, even a twisted shade of it, is too much to keep a lid on his abilities, but the intensity of the man's gaze, his words, is a lifeline that Lucas desperately needs.
"--Manni." He sucks in a breath, limbs trembling, throat suddenly dry. Then he shakes his head, fighting to keep his focus on the present. "Sorry. That...that was my name. When this happened. Lucas. It's Lucas."
no subject
"This is a helluva mess, Luke--but you crawled outta this one alive, right? You're here, you're breathin'." He continues, never breaking Lucas's gaze. "The cups, the corpses--whether you got rescued or turned down the Kool Aid, or just showed up to see the aftermath, focus on the fact that none of those bodies is you. 'Kay?"
Taking the hand he still holds captive, he sets Lucas's own hand on his own chest.
"Feel your breath. Feel your pulse. That's real. That's relevant--this? It matters, I get it, but it ain't relevant. It ain't air and blood and pain and life, man."
While Ellis is talking, he's becoming aware of something over the voices that are barely comprehendible, seemingly pleading on the fringes. He's hearing other ones over them, sharper words he's catching snatches of.
Somno. Morai. Exeunt.
Parts of familiar Rueni phrases.
Curfew time. Lights out. Hit the dorms.
Ellis swallows hard, visibly unsettled as he reaches up with one hand towards his neck, which is bare. No pendant. No protection.
He doesn't have his Sleep, and that's how he got here in the fucking first place...
no subject
He's swept up in the memory of it all until Ellis places his hand over his chest, over the ragged scar that bisects it. Finally the words pierce the solemn veil. Fingers clench tight, curling up the fabric of his shirt.
"Thanks." Is the only word Lucas can sputter, before he's surprised to hear words he's not expecting in the whispers. Words that affect his new friend in all this fog.
"Dude...you okay?" He reaches out to steady the man, a hand to his shoulder despite the risk of seeing more, intruding on memories he shouldn't.
Northern Downpour
"Hey man," he said casually. "Yeah! I love rain. It gets my shit all wet if I'm not careful but damn, it's beautiful."
He was also dealing with similar thoughts to Lucas. Since Valentine's day, and their island vacation, Milo had felt closer to Lucas than ever, having revealed some of both his darkest secrets and his deepest feelings in a short time. He had assumed Lucas was off the market, with not one, but two partners, both of which he loved dearly. But the more he thought about it, if Lucas was polyamorous... maybe there was room for one more? But that was dumb, his other partners weren't even here to confirm or deny, Lucas didn't appear to be looking for anything, and asking would just ruin things with his friend. But something about this rain... the desire for closure buzzed around in his skull with each beat of the storm's song.
He'd consider it.
no subject
Extending a hand, Lucas offers Milo a gentle, lopsided smile. "Wanna join me?"
Please say yes, the question begs. Whatever this sudden shift in thinking is, a quiet nudge of courage, he won't let it go so easily this time.
no subject
He took the hand that was offered me. "Yeah, of course."
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"You know any dance moves? I was thinking about busting out Dancin' in the Rain myself," He trails off with a laugh, squeezing Milo's hand. He briefly considers grasping the other, but decides not to cram his entire foot in his mouth right away. Saying what's on his mind is going to be tricky enough without being awkward.
"I was just thinking about you, you know? Funny how this place works like that."
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"I was just...uh. Thinking." Yeap, this is going smoothly. Lucas huffs. "Jesus, if I beat around the bush anymore it might catch fire and start talking...anyways." His free hand starts waving around, "Thinking that we could. Um. You know...uh, we could be closer. And I'd like that."
He hazards another glance up, "A lot."
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"Y'know, it's funny," Milo said, marginally more suave despite feeling like he was about to explode. "I was just thinkin' about that. You've been awesome to me, man, I have so much fun with you, and you're cuter than hell--- I just, uh. Didn't know if you were maxed out on partners. Much less if the sentiment was reciprocated."
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Weight feels lifted from him and he could dance on air right now, with a backdrop of magical rain music to accompany the whole show.
"I just thought that maybe you wanted time...like I didn't want to say anything at Valentines and I knew you were still trying to figure yourself out." Figures they both kept their mouths shut for different reasons. "Thing is, about my partners. They'd be giving me hell right now for moping around so long and staying by myself. I know it's a weird situation, though, so..."
He trails off, giddy, happy, and a teeny bit scared all at the same time.
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cw: NSFW from here on out!
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Fog (CW: allusions to child abuse, PTSD, questioning reality, mild & indirect self harm)
It wasn't cold that day. It was warm, balmy as ever...and that's the only reason he doesn't lose control. Why he can hear those sounds, but know it's not real. The bite of that soft, misty white on bare skin keeps him grounded, which is why he sheds his fleece-lined bomber and rolls his sleeves up, not caring if the chill sinks in. He needs it.
The first distraction that isn't the cold is when his boot kicks a styrofoam cup along the ground. Jack's looking down and about to pick it up when a body nearly collides with his. He barely catches the shoulders of a young blonde man, trying to keep him steady on his feet with a grunt.
"Whoah!--hey hey hey hey, hold up! C'mon, I gotcha, take it easy..."
no subject
"Jack!?" He gasps the man's name, pale eyes wide with confusion. From the way he's speaking it would be easy to tell that Lucas has run into jack before...just a different one. "Don't tell me you're out here investigating this shit?"
Which, really, he should be too if he ever calms down from seeing those goddamn cups.
no subject
Which is useless, 'cause...fog. Christ, he wishes there were someone to kill just to vent a little aggravatin...
Regarding the kid, however, he decides easily that he can't--and not just because it would upset Javic. Leaning in a little for a better look at him through the heavy mist, he finds a face not so different from Amanda's, or sweet little Mort with her twitchy tail. Young, fearful...needing protection.
And, when he leans in, Lucas will be able to better see that Jack...well, is different. Far leaner, with a shock of hair that's gone from wavy to outright curly and half wild in the damp, but in all other regards is easy to mistake for the other man that uses the name.
Gray would correct him, except that it's still so natural to answer to it that he sort of...forgets.
Satisfied the kid won't fall, Gray stoops to pick up the cup he kicked, frowning before cautiously bringing it to his nose to sniff.
"Someone have a party here or something?" He asked, dry as dust if trying to be humorous at all. He's really not, because he knows how seemingly innocuous things can explode into something huge and horrifying...way more often than not.
no subject
Lucas's mouth twitches into a quiet frown. Cold drips like ice water down his spine. A combination of a known fear and an unknown one as the fog seemingly presses in on both of them.
"...You could say that." His laugh is entirely mirthless, dark humor to help bolster his nerves. "Biggest party of their lives." And the last one, too. Sadly he won't get a chance to elaborate as a scratching sound quietly increases in intensity and volume, ragged gurgling accompanying it.
"Shit! A fuckin' ghoul..." Lucas hisses under his breath, grabbing a fistful of Jack's coat and trying to get the man to crouch down with him.
CW: graphic descriptions of physical mutilation
Javic. Finding Javic. Missing Javic—waiting for Javic.
…but the kid said ‘ghoul,’ and for the first time since he showed up, Jack has something he can tear, rip, shred. Flesh to slice and bone to break, jagged edges the needle with which he can sew skin and muscle into something new—pain to inflict. So much pain…
Jack leans down just enough to pay the kid’s shoulder in reassurance.
“Just stay behind me, and if I go down? Run like hell.” He replies, glancing down at the kid with a wink and a grin while he cracks his knuckles.
“I never killed a ghoul before—this is gonna be fun.”
cw: graphic depiction of a zombie creature
"Dude, are you fucking crazy, you don't even know how to kill one of these things!?" Finding his feet again, shaky and threatening to buckle in a heartbeat, Lucas is scared witless. But he's not leaving. "There's a few steps to--"
The fog draws back, a white curtain slowly revealing the muted outline of the creature. It was human once. Now it stands with limbs far too long for its height, fingers stretched to end in claws made of the finger bone itself, exposed and sharpened by repeated use. Its head cocked at an odd angle. A broken neck in its past life, throat opened and gurgling. The fiend doesn't need breath to continue forward, it breathes out of long forgotten memory, out of any sense of rhythm. The chest is sunk in, sternum shattered. The fog draws back further and one glassy eye peeks out at the pair. It's mouth is nothing more than a ragged wound that exposes gums and broken teeth, just as deadly sharp as the claws.
Lucas can't help freezing up out of sheer remembered terror before it lunges forward with sickening speed despite gangly long legs. Like Jack it's hungry for violence, for flesh and blood, but it's silent save for the scraping of claws against the ground and the gurgling mockery of breath in dead lungs.
CW: nonsexual mistreatment of human remains, torture, graphic violence w/zombie creature
No, this is something new. Something terrible...something he wishes he could show to Owen. He'd--yeah, okay, he'd be horrified, but he'd still enjoy studying it.
"I have no idea how to kill one!" Jack calls out over his shoulder, still grinning. "But I can have a lot of fun hurting it--just talk me through the death part? I'll get bored eventually. Unless I die first--"
When the ghoul lunges, Jack takes advantage of the sunken chest and drives his fist into that shattered sternum. His fingers slip over organs now useless and in poor condition, finally wrapping them around a couple of broken ribs. Grabbing tight, he yanks back and snaps them with a laugh, then pulls one loose and plunges it into the creature's eye socket.
Those claws rake across his chest as a reward for his aim, causing Jack to lose his grip and stagger, landing flat on his back a few feet away. Wincing, he checks his chest--yeah, definitely bleeding. Deep, too.
Well, shit.
CW: ditto all of the above!
The ghoul snaps through his vest like a hot knife through butter, finger-claws raised. He's too far off the ground to get any leverage, held aloft by the creature's monstrous strength choking around his neck. It raises a long bone-claw and for a moment everything is still. His heartbeats. It snaps forward---
Snapping bone drags Lucas's attention back to the grisly scene before him. Shakily he starts forward, one stuttering step. And then another. And another. He couldn't sit there helpless, not this time. Jack staggers back as Lucas surges forward, ducking under the sweep of that clawed hand and tackling it to the ground. The thrum of blood is so loud in his ears that Lucas can't hear the sickening crunch of bones beneath him, or the wet squelch of blood and tattered eyeball as he yanks the rib bone free of one socket to plunge it into the other. Fire and pressure wind tight in his chest, the wound screaming in parallel pain with the ghoul's guttural roar of agony.
In a panic Lucas scrambles backwards off the creature and skitters towards Jack. Was the man wounded? Unfortunately the crimson smear across the man's chest told the story before he could even ask.
"Shit!---is it bad?" He slumps on his knees beside the man. "We've got to get out of here man. That thing won't stay out of it long."
CW: death threats / threats of physical violence
(no subject)
CW: graphic violence, zombie-style graphic violence and gore
CW: graphic violence, zombie-style graphic violence and gore