EVENT 009

[sticksandbonesmods]

RULER OF MY HEART

HOW SWEET IT IS

As time ticks on in that strange, wobbly way it does in this place — where the nights feel like they last days, and the days feel like they’re only a few hours long — the fog, ever so gradually, rolls back in, until it’s that oppressive black wall it normally is. It means no more trips into the greater forest for the time being, though the surrounding ring of treeline around the Grove and the burned town to the north remains readily accessible.

The woods, now awake and alert, sends its regards with the occasional roar of a beast in the far distance, and the occasional biblically-accurate deer wandering into the Grove proper to nibble on grasses starting to spring up through the snow. Speaking of things springing up through the snow, there are some new trees near the riverbank, sporting perfectly normal lemons that are growing perfectly normal eyeballs. It’s fine, they’re edible, although they don’t seem to be native. Hmm.

All is peaceful thus far, until you open your dresser drawer. Suddenly, a little  creature flies out at you, or cries out angrily because you woke it up. Perhaps, that creature climbs on you instead, shuffling into your pocket to snuggle up. Or, maybe you lay down for a nap, and your pillow feels just a touch lumpier than normal, and when you move your head, something squeals at you. No matter where you find them, even if they’re being a nuisance and eating your shoelaces, these creatures are harmless: they’re merely cold, and you, a Warm Thing, will now be their space heater.

I REALLY LIKE YOU

One of Ydalir’s secret passions is cooking. You would not know this, because she doesn’t have the ability to eat, but that doesn’t mean she lost the ability to cook. A holiday is coming, you see, and it’s tradition for everyone to partake in cute chocolates and have candlelit dinners! (She will not be providing the dinners, that’s on you.)

What feels like early on in the month, Ydalir will approach everybody with a box of chocolates customized for each person with their favourite flavours. For those of you who don’t eat human food, don’t worry: These are safe for consumption for vampires and robots alike.

Like with most things here, though, things are not as they seem. Eating one of these chocolates suddenly makes you feel very, very cuddly, like suddenly you wouldn’t care who you snuggled up to right now so long as you were comfortable. With the candy in your system, you feel affectionate to anyone who you come across, even if you may not have liked them previously.

As it turns out, mixing magic with cooking makes a potion. Ydalir swears up and down she didn’t mean it, but enjoy your cuddle-chocolates anyway!

LET’S STAY TOGETHER

Sometimes, when you touch another person, your mind goes elsewhere. This isn’t a result of the chocolates, but rather some other force at work. If you see two people asleep somewhere — the ground, the couch, the kitchen counter — it’s best to leave them where they are, unless you want to risk passing out with them and seeing what they see. They’ll wake up in a little while.

What those who get dragged into their own minds see depends on the person, and what lies within their heart. These “heartspaces” are made up of core memories to the participants — important locations, emotional states given form, meaningful items, or anything else, really. When in contact with another person, these heartspaces will combine into one, perfectly interactable and wanderable at your leisure. Touching objects within these spaces will play a core memory before your eyes, or even change the scenery a bit, depending on whose heart it is you’re messing with.

Perhaps now is a good time for bonding and learning about one another, in the comfort and privacy of your own minds. After all, you won’t exit the heartspaces for quite a bit.

PAIN IN MY HEART

…just try not to break anything while you're there.

It might be an accident. Maybe you walk backwards into a table containing a framed photograph, and that photo falls and the glass breaks, the picture inside the frame ruined. Maybe you broke that cheaply-made but still-important toy while fiddling with it. Or, perhaps, it wasn’t an accident at all: You broke that thing on purpose, you punched through that wall, you set that fire.

Whatever broke the thing in question doesn’t matter in the end. What matters is that the memory associated with it begins to fade away like smoke on the wind. Fixing the broken object will bring that memory back, but failing to fix it before you wake up from the dream will have that memory gone forever.

Although, there are some pretty bad memories out there… if the memory broken was terrible, or if the item in question showed someone a dark secret you didn’t want them to know… shouldn’t it stay gone?

SPARK NOTES

CLICK TO EXPAND!

HOW SWEET IT IS

The fog is back. The creatures are clinging to you because they're cold. The eyeball lemons are, uh... lemon...y. Enjoy your completely normal slice of nature.

I REALLY LIKE YOU

Ydalir has made everybody chocolates! They're delicious and induce feelings of affection and a deep need to cuddle others. Surely this won't go terribly awry. Also, she's very sorry.

LET’S STAY TOGETHER

Sometimes, touching someone else takes you to a combined mental space made up of the important things to you and the person you touched. You can touch things within the space to play memories, or explore the environment together. Outside, you're just asleep on the floor somewhere probably, so hopefully no one trips over you.

PAIN IN MY HEART

Be careful in the heartspaces. Anything you break will take a relevant memory with it. If you can find a way to repair it, the memory will come back. Although, sometimes memories need to stay gone, don't they? Maybe leaving it broken is okay?

OOC

Happy February! The mod team will not apologise for the amount of pink in this event log. If you'd like to plot with people for this event, head over to OOC plotting. We will allow you to make up various plantanimal creatures for this event, they don't have to be like the images linked as examples. Have fun, enjoy creatures, they're here to stay. Reminder this month will have Heimrquest, so if you want to sign up, please do so on the OOC plotting post.

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Comments

[livlaughlove]

[livio can't quite formulate words in the moment, but he hesitates. the echoes press down harder, enough that he feels like he might crumble under their weight, but... vash is still here. he's still trying, even when this is clearly fucking uncomfortable.

he forces himself to move slightly closer, even if he's also too scared of rejection to extend a hand without confirmation from vash. at least this much effort toward something positive dims the overwhelming sound from that a pack of snarling dogs closer to a low hiss.]

I -- I'm sorry. I should... be in control.

[oleaeuropaea]

[A bitter laugh erupts from Vash's throat. He looks up, studying the fragments that remain of his own outburst, and then shakes his head. His gaze falls to Livio, looking so small despite his size. He knows he shouldn't reach out again when he's been pushed away already but -]

I'm not in control either. [He says this as he reaches out, hands bracing against Livio's shoulders. His own heart rails against the other man's grief, but right now it can't break through the well of emotions. It's for the best, because it makes it that much easier for Vash to swallow his own grief.]

We can do this together, though. Deep breaths. All that.

[livlaughlove]

[it's ironic that vash offers the same advice livio had a minute ago, but he doesn't dwell on that. he does his best to follow the instructions, and it's easier when vash holds his shoulders. he takes a deep breath, even though it's a little shaky, and reaches up to lay one of his hands over vash's.

it takes a moment, but the voices quiet even further.]

... Together means you too, yeah?

[oleaeuropaea]

[He's nothing if not a hypocrite, even if you won't catch him admitting to it. It doesn't mean he doesn't know, isn't fully aware that what he's doing is exactly what had been offered. At least this time, when the offer is extended, albeit in a roundabout way, he doesn't immediately shy away.

... Just give him a second.]

Yeah, I... I'll be here too. Don't worry.

[livlaughlove]

[livio wouldn't call vash a hypocrite over something like this. not outright, at least. he isn't hurting anyone. really only himself. and liv knows how much more painful that would make things for him. so he freely gives the patience that vash asks from him.]

Take your time. It'll... be okay, right?

[oleaeuropaea]

As soon as we're out of here, it will be.

[The longer he has to deal with the effects of his damn psyche, the worse off he is. It'll be easier, once he can smile through whatever problems he has and pretend like he's entirely unbothered. Until then, he tries to keep his focus on the happier memories, if only to keep the tattered bits of his mind in place.]

[livlaughlove]

[liv can't argue that. the less their emotions influence the world around them, the better. god knows livio is all over the place at any given moment, and there's far, far worse in the depths of his mind than the angry voices of people he's disappointed.]

How d'you think we can leave...?

[oleaeuropaea]

I'm not sure yet. But there has to be a way.

[Rather than making the mistake of grabbing Livio's hand this time, he takes hold of his shirt. He won't be leaving his friend behind, that's for sure. He'll make sure Livio toddles along right behind him as he makes his way -

Well, let's be honest. He heads off in a random direction.]

[livlaughlove]

[he is being yoinked around like a kid on a leash. if the situation wasn't so fucked up, he might laugh.]

I can -- just follow you, y'know.

[oleaeuropaea]

Right -

[Vash lets go almost instantly. He draws his hand back, tucking it against the other. He coaxes the his flesh fingers over the prosthetic, as if somehow the contact with Livio had singed him. Maybe in a way, it had.]

You don't... really like to be touched, huh?

[livlaughlove]

[livio frowns, glancing between vash's face and the way he nurses his hand.]

It isn't like that, Vash. [at least, he doesn't think so. he might be able to put it into words, given time, but... this hardly seems the place, unless it turns out to be hindering vash more than he expects.] I'm not -- mad at you or anything.

[oleaeuropaea]

You don't have to say anything Livio. [He offers that tepid little smile of is, even as the world seems to vibrate around them.]

I'm a big boy, I can handle it.

[livlaughlove]

[vash isn't fooling anyone; livio's entire life is one long exercise in shoving it down. normally, he'd still take vash at his word and leave it be, but they're trapped here together, where their emotions can clearly influence the danger -- or, at the very least, stress -- level. it seems more prudent to lay their cards on the table, as difficult and uncomfortable as it may be.]

Can I just... try to explain?

[oleaeuropaea]

[As far as Vash is concerned, someone like Livio shouldn't have to place himself in a vulnerable position, just to comfort him. He almost wants to protest outright on this merit alone. However, something stays his tongue, prompting him to simply shrug his shoulders.]

You don't have to. But... if you want.

[livlaughlove]

[well, shit. he offered, and now he's at a loss for words.

he trudges along for a bit in silence, face screwing up as he considers how to say it. eventually, he tries, slow and careful.]

I'm just not used to being touched... gently. Or... kindly. It almost feels... wrong. Even though I know that it isn't. That make sense?

[oleaeuropaea]

[Vash... shouldn't be surprised. He knows, vaguely at least, Livio's background with Eye. If it was anywhere near the things Nick had described, he could guess it was a far from pleasant experience. It only made sense that something kind might give him pause.

Rather than relief, though, he just feels guilt.]

... Must think I'm a real heel, acting like that, then.

[livlaughlove]

Acting like what? [livio feels just as bad for vash as vash does for him. too bad they both suck at communication.]

I don't have a low opinion of you, Vash.

[oleaeuropaea]

[Another feeble shrug. He looks up toward the false sky, chewing on the inside of his cheek all the while.]

I made it all about me. All about me when you were the one struggling.

[livlaughlove]

[... is he serious??]

I don't think that. And even if you had, you're not actively controlling anything in here. It wouldn't be your fault. You're struggling, too.

[oleaeuropaea]

[Vash is quiet for a moment. His head lowers, while his mind grapples with the shame and discomfort running through his head. Leave it to him to jump to such big conclusions, right?]

'm sorry. [He sighs, before offering a smile. This one, at least, is real.] You're a good guy, huh?

[livlaughlove]

[ah. livio's face falls. vash seems to be on the right track -- he'd hate to ruin that.]

That's... the thing. I don't think so.

[oleaeuropaea]

[Somehow, it doesn't seem to diminish anything Vash is feeling. If anything, it prompts him to manage a smile.]

Most people don't. That's usually a dead giveaway as to how good they are, actually. [He laughs, a soft noise.] Nick's the same way. Swears he isn't a good man, but I can tell. I've seen why he does what he does.

[livlaughlove]

[it isn't that livio wants to argue the point with vash. vash is an optimist in a way liv just isn't, and likely will never agree with his perception of himself.]

I just thought it would help you understand why... you holding my hand, or trying to comfort me, is a me problem, not a you problem.

[oleaeuropaea]

His brows do pinch when Livio doesn't acknowledge his words, but he doesn't fold in on himself like before, either. He simply shakes his head once, keeping that smile firmly in place.]

I think I get it now. I'm sorry I got so pushy. And uh... needy, that too.

[livlaughlove]

You don't need to apologize. For either of those things. I... appreciate the kindness, Vash. I'm just not used to it.

... You can ask, though, if you want it. Touch. I don't want you to be the only one making compromises.